What has become of us all?

[Alan Edward Klein]

I understand this peculiar approach, so you don't get stuck in the waiting line. But to tell you the truth, generally speaking, selfies don't appeal to me. I have friends who "punish" me with their selfies in London or Paris..., being aware of my reaction. Yours !

I think my selfie of my wife and I in front of Mona is a fun shot. It's frankly different. Annotating it with an arrow adds to the fun. When someone is looking at my photo album or slide show, they laugh at it. Just what I want. Maybe you need to get friends who won't punish you because you shoot selfies. Seems snobby to me. I suppose you could ask a stranger to snap the shot. In any case, you're on vacation. Lighten up.

 

[photogear]

I think my selfie of my wife and I in front of Mona is a fun shot. It's frankly different. Annotating it with an arrow adds to the fun. When someone is looking at my photo album or slide show, they laugh at it. Just what I want. Maybe you need to get friends who won't punish you because you shoot selfies. Seems snobby to me. I suppose you could ask a stranger to snap the shot. In any case, you're on vacation. Lighten up.

Forget what i said : i was half kidding. Btw they are still my friends.

 

[jeffreyg]

This says it all. Taken with film (cropped to emphasize the commentary)

 

[Pieter12]

I think my selfie of my wife and I in front of Mona is a fun shot. It's frankly different. Annotating it with an arrow adds to the fun. When someone is looking at my photo album or slide show, they laugh at it. Just what I want. Maybe you need to get friends who won't punish you because you shoot selfies. Seems snobby to me. I suppose you could ask a stranger to snap the shot. In any case, you're on vacation. Lighten up.

 

[CMoore]

My wife and I admiring the Mona Lisa. Well, we didn;t want to wait on that long line.
View attachment 419605

Was that intentional, or just sort of an accident.
Either way, it is pretty funny

 

[tezzasmall]

View attachment 419649


This says it all. Taken with film (cropped to emphasize the commentary)

Excellent!!!

I see this all the time whilst driving around locally.

It's the ones who cross busy roads whilst looking at their phones are one of the biggest worry to me, I mean who's going to pay for the dent in my car??

And another new-ish phenomenon is cyclists that jump red lights whilst looking at their phones WITH headphones on!!! Ditto as above about the dent...

Terry S

 

[Pieter12]

And another new-ish phenomenon is cyclists that jump red lights whilst looking at their phones WITH headphones on!!!

Here, cyclists ignore all the rules of the road, run stop signs and red lights as if they did not exist.

 

[MattKing]

That's a great shot. I get your point. But when you're on vacation, you can't be everywhere during magic hour. My point is as you travel around from city to city, you take pictures the best you can under the circumstances at the time. The intention is to get a record of your vacation to fill up a photo album. It;s to keep a memory of your vacation and show friends and families. You frame the photo the best you can under the current circumstances. I leave my artsy shots for when I'm home shooting film with a MF or LF camera.

Of course, back in the day, people used their 8 millimetre movie cameras for that.
And of course when people came to visit them later, a few got to enjoy really interesting home movies.
And as for the rest....
In my case, I usually don't release the shutter unless there is something photographically interesting to record.
Even the record shots - people we meet - places we visit - need to be worth re-visiting visually to be worth recording.
Of course, I happen to really like an interesting portrait.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

View attachment 419659

That's the spirit.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Was that intentional, or just sort of an accident.
Either way, it is pretty funny

Intentional. See all those people behind us. Well that was the line that snaked round and round to get up close to Mona. Just wasn't worth waiting so long. Here's another shot closer. Same line. Mona must get tired with all these visitors. They come by the thousands daily.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Of course, back in the day, people used their 8 millimetre movie cameras for that.
And of course when people came to visit them later, a few got to enjoy really interesting home movies.
And as for the rest....
In my case, I usually don't release the shutter unless there is something photographically interesting to record.
Even the record shots - people we meet - places we visit - need to be worth re-visiting visually to be worth recording.
Of course, I happen to really like an interesting portrait.
View attachment 419661

Nice shot. I have loads of 8mm I used to show relatives and friends, also 35mm projected slide shows. No one cares any more. All they want is to show you their cellphone shots of their grand children blowing out candles.

 

[chuckroast]

Excellent!!!

I see this all the time whilst driving around locally.

It's the ones who cross busy roads whilst looking at their phones are one of the biggest worry to me, I mean who's going to pay for the dent in my car??

And another new-ish phenomenon is cyclists that jump red lights whilst looking at their phones WITH headphones on!!! Ditto as above about the dent...

Terry S

You forgot, while also wearing a diaper style face mask...

 

[CMoore]

Intentional. See all those people behind us. Well that was the line that snaked round and round to get up close to Mona. Just wasn't worth waiting so long. Here's another shot closer. Same line. Mona must get tired with all these visitors. They come by the thousands daily.
View attachment 419689

Oh Wow
I had no idea

That is quite the phenomenon

 

[gbroadbridge]

Oh Wow
I had no idea

That is quite the phenomenon

The crowds are better subject matter than the painting itself.
I can see that on Wikipedia.

 

[Don_ih]

I was at Niagara Falls and was wondering if Superman was available (if anyone remembers the scene from the movie).

 

[fdonadio]

Same thing at the Mona Lisa.
Same thing in Paris.

I couldn’t really get close to “Starry Night” (by Van Gogh) at MoMA (NYC) to really contemplate the painting. An incredibly awful lot of young people taking selfies, stumbling into each other (sometimes on purpose) while pushing their way into a place “close enough for Instagram”… a total mess.

I didn’t even want that badly to take a picture of it, to be honest.

 

[fdonadio]

When people have their noses stuck in their phone, the mess up the flow of foot traffic.

I was cycling yesterday in the outskirts of Berlin, through the north part of the Berliner Mauerweg (where the wall used to be). So much nature, so many beautiful sights… and an unforgettable sunset.

Most people I passed by were looking into their phones. A mom walking with her kids (while some were on scooters), pushing a baby cart… looking into her phone!!! I saw only one old lady taking pictures of the sunset (with her phone, of course) and stopped to greet her and say “such a beautiful sunset, eh?”. She smiled, nodded her head an I carried on.

I thought to myself: what’s the effing point of going into the nature if you’re going to stare at the damn phone?

 

[fdonadio]

You don't include yourself in holiday pix? I know I have (of me not you .

This is a sad aspect of my life.

During my 20-year marriage, I would be the one with the camera and phone, shooting pictures of lots of stuff, including my ex-wife. When I look into my negatives and digital files, I see literally hundreds of pictures of her. On the other side, she would take selfies for social networks, sometimes with me. She would rarely take pictures of me alone, and most of them were really bad.

I’ve been (with her) to Dallas, New Orleans, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco… northern Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Germany… Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay… And if I can count 50 pictures of me in these places, in total, I would be very surprised.

Sometimes it feels I didn’t live.

 

[snusmumriken]

I couldn’t really get close to “Starry Night” (by Van Gogh) at MoMA (NYC) to really contemplate the painting. An incredibly awful lot of young people taking selfies, stumbling into each other (sometimes on purpose) while pushing their way into a place “close enough for Instagram”… a total mess.

I didn’t even want that badly to take a picture of it, to be honest.

I never got closer than this to most of the van Goghs. I thought the frame was rather blousy, anyway,

 

[bewilson]

I gotta say, some of the stunts in the video go far beyond anything I've ever seen. I live and shoot in Utah, and I've seen lots of people, but no one brought a crane! Here's a paragraph from an essay I wrote 20 years ago on shooting in Bryce Canyon National Park:

There is a wind problem at Bryce Point. If you stand near the fence, your camera will be buffeted by the rather strong updraft. If you move back three feet you won't feel much of this wind at all. Try to keep back a bit, but it's tricky if the point is crowded and tourists crowd in front of your camera. Fortunately most of them are waiting for the sun, and aren't interested in shooting in the best light for the canyon. Practice your best manners here, chat with other photographers and if you are shooting large format, leave the shutter open so any interested party can look at the focusing screen; they're dying to get a look, and it's a great way to introduce yourself to them. Also, and I really don't like saying this, you'll need to avoid the Wallies. They are the ones dressed funny and are looking at the crowds, not the scenery. Wallies are named after the Wally character in the movie Crocodile Dundee, who talk big but know little, who like to position themselves in prominent tourist locations and talk like they know the area. They never do (I once heard a Wally tell a poor German fellow who was too kind to walk away about the animals in the area, the bobcat, the 'coon, and the varmint; I think he meant the coyote, but he didn't describe it very well). They will be an endless distraction if they start talking to you. They inhabit the viewpoints mostly in the afternoon and evening. Well, you've been warned.

The "best light" I was refering to is the pre-dawn light, either on the horizon or colored flat light in the canyon. Like this, shot at Bryce Point:


I've given up the national parks and the tourists. I shoot in the other great places in Utah, where hiking and riding trails is the main thing to do, and the viewpoints are all around and uninhabited: Fisher Towers, Grand Staircase/Burr Trail, and the San Rafael Swell.

 

[MattKing]

This is a sad aspect of my life.

During my 20-year marriage, I would be the one with the camera and phone, shooting pictures of lots of stuff, including my ex-wife. When I look into my negatives and digital files, I see literally hundreds of pictures of her. On the other side, she would take selfies for social networks, sometimes with me. She would rarely take pictures of me alone, and most of them were really bad.

I’ve been (with her) to Dallas, New Orleans, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco… northern Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Germany… Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay… And if I can count 50 pictures of me in these places, in total, I would be very surprised.

Sometimes it feels I didn’t live.

This makes me sad.
One way to deal with it is to have friends who are photographers. Even if you aren't in your photos, you end up in theirs, and they end up in yours, and you can make it a point to share!

 

[fdonadio]

This makes me sad.
One way to deal with it is to have friends who are photographers. Even if you aren't in your photos, you end up in theirs, and they end up in yours, and you can make it a point to share!

Yeah, I was even featured in an expo by a guy from Korea, a couple months ago, here in Berlin.

It was a crazy feeling!