People who feel the need to videotape everything they do. This past Monday, which was Columbus Day, I took my son to a nearby "farm" to pick some pumpkins for Halloween. They had hay trucks there which shuttled the customers to the pumpkin field and back. While I was sitting with my son on one of the trucks, I was watching as some of the other parents were filming their children and each other as the truck plodded along. Maybe it is just me, but it seems so pointless to videotape such trivial moments. I mean really, how many times are these people going to watch video of themselves riding on the back of a hay truck? Once? Maybe twice?
If I'm going to videotape something, it would have to be something out of the ordinary or extremely special. For example, an extraterrestrial spacecraft landing on the street in front of my house would definitely be something worth capturing on video.
I put "farm" in quotes because the place was not a real farm where crops are grown. It was more like a large field where they had one area with pumpkins laying on the ground, another area featuring a corn maze, pony rides, and stuff like that.
6 comments:
When we first got a video camera we seemed to bring it out only at Christmas and birthdays. When we went to watch the tape it was two hours of people opening presents and making the same lame jokes over and over. "Say hello to the camera. Hello camera"
Oh man. I have a horror story along these lines.
My wife and I went to one of our annual Civil War re-enactments and decided this time we were going to go ride on the horse-drawn wagon.
La-di-da...about half-way through, this branch snaps back and about smacks me in the head.
Guess what? My wife snapped an embarrassing pic of me reacting to it. Sheesh!
Any requests for the pic?
Yeah, that would be cool Larro!
What re-enactments do you generally go to?
I've been to Gettysburg twice on the anniversary of the battle. I would like to check out some different places. I think Chickamauga would be cool.
Actually I'd like to see tape of me doing stuff like this as a kid. Only one baby picutre survived the fire at my grandfather's property.
Though on the other hand I tossed miles of tape I made when married to my second wife, so I can see your side as well.
Hey Joe! It's been awhile!
Don't get me wrong. I am not saying that we should never photograph or film our kids.
I think what has happened though is that with the proliferaton of digicams, especially with so many people owning cell phones that have built in digicams, some people go overboard and film almost everything they do. I can't imagine how they can possibly find the time to watch all of it.
One of my wife's cousins is a prolific picture taker. Every month she sends e-mails out to everyone on her e-mail list linking to pictures taken the previous month. The number of pictures numbers into the hundreds!
I don't even bother looking at them because it takes so much time just to click on each picture. She has more pictures taken in a month than I do in a year!
I used to feel compelled to videotape and photograph EVERYTHING. I watched almost all of our kids' marching band shows and competitions, dance recitals, concerts, sports events, etc. through a camera lens. Looking back, I should have just enjoyed the moments with my own eyes, relaxed and not worried about getting every little moment on tape. We hardly ever pull out those tapes.
On Saturday my husband and I drove out to Starved Rock State Park to do some walking along the Illinois River and enjoy nature. He asked if I was going to take my camera and I said "nope". We have been to Starved Rock many, many times, and while being an amateur photographer I like to be ready for that unexpected photo op, it was very enjoyable to just relax, feel the breeze, take in the views and keep it in my own memory banks.
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