Should You Be There, Or Remember You Were There

This is a dilemma I often face as a photographer: do I put the camera down and soak in the experience, or do I pick up the camera and attempt to share the experience with others. Do I live in the now, or do I filter the now the probably valuable later to so and so? The goal is a healthy balance, and doing both when possible. Sometimes this is hard to hit.

Here is a picture and some thoughts showing how this culture generally tips one way. The troubling trend: "This is definitely something I've noticed a lot of lately: people are more interested in taking photos of something they're witnessing than actually, you know, witnessing it."