robglazebrook.com

You know what has really amazed me the most since I’ve started taking photos more regularly (what with the new camera and all)? The number of photos I ~don’t~ take. That is, the number of times I see something and think to myself, “wow, that’d make for a fantastic photo” and still do nothing. I envision how I’d frame it, how close I’d want to be, the angle and so on… and then walk away.

I understand in part the reasons behind this. First, there is the problem of time. When I’m out on campus, walking between buildings, I usually see several things I’d like to take a picture of. Unfortunately, if I’m between buildings on campus, that means I’m going somewhere, and I’ve probably only a few minutes to get there. To stop and take the picture would risk me being late to class. For example, I’m obsessed with Catt hall’s exterior, yet I rarely have an excuse to walk to just the places necessary to give me a good, unimpeded view of Catt’s spires. It’s out of the way. So I don’t take the picture.

Sometimes I don’t take the picture because I realize my equipment just isn’t up to the task. I love my camera, don’t get me wrong, but there are some things it is simply not capable of capturing. For example, I love the reflections of the other buildings off the windows of the Parks Library from about 200 yards distant to the south. On a sunny day, you can see most of Beardshear in the library’s glass front. However, my camera only has a 3x optical zoom, which isn’t enough to capture the windows with sufficient clarity to do the shot justice. Also, without a tripod, the shot would probably come out too blurry even if I did have the zoom. I do not have a steady hand. I even tried moving closer to get the shot within my range, but that changes the reflections entirely. I hope somebody captures the shot someday, but it probably won’t be me.

Other times, and probably moreso oftentimes, I don’t take the picture because the picture includes People I Don’t Know. The thought of walking up to someone and taking their picture when they are Random Person on the Street and I am (presumably) Creepy Guy with a Camera is still far too scary for me to contemplate. I’m sure that’s an indication that I am very much an Amateur Photographer. I’m hoping the fear goes away someday, even though I’ve no delusions of ever being anything more than a Mediocre Photographer. For example (you loving these yet?), I was walking out of the library yesterday and saw two girls sitting on a stone bench, engaged in a friendly, animated conversation. One was dressed in traditional Midwestern garb (plain tee in subdued tones, shorts of a pale color), while the other was dressed in traditional Arabic garb (deep, vibrant colors, nothing but her face uncovered). I thought it’d make a fantastic photo, but I couldn’t bring myself to pull my camera out of my pocket and start shooting. Then, after I left the library to head to class, I passed a statue known as Border Crossing (which is a good shot in itself), and somebody was lying propped against the legs of the statue, reading. Again, nice shot; again, I didn’t get it.

I’m overcoming this last fear slowly, I think. After all, I did take out my camera in the men’s restroom yesterday (pictured above). :) I couldn’t stop myself from that one, mostly because I thought of the title of the picture before I took it. And when you’ve got a title as good as “if i can’t whip out my camera in a men’s restroom and start snapping pictures, the terrorists have won,” you’ve really gotta take that shot.