08 January 2009

My Problem with Semi-Pro Camera Users

Yesterday, I met up with a good college buddy. He happened to be in the vicinity and had requested for some company. Having not seen him in what seemed like ages, I met up him and had some drinks in the Powerbooks coffee section of Greenbelt. He was in Glorietta covering a Honda event for one of his part-time jobs. Being an avid car lover and photography enthusiast, he has combined the two hobbies into a profitable sideline. In the course of the conversation, he had mentioned how competitive the photography profession is especially with the current surge of demand for professional cameras.

Admittedly, back in college, while I was taking up my Communication Arts course, I used to go crazy over photography, putting it up on the pedestal as one of the professions I hope to pursue. Beknownst to me, the world was gradually seeing the photography in the same light and those who can afford it have invested at the very least, a semi-professional cameras, which they proudly and quite boastfully bring to major events.

I had no problems with this until one of my uncles brought his semi-professional camera to my great grandmother's funeral last year. For some reason, I felt offended at how he kept taking pictures as the people wept around the casket and walked behind the black funeral car with the dirge playing old Chinese favorites. He felt so impersonal that I realized how detached he appeared to be - like he wasn't present to mourn the loss of his grandmother, but seems to be either showing off his expensive camera and making keepsakes of his outstanding angles. I doubt a funeral is something you'd like to plaster all over your family album.

With the digitalization of photography, people can take pictures for granted - no longer worried about wasting good film or a blurred shot. Pictures can quickly be seen, assessed, erased, and plugged into a computer for editing. It's because of this hassle-free technology that people are drawn to it - to an irritating point that you hear everyone boasting about angles and blurs and apertures - that it makes you wonder if they have any idea what they are really talking about.

I am not sure if this is a form of sourgraping, but I know I don't like trends very much - they just ruin the fun when you know everyone's doing it. But... honestly, seeing flighty kids my age and sometimes even older use these semi-professional cameras to show off or just to camwhore is really irritating.

Now, having sufficient money to buy myself one - I am sitting in the middle feeling extremely hesitant it would be a worthwhile investment.

4 comments:

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Tin said...

good thing the semi-pro cameras are heavy for these camwhores to abuse hehe. also, it irritates me when people get the most expensive camera they can buy, then later complain why they can't get jaw-dropping photos from it.

Anonymous said...

With all things that makes this world tick, there are boundaries set to ensure that we won't trample on people's beliefs, feelings and privacy. The problem with the growing number of amateur photographers is that they only grow in skill but not in character.