It's quite debilitating to pull out a camera, wait for it to turn on, get everything all set up and just as you're about to snap the first picture feel twenty pairs of eyes drilling into the back of your skull as though you just stripped naked and said you were going to feast upon the brains of the living.
I employee a touch of hyperbole but there's still this weird presence of mind that you must be a strange tourist or one of those a few shots short of a roll artist kids whenever you pull out a camera and focus on something other than a bunch of people standing in a line.
After about 8 months of this picture thing, I've developed a thicker skin to the weird stares (or I've become the insane pretending she's an artist kid type with a few rolls of film to blow through) almost to the point I forget that I'm even doing something weird.
Then I start snapping pictures like this:
Or this:
And I feel the hair on the back of my neck pricking up warning my buried herd animal instincts there's a predator eyeballing you, run as fast as you can. We have moved a yellow alert on public humiliation, if you don't desist soon we'll be at red alert and then you'll have to fire all torpedoes on a Romulan Warbird.I'm still not totally immune as I had an idea to take a picture of the rose petals on a slightly rain soaked ground to document the light rain storm from the wedding but I only got one picture before I just couldn't take the looks anymore and put my camera away:
Do any of you other camera toting picture happy artists get the weird stares and fear of public humiliation? If not is there some sort of spray I could order to dispel the fear or baring that an invisibility cloak?Maybe if I just started snapping pictures of people straining to smile as they stand in a line bored out of their minds with the same picture you see every year for every occasion. Nah, I think I'll stick with rose petals on the rain soaked ground for now.
You got to have one stupid fish swimming against the tide, screwing up the spawning patterns of all the rest.
Yeah I get strange looks from people when I photograph food. I hate having to wait for my camera to start! I miss the old film cameras. Always ready to go.
ReplyDeleteYou should really try traveling around town with a pro-sumer video camera, like I had to college. Sure, just set up somewhere and start filming. No one at all thinks you're nuts - or worse, part of a news team that might want to interview them.
ReplyDelete:)
Also, your pictures are getting better and better. Keep ignoring those stares!
I don't think there is just "ONE" weirdo out there, count me in. I'm to the point that I really don't care what people think - sometimes I think those stares are "admiration"! :)
ReplyDeleteI take a lot of photos of food like Linda. I don't ever really care anymore. But it did take some getting used to!
ReplyDeleteI still get strange looks when I pull out my camera, but I stop thinking about it. It's about what I know looks good, not them. Most of my friends tease me about it, but they are usually happy I have something documented.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, it sounds like that wedding situation was a bit tricky, so I don't know how brave I would have been had it been me. Good job!
I take photographs in all sorts of places of all sorts of things. I do weddings and stuff (as the 'official photographer') but I also like to take pics of just about anything that catches my eye. And yes, I get weird looks from people. Particularly if there are children involved (ie if I am at the beach or the playground etc). I try to ask people first but sometimes that is just impractical...
ReplyDeleteOh, I definitely feel the stares. I think it helps people let it slide when they see the dslr camera. But good for you for not caring!
ReplyDeleteI did a portrait shoot today in a (REALLY) small town. Definitely got lots of stares. People even slowed down in their cars to get a good look. I felt awkward, but yeah. I pressed on, haha.
ReplyDeleteWow, pictures of the ground. It is so artistic.
ReplyDelete