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Photo Of The Day: Amateur Photographers At Big Sur

by Jessica Marati (RSS feed) on Jul 10th 2012 at 7:30PM

How often do you arrive at a famous monument or stunning vista and encounter a line of amateur photographers peering through camera lenses and iPhone screens? It seems that as a culture we've become more intent on capturing the perfect shot than on taking a moment to be still and appreciate the beauty of what's in front of us. In today's Photo of the Day, Flickr user David Lytle trains his camera on the photographers instead of the view at Big Sur, California, perhaps to make us more aware of how photography can both add to and detract from the experience of traveling.

Do you have your own travel photo that doubles as a commentary? Upload your travel shots to the Gadling Flickr Pool and your image could be selected as our Photo of the Day.

Filed under: Photos, North America, United States, Photo of the Day

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Michael Jones Jul 10th 2012 8:11PM

Iphones are one thing, last month i saw people at hoover dam, yosemite national park and also grand canyon using an ipad

David Lytle Jul 11th 2012 3:15PM

The father in that photo is using an iPad. His daughter is using an iPhone, and his son was using a DSLR camera. None of them, however, seemed to be paying attention to how close they were to the edge of the cliff.

unclefishbits Jul 10th 2012 8:11PM

https://picasaweb.google.com/118246307859485381903/201205PeopleTakingPicsOfSacreCouer

This is a folder of people taking pics of Sacre Couer. I did it for a couple reasons... goofiness to some extent, but mostly to have "live" and open on the public web, so when facial recognition starts in some capacity, I want to see how many of these people are identified. So curiosity, mainly. That's a ways down the line, I assume.

Anyhoo.... if I ever see anyone holding an ipad up to take a photo, i am going to slap it out of their hands. I kid I kid.... but the point is that it fully completes Beauregard's Simulacram. It's not just small portal or filter momentarily removing you from reality, but you have 100% replaced reality with a complete filter that covers your entire field of vision, so that you are actually watching TV of what you are doing. It's insane... just .... wow. Be where you are, you know? Of course, I was the one snapping these pics as we munched on baguettes, cheese, and drank champagne. mais oui... I miss Paris.

CheezyK Jul 10th 2012 8:11PM

So, so true. We were at the Roman Forum last year and watched a lady take a video of the scene with her iPad and then, I kid you not, sit down and watch the video! I did not see her once actually look at the scene around her with her own eyes ...

Sammy Corfield Jul 10th 2012 10:06PM

I remember when I was in Shorncliffe, Queensland. There was a large ship that had become beached on the sandbank. As the tide went out, the ship began to capsize while at the same time a helicopter was hovering above rescuing the crew. Dozens of people were lined up along the cliff, giving me a great photo of about 40 people all phones and cameras in hand, snapping the drama.

http://www.sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com

Have a look there, you can find the photo if you have a good look around, sorry I cant give you a direct link, im in china so my blog is blocked for me.