My Pretend Pet Peeve

     I have made up a pet peeve. Is that allowed? See, I'm just not sure if it peeves me or not, but for the sake of the blog post, it does. So, don't go and get offended. 'Cause really, it's a professional pet peeve. What do I mean by that? Read on.

     You know that awkward moment when someone is holding a camera and you aren't sure if they're taking a picture or video, so you aren't sure how to act? I could stop right here and have a peeve: don't "know how to act" just be. Because the majority of photographers that I know (myself included) want to capture how things are, not how you think they should be. If we want otherwise, we will tell you. It's our job. But, alas my friends, that's not the peeve. Nooo, I'm just getting started!

     So, you're in that awkward moment. And actually, it's not that awkward--only if you make it awkward. And since you're uncomfortable and have obviously disregarded my telling you that I want everything as natural as possible you drop the bomb: "Are you videoing?"

     Woah, didn't your 2nd grade teacher teach you anything? *Do you not know that "videoing" is NOT a word?!?! Yeah, I just used two negatives in one sentence, but it's okay.

     Think about it this way; it's like a DVD, we don't go around asking people: "Are you DVDing?" I mean, it just doesn't make sense. And spellcheck says that "videoing" is not a word, so you had better believe it.

     Now that we've gotten that all cleared up you might be wondering, what do I say? Well, if you must say something, then ask, "Are you filming?" I know, I know, it might sound too technical or pro for you, or on the contrary it might seem old fashioned. But it's the truth. You could avoid saying it altogether by asking if they're taking a picture instead...or just don't ask. Of course, you could continue to live in an ignorant world of bliss and say, "Eh, I'll just a'say what I wanna say. Videoing is videoing and that's all there is to it." However, I will certainly be disappointed in you and we don't want that, now do we?

     So next time you're wondering whether or not you should stare at the camera for 1 1/2 minutes smiling like a baboon that just fell out of a tree and wants a doughnut or be the one that's cracking all the great jokes and showing off all the tricks, make me proud and ask, "Are you filming?"

     *I must admit, I have been guilty of using the nonexistent word "videoing" but as I stated above, I made up a pet peeve, it doesn't really bother me, at least, it didn't until I wrote this! :D