I took my daughter to a Justin Bieber concert his past weekend - it was a good time. Sitting to the side of me was a lady who had her digital camera out, like the rest of us. I couldn't help but notice that she was videoing the concert… and not just a portion of the concert either - she was videoing almost the entire concert. She didn't put her camera down for more than 5 or 10 minutes, the rest of the time she was watching the concert through a 3 inch LCD monitor on the back of her camera.
This got me thinking - why didn't she just purchase a DVD of a Justin Bieber concert and watch it at home… I'm sure her television is a little bigger than 3 inches. I wondered why she wouldn't just put her camera down and enjoy being at the concert. But then I started thinking about myself and about pictures and videos in general.
Since having children, I've become somewhat of a video and photo fanatic. I'm constantly videoing and photographing, hoping to capture a magic moment. Sometimes I do and I have a great photo or video to look at later on. But a lot of times I'm spending great moments with my kids through a 3 inch LCD monitor --- when really, I should just be enjoying that moment.
I've come to the conclusion that I hate the word 'balance' - because it's so indefinite. But, I suppose it applies to this situation like it does many others - you have to have balance. You want to have pictures of your life experiences… but you also want to have real life experiences and not be constantly living life through a 3 inch LCD monitor. I will continue to take lots of photos and videos --- but I'm also coming to the conclusion that many of life's magic moments can never be captured by photography or video… even if you do happen to have your camera on at the right time.