How to... not take photos

Don't be put off by the title of this post. This is not some negative or anti-photography post. I came across an interesting post entitled, How To Take Better Photos: Leave Your Camera Behind. The idea behind the post is that by seeing and feeling the place you are in, rather than "viewing" it through the lens of your camera, you can take better photographs that reflect the "feel" of a place when you do pick up your camera again.


Last summer when I took a trip to Paris for a few days with my mum, I didn't yet have my DSLR and didn't much feel like taking the boyf's. So I didn't take a camera at all, all I had was the camera on my Blackberry. And it was liberating. Often, when I have a camera with me, I find that I spend more time looking for the perfect photo and less time looking at where I am.


On a night out my DSLR is really too bulky to take with me so I usually leave the photo-taking to someone else. That suits me fine. Without the constant need to take photos, I enjoy the evening far more.


When I returned to Paris in May this year, I took my camera with me but I left it behind on the Saturday night and it was so liberating. We spent the evening in various museums around Paris and it was marvelous and not once did I have to think about how I might compose a photograph to remember the evening. Instead I was able to enjoy the evening and keep the memories for me.


In a few weeks time, the boyf and I are off on holiday for 10 days and I am vowing now that while we will take a camera with us, I am going to make sure that some days, it is left behind in our hotel room so that we can just soak up the atmosphere (and the sun).


Do you ever leave your camera behind? How do you feel about the prospect?