Carpe Diem
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
By Liz Cutting, Industry Analyst
Last weekend I hit the slopes for the first time in about 20 years (gasp!) and for the first time with my husband and “tweenaged” son. So across the span of the last three decades (gasp again!) I haven’t had the chance to get excited, frustrated, inspired, or perplexed about using a digital camera with thick gloves, 2 ski poles, a head cold, and a ghastly sense of balance…until now.
At first I admit, I didn’t take any pictures. I was being careful not to fall down and crush the camera with my fancy helmet (skiing safety has clearly been upgraded since the 80s). Then I realized the kids weren’t going to jump off of the ski lift and I was going to live through the day without cracking a bone, so I relaxed enough to take a few cute shots of them on their rides up the bunny slope lift.
Then I got a text from my friend whose son was with us, asking for some pictures and a video of her son that we could send to her mom who was very ill and in the hospital. Frankly, I hadn’t even thought of the smartphone as a capture device for the day, but for this occasion, my idea of the smartphone image quality as “questionably good enough” turned into a small miracle as I shot the little guy zooming down on his snowboard. I emailed video and pictures right to his grandmother’s hospital room where she was suddenly not isolated and bedridden, but on a sunny mountain watching her grandson flying by.
As the day went on we traded back and forth among the cameras, the flash camcorder, and the phone, depending on who was with the kids, who had taken off their skis, and was taking a rest because their ski boots were killing them. Of course there are other options to the way I captured and shared images that day. I could have been more “prepared” with waterproof, shockproof, freeze proof, and wifi with a different camera and memory card. But, in this one case, none of that mattered. The cameras and camcorder were there to help us remember and celebrate later, in a beautiful glossy photo book or in full HD on a huge flat-screen. But the value of a simple image and a video to transport an experience as it was happening, to someone who wasn’t able to enjoy it in person, was real and unexpected joy.
Photography is not just about great image quality and aspiring to a perfect shot, but what it means to the recipient, how it can change a day, how it changes lives, and connections. That’s what this business has always been about; new technology enabling us to do it better every day. And you don’t even need to wear a helmet.
Tags: digital camera, flash camcorder, smartphone
Consumer Technology | Liz Cutting, Industry Analyst | 
February 2, 2010 12:57 pm
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By Tom C, February 2, 2010 @ 3:43 pm
Agree totally. Picture sharing and story telling are what matter.
By Chris C., February 2, 2010 @ 8:20 pm
Absolutely agree — current technology provides the opportunity for the average person to capture with reasonably high resolution, action videos & still photos with excellent color contrast. What once was the domain of professionals, or at least serious devotees, with expensive & cumbersome equipment is now doable with multi-function pocket cameras or smartphones. And all very economically!