This resonates with something I experienced recently personally. I met my family members after a long time and we were all so absorbed in talking and catching up that nobody thought to take a single photograph. At the time it almost felt like an oversight - shouldn't we have "captured" this?

But looking back now, I realise I remember that gathering with unusual clarity - who was sitting where, who said what and when, even small details like what people were wearing. I have a sharper memory of that afternoon than of many other occasions where I did take photos.

Reading your explanation of attentional disengagement, I think I understand why. There was no moment where any of us reached for a phone and let our brains quietly clock out because "it's been captured." We had nothing to outsource the moment to, so we stayed with it. I also find myself recalling that afternoon more often than any other ocassion precisely because I have nothing to outsource those moments too and recalling it often seems to be the only way to committing it to long term memory so I can go back to it in future.