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Wednesday, July 20, 2005 · posted at 5:10 AM

Kodak moment. Karen's dad can always tell when someone else has taken a picture. Not just because all parties are included... but because photographs other people take are notoriously bad.

Inevitably every time you hand your camera over into a stranger's hands you are guaranteeing one of the following to be frozen in time forever:

Agape mouth in the midst of saying "just push the big button"
A close-up of facial pores and other skin ailments
Blurriness
6 feet of extra space on one side
Half of any monumental sightseeing point of interest lopped off (e.g. Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, Mount Rushmore with only 2 faces)
The stranger's thumb
Closed eyes
Shadowy darkness
A brick wall background (or other uninteresting backdrop)
Horizontal frames when they should clearly be vertical... and vice versa

Sure, one may blame photographic/technological inexperience... but that'd be wrong. My roommate has even "preshot" the camera and ended up with bad photos. Lack of motivation usually drives poor pictures. Your average picture taker doesn't care that your vacation to Mykonos is perfectly preserved - just that his/her vacation to Mykonos is perferctly preserved, and that usuallymeans getting back to it as quickly as possible.

While I was initially put off when a guy on the Spanish Steps declined to take our picture, I'm now thinking that may be the better alternative to getting the picture back only to find that the lighting is bad or he didn't hold his hand still enough.

Has the era of digital cameras and "previewing" functions, affected the prolificacy of bad pictures? Less then you would think. Unless your LCD screen is really good or you're not Asian, closed eyes can easily slip by. Off-center pictures cannot be remedied by pantomiming to turn the camera. Second chance shots are rare as (1) the stranger has already demonstrated poor picture-taking abilities and (2) I feel bad bothering the same person again and for insulting their picture-taking prowess (or lack there of).

Rarely, however, you will run into the awesome pinch hitter. The girl who will crouch to get the right angle (and not shoot up your nostrils)... the guy who will hand the camera back to you and say, "Looks life fire"... the guy who will tilt the camera to get a cool diagonal picture of the Tower of London... and you will want to buy them a gelato... then they will look at your weirdly and decline... and then you will think "well more for me..." but I digress...

So what's the proper picture etiquette? Decline if you're going to half-ass it. Take the picture as though the people in it are your best friends. Use the viewfinder/LCD screen to center photo - that's what it's there for (sometimes there's even a little focus box). Make sure the preview picture is satisfactory before handing back the camera or leaving.

And if all else fails? Well, hell, there's PhotoShop.



	Wednesday, July 20, 2005 · posted at 5:10 AM Kodak moment. Karen's dad can always tell when someone else has taken a picture. Not just because all parties are included... but because photographs other people take are notoriously bad. Inevitably every time you hand your camera over into a stranger's hands you are guaranteeing one of the following to be frozen in time forever: Agape mouth in the midst of saying "just push the big button" A close-up of facial pores and other skin ailments Blurriness 6 feet of extra space on one side Half of any monumental sightseeing point of interest lopped off (e.g. Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, Mount Rushmore with only 2 faces) The stranger's thumb Closed eyes Shadowy darkness A brick wall background (or other uninteresting backdrop) Horizontal frames when they should clearly be vertical... and vice versa Sure, one may blame photographic/technological inexperience... but that'd be wrong. My roommate has even "preshot" the camera and ended up with bad photos. Lack of motivation usually drives poor pictures. Your average picture taker doesn't care that your vacation to Mykonos is perfectly preserved - just that his/her vacation to Mykonos is perferctly preserved, and that usuallymeans getting back to it as quickly as possible. While I was initially put off when a guy on the Spanish Steps declined to take our picture, I'm now thinking that may be the better alternative to getting the picture back only to find that the lighting is bad or he didn't hold his hand still enough. Has the era of digital cameras and "previewing" functions, affected the prolificacy of bad pictures? Less then you would think. Unless your LCD screen is really good or you're not Asian, closed eyes can easily slip by. Off-center pictures cannot be remedied by pantomiming to turn the camera. Second chance shots are rare as (1) the stranger has already demonstrated poor picture-taking abilities and (2) I feel bad bothering the same person again and for insulting their picture-taking prowess (or lack there of). Rarely, however, you will run into the awesome pinch hitter. The girl who will crouch to get the right angle (and not shoot up your nostrils)... the guy who will hand the camera back to you and say, "Looks life fire"... the guy who will tilt the camera to get a cool diagonal picture of the Tower of London... and you will want to buy them a gelato... then they will look at your weirdly and decline... and then you will think "well more for me..." but I digress... So what's the proper picture etiquette? Decline if you're going to half-ass it. Take the picture as though the people in it are your best friends. Use the viewfinder/LCD screen to center photo - that's what it's there for (sometimes there's even a little focus box). Make sure the preview picture is satisfactory before handing back the camera or leaving. And if all else fails? Well, hell, there's PhotoShop.	Recent Posts Overheard at the bookstore:Girl: I'm looking for a... diatribe to Tom, part 1It's a shame that Tom Cruis... diatribe, part 2Cruise: There is no such thing as ... diatribe, part 3Cruise: You just communicate about... "If you've seen a spoon, you know how to spoon." ... Quotes from American Psycho:Jean: What's that? Pat... Top Ten Memorable Moments in Europe. The bird's e... Mmm. Reprocessed pig fat.The county fair is back -... But Cousin Larry...Why is it that all the calls du... You know you're getting old when the answers to EW... Morning news babie goose ryan bluemouse daves son dawntaught desiree diorama emily escadawg galveric high entropy invisible cube jepgato kyellow lilly mhuang mogbert nudream starfish + coffee verbivore Archives March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 January 2007 March 2007 April 2007 November 2008

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