By Charles Hibbert
Parents are missing out on precious holiday time by spending all their time behind the camera.
We all love looking back at holiday photos and seeing the memorable family moments caught on camera, but recent surveys suggest parents are spending too much time on the camera.
Mums are mainly guilty when it comes to spending too much time behind the lens, spending up to 40 minutes a day taking cute family photos and videos.
In spending this long capturing family moments making sure they’ll never be forgotten, parents are actually missing out on quality family time and precious moments.
Younger holiday goers in particular use their smartphones to record videos and take selfies, but it appears that parents are trying to get in on the trend.
Mums in particular are found not appearing in a lot of photos as they spend almost five hours of the whole holiday on their cameras.
Uploading photos on social media has become so common that capturing the holiday moment actually puts pressure on the families, with some taking up to 50 photos a day according to research by Butlin’s.
Researchers also found that mums take around 24 photos a day, but spend about two minutes getting the perfect shot for each photo.
One in thirteen parents admit that their photo-taking has resulted in them missing out on family activities, but shockingly, one in fourteen parents say they actually forget about some memories as they spend too much time taking photos.
Dermot King, managing director of Butlin’s says “We know that there is incredible pressure on families today to share their lives on social media, especially whilst on holiday, and we’re conscious as they are that this eats into their precious family time.”
Parents often miss out on family activities, as they need to capture photos of their children taking part in the activity, which means they miss out on the family experience.
The study shows that in the average family fifty per cent of cases the mum will take the photo, with dads taking about twenty-seven per cent and one for the children taking about ten per cent. The research also shows that at least six photos taken from the family will be uploaded to some form of social media the same day the photo was taken.
But twelve per cent of families do admit that they take too many photos with twenty-one per cent saying they actually have more fun on family activities when they don’t have the pressure of taking photos.
When looking back on family holidays from their childhood, sixty-four per cent say that the only memory they have of the activity is through the printed photos, highlighting why so many families need to capture these moments for the memories.
Memorable photos are necessary for many families, but experiencing the moment in itself is also as essential. So to make sure precious family time is not missed, Butlin’s have introduced photographers to three of their resorts to help families capture the fun moments whilst being able to fully experience the moment.
This means families can also get better quality photos to upload on social media and every member of the family can be in the photo, nobody has to miss out.
Royal photographer Samir Hussein said “Almost on in ten (families) want to help take fewer but better photos to free them up so parents can put down the camera and spent time with their children and I’m delighted that Butlin’s is championing this approach; as a new dad myself I couldn’t agree more.”
