The Stigma Around Photography
So the moon tonight was at perigee. This means the moon tonight was bigger and brighter then it is on any other given day. To boot, it was a full moon out tonight, as well. Naturally, having known this in advance for the first time, what else was I to do but go out and shoot some stereotypical moon shots?
Well, it was about 12 degrees Fahrenheit out and the winds were gusting at around thirty to forty miles per hour, so naturally there was only so much time I could spend out before my fingers would start to freeze and twinge with pain. Since I was shooting from the Harvard Bridge over on Massachusetts Avenue, I figured I could take breaks at Danielsen Hall to let my fingers thaw every so often. Now, I shoot with a Nikon D40, a tiny little toy compared to the big dogs in the industry like the Canon 1D Mark III or the Nikon D3 or even the so-called “Prosumer” cameras like the Nikon D700 or Canon 5D Mark II, but a capable toy nevertheless. I tried some moon shots with my 55-200mm zoom lens at 200mm last night just to get a feel for things, and found that on my six megapixel camera I couldn’t get the moon to a large enough size where I’d be happy with the results, so for today, I borrowed a friend’s 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 lens. This thing is an absolute beast. Though only 100mm longer than my lens, its a considerable bit faster as well, with a maximum aperture of f/5.6 at 300mm compared to the maximum aperture of f/5.6 at 200mm (For all you non-photogs out there, read this excellent explanation to understand how aperture works and why a 200mm f/5.6 lens is slower than 300mm f/5.6 lens). Now the point is, that I was walking around with a tripod that, fully extended, rises about five-and-a-half-feet tall, a baby entry-level dSLR, and a beast of a lens, over a foot long fully extended with hood and almost a kilogram in mass.
So I can understand that there will be people who give me funny looks. It’s not a point-and-shoot camera. I get it. I have a camera that non-photogs will bunch in with every other SLR (film or digital) as a “really nice professional camera.” What I don’t understand is why people get so paranoid about people with non-point-and-shoot cameras.
During one of my breaks, I was just sitting there on a couch in the lounge in Danielsen when the Hall Director walks out of her office, spends about 15 seconds making funny faces at me as I politely say “good evening” and the like, when she curtly states, “You aren’t allowed to take photographs inside the dorm.” Now, realize, that while I had the camera on my lap, I was playing a touch table hockey game on my iPhone. The camera was just there. I assured her I wasn’t taking any photographs of the dorm and my main subject was the moon outside and that I was warming up. She moved on, but I could hear her talking to the security guy who was making sure only students were entering the building- she felt the need to inform him that photography was not allowed in the building. About ten seconds later, the security guard left his post to watch me not taking photographs. About a full minute later, the entry door opened and he returned to his post.
My question is this: If it had been a point-and-shoot in my hands, would I have gotten the same response? Doubtful.
My question is this: If I had a point-and-shoot and I was taking arms-length photographs of myself with my friends beside me scrunching into the frame, would I have gotten the same response? Doubtful.
What is it about people with mechanical (as opposed to purely electronic) cameras that unnerves people? Why do they freak out if there’s a lens pointed in their direction? Photography is not a crime! I’m not a terrorist!
