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Wolf:
What’s the benefit of taking pictures of your own when there will be thousands of pictures available of the eclipse that will, essentially, be no different than yours?
And how’s South Carolina treating you?
Did you ever bring a camera to a family wedding? Won’t your pix be the same as the professional’s, except not as professional?
Some people get satisfaction from capturing a good picture.
If every photographer had that attitude, Joseph, then no pictures would be taken.
Joseph,
What’s the benefit of taking pictures of your own when there will be thousands of pictures available of the eclipse that will, essentially, be no different than yours?
If everybody had this attitude, then there would be no pictures.
Joseph,
why not just enjoy direct viewing of the special moment without the distraction of shooting pictures, and download high resolution photographs afterwards of the same darkened sun?
Why do you care how other people choose to enjoy a special moment?
I actually have to side with Joseph on this one. My kids used to insist I video or take pictures of certain events in their lives and I always ended up feeling like I missed out. Viewing things through a lens is not the same a being there. I am all for taking my own pictures regardlesso of who else is also doing so but viewing events through a lens certainly takes away.
For someone who is passionate about photography, taking the pictures is the best way to be there. Especially since you can’t look at an eclipse without solar filters anyway.
Syag Lchochma,
My kids used to insist I video or take pictures of certain events in their lives and I always ended up feeling like I missed out. Viewing things through a lens is not the same a being there.
I completely agree, even though I (and the kids) later appreciate having the pictures or video. The difference here in my opinion is that a photographer may view such an event as a good opportunity to take photos. So, if someone is going to South Carolina to witness the eclipse with their own eyes, then a camera might be in the way. But if someone is going to South Carolina to take photos of the eclipse, then to not have the camera would cause him to feel like he missed out. And who cares if thousands of others are doing the same?
Joseph,
And you needn’t worry that if you don’t take the pictures no one will.
Note that in my post I wrote, “if everybody had this attitude…”
Would you ask a painter why he’s painting a pastoral scene, since there are thousands of pastoral paintings already?
Joseph,
C’mon, Avram. You know you needn’t worry that no one is going to take pictures of a huge celestial event.
That’s because I know that there are many people out there who don’t have your attitude.
If all you need is to insure the event is documented in photography or that you have high res copies of said photographs, you can rely on others without worrying everyone’s going to rely on others or that no one’s going to take terrific pictures.
My guess is that documentation of the event is not what is motivating our friend the Wolf. If you took your family on a road trip and later wanted to make a photo book of the experience, would you just Google a bunch of stock photographs of the places that you visited and send them over to Snapfish?
Would you ask a painter why he’s painting a pastoral scene, since there are thousands of pastoral paintings already?
At simchas where I had a camera, I felt less emotionally attached, less involved, less simcha. Yes, I got some fantastic shots of Uncle Barry balancing the bottle on his head while Cousin Yanky did a cartwheel, but I wasn’t part of the Chasuna.
People are too busy documenting the event for eternity that they forget to experience it themselves.
And herein lies the distinction – there is definitely an enjoyment in successfully capturing something on film; similar to the painter in Avram MDs example. It is a way of enscribing something through your own personal lens, if you like. So it depends what you are aiming to do – a pastoral scene is always there; you can come back another time to view it. Now I’m here to paint. A once in a lifetime experience – here it depends what you find more exhilirating – the thrill of experience, or the thrill of trying to capture it.
yekke2,
A once in a lifetime experience – here it depends what you find more exhilirating – the thrill of experience, or the thrill of trying to capture it.
Exactly!
Joseph, what makes you think Wolf was in South Carolina?
The answer can be found two thousand yrs ago:
אדם רוצה בקב שלוAn eclipse, especially total, can vary a lot in appearance depending on your location. I don’t mean the close ups through a telescope, I mean the ones that include surroundijg sky or terrain. I can’t find any pictures online that truly resemble what I saw. I would not have minded taking a few pictures but I amn’t skilled enough to do so.
I am sure that many people will have different opinions and answers to this question. It is a good question.
True, some people get so obsessed with taking pictures that they forget to be part of the scene themselves. OTOH, some people like doing that, and prefer to view everything through the lens of their camera – perhaps they are shy and use it to shield themselves from human interactions.
For me personally however, I spend 99% of the time enjoying an event, even if I miss many ‘great shots’. I just like taking a picture or two (seriously – just one or two) so that when I look over my collection of pictures, they bring back the memories of when I was there. My photo album is thus more like a photo calendar/journal, reminding me of past events rather than future appointments.
For that purpose, they don’t have to be such great pictures. It is certainly a bonus if the pictures are nice enough for others to enjoy, even if they weren’t there to remember it. But it only works if I took the picture myself, not if I just use a stock photo.
My picture of the eclipse is not saying “Look – here is something that you can’t see anywhere else”. It is saying “This is what I myself saw, enjoyed, and was part of.”
I echo yitzyk’s sentiments exactly
I was away on vacation and only returned right before Shabbos, so please forgive me for not answering before now.
First of all, I was not in South Carolina. I have not set foot in South Carolina for at least 35 years. Oh and the sky was clear where I was.
As to your actual question —
First of all, you can’t state unequivocly that my picture will be the same as anyone else’s. There are two main ways to photograph a total eclipse. You can photograph a “big sun” where the sun is the only object in the frame. You would do this using a long lens (preferably at least 400mm). However, you could also capture a landscape shot with the total eclipse using a shorter lens. In such a case, my photo would almost certainly be different from anyone else’s (unless they happened to be standing right next to me).
As it is, I went with the “big sun” type of photo. Truth to tell, my primary goal was to experience the total solar eclipse. However, as long as I was there, there was no way I wasn’t going to try to photograph it as well.
As for it being similar to many people’s pictures, so what?
1. I enjoy the process of creating photographs, regardless if it’s the same picture as anyone else’s.
2. It presents a unique opportunity for me to photograph the sun in a way that most of us do not see it.
3. I don’t really care if other people take the same photograph. There are umpteen million photographs of the Empire State Building, and yet I shoot it anyway.
4. Even if my photo is the same as everyone else’s straight out of the camera, there are some techniques that I can use regarding bracketing, exposure blending or other methods that might make my shot just somewhat different than everyone else’s. Maybe that will work, and maybe it won’t — but if I don’t try, it’s an automatic failure.As for your concerns about experiencing the eclipse… have no fears on that account. I did not spend the entire two minutes of totality behind the camera. I spent quite a good chunk of it simply looking up at the sky with my bare eyes and marveling at this wondrous sight that HKBH has created that does not exist anywhere else in our solar system (and given the odds against the seeming coincidence between the sun’s and moon’s apparent diameters, perhaps anywhere else period) and feeling truly awed and inspired (so much so that I almost forgot to get the final bracketed shots I wanted to get).
The Wolf
I always take pictures of everything because, as I said before, I have aphantasia, and if I don’t take a pic, I’ll have only a vague sort of memory of it. Not a real one. The photos are my memory.
Wolf, you looked at the eclipse with “bare eyes” ? i was under the impression you needed special glasses. BTW where did you go for the viewing, i know someone who went to ST. Joseph and couldn’t see because it was cloudy?
Throughout most of the eclipse, you have to look at the sun through solar filters only, but during totality, you can look at the covered sun.
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