It is not an urban legend, I've heard it many times myself,
as John put it: "from well intentioned people who want to say something
complementary, but don't quite have a clue."
Yep, Dan, that's one of the variations I've heard.
Usually this situation happens in a setting where people are far away from
anywhat serious photography. One of typical situations was from the
dancers after they saw photos from a recent dance event. (And I suspect
Larry may have heard similar phrasing in a similar situation.)
And, I am thinking, Mark might be right: (I am rephrasing and expanding
here) the proliferation of mediocre snapshots on FB & Instagram from cell
phone cameras (and bombardment of ads promoting those) -- especially
in the rather challenging light dance floor conditions -- might
be contributing to the response of the people in question.
BTW, Paul and Mark, I think, one of the reasons you haven't heard that is
that in my situation, - I was a participant of those non-photographic
events (i.e. I was dancing, taking dance lessons, etc.). This creates a
different reference point: When you come to an event primarily as a
photographer, people expect you to have "professional gear" and produce
good photos.
To further support that idea of such "compartmentalization", - I can say
that in a few cases where I was starting a social dance from taking
photos, and then dancing, I had the reaction (from people who had not
known me prior to that): "Wow, you also dance?! I thought you were only
taking photos here!"
-----------------
However, - my thoughts were not much about judging people who say that
awkward phrase (I am not obsessed about it). (Afterall, I am sure, at some
point, I said something awkward in the areas where I am rather ignorant.)
That part was just a "preamble".
Rather, - my focus was on a sudden realization that when I am (or
someone else is) saying that a certain lens allowed to take this great
photo, I am saying a very similar thing. And that, seemingly paradoxical
situation, got me to pause and think. And then I got that paradox resolved
as described in the original post.
And it is that "paradox" and the "resolution" of it that I wanted to share.
Thanks for everybody's response that helped me to (hopefully) clarify this.
Cheers,
Igor
Daniel J. Matyola Sun, 10 Jul 2016 13:34:07 -0700 wrote:
On Sun, Jul 10, 2016 at 4:27 PM, steve harley wrote:
i've heard it in almost those exact words at least twice
On several occasions, I have heard a slightly more polite version of it:
"Great Photo! What kind of camera do you have?"
On Sun, 10 Jul 2016, Igor PDML-StR wrote:
Something just hit me, provoking this line of thoughts...
Preamble:
How many times have you heard (usually from people you don't know closely):
"You've got nice photos, you must have a nice camera!".
I (and probably some PDMLers) have always been ... maybe "somewhat
frustrated" is the right word here.
(And I understand that they are just trying to say something nice, without
realizing how awkward it sounds.)
At some point, I had been happy to find (a few years ago) a nice joking
response to that: "Your food is delicious, you must have a great stove (or
pot, skilet...)!"
Today, I realized that many people on PDML (myself included) frequently show
a photo, admiringly discussing the lens (or camera) it was taken with. Ghm...
Maybe I shouldn't be frustrated about people saying what appears to be
awkward...
And then I thought that while cooking, sometimes I enjoy a very good knife or
a very nice set of skillets we bought several years ago. ... or a convenient
tea-pot for brewing tea that we've found after long search for what we
needed. Or that electric tea kettle that has been chugging along for 15
years. ... and several other tools and items that are made well and work
well.
... But, I still feel awkward about "you must have a nice camera!"
Maybe because those knives and skillets don't make me a better cook, and my
camera doesn't make me a better photographer. They only help me being more
effective (and efficient) in what I can do.
So, I guess that awkward feeling comes from the subconsious realization
that "you must have a nice camera!" undervalues my skills in favor of the
equipment.
...
Igor
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