Over Exposed

Road accidents are still the most common cause of accidents and deaths overseas and not infections with tropical diseases. Even if a person gets their full recommended immunizations they still need to be careful.

One of the worrying trends in accidental injuries and carelessness is photography. More and more people are peering at their vacation through viewfinder and are lost to the rapture of the lens.

With both cheaper vacations and affordable cameras more and more people are recording their vacations and overall taking more pictures. As with everything there is a right and wrong way to go about doing this without putting yourselves at risk...

When the eye is to the lens photographers are not invulnerable. Traffic will not yield for photography and wild animals really are closer than they may appear. Gravity still exerts it pull. Shutterbugs may also forget that when viewing something only through one eye they lose the depth perception than binocular vision gives us and will misjudge distances further.

Flash photography is now easily available and people don t has to buy those little flash cubes.

I have seen a man trying to take a flash photo of a mother wolf and her cubs when he cornered them is dumb and dangerous (and doesn't t give a good picture either).

One tourist joined in at a flash photography feeding frenzy when an African tour surprised a herd of hippos because the guides oked it. Luckily no one was killed.

Wild animals may ignore people if you don t invade their personal space but if pressed too closely they usually will avoid and flee. If you are trying to photograph them a quality zoom, high speed film and a steady hand will get you a better shot. If you do trap an animal and pull out the flash you might just turn a flight into a fight.

This also applies to celebrities facing paparazzi as well.

Driving a vehicle and photography don t mix. To take a good photo you need to compose and focus your subject which you cannot do driving. If you must take pictures get someone else to drive or stop at a safe area.

Flash photography will also make driver's lose their night vision adaptation which may take several minutes to reaccomodate so flashes at night traffic is dangerous.

A good zoom can distance a photographer from the subject and eliminate the need for getting too close.

Shutting a flash feature off will also allow more natural lighting and may make for a better photograph.

In physic and life there is the “Heisenberg Uncertainty Principal” which simply means the closer you try to observe something the more likely you are to influence or change it...

Travelers should enjoy taking pictures but any human activity can become an obsession. One of the joys of photography is to capture spontaneity and unique observations but if it becomes a compulsion it loses its value and many photos become contrived and trite. Taking fewer but better photographs prevents carelessness.

Winnipeg has several Photography clubs all help their members to progress. The Winnipeg Photography Club www.wpc.com has a free online forum and monthly meetings.