[Ansteorra] Cameras

[Marc Carlson]

  Herr Dietrich Strobelbart wrote:
>It strikes me there is another modern convenience which intrudes  into our 
>ambiance that no mention has yet been made of.  I speak,  of course, of the 
>camera, especially when it is used with a flash.   That is one item that is 
>definitely NOT period, yet no one seems to  think twice about popping off 
>multiple shots during important  activities, including court.
>
>Have we all become so inured to this modern contrivance that we  don't even 
>notice its effect on the ambiance we are trying to  achieve?  (For those of 
>you who know me, yes, I am as guilty as  anyone about using my camera at 
>events, I am just trying to make a  point here!)
>
>Does anyone have any notions about how to disguise a camera?

I have no good ideas at this time.  I wish I did.  Even if I hide a camera 
in, say, a book, when I look through the eyepiece it's goin gto be pretty 
obvious.  If I'm using a digital it's easier, but I don't always do that 
either.  And as for a tripod...

I agree though that a flash is bad.  There are ways to take pictures without 
a flash, and while they are harder to get "good" shots with, it's worth the 
effort.  This past weekend, I was taking shots throughout feast and court, 
and only had two with a flash (one when my digital decided to reset itself 
on me when I changed batteries, and I forgot to check, and the other - I 
needed it for a particular effect).  However, since I don't appreciate 
getting blinded by bright flashes in eyes any more than anyone else does, 
I'm willing to waste a bazillion shots, trying to get a decent one, just to 
not be too big a jerk to those around me.

The event prior to that I went ahead and used flash after a while since 
there were so many other peopl eusing flash, it was screwing up my shots 
even worse.

Ok, those throwaway cameras are a problem since they can't always turn off 
the flash.

So, the only easy answer is to ban cameras at events, but I'm not sure 
that's where *I* want to go with it.  So maybe if people would think more 
before they shot, that would help.

My goal is to take pictures of "SCA life", the SCA how it really is, not how 
we want it to appear, which means propaine tanks and popcans as well as 
pretty clothes and cool stuff.

Hmm.  As a thought -- there are those of us who don't like having our 
picture taken (I generally respect that, since I am one of those folks).  
I'm not sure that *hiding* the camera too well would be playing fair.  Ar 
least when I have a big black box in front of my fact, people have the 
option to say "please don't"

Marc/Diarmaid