My family’s 2-week European trip last month certainly had its ups and downs. While we will soon forget most of the hiccups from that trip, there is one thing that still bothers me that we experienced in multiple locations.
Lines for Photo Ops
The thing that still irks me is that there were major lines for prime photo spots. And yes, it’s partly because certain locations are just very scenic and popular, like this one:
But mostly, there were long lines because everyone thinks they are an influencer and each person/group spends an inordinate amount of time taking selfies in a ton of different poses. When there is a line of people waiting to take a photo, I think it’s rude to do a long photo shoot. Yep, I said it.
On our tour of Santorini, we had an hour of free time in Oia. But, the line to take a photo at the spot above was at least 30 minutes. We decided to skip it and take a photo a bit farther down where we only had to wait behind one annoying “influencer”:
Trevi Fountain in Rome was another place. It always has a huge crowd, and you really have to be assertive to get close to the fountain.
To get this family photo with the water in the picture, we had to wait for several groups to finish and then hop into their spot quickly.
However, a group of young adults next to us was then annoyed with us because they wanted the additional space to do a widespread photo shoot with no others in the vicinity. Really? There are hundreds of people here and you want a large portion of the fountain to yourself? Good luck!
Wait, since I’m a travel blogger, am I also part of the problem? I hope not. I make every effort to be very quick with photos at locations where I see others are waiting. We usually snap a quick selfie and move on.
I understand that for many people, a trip to these spots is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So, they want to get all the photos and all the poses. But, social media has increased the popularity of certain spots tremendously. Many other people are also trying to see the same places. Take a few quick photos and move on. PLEASE!
Sadly, social media has really distorted the motivations behind travel for a lot of people, with ego, likes and ‘content’ being at the forefront of everything, rather than an organic experience. Some of the PR companies that send influencers on trips don’t help either – as they stipulate certain content quotas as part of the conditions of the free trip.
@Cherryl So true.
“When there is a line of people waiting to take a photo, I think it’s rude to do a long photo shoot. Yep, I said it.”
This isn’t an opinion. This is a fact!
My policy is to skip taking photos at crowded places where there is more than a 5-7 minute wait maximum. The reality is that there is no need to take photos at famous places – none of your friends care if you do and you yourselves honestly don’t care – you know you were there and you don’t need photographic proof to convince yourself that you were there.
You’re a travel blogger rather than an influencer. I loathe influencers. They’re childish narcissists who couldn’t care less about normal people.
So many “normal” travelers are also paying for photo shoots at all of these places and not doing it during the off hours. The lines they create are annoying and quite frankly shows how self absorded some people are. I will be curtious for a certain amount of time but not for 20 minutes to let someone get every pose possible, when we just want to get a few quick pictures.
The nice thing if there is one about jetlag when we were on Santorini is that I was able to get up early and get photos in Oia before the hordes arrived. The only other folks taking pics at that hour were engaged couples with their own photographers.
@Chris That’s definitely the way to do it. Otherwise, it’s crazy crowded.