People so obsessed with taking pictures

[Richie Allen]

We saw Martin Short last night in a very small, old theatre 5 minutes from my house. It's the Fenway Park of theatres.

Where was it at, Jim? We had tickets to see him in Madison tonight but the show got postponed until May 31st.

Arcadia theatre in St. Charles.

How was the show?

[jim]

We saw Martin Short last night in a very small, old theatre 5 minutes from my house. It's the Fenway Park of theatres.

Where was it at, Jim? We had tickets to see him in Madison tonight but the show got postponed until May 31st.

Arcadia theatre in St. Charles.

How was the show?

I thought it was pretty good. He did most of his characters - he would run an old video of a SNL character as he changed into that costume.

Nothing spectacular by any stretch, but definitely worth it I think.

[ghostrunner]

Now I'm not a picture taker - but please help me understand why it's better to ruin the moment just so you can look at a picture later and remember what you didn't really experience.

I hate to reinforce a stereotype, but this reminds me of something. My wife and I were in Portugal a few years ago at one of those chapels made of bones. We went in there with just a few other people around and checked the whole thing out. After about 20 minutes or so, I started taking a few pictures. Suddenly this Japanese tourist group comes in - probably 50 people - and they all have cameras. They walk in and start taking pictures, basically doing a lap around this little room, and 5 minutes later they were out the door. I was completely dumbfounded.

I love Japanese tourists. They just do their thing. More power to them. I think they travel in those large groups because they very often need a tour guide to take them around because of the language barrier, which is considerable. I always felt bad for the solo Japanese travelers I met, mostly in New Zealand, because they were really nice, but they seemed lonely because they couldn't talk to anyone for longer than 5 minutes before communication became really difficult.

I like that they don't try to conceal their excitement at being in and seeing new places. The Germans are similar in that regard. I'm conditioned to act cool, like I've seen this before, when on the inside I'm like "holy **** this is AWESOME!"

That wasn't really the feeling I got. I felt more like the way Jim decribes it. They didn't really seem interested in looking at it, just taking pictures. You could just buy a postcard.

[G. Keenan]

Now I'm not a picture taker - but please help me understand why it's better to ruin the moment just so you can look at a picture later and remember what you didn't really experience.

I hate to reinforce a stereotype, but this reminds me of something. My wife and I were in Portugal a few years ago at one of those chapels made of bones. We went in there with just a few other people around and checked the whole thing out. After about 20 minutes or so, I started taking a few pictures. Suddenly this Japanese tourist group comes in - probably 50 people - and they all have cameras. They walk in and start taking pictures, basically doing a lap around this little room, and 5 minutes later they were out the door. I was completely dumbfounded.

I love Japanese tourists. They just do their thing. More power to them. I think they travel in those large groups because they very often need a tour guide to take them around because of the language barrier, which is considerable. I always felt bad for the solo Japanese travelers I met, mostly in New Zealand, because they were really nice, but they seemed lonely because they couldn't talk to anyone for longer than 5 minutes before communication became really difficult.

I like that they don't try to conceal their excitement at being in and seeing new places. The Germans are similar in that regard. I'm conditioned to act cool, like I've seen this before, when on the inside I'm like "holy **** this is AWESOME!"

That wasn't really the feeling I got. I felt more like the way Jim decribes it. They didn't really seem interested in looking at it, just taking pictures. You could just buy a postcard.

I can understand why. Christian religious buildings are probably full of symbolism, styles, and significances that they don't care about. It's just another church in the end. You've seen one, you've seen them all, sort of thing. I'll be honest, I was pretty much bored of Buddhist temples in Asia after seeing about two of them. You can admire the craftsmanship, the art, etc, but if you're being honest with yourself, you basically have no clue what you're looking at, and they all start to blend together after a very short period of time. So you go to a place you feel obligated to go to since it's "famous" and you snap a few pictures and you leave. I'm sure it's the same kind of thing for them.

[Cronos]

I used to be in the club of never wanting to take pictures; I didn't see the point. Then as I got older I realized just how good (and rare) the times were that I got to be together with my good friends since we all live all over the country now. Now everytime we get together I make sure I catch a few moments in photos and video. I figure 40 years from now it'll give us something to snicker at between our cups of fixodent and prescrips of viagra.

I found the urge to videotape to be a lot stronger when alcohol becomes involved. The best videos to view 24 hours later are the ones you never knew you filmed.

[Maclowery]

I am in the middle. I have friends that don't have cameras and could care less. I also have friends that totally make the night into "Lets Just Take Pictures Of Ourselves All Damned Night" ! @! !!!!

I love seeing pictures of my special nights out, or special trips, or great nights with family, etc etc. When I remember to take my camera, and then at said event remember to take the damned thing out, I always am happy months and years later, because it helps me remember just how awesome of a time I was having at that point.

Basically, I can go out and have an awesome day or night, regardless. But seein' photos helps me, years later, remember those days much more than I would otherwise. If anything, I wish I had my camera more often.

[JCShutout]

++ Jim. I gave up trying to take pictures. I have some rolls of film I never got developed from when I went to Rome and Nicaragua. I'd just rather be in the moment. If I want to go back to Nicaragua, I'll quiet things down and meditate and go back there, or I'll re-read journals I wrote at the end of many days. I guess journals are my pictures, although I don't write enough, or very well.

That said, there are some people who really get into pictures, because its like an art form. More power to them. A certain personality type I'm sure which recalls memories through a more visual example. For them, taking that picture is part of the moment, and if you're one of them, cool.

I do utilize pictures for people. Seeing pictures of people cause neurons associated with memories and experiences of those people to activate, and I'm calling them and we're talking about old times within a few minutes. Pictures of friends are very important for me. Part of me wishes I could get into pictures to secure those memories, but the rest of me laughs and shrugs. Its not my personality type, and it would ruin the experience for me, so I try to enjoy the times and hope a friend or two are photographers.

[fulldeck]

I would say I am more on the obsessed side of things when it comes to taking pictures. For instance, during my trip to Pittsburgh last season to see the Cards play I must have taken 200 pictures of Pujols in a defensive position at 1B over the 3 day weekend. My excuse was that I was still learning about my camera and I had a great lens so I had to take as many pictures as I could. After a quick look, I saved 618 pictures from my trip to Pittsburgh.

I don't think I missed anything about the games either. Say I was setting up to take pictures of the pitcher; I took the pictures and then lowered the camera to watch the play unfold. Now if I was focusing on 2B hoping to capture a double play I would miss where the ball went, but it is worth it to me.