danon

"This does not mean everyone will get mugged but to entice someone by wearing a diamond tiara is just plain stupid IMO and others should realize that if you do not."


You must have lost your sense of humor along with your
perspective.

ita

this discussion is getting silly. I shouldn't really add to it, but I would like to know if I am the only person that prefers to see things through my eyes rather than through a camera's lens?

PalenQ

danon - sorry I took what you said to be true - it was not apparent humour but I take your word for that. Sorry. You would agree it is not wise to wear diamonds in Barcelona?

danon

I agree.

Michael

<i>but I would like to know if I am the only person that prefers to see things through my eyes rather than through a camera's lens?</i>

I am hoping that my pictures reflect what I saw with <b>my>/b> eyes, which is why I prefer them to postcards.

Aduchamp1

On one trip to Spain, I left my cameras home intentionally and it was quite liberating.

ita

I don't need postcards either. I just like to be in the moment of what I am experiencing and then go on to the next thing. If I am impressed by what I see in museums, I buy books. Maybe it is where I am in life. I will admit that on the infrequent occasion when I look at old photos of trips, it brings back memories.

colduphere

My wife has no pictures of me for the same reason. She says she prefers to live in the moment.

oopsy

I do take photos, though not incessantly. I suppose I average about 10-15 photos per day while on vacation. I'm not a particularly skilled photographer and I don't carry a fancy camera. On my last trip to Spain, I lost my iphone or was picked at the Madrid airport, in the gate area, losing all my photos from a 3.5 week trip, other than the 20 or so I had posted on facebook. And...it was okay. I was a little surprised that I wasn't more upset about losing the pictures. It didn't bother me at all. The trip was still amazing, with or without photographic evidence.

I'm a little surprised by the "frequent mugging" sub-thread here (I think primarily from one poster). I read a lot of travel boards about Spain, a lot of trip reports, take a look at some of the newspapers occasionally, and have seen absolutely no evidence that muggings are common in Barcelona or Madrid.

capekidnappers

In hindsight, I was dumb in Barcelona. It was winter and I packed money and cellphone safely in inside pockets of my coat.At an outdoor cafe I placed my smallish camera in a thinnish shoulder bag, and held the bag close to to front of my body. On the Ramblas I paused to buy a postcard, 30 minutes later reached for my camera to take a photo and found a neat little slit cut in the shoulder bag and camera gone. My (Spanish and most upset) companion immediately gave me her camera to use. I wore it around my neck, inside my coat, which is where I should have put mine in the first place.
On the bright side the buskers were amazing, everywhere in the city.

november_moon

I am not much of a picture-taker either, but my husband is. He carries like 20 lbs of camera gear around with him. I think it is silly, but whatever. He's carrying it, not me.

When I am travelling without my husband, I might take 5 pictures a day - maybe

6abc

I would just like to address Ita's comment: " I would like to know if I am the only person that prefers to see things through my eyes rather than through a camera's lens?"

I don't just point my camera and shoot. I make a conscious effort to make my photos. I see with my eyes and record what I see. I have captured some wonderful moments with my camera. Little stories that happen in the moment as my camera is clicking away. Things that I would never have remembered if it weren't for the help of my camera. I have made MANY wonderful connections with people with the help of my camera.

I am 60 years old and I am able to look back on the photos I have made throughout my life and still feel the moment as if I am experiencing it again for the first time.

Being in the moment is a wonderful experience. But many of those moments - especially while on vacation - can slip away when you return to your regular life. How wonderful to be able to capture them and keep them close to you forever and share them with others that want to take a peek at them.

That being said....

Thank you all for all of your input. It has been interesting. I will be aware of my surroundings. And will point and shoot....my camera that is ...to make some wonderful memories. We all have our own ways of remembering our experience. I hope you will all be able to recall those wonderful moments as time passes.

AnthonyGA

You have to set the priority when you go out. If you are going out to take pictures, bring your good camera, and hold it continuously in your hand, everywhere. If you are going out for some other activity and photography will be incidental to it, bring a cheap camera, and try to keep it safe but don't obsess over it.

Good photography requires that you concentrate on the photography. Photography that is incidental to something else will simply be documentation at best. A useful rule of photography is that you cannot photograph an activity well if you are also participating in it.

SUMMAGOLD

oopsy, just because you didnt experience or "have seen absolutely no evidence" of muggings in the papere or trip reports, doesnt mean it doesnt happen. dont be naive. i myself have traveled extensively and from nyc. i will say that i have "absolutely" seen it in Madrid.

oopsy

I did not say it hasn't happened. I said I doubted it was a "common" problem. I guess that depends on what one considers common.

6abc

What I have been hearing here and on other travel sites is that it is a common problem. Maybe more so in Barcelona then other European cities. It just amazes me that pickpocketing can be a persons lively hood. First of all how much can one make. Especially if you are working in a gang? And I just don't understand how people feel it is their right to take from others. What an invasion. But that doesn't just go for Barcelona that is just a statement.

Anyway, it does exist in Barcelona, it is a problem and I am surely not going to wear my diamond tiara. An I am thinking about buying a small point and shoot camera.

Ackislander

Not only can you make a living -- a good living -- from pickpocketing, there are actually "schools" that teach pickpocketing!

The world has not changed much since the days of Oliver Twist.

Aduchamp1

Not only can you make a living -- a good living -- from pickpocketing, there are actually "schools" that teach pickpocketing!
____
Instead of going to cooking schools, maybe tourists should go to pickpocket schools and pickpokcet the locals to get their money and cameras back.

kayd

If you have nothing in your pockets but a few euro coins and small denomination notes (loose, no wallet), you have nothing to fear from pickpockets, so all you need to worry about is holding on to the camera. Any other valuables can be left in your hotel room or worn in an under-clothing pouch.

It is the camera you love working with--take it to Barcelona and get your usual great photos!

6abc

Thank you kayd, I was almost thinking about buying a smaller camera that shoots raw but really can't afford to do that before we leave.

HUMMM pickpocketing school. What an interesting idea. What a great story to photograph and write about.