Please Help me Decide!

[MrsCies]

Hello!

I am a professional photographer out of Iowa. So I need some advice - from you PROS lol. We are taking a Christmas Trip to Disney World (EEEEEK!!! Dec 10-17th). Last time at Disney (March 2011) I took my "good" digital SLR camera and lens. I wanted to photograph every.single.second. and every.single.detail. My camera around my neck or constantly digging in the stroller for it was really annoying (and HEAVY).....not to mention I didnt want to "leave" it in the stroller so it had to go on rides with us too. I feel like I was more worried about photographing the memories so we would have them documented than I was about EXPERIENCING it, if that makes sense? I despise the pictures my point and shoot takes but this trip I really want to take it all in - and not through a lens. I feel bad though like I should document it like crazy since its our baby girls (13 months old at trip time) first trip and especially with all the Christmas decorations that will be out. GAH - its been driving me nuts....I have time to decide but what do you think?? Am I just lazy? LOL. Please help a very non-decisive person

 

[tricia]

I bring both when I travel some days theDSLR comes with me. Other days the point and shoot gets stuffed in a cargo pocket, just so I don't miss something great.

 

[Missy13d69]

I wouldn't label myself a pro, but I'm a photographer, and I know where your coming from. I've decided though, that my family comes first and the DSLR is staying home. I'm taking a really good point and shoot for an absolute must get photos, and for family shots. You just need to look in the mirror and tell yourself that this is a vacation, not a photo shoot. Relax and have fun.

 

[jamala]

Not a professional, but we take our cannon rebel on every trip. We keep it in a padded backpack and it is fine. My hubby takes thousands of pics each trip. Most of the time it is around his neck but we have the back pack if we want to store it while we eat or ride a ride. I leave all my lenses in the room and just take my small multi-purpose one.

 

[artemis4]

I struggled with this choice. I'm not a pro by any means, but I enjoy taking pictures quite a lot, and we have many canvases of my photos in our home and office. We love the memories of each photo.

However, as you note, I feel that I can either photograph an event or I can experience an event. I cannot do both at the same time.

I want to experience this trip along with my family. The DSLR will stay home so I'm not tempted to succumb to the photo bug with it. We have a small point and shoot, I have my phone, and we will rely on photopass photographers for many shots.

On most of our normal vacations, we have tried for a balance of small spurts of DSLR usage, then it gets put away in the car again. However, Disney is different since we won't have quick and easy access to the car. For that reason, we will remove temptation and the camera will stay home.

 

[OurMinnieFamily]

I'm far from a photographer, but a total picture nut. Dont want to miss a minute of anything. In the end I honestly used my cell phone for a lot of pictures, took a small point/shoot camera, its very slim and slide right into my bag. Then everything else was taken by the photo pass folks.

I ended up with 700 pictures between everything. It was our first trip, so next time around maybe not so many pictures lol.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I would take it and set aside one day or half day to take the good camera into the park. On that day, I would dress the family for special Christmas pictures. My choice of parks would be MK, with a side trip over to the GF to get some great shots. Other days, take a small but decent point and shoot style camera.

 

[Kelchip10]

I'll have my camera and will be trying my best to balance picture taking and enjoying each moment on my daughter's first WDW vacation

 

[Zooshoveller]

I haven't been to Disney (2 months to go!), but this is what I take to other similar places:

Small camera bag with body, regular lens, zoom lens, extra batteries and CF cards. The bag is an old video camera bag when video cameras were much larger, but it's about the same size as my kids lunch bag. It's small enough to fit in a big Ziploc bag if needed and sits in the bottom of DH's backpack (nothing heavy on top)

A holster style bag (hangs on belt) that holds the body with current lens attached. Grab it, take pics, put it back. Quick and easy! Can also quickly be put in a Ziploc and stored in backpack if need be.