It’s always hard to write these types of articles since they can be perceived as a self serving message. This story was not planned ahead, but it came out of a recent trip with my son at his boyscout camp while looking through the images.

I spent a few days with him at camp Barton in NY on lake Cayuga. Awesome time: sailing on a catamaran, hiking, kayaking … Loved every minute of it … with a couple exceptions 🙂 (the tent sleeping was not as fun as I remembered from my youth years). One of the trips was at Taughannock Falls. For trips like this one, I just bring my little point and shoot camera. Along with the troop, there were a few parents tagging along just like myself. Of course I offered to take a few pictures of them and their kids. I also wanted to capture the moment and get some images of myself and my son together as well (since he’s a teenager now, I might need some proof in the near future that we can have fun together; although it might not seem that way from the picture .. I’m still trying to figure out if it was because he had to pose with me or because he didn’t put gel in his hair for the picture 🙂 ). Bellow is the image I took (left) and the image one of the parents took of myself and my son (right). Same camera (handed my camera to the parent), same settings, same location.

Digital changed the perception of people about photography, more specifically, about paying for professional photography. Yes, today’s technology is really good (and anybody can take a picture with their phone). However, as you can see, when creating images, you need more than just clicking the shutter. While this was just a “snapshot” (not an important moment like a wedding, for example), you can still see that it makes a difference on how it will come out. A professional’s experience will determine how that image will look (snapshot or not). While it might not make sense to hire someone to come along in your vacations to take pictures of you, I highly recommend hiring a professional for important events in your life (weddings, mitzvahs, newborn portraits…). And make sure you do your homework and research that photographer to make sure (s)he’s been doing it for a while and is really experienced and not just someone that got a nice camera as a gift for their birthday and decided to be a “photographer”.

Check back to see some of the images from my trip. Hey, maybe it will inspire you to have your son/daughter join boy/girl scouts. It’s a lot of fun.

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