Photo or video?
What’s the best way to capture memories?
Everyone knows it. If you want to capture a moment or create a memory that you can remember later, you usually reach for the camera. It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple cell phone camera, a GoPro or a professional camera. The point is to capture what you see, to document the moment. Sometimes you just want to show your friends or family what you just experienced. Other times it’s just a recording for yourself.
Personally, I find that such shots are a kind of ticket back to that moment. When you look at them again in a few weeks, months or even years, you often remember little details and the feeling you had.
During our trip — and also here in Germany — Marc and I took countless photos. Both with the cell phone and with our cameras. With the cell phone we also took videos from time to time but usually they were and are rather photos.
The advantages of videos
Since our next trip is coming up soon — even if we don’t know yet where exactly it should go — we thought about recording more videos this time.
In Thailand, I shot a few short videos with my phone from time to time and towards the end of our trip, we unpacked the OsmoPocket to film the scooter rides, record the area and the landscape and thus create some moving pictures. But we haven’t really got to grips with it yet. That should change now.
A few weeks ago, we watched the videos of the OsmoPocket and immediately felt transported back in time. Even if the videos were recorded “just like that” and rather amateurishly, they are still pretty cool memories. A video is already something different than a photo.
The right equipment
To make more videos in the future, we bought a GoPro. Since I would also like to take some photos and videos under water, we bought a stabilizing lens and a dome for the GoPro. This will make the shots even clearer, more stable and easier. We even want to try to shoot a few videos for YouTube. So to speak, a small digital video blog. For this, Marc has procured two small microphones for the GoPro. These are simply glued to the camera and look like little plush balls. Of course we want to continue to make many great photos. But in addition this time also videos.
Photo or video? Which would you choose?
I have now asked myself the question whether I would prefer a photo or a video. And I have to say, I can’t really decide.
With a photo, you freeze a moment. When you look at it, you often know exactly where and from which situation the photo was taken. You remember the feeling, the circumstances and much more. A photo can be printed out and hung on the wall as a reminder. Use it as a wallpaper on your smartphone or notebook, or put it in a picture frame by your bed. There are many ways to use a photo.
A video, however, can’t be printed out and hung up. You have to play it to view it in its entirety. But unlike a photo, a video also conveys sounds, movement, and therefore a certain liveliness. A video can do more than capture a brief moment and tell a story.
Of course, a photo can also tell a story. But they are just two different ways to create memories.
I love looking at photos, creating a photo book, or printing out a few select images to place around the home. But I also love watching videos and noticing the sounds, reliving everything from more than one perspective.
Deciding whether I would prefer a photo or a video is anything but easy. Therefore, I am very glad that I do not have to decide.
We are absolute beginners as far as videography is concerned but hey, you always start sometime. I think that the first videos could be very, very embarrassing and in a year or later you laugh yourself to death, what mistakes you have made at that time. But it was the same with the photos. We’ll get better with time. And so we can create wonderful memories that will bring a smile to our faces and maybe to others.
