Vacation or Photo Shoot? The Trap of Traveling as a Photographer

Travel is one of the best ways to learn history, to experience new foods and cultures, and to find inspiration. But when a photographer travels for personal fulfillment, it can be tricky to balance the "photographer" and the person.

I recently took a trip to Greece that I've wanted to take since high school. Walking around Athens, visiting the Acropolis, the Agora, the Archaeological Museum, and many other sites of antiquity and mythology was a treasure trove for the mind. It was also difficult to separate my instinct for photography from my personal enjoyment.

The architecture alone is something I would love to spend days photographing. It would be a dream to create photo shoots in Athens or the Greek Islands with a full complement of gear, waiting for just the right lighting for the perfect photo. Of course, that wouldn't be a vacation; that would be a photo shoot.

I knew before I left my house that, to be present and enjoy a trip I've wanted to take for decades, I needed to make sure my experience was the priority, not my portfolio. Not to mention not ruining the trip for my wife. It would be easy to sacrifice the experience by thinking about getting "the shot," and I didn't want to do that.

But I'm still a photographer, and I want to capture high-quality images to remember the trip. I knew I needed to impose some limitations, so I only packed my everyday/street photography setup: my Sony a7C II and Sony FE 40mm f/2.5 G lens with a Tiffen circular polarizer filter, and my iPhone 16 Pro, of course.

Did I have regrets as I saw compositions I could only craft with my Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens? Yes. Did I miss opportunities to capture a great portrait or an amazing landscape image because I didn't have a range of focal lengths at my disposal? Maybe. But I "made do" with my 40mm prime, and I had a wonderful experience.

I used my iPhone for the quick, touristy photos at different locations. By shooting in raw on the phone, some of the images aren't half bad, although my wife's iPhone 17 Pro absolutely smoked my phone's photos — time for an upgrade. The "limits" of the 40mm prime lens forced me to absorb what I was seeing, and I only took it out of my bag when I noticed something that truly caught my eye.

In my efforts to focus on the experience over the photography, the people with huge lenses and a lot of kit really stood out as I walked around the Acropolis. I noticed them, briefly wondered what they were capturing, and then promptly went back to admiring the poppies that grow wild in the area or the details of a marble column carved thousands of years ago.

While hundreds of people stood in line on the "one" staircase in Oia, Santorini, which offers the "perfect" view of the three blue domes and the sea, I was 50 meters to the left, shooting the same domes from a different perspective, with a bell tower and some potted plants in the foreground. No lines, no recreation of the "Insta-famous" shot, but I came away with a real appreciation for the place and the opportunity for a more unique composition.

The mental, and sometimes physical, work my setup required me to do made me see things I probably would've missed, and I think my photos from the trip are better for it. I managed to capture some images that I am quite proud of, enjoy every moment of my trip, and maybe most importantly, not turn every excursion into a drawn-out affair that ended with my wife impatiently tapping her foot as she waited for me to take a photo.

Of course I missed some opportunities, and as I look back, I can think of some potentially fantastic photos I could have tried to capture. But I am confident that had I made an effort to do so, I would have had a less enjoyable time. Maybe someday I will have an assignment to shoot some of the amazing sights in Athens, or photograph a resort, or do a fashion shoot in Santorini. Still, for now, I have brilliant memories of a lived experience and a collection of photos that remind me of specific moments and make me smile from a trip I will not soon forget. If a future trip does turn into work, courses like Photographing the World: Japan II – Discovering Hidden Gems are a good model for shooting a place with intention.

There have been trips in the past when I set aside time for a sunrise photo shoot and left the hotel while everyone else was still asleep, and that can be an option. But I have rarely had those sessions not negatively impact my trip in some way. By the time I get back, everyone else is awake and eager to start the day, while I am already a little fatigued and ready to get the images onto my computer to start editing. It takes me away from the vacation, and at some point my energy will flag, and I won't be at the same level as everyone else on the trip.

The photos I'm taking on vacation need to be for me. They are scenes and moments that inspired me to take out my camera and capture them. If at some point someone sees them on my social media feed and is motivated to reach out to me because of them, that's great, but that was never the reason or motivation for taking the photos.

It is difficult, as a photographer, not to turn every adventure into a portfolio opportunity, especially in the age of social media. It is especially difficult if you are still trying to establish yourself as a professional. But I believe it is imperative to find a healthy balance and, sometimes, even leave the camera at home. Okay, okay, not at home, but maybe back in the room for a night. For me, it's a balance I am happy with, and a blueprint for future personal travel that I will continue to use.