LUCY BURDETTE: It’s kind of a mixed blessing that everyone has a camera at their fingertips these days. On the one hand, we get to see things that we'd never see otherwise – special romantic moments, pet antics, cute kids, concerts. And it sure helps when your kids and grandkids don't live close by. But at the same time I wonder about missing the boat that is life because I am so busy taking pictures and posting them to Facebook or Instagram or Twitter. Sometimes I leave the iPhone at home just to stay the moment (OK. Not often...)
But from time to time I have not had my camera at a moment when I really wished I did. For example, John and I were walking to the Cuban coffee queen a couple of weeks ago. Chickens are ubiquitous in Key West. There’s even an ordinance that protects them from harm. And tourists go mad over them, so I don’t that often pay them much attention, although I do comment on especially handsome roosters.
(The video above is not the one I missed, not quite as spectacular, but cute..) But on that morning I saw a very wide hen spread out on the sidewalk. So wide, it was like a chicken pancake. “I wonder if something’s wrong her?” I asked John. And as we watched for a moment, she stood up, and out from under her wide spread feathers rushed 10 tiny chicks. I so wished I had had my camera set on video for that moment. It would have gone viral!
And here's a photo I would hate to have missed (Me with Judy Blume, yes that Judy Blume, and she's selling my books.)
Reds, how do you feel about the constant stream of photos we're bombarded with? Are you a photographer? Tell us about one of your favorites.
HALLIE EPHRON: I wish you'd had a camera too for that hen.
I love all the pictures and videos and how easy it is to take and share. Our kids are constantly sending them of the grandkids. It's almost like being there. Here's a video they sent us of our adorable grandson... there's nothing to it but my oh my it makes me smile.
JENN McKINLAY: Pics or it didn't happen! Just kidding. Honestly, I love the constant stream of images. My family is all on the east coast and yet I still feel close because we share pictures, videos, and texts all the time. When the Hooligans take flight from the nest, I know it will be hard but staying connected through pictures will make it much more bearable.
RHYS BOWEN: I have just come home from an all day photo shoot. Six hours of sitting in front of a camera. My face is really tired of smiling so I may be a little anti-photo at this minute. But I do agree that sometimes we spend so much time taking pix that we lose the moment. I loved taking pictures of the grandkids when they were small. I take zillions every holiday with the family and I do enjoy looking at those. But sometimes when we travel now I leave it to John to take the pictures.
INGRID THOFT: I love that we have the means to capture our lives on film, but I agree with Lucy that it can take away from the experience if you’re too focused on the documenting rather than the living! That said, nothing makes me smile more than getting a text showing my niece in her Halloween costume or my nephew in his bow tie before his band concert.
In addition to family pictures, my favorites are the photos and video my husband takes underwater. The slide shows of our snorkeling and scuba diving excursions are a huge hit in our extended family, and it makes me so happy to look at the pictures on our walls and see reminders of far flung locations like Fiji and the Great Barrier Reef. The creatures aren’t all as cute as the nieces and nephews, but we have a soft spot for them!HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Well, I love them. I know it's distracting, and yes, there's the constant thought that we aren't living in the present, or seeing things--but just taking a photo of it. Where was I recently, some event, and all you could see were peoples' camera/phones. They had the lens between them and reality. And the Selfie Kid at the Super Bowl--there's Justin Timberlake, dancing right next to him in the stands--and all he can think about his getting a photo. I fear I might have done the same thing.
But I adore family photos, cannot get enough of them, and it doesn't have to be my own family. When we were on vacation last week, there were wild monkeys in the back yard of the house we rented, and I took about a zillion photos of them. (Here's one in a tree.) . And wow, when someone captures a once in a lifetime moment?
Like--here's Sue Grafton asking me to sign my book to her! I mean--thank goodness for someone who had a camera at the ready!
I am aware that I'm not always a "good" photographer--my pics are more like happy snaps. But I try.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I am ever more not a photographer. Back in college I spent the summer in Italy, and took five pictures. Five. My sister Barb, on the other hand, takes pictures of everything! She's put together some wonderful small photo books of her and the boys' visits to Maine, and given them to me. I love them.
Now that everyone has a camera in their pocket, I have upped my quotient. I think I took ten pictures on our recent vacation in Hawaii! I focus (no pun intended) on images of family or friends, in part because I have a very good memory for places and sights. I don't have any photos of Victoria Falls from my 1998 safari, but I have a complete memory of sitting on a rock and watching the water roar by - the sound and the damp and the lightness of the sky. On the other hand, I find it hard to conjure up what the Smithie looked like as a toddler. I need a camera for that!
Here's one I particularly love - the family in front of Paradise Pond, on the Smith campus. It's Ivy Day, the day before graduation, and all the girls wear white. It's a nice picture of the five of us, and it also takes me back to that event, and how happy and proud I was.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: I worry a lot about documenting when I should be appreciating, especially when I am traveling. It's hard to strike a balance. But there are moments when I am so glad I just happened to have my phone handy, when I would never have had a "real" camera at the ready. Here's one from last fall, of my granddaughter discovering the chicks on a trip with me to the local feed store.
And here's another, of a red bud leaf floating on our pond, that I would never have captured if I hadn't had my phone in my pocket.
Red readers, are you fans of the instant photos and videos we see all around us? Or do you see a dark side? Or both?
