please empty your brain below

A few things that always baffle/enrage me about tourists with video cameras:

1. They often take video of something THAT ISN'T MOVING.i.e. a building.
2. Do they ever watch the stuff anyway once they get home?
3. I see people so obssessed with videoing everything in their field of vision that they aren't actually 'seeing' it or experiencing it themselves, and furthermore are missing out on the whole context of whatever it is that they're shooting.

When I travel, I now make an effort to try and take in everything around me, and refrain from taking obvious 'touristy' shots - on a recent trip to New York, there was an almost Pavlovian response to approaching the Statue of Liberty - 50 cameras all lifted at once and 'snap,snap,snap'. No-one was actually 'looking' at the thing! I've decided that if I want
eed a pic of that sort of thing, I'll buy a postcard...

The flip side of the coin is trawling through flickr randomly and realising that not only somebody else has already taken *that* picture but they have made a much better job of it already.

Interestingly coincides with something I discovered today: http://www.nonphotographyday.com/ - click on "info" for interesting reason why.

Amazing use of the apostrophe in this piece. Well done that Blogger!

I agree with drD. The quotation marks were used to great effect as well.

It was the use of metaphor and simile that got me Fantastic!

Seriously though, I always have liked taking photos, and started using Flickr as a storage space in case of PC crash - BUT, things changed after I discovered the joys of Duck Balancing

Dave Gorman, eat your heart out

For a minute there Misty I thought I'd come to the wrong blog.

BTW the use of paragraphs on your blog is exemplary DG

Steven - I couldn't agree more. I bought a video camera when my daughter was a baby thinking it would be nice to be able to watch in years to come. I hated it. It's Schrodingers cat the act of observing changes the object.

And I'd like you all to spare a thought for those photbloggers among us who not only have to decide on the picture that will arouse most interest (what? only 1 comment today??) but also have the dilema of choosing the format and size. I find it quite curious how the character of a picture on screen changes with its size, shape and background.

The move to digital by a large proportion of the population causes me some annoyance because suddenly everyone is a 'photographer'. Anyone can press a button if the camera works everything out; that doesn't make them a photographer.

Take as many pictures as you can of whatever you can, because it'll all be needed some day; especially in my field, where I tear my hair out daily because someone hasn't submitted, nor can find, a suitable picture for various books.

GoodTwin, I disagree. If you have a camera on you, you is photographer. No camera on you? you is no photographer. (unless photographer is your job description)

What it doesn't make them, is a good photographer.

Sometimes it's worth leaving the camera at home and just experiencing it. Since I got my digital camera I find my memories sometimes end up in the camera instead of in my head...

I think Dave Gorman's comments are just from people hanging on the coat tails of his celebrity. If he wasn't famous, would they comment? I don't think so.

Wow - these comments are delightfully fluffy and voluble - top class!











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