When I was a child, photo taking was a much
more complicated and expensive process than it is today. Due to the high cost
of prints, the number of photos a family could afford to take during a year was
generally limited to a 36-shot roll of film. Once shot, the roll was sent in
its special round container to the Kodak factory where it was processed (this
took around a month).
When the prints finally arrived by post, they
were lovingly put into a photo album and labeled. Family and friends were
then invited to a "photo showing", which lasted about half an hour.
Such an invitation was an eagerly awaited social occasion as afternoon tea or a
meal was usually included in the deal and there was plenty of time to talk
about other things.
"Why don’t you look at your digital photos
once you have electronically stored them?"
The response is invariably the same: "Because there are too many!"
Originally published by Fairfax Media: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/assignments/share-your-news-and-views/8410069/Why-do-we-take-so-many-photos
|
COMPREHENSION CHECK
(1)
Why
was photo-taking a more complicated and expensive process in the past?
(2)
What
did people do with their photos when they returned from the developer?
(3)
Why
does the author avoid photo showings today?
(4)
What
is meant by the phrase “a blow by blow description”?
(5)
What
was the result of the authors’ informal survey?
DISCUSSION
POINT
What do
you do with the photos you take?
Alibabascumble
|
Ha!
I know exactly what you're talking about there. I recall as a child sitting
through seemingly interminable slide nights, dozens of badly shot sometimes
inverted pictures of other people enjoying themselves on holiday.
At
least the average 1970s slide projector could only hold a few dozen pictures
- a workmate also recently subjected me to 'Holidays in Singapore.' Hundreds and hundreds of mind-numbing frames of tedium: 'This is the airport, this is a taxi, this is a sign in funny foreign writing, and this is the view of the brick wall from our hotel room...' Edit, edit, and edit, people! Just like in
the old days, you wouldn't put a blurred photo of your thumb into an album so
why leave it in your hard-drive to inflict on others?
|
Some
Bloke
|
Yup,
people need to learn that the delete key is there for a reason. The beauty of digital is that you can take heaps of photos, and just keep the best. You don't need to keep, and you certainly don't need to show all 8000.
8000!
Unbelievable! I too remember when slide show night was something to look
forward to :-)
|
Decibel
|
I
do look at my digital photos, often. And I do print some of them to put into an album. I get huge enjoyment from looking back over my photos, both digital and printed, but I don't subject anyone else to having to look at them. My
five-week overseas trip a year ago resulted in over 1800 photos, all of which
I still enjoy looking at. The criteria for including them into my albums are
"quality" or "moments". Photos have to be either really good photos, well-composed, and appropriately cropped, or they have to trigger a particularly good memory. The fun part of creating an album is that you can re-live the experience, and you can add other mementoes, such as bits cut out of brochures, tickets, and the like.
|
Sand
shark
|
As
I used to do with my print photos anything not near perfect is scrapped. The
digital age may have made joe public a semi pro but it has ruined the ability
of people to "see" the shot. Just because you took a picture that
doesn't mean it's a great shot and really why did you take 5 shots of the
same thing?
|
Sam
|
Yeah
the digital cameras are a bit of a trap. I took lots of photos for a 3 week
trip recently, and then edited them down severely (or so I thought). However
when I came to show someone I realized I still had hundreds, including
several shots that looked more or less the same to a viewer.
The
other problem is that you can spend so much time taking photos on holiday
that you distract yourself from the actual experience.
|
Pat
Reesby
|
Yes,
this happens all too often, doesn't it? Just because a digital camera allows
us to take hundreds of photos at very little cost, it doesn't mean we HAVE to
take hundreds, even thousands of photos! I'm a very keen amateur photographer
but limit what I take and keep. It's fine to TAKE lots of photos but you
don't need to KEEP them - the camera has a very handy 'delete' button.
|
Chrisgin
|
Not
really that understandable.... I don't care if you saved the world from
aliens... 5 hours is too long!
|
Homer
|
And
by the way; no, your workmates don't want to see your pics from your trip to
Vietnam. Really they don't!!!
|
EXERCISE
Match the phrases with their meanings.
(A)
|
…..hundreds of mind-numbing frames of tedium.
|
__
|
It
is easy to use them in the wrong way.
|
(B)
|
….you
can take heaps of photos.
|
__
|
The
general public now has the ability to become professional photographers.
|
(C)
|
….they
have to trigger a particularly good memory.
|
__
|
Take
a lot of photos.
|
(D)
|
The
digital age may have made joe public a semi-pro…
|
__
|
Exceptionally boring.
|
(E)
|
…..digital
cameras are a bit of a trap.
|
__
|
A
strong emotional reaction set off by a set of by an image.
|
HUMOR
Three of the commentators make humorous remarks.
Can you understand them?
(1)
Just
because a digital camera allows us to take hundreds of photos at very little
cost, it doesn't mean we HAVE to take hundreds, even thousands of photos! I'm a
very keen amateur photographer but limit what I take and keep. It's fine to
TAKE lots of photos but you don't need to KEEP them - the camera has a very
handy 'delete' button.
(2)
I
don't care if you saved the world from aliens... 5 hours is too long!
(3)
And
by the way; no, your workmates don't want to see your pics from your trip to
Vietnam. Really they don't!!!
DISCUSSION
POINT
Discuss in
class the below observation made by Sam.
“The other
problem is that you can spend so much time taking photos on holiday that you
distract yourself from the actual experience.”
ANSWERS
COMPREHENSION
CHECK
(1)
Why
was photo taking a more complicated and expensive process in the past?
Film was very expensive. Once the roll had been shot it then had to be
mailed off to Kodak to be developed. This took time and money.
(2) What did people do with their photos
when they returned form the developer?
The developed prints were put
into a photo album and labeled.
(3)
Why
does the author avoid photo showings today?
Hosts generally want to show thousands of photos, many of which are of
poor quality or the same.
(4)
What
is meant by the phrase “a blow by blow description”?
The event is overly described with every small detail outlined.
(5)
What
was the result of the authors’ informal survey?
People take and store hundreds if not thousands of photos which they
never look at again.
EXERCISE:
Match the phrases with their meanings.
(A)
|
…..hundreds of mind-numbing frames of tedium.
|
(e)
|
It
is easy to use them in the wrong way.
|
(B)
|
….you
can take heaps of photos.
|
(d)
|
The
general public now has the ability to become professional photographers.
|
(C)
|
….they
have to trigger a particularly good memory.
|
(b)
|
Take
a lot of photos.
|
(D)
|
The
digital age may have made joe public a semi pro…
|
(a)
|
Exceptionally boring.
|
(E)
|
…..digital
cameras are a bit of a trap.
|
(c)
|
A
strong emotional reaction set off by a set of by an image.
|
Humor:
Three of the commentators make humorous remarks.
Can you understand them?
(1)
Just
because a digital camera allows us to take hundreds of photos at very little
cost, it doesn't mean we HAVE to take hundreds, even thousands of photos! I'm a
very keen amateur photographer but limit what I take and keep. It's fine to
TAKE lots of photos but you don't need to KEEP them - the camera has a very
handy 'delete' button.
By typing; HAVE, TAKE and KEEP in capital letters the commentator is in
a joking manner (as if he is shouting these words) reinforcing his point.
(2)
I
don't care if you saved the world from aliens... 5 hours is too long!
The commentator is joking that even a superhero would have less time to
proclaim to the world their achievements. The person showing their photos has really not
done anything very important.
(3)
And
by the way; no, your workmates don't want to see your pics from your trip to
Vietnam. Really they don't!!!
In a humorous way, the commentator is using the article and the comment space
to tell his work colleague that everyone is sick of hearing about his trip to
Vietnam! Perhaps his workmate will read
his comment and take the hint!
No comments:
Post a Comment