Does anyone feel like they miss out on the magic because...

[plutosgirl]

they are the one that always takes the pictures and videos? This is a problem for me. We leave in a week (8 of us are going for my & my cousin's 40th birthdays and the kids are 11,10,7,6) and when we went a few years ago I was the one always with the camera. It almost felt like I couldn't "enjoy" the magic and was the spectator. Does anyone else feel like this? I'm always thinking "oh that will be a great shot" "let me video that because it won't happen ever again". I LOVE having the memories when we get home but I don't feel like I participate not to mention lugging the cameras just in case we have a great character reaction or the kids are excited about something.

Does anyone have any suggestions? How do you deal with being the "memory saver" of the trip? I'd hate to not have the memories but I'd love to be able to enjoy everything instead of watching it. My husband takes some pictures but he doesn't see things like I do and really if I wasn't saying here take a picture of that...he probably wouldn't think about it.

Am I alone thinking like this? What do you do about photos and videos when you go? Any hints would be great! I'm so excited and can't wait to go....but I want to be the "kid"!

 

[Chester's Mum]

My kids love to be the picture takers. They beg for it. My son even carries the stuff for me sometimes. He's 12. DD is 17. I have to flip a coin to see who gets the camera. I don't worry about the cost of film or wasted shots now because of digital. We don't take the movie camera any more. I have too many movies of my feet.

 

[Pixiedust34]

Buy the Photopass CD!

I recently traveled alone with my kids, and I took 100% of our pictures with our camera as there was no one else to do it, and my kids' photography skills have much to be desired.

We stopped at Photopass Photographers frequently to have our picture taken with the 3 of us. That way, I was in some of the pictures plus I didn't have to worry about snapping my own pictures in front of the castle, Spaceship Earth, etc., because I knew we'd have plenty of Photopass shots. There are Photopass photographers at some of the character meet & greets, too. If there's a photographer there, let him/her the pictures so you can pose and play with the characters with your family.

Also, pictures are nice but you don't really need hundreds and hundreds of them. Take some pictures here and there, but try not to spend your whole vacation behind a camera.

Have a fun trip!

 

[bleeps]

I've been thinking about this for our upcoming trip. I'm the family photographer, AND a scrapbooker, so I tend to not only "miss" some fun because of my picture-taking, but DS 8 and DH end up getting a little -- peeved? -- with me and my constant picture-taking. I did a little better last trip (last December) by making heavy use of PhotoPass photographers (and enjoyed being able to BE in more of our pictures) and letting CMs take our pictures whenever they offered (which happened pretty often, much to my surprise).

Here's my gameplan for this December: again, lots of PhotoPass. Two, given that it is our 4th trip, I'm going to stop thinking that I have to photograph EVERYTHING, and spend more time enjoying my own vacation. Next, I'm giving DS his own camera to use. Finally, (and I have done this before) I am assigning DH to be the videographer, and we'll only lug the video camera with us on certain days (and we'll stow it in a locker when/if we need to).

My advice is to cut back a little, let your family use their own cameras, use Photopass, and remember that having and enjoying the experience is ultimately more important than photographing it....

 

[Harvest02]

My kids love to be the picture takers. They beg for it. My son even carries the stuff for me sometimes. He's 12. DD is 17. I have to flip a coin to see who gets the camera. I don't worry about the cost of film or wasted shots now because of digital. We don't take the movie camera any more. I have too many movies of my feet.

Great idea to have the kids take the pictures! My DS9 loves to use our camera, but since it is a $400 digital camera I don't let him carry it. He just has it long enough to take a few pictures. I looked back at our Disney pictures from our June trip and found I am in about 4 of them! Obviously, I will have to have some of my other family members take over the camera occasionally!

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I just got back from WDW and it was so funny looking at all the pictures, it is as if I never even went to WDW with the rest of the family. Pictures of everyone but me, my mom has the same thing happen to her. I have a small digital camera so it is very easy to carry around, I would completely ditch the videa camera.

 

[DISshopkeeper]

I gave up videotaping for the same reason.... felt I was missing too much! You've gotten some great suggestions! Step out from behind the camera!

 

[dixiedizfan]

I agree, PhotoPass is the way to go!

 

[Frantasmic]

Take a camera and ask a bystander to take your picture or offer to switch, you take their picture and they'll take yours.

And I know this concept sometimes isn't understood, but forego the photo memories for one trip. This is especially true if you are able to go many times a year or even a couple times every few years. Does it matter if you have the same posed family members sans photographer from your 03 trip by the castle or your 04 trip?

Share the photo responsibilities or jump in and have fun without the worries.

 

[novdisneydreams]

Definitely take advantage of Photopass! We didn't completely understand it last time and I really regret that we didn't utilize it better. Now I have read of people ending up with hundreds of photos and buying the $99 disk... I'm so jealous! Also - how about "scheduling" a few photo/video shoots with your kids. Some of my favorite photos from our trip are of my kids having a blast with all of the theming at ASMo. We took a long stroll one afternoon and I got tons of the cutest pictures of them in about 45 minutes. You could do a resort "photo shoot" , maybe one in DTD, and even a couple in the parks (how about taking an hour or so to walk the park and look for great photo ops of the kids, the rest of the time you could stash the camera in a locker) - other days leave the cameras in your room safe and just have fun with your family One final thing - I've sometimes bought those disposable cameras and just carried one in my pocket (well, usually DHs shirt pocket) in case there are unforgettable moments that you'd kick yourself about missing on film. They take OK candid shots and at less than $10 you don't have to stress too much about them getting bumped or lost. Anyway - Enjoy your trip !

 

[hezreck]

We have decided this trip to make sure we ask people to take our family picture at different places. My DH and I are never in the pictures, because we are always taking pictures of DD. To get past the feeling of missing stuff, everyone has a camera. My DH has the digital, I have the 35 mm (I scrapbook and only like 35 mm pics) and DD has her own disposable. So by the time we get home, we have many pics to choose from. Usually, DH and DD have taken pictures that I didn't think to take and vice versa. Plus, since DD scrapbooks too, we have plenty of duplicates for her book.

 

[Robmom]

I don't have a problem with my camera, but I definitely was missing out when I used the video camera, so I left that back at the room. I'm definitely using PhotoPass next time.

 

[mlill]

Yes, that used to be me! Now that the kids are older, we bought them their own digital camera and video camera to share. We'll be taking pictures of them as they are taking pictures of us! LOL! (The airport security is gonna love us with all of our electronics! )

-Michelle

P.S. We've taken a few trips in the past where we didn't take the video camera because we thought it was too much trouble. Now I look back and could kick myself! Kids really do grow up fast, and you can never capture enough memories, especially at WDW!

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

DW and I both take lots of pix, but she takes a few more than I do because she scrapbooks and kind of knows what she's looking for. Our DS6 seems to have quite an eye for photography, so we are encouraging that in him by letting him snap some using our digital camera. He will definitely get to take some pix on our next WDW trip

 

[*Fantasia*]

I have taken plenty before.. and now, I don't need to take as much pictures because the place still looks the same, I just take very few just to show that we were there that year and the kids have grown a little. Other than that no, I don't take 100 pics everytime we go. And I stop taking videos, I loose too much of the "magic" that me and my children can be sharing.

 

[plutosgirl]

Wow, I left the house got to work and look at all the replies! Thanks so much!!

I like the idea of taking the videos around the resort. I'm going to just plan to do that one morning and POP looks like a great place for some fun pictures. I'm going to let the kids each have a disposable camera. I'm going to use the photographers in the park and keep my digital "just in case". I feel much better now. I can't wait...thanks for all the ideas!!