Music Through A Lens

I don't understand the compulsion, even though it's something I do myself. I'm sure it has something to do with wanting to savour the moment but really, one or two would suffice, wouldn't it? It has to be one of the most pointless acts for an amateur photographer ever, let me illustrate this with photos I took at John Mayer in September. For one, no one can ever get the settings right on their cameras so they try putting the flash on, which means you get a rather intimate picture of Colonel Baldpatch in front of you, and not much else.

We'll try that a few times, zooming in, adjusting things, then decide that it's probably a better idea to try it with the flash off. So holding the camera as still as we possibly can, off goes the flash and down goes the button. The result? A picture any five year old engaging in finger painting would be proud of: a blurred mess of colour and shapes that we will then try over and over again to rectify by holding the camera as still as humanly possible...when you've got bounding bodies left, right and centre.

Finally, you work it out. Bam, and you have your perfect shot. Not wanting one MB of space on your digital card to go to waste, you snap snap snap. Then, hang on... where's he going? Why is everyone leaving the stage? That's right, "Thanks for comin' folks, and g'bye!" So really, you've just sat through 80% of the concert looking at it through the screen of your camera. You get home, realise you've only got about 4 decent photos and put them in a folder never to be seen again.