Got Photo?

Why is it that one is expected to take photographs of the places that one visits on vacations? I'd rather look at the scenery, people watch or just rest my legs from all the walking. Of course, there are exceptions: like the interesting row of clocks above this shop's entrance. Attention grabbing, no? I walked past this place on our way to the Apple Store in New York City. A magnificent spiral staircase, with solid translucent glass steps, leads to this large (relative to other stores) space underground...

Which also leads me to my other, and most compelling point about not taking photos: the places most people visit have already been photographed to death by previous tourists. Flickr, Google images, even YouTube. Do a search for the place you just visited and you're likely to come across whole albums of photos taken by highly skilled shutterbugs for your viewing pleasure. Or perhaps the owners of the places have already put their own high quality pictures online. Like the Apple Store, for publicity. So unless you're venturing into the darkest heart of Africa or the deepest ocean trenches, leave the camera at home and lighten your load. Enjoy the scenery. ps: No, I didn't bring a camera on this trip. My photos were taken ad-hoc with the dinky little camera in my phone. If I actually do venture into the depths of Africa, where there is no signal anyway, I _might_ bring a camera. :-)