flickr – Geek Dinner Toronto And Thoughts About Photography

I had an epiphany on my flight from Toronto to Nashville to speak at BarCamp Nashville last weekend:
I suck at photography.
It’s not just taking pictures that I’m weak at. I don’t even have a camera. Not having a camera was a direct result of years of me going places and constantly forgetting (or not caring) to take a camera with me.
I can’t afford to be like that anymore.
Whilst in Nashville, I bought a slim and trim digital camera (the Casio Exilim Z75 – in case you’re a Gadget Geek like me). I actually surveyed my online social networks (both twitter and Facebook) to see what the community recommends, but my main reason for grabbing the Casio was because it was given the thumbs up in Popular Photography And Imaging Magazine‘s 2007 Editor’s Choice guide. Upon reflection: it’s a little strange that I used traditional media and the final input of my online social network to get validation prior to purchase.
Maybe old habits do die hard.
What I find most interesting about this whole experience (beyond the fact that I was traveling solo to BarCamp Nashville without a camera) is that my main reason for buying the camera wasn’t the camera at all.
It was flickr.
I know… it is strange. I really wanted the ability to not just take pictures, but to share pictures (flickr is a photo sharing online social network). Truth be told, I could care less about having stacks of digital files filled to the gills with images. Sometimes, to tell stories, people do need the images to go along with the words. I also felt like I was missing out on a large component of online social networking because I wasn’t pointing, shooting and sharing.
So this is my first and (I think failed) attempt. I grabbed a bunch of shots at yesterday’s Geek Dinner Toronto. Some are underlit, some are overlit, some are blurry, some have red eye.
There is a lot to learn about this space, but I am eager to do it.
I’m also truly fascinated by the fact that it was flickr that brought me to photography and not the camera.
You can check out my rank amateur work here: flickr – Mitch Joel – Geek Dinner Toronto – August 2007.
Feel free to shoot tips, tricks, etc… for better point and shoot photography my way.