GatewayRedbirds.com

We saw Martin Short last night in a very small, old theatre 5 minutes from my house. It's the Fenway Park of theatres. Anyway, people in front of us were so obsessed with taking pictures that not only did they miss the whole show (pictures turned out pretty bad) but they annoyed the heck out of everyone else around them. I noticed many people doing that.

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.

Count me in on the no picture taking club. The last time I was in London, I didn't bother taking my camera. It looks the same as the first time I was there.

jim wrote: 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.

There a plenty of good reasons to take pictures. They provide great visual records of:
--how things have changed over time
--of family and friends
--of places you've been
--of things you've done
--of important life moments
--of beautiful things you've seen/experienced

Obviously, taking pictures in the middle of a performance is disruptive and, in general, just a really bad idea. I'm also not a fan of celebrity hunting with the camera, or of taking pictures in semi-private public places (like a restaurant), or anywhere that generally imposes on the privacy or experiences of others. With that said, I have many pictures of people I love, places I've been, and things that I've seen that mean a great deal to me and did nothing to detract from the moments they captured.

jim wrote: 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'm not against taking pictures, it's just that I would rather live the moment than worry about capturing it. I was in Europe last year for 2 weeks and I think I took about 70 pictures. I cherish those, but it also didn't get in my way of ever enjoying the actual moment.

Let's put it this way, if I am every fortunate enough to be at an event where some record is being broke (HR etc...), I will not be adding the bulb flashing. I would actually want to see it myself and experience it - I'll look at everyone elses photos after it's done.

jim wrote: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.

ghostrunner wrote:

jim wrote: 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!"

jim wrote:I'm not against taking pictures, it's just that I would rather live the moment than worry about capturing it.

do you write the box scores to the baseball games you attend?

Richie Allen wrote:

jim wrote: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.

Jocephus wrote:

jim wrote:I'm not against taking pictures, it's just that I would rather live the moment than worry about capturing it.

do you write the box scores to the baseball games you attend?

I keep diligent score.