Afraid to do El Camino - Photography

yes, i left my camera at home....

Why not shorten the distance? I could happily spend 15 days just in the Bierzo.

Just a thought there

Rob

Take the camera and do the camino your own way, and leave the wife to do her camino in her own way if she is the cause of the frustration

It sounds as if you and your wife have different reasons for doing the Camino. I recommend discussing these reasons before leaving and planning from there. Depending on the outcome of that discussion, you might consider hiking separately during the day and meeting at the albergue either that night or in a few days hence. This way, you have time for each other and for the things that interest each of you.

I hiked with my husband this pass fall. One surprising outcome was a rekindling of your relationship, even after 38 years. We shared a lot of laughs and helped each other other through tendonitis, food poisoning, and a 24 hr. virus that when through the pilgrims.These were unexpected and I am mentioning it to you as a reason to leave time in your schedule for unplanned things.

I wish you and you wife a buen Camino

Having walked with a DSLR myself, I can understand where you are coming from. Without knowing your level of fitness or the distances you intend covering each day however, I can't offer much more than general advice.

Bring your camera but be prepared to trade its weight for something else. The goal of carrying no more than 10% of your body weight should still be achievable so long as you accept that other non-essential items will have to be sacrificed. Keeping the pack weight down will make it easier to get into better positions for photos and make it easier on your body too.

I would suggest that you let your wife walk on at her pace while you stop to take your photos. You may find that over the course of several kms, you catch up with her on and off throughout the day. I certainly found that when I was walking with people I met along the Camino. You no doubt know each other's pace by now and will be better able to judge if that will be true for you too.

I am also sure that your wife is well aware of your enthusiasm for photography and realises that you would like to bring your camera with you. She may however prefer to share the experience of walking with you. Now is the time to discuss what each of you is hoping to get from the Camino.

In answer to your main question, there is more than enough time to stop and take photos along the way. I spent many unsuccessful hours trying to track butterflies and other insects hoping they'd settle long enough to take a decent shot.

Due to the fact that I was taking an extended trip, I tried to limit the number of photos I took on any one day due to the number of cards I had. I still ended up buying extra cards while in Spain. You might want to enforce a similar limit. Sometimes restrictions have a way of focusing the mind and boosting creativity.

Hope this helps.

It is very easy, you will most likely end up walking separately at times, but you will have all day together once you get to your destination at the end of each day.

From Ponferrada it is about 120 miles, 9 days or so, if you have 15 days, you will have plenty of time to walk at a leisurely pace. Also, that part of the camino is fairly crowded, so if your wife is afraid of walking on her own, that might not be an issue.

In any case, I am sure you will find your own paces and compromise on things; personallyl, I would HATE walking with a photographer who stops for minutes just for the sake of taking a picture, it would wreck my nerves.

Whatever you end up doing, buen camino, amigo!