This is my second time participating in the Worldwide Photo Walk, and it was another positive experience. The 2009 walk took place on the University of Toronto campus, but this year my Toronto group walked around Yorkville on Saturday, October 1st. We met at 2 PM at a park near Rosedale subway, and meandered all over the place, finally ending up at Bay and Bloor. The group had dinner at a nearby pub afterwards, but I got separated from them around 5 and just ended up going home…
Anyway, it was a lot of walking, and we were in a large group so it must have seemed like we were a swarming bunch of camera-carrying locusts sometimes - especially when we were invited into Fire Station 10 by the very friendly local firefighters. ;) That was a really cool experience. I loved getting to clamber up the sides of the truck, check out the equipment, and ask them questions. What I didn’t love - was noticing the little stuffed fireman dog in an office window and taking a shot of that - then having two other photographers approach me, ask me about what I was shooting, and then proceed to take pretty much the exact same shot, from the exact same angle!
I don’t consider myself a particularly competitive person, but there was something about that situation that really rubbed me the wrong way. I realize that on a photo walk like this, there are going to be things that grab the attention of everyone with a camera, and as much as we pride ourselves on the unique vision we each possess, there stands a good chance of our producing some very similar images at the end of the day. But I think what really irked me was the obvious lack of creativity, and the general copycat attitude… They didn’t even have the good grace to be subtle about it. I was not impressed.
Regardless, I didn’t let that brief moment tarnish the shiny (ooh, my first ‘Firefly’ reference) day. :) And overall, I feel I got some great shots which I’ve posted at the end of this entry - so please check them out, and feel free to comment.
One more thing (and now it’s time for a Steve Jobs reference - hee)… I found it interesting that time and again, I turned to my iPhone 4 over my Canon DSLR. My good friend Jo-Anne (who was also participating) assured me that I shouldn’t feel bad or weird about that, the most important thing was having fun - but still. I’ve got to admit, I felt a little self-conscious sometimes - especially with my SLR and big telephoto lens hanging around my neck!
Now, before I got my iPhone I never went anywhere without my Canon PowerShot A2100 IS (a powerful little digital point-and-shoot) but these days, unless it’s an official shoot - I’m taking more everyday shots with my iPhone than anything else. I know I’m not alone in this. Apple’s iPhone 4 is officially the most popular camera on Flickr, according to stats from the site.
I also know the saying, 'the best camera you’ve got - is the one you have with you,’ and I truly believe that. But I still find it intriguing that my 'go to’ camera for those three-plus hours was a camera phone. ;)
I really can’t wait for the release of iOS 5, which will include a ton of awesome new features and benefits, but which, from a photography standpoint, will introduce using the volume button as a hardware shutter button instead of having to rely completely on the on-screen button. Much, much better. Oh, and it’ll be faster and easier to take pics too - since there’ll be a camera button on the iPhone’s screen, right next to the 'slide to unlock’ bar. Very cool indeed. :)
So yeah. This blog post went ever so slightly off-topic, but as far as I know - I won’t be arrested by the non-existent Blog Police for rambling a little, and for using too many hyphens, emoticons, and parentheses! ;) Heehee. Thanks for reading…
Anyway, it was a lot of walking, and we were in a large group so it must have seemed like we were a swarming bunch of camera-carrying locusts sometimes - especially when we were invited into Fire Station 10 by the very friendly local firefighters. ;) That was a really cool experience. I loved getting to clamber up the sides of the truck, check out the equipment, and ask them questions. What I didn’t love - was noticing the little stuffed fireman dog in an office window and taking a shot of that - then having two other photographers approach me, ask me about what I was shooting, and then proceed to take pretty much the exact same shot, from the exact same angle!
I don’t consider myself a particularly competitive person, but there was something about that situation that really rubbed me the wrong way. I realize that on a photo walk like this, there are going to be things that grab the attention of everyone with a camera, and as much as we pride ourselves on the unique vision we each possess, there stands a good chance of our producing some very similar images at the end of the day. But I think what really irked me was the obvious lack of creativity, and the general copycat attitude… They didn’t even have the good grace to be subtle about it. I was not impressed.
Regardless, I didn’t let that brief moment tarnish the shiny (ooh, my first ‘Firefly’ reference) day. :) And overall, I feel I got some great shots which I’ve posted at the end of this entry - so please check them out, and feel free to comment.
One more thing (and now it’s time for a Steve Jobs reference - hee)… I found it interesting that time and again, I turned to my iPhone 4 over my Canon DSLR. My good friend Jo-Anne (who was also participating) assured me that I shouldn’t feel bad or weird about that, the most important thing was having fun - but still. I’ve got to admit, I felt a little self-conscious sometimes - especially with my SLR and big telephoto lens hanging around my neck!
Now, before I got my iPhone I never went anywhere without my Canon PowerShot A2100 IS (a powerful little digital point-and-shoot) but these days, unless it’s an official shoot - I’m taking more everyday shots with my iPhone than anything else. I know I’m not alone in this. Apple’s iPhone 4 is officially the most popular camera on Flickr, according to stats from the site.
I also know the saying, 'the best camera you’ve got - is the one you have with you,’ and I truly believe that. But I still find it intriguing that my 'go to’ camera for those three-plus hours was a camera phone. ;)
I really can’t wait for the release of iOS 5, which will include a ton of awesome new features and benefits, but which, from a photography standpoint, will introduce using the volume button as a hardware shutter button instead of having to rely completely on the on-screen button. Much, much better. Oh, and it’ll be faster and easier to take pics too - since there’ll be a camera button on the iPhone’s screen, right next to the 'slide to unlock’ bar. Very cool indeed. :)
So yeah. This blog post went ever so slightly off-topic, but as far as I know - I won’t be arrested by the non-existent Blog Police for rambling a little, and for using too many hyphens, emoticons, and parentheses! ;) Heehee. Thanks for reading…
