The buffalo
I have a clear picture of the buffalo. It had the faintest trace of a limp as it barrelled across the road in its ungainly solo stampede. It had made plodding progress out from the trees, then took one look at our van and decided to belt it across the road before we got there. Who knows, the buffalo may have thought we were a possible predator, and decided to play things safe?
The guide
This is one of the many memories from South Africa’s Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve that I don’t have photographs to back up. It’s partly because the buffalo made a run for it too quickly for me to get my camera out, but mainly because of a piece of sage advice from our guide, Cyril.
As we were driving up to Hluhluwe from Durban, Cyril said something very wise. “Sometimes you need to put your camera down and just watch – it’s not all about taking photos.”
The fellow passenger
On a game drive, this is an incredibly easy trap to fall into. There’s a temptation to think that the whole thing is a competition to see who can get the best photo of an elephant to show the folks back home.
My fellow passenger, Sergey, didn’t listen to Cyril. He pretty much spent six hours clicking, taking in the reserve from behind his viewfinder. When we were discussing our favourite moments of the day on the way back home, he could only offer vague generalisms. He’d spent so much time trying to capture the experience that he hadn’t experienced it.
The memories
Barring the odd shot, my photos of the day aren’t up to much. But because I largely kept my camera in the bag, my memories are surprisingly vivid. I remember the warthog nervously scarpering as the enormous white rhino shuffled about in the mud; I remember the lion taking very deliberate glances to the other side of the watering hole to see what we were doing in our car; I remember the look of fear on Cyril’s face as the elephant in the middle of the road started to stare us down.
Would I have noticed this had I been trying to frame the picture all the time? I doubt it.
The lesson
And it’s not just game drives that Cyril’s advice applies to. How many times do we bother to look at the contours and colours of the scenery rather than just try and take a snap of it? Why can’t we describe how wonderful a building is rather than show a picture of it? Isn’t it better to be dancing and having a whale of a time rather than be the person taking photos of the dancer?
Sometimes – just sometimes – it’s better to put the camera down and enjoy the moment rather than record it for posterity. Being part of life is so much more rewarding than watching it from behind a digital screen.
Disclosure: I visited Hluhluwe-Imfolozi as a guest of Viator.
Tags: cameras, game drives, photography
Good advice, David!
I do try not to see the world entirely though a viewfinder, but don’t always succeed.
Good advice. If I stopped to consider how often I look at my pictures once I’m home, I’d probably take a fraction of the photos I do (and I’m a relative lightweight in this regard, barely filling half of my 2Gb card during a month in SE Asia).
I’ve been guilty of spending too long behind the viewfinder, and have then put away the camera and just enjoyed the experience. Whether it’s a game drive or witnessing natural phenomena such as an eclipse or aurora, without a camera we notice so much more, and not just with our eyes; I also find myself more aware of the surrounding sounds and smells.
Couldn’t agree more. I very rarely take photos unless they are of people. I can see an photo of an elephant any time I want and, let’s be honest, they’re all pretty much the same. The only photos I take are to remind me of events or nights out with friends, so I can look back on them in years to come.
Years back I went to the zoo and took about 60 photos of every type of animal there. When I got home I realised what an utterly pointless bunch of photos it was and that I would never have cause to look at the again. Life is much better experienced than captured as a 2D lifeless image.