Why you should shoot yourself in the foot

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THE “HANDY” PHOTO MEMORY TOOL

When I'm out in the field, I always think I'll remember what I'm
photographing. Then I get home and I'm clueless. Like a detective, I
have to search for some kind of hint hidden in the photo to help me
figure out where I was and why I thought it was important to take the
picture.

After 30 years of this, and the introduction of digital photography, I
came up with a system. It starts with signs and ends with my hand.
Occasionally I use my feet, too. Here’s how...

Whenever I stop to photograph a subject — say, a church in Paris, for
example — first I photograph any signs outside with the name of the
church on them, and any signs inside that might describe its history.

I know. I know. You’ve heard this tip a dozen times. But this isn’t
all I do…

When I'm done with a subject, or about to move to a new location, I
hold my hand in front of the lens and take a picture of it.

Then, when I get home and look at my photos on my computer, the shots
of my hand are like chapters in a book. When I see one, I know I've
moved to another subject. And if I take a hand shot and then find
something else to shoot in the same location, I just go back and
delete the hand so I can keep things straight.

I also, occasionally, photograph my feet.

Recently, I was thrilled to find that my favorite travel camera has
video and audio recording capabilities. I'm not too interested in
making videos in the field, but I do love the sound of my own voice
(smile).

Now, with a touch of a button, I can make a recording of any
additional notes I want to add. And to make sure I recognize that it's
a recording when I upload my pictures onto my computer, I point the
camera at my feet while I record and talk.

On my computer, thumbnails of my hand are new chapters in my
photographic adventure, and shots of my feet are recordings that
explain what's going on. (Note: That's a big improvement over the film
days when shots of my feet indicated stupidity.)

In closing, as my lovely wife points out, I'm still lost most of the
time. But now, at least when I get home, I know where I've been.

By Rich Wagner in Farmington Valley, Connecticut

Graças ao Rich, agora sei onde estive (thanks Rich, now I know where I've been).

 

Tem outras, mas a maioria é só uma confusão de mãos e pés.