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The Finger





OK, I get it. Most of us don't like cameras. We don't like the invasion or we don't like how we look. Include me in that group. I don't think I've ever taken a good picture. The disconnect with what I think I look like as opposed to how the camera catches it is a mighty wide gulf. I have a mirror that tolerates my visage long enough for me to shave but any longer and I begin to look like my grandfathers did when I was a kid. Somehow Canon, Sony or Nikon just can't get me right. I get it.

From a camera guy: get over it. As a shutterbug I can tell you its not just about you. Get over yourself. Its about me, or whoever is taking the picture. I am recording my life, my joys, my sorrows, my family, and my friends. You are all a part of my world and I treasure each of you. I want to look at these pics at the nursing home and revel in the majesty of a life lived. I'm not interested in your loathing of pictures of yourself, I'm recording you as you are and a part of me. Put your finger(s) down, smile or not, but take it. It goes with being alive and part of others' lives, and living in a world where we have the privilege, honor and ability to record our precious moments.

Flash me the bird if I have wronged you, cut you off in traffic, or just don't like the way I'm picking my nose, but if I bring out my camera, be a gentleman (or gentle lady) and let me get a pic. If it wasn't important I wouldn't bother.


There, I've said it.

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