BootsnAll Travel Community

My mother was a travel writer and photographer. She loved writing but took up photography so her articles would be more marketable.

She's not alone. Many writers are also photographers,and vice-versa.

If you had to pick one or the other, which one would it be, and why?

I would choose photography. I find it much more relaxing and artistic, and FUN. I enjoy nature photography the most, so by choosing photography, I am also choosing my passion for the outdoors, trying to document the beauty that can be found.

I do not have the talent for creative writing. If I did, I would be doing it. The type of writing I am pretty decent at doing isn't FUN. It involves too much thinking, and too much use of the intellectual side of my brain, rather than the artistic.

So that's why I'd choose photography.

Writing - I do have to click photographs for my travel articles. But writing is fun. Maybe Eowyn and I should team up

Writer - because I'm good at writing, and I know fuck all about photography. Also, all one needs to write is some paper and a pen, so it's cheaper and more convenient.

Tough one. A good picture can tell hundreds of stories, but a good story can illicite hundreds of pictures.
I'd say writing because I enjoy that aspect more.

I would choose writing. When you are a pro photographer, you have to get the shots, and sometimes (often) you have to get in people's faces with your intimidating hardware. This can easily annoy people or worse. To me, it also makes me feel more distant from my surroundings if I am looking at everything through a lens, and this can hurt my experience of travel.

So I would pick writing because I can just observe and listen, talk with people without intimidation, then write when I am in a quiet spot.

Still I love photography, but as an amateur I can just put the camera away when the "moment" is best experienced sans lens.

Oliver

What I like about writing is that the author can revisit the story many times, constantly perfecting it.

The results of a photograph occur in a literal flash of time - and then it is finished.

Definitely writing, the camera is a nuisance that blinkers the true experience of travelling. I take one along, but often forget that I have it and I try not take it out on my first day in a new town. Rather, I set aside a little special time to snap a few pictures which then turn out to be crap anyway. So maybe I should ditch the camera. Then again, if one or two pictures turn out OK, it adds to the stories

I just sent my SLR home with my girlfriend and almost sent the digital along as well. I figure I should have a camera along for those just in case moments, but sometimes you just don't want to put in the effort required to capture that perfect shot. Writing about something can be done long after the fact.

Definitely the writing! I set out intending to do both as well, but soon, it was obvious that I didn't like the idea of feeling "obligated" to carry my "good camera" EVERYWHERE just so I could catch any possible wonderful shots or to assess each new location for its photo opportunities rather than to just sit there and enjoy it.

So, I allowed photography to stay a hobby ....after already learning that you can't necessarily write while in the moment either, just need to soak up the scene well and write down your notes as soon as possible afterwards.