Comments on: Digital Eyes

By: Matsenio

Matsenio — Thu, 18 May 2006 21:12:26 +0000

Some interesting points here… I fully appreciate the author’s pain, especially after I went to see the Mona Lisa in the Louvre and was unable to concentrate with all the flash-bulbs going off (literally about 2 a second, continuously). Sometimes gratuitous camera use can be almost as bad as using a mobile phone in a movie theatre.

Kimberley has a point though; some people like to take a lot of photos, and not just for the sake of saying “I’ve got a lot of photos”. Increasingly these days they are used in artistic endeavours (anyone seen Rasterbator?).

And it’s important to remember that these people paid a lot of money to go travelling, and IMHO it makes people a bit selfish, and they probably say to themselves “well I’m never coming here again, so I may as well get a good amount of photos to remember it by, regardless of what people think”. Which brings me back to one of Bugsy’s comments - how can you really enjoy something with a camera stuck to your head?

I think moderation is the key, which doesn’t help much because it’s a subjective term. Otherwise I can think of two options:

1) Designate areas of a tourist destination where photos are allowed, and other areas where they’re not. Some museums and art galleries have a “no camera” policy, so why not extend this a little bit and keep both sides happy?

2) Encourage people to use some sort of “wearable camera” that simply takes pictures of everything you turn your head towards, as you’re looking around. That way you don’t inconvenience others by having to “stage” your photo. The problem is, of course, that you can’t usually get a decent photo without a flash-bulb.

p.s. I notice that there hasn’t been a blog entry here for a good few months…. I think that places you in the bottom of the blog-war standings, Bugs

By: Kimberley

Kimberley — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 16:52:46 +0000

I appreciate what you have to say here…I do think it’s all about the “freeness” of the digicam images and not wanting to miss out on the opportunities. Plus, many modern travelers seem to be more about what I call the “Roaming Gnome/I was here” concept than actually absorbing the cultural experience.

However, some of us are there for two reasons…First to enjoy the experience, but also to express ourselves through the impressions we take with us - not just in our heads, but in our microchips. For me, a large part of the experience is the translation of the culture/art into my own art (impressions) which I then share with others (who care to look).

I for one am glad that there are thees and mees out there taking it in in our own unique ways.

Happy traveling!
Kimberley (in Vermont)

By: bugsy

bugsy — Sat, 24 Sep 2005 14:37:15 +0000

I use this,

http://aclog.ionosfera.com/wordpress-plugins/geopositions/

Basically you set up a bunch of locations and using a keyword is parses it in your post and replaces it with the links…

By: Croaky

Croaky — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 14:42:06 +0000

Damn, I was looking forward to downloading a thousand random pictures of the Basilica on my 33k modem at 10,000RP/hour, but I guess I’m gonna have to burn my bandwidth elsewhere.

PS: How do you do the cool google maps etc. position thingee?