I've heard people complaining about "Uncle Bob" taking pictures at events. From context, it sounds like Uncle Bob is an annoying guy with a camera?
What is an "Uncle Bob"? What is the background of the term "Uncle Bob"? Is he based on an actual individual, or is it more a stereotype?
Answer
Uncle Bob is not actually your Uncle Bob.
Uncle Bob is the derogatory term used by professional and semi professional photographers to describe a 'man with a camera' and occasionly someone with 'all the gear, no idea'. There isn't a clear definition of Uncle Bob, and he can be found in many guises, this is my experience so feel free to mix and match:
- Not necessarily bad people.
- It's Uncle Bob's attitude rather than photographic ability. Prepare for arrogance if they think they have one better picture than you.
- When found at events, they can usually be found taking a large amount of photos of their loved ones. On rarer occasions they somehow wangle themselves a photo pass and believe they're in the big leagues.
- They can be seen shooting in P for Professional mode
- Will happily tell you how his gear is better, and how much it cost to try make you think you're inferior.
- No regards to professional etiquette. Will happily get in other photographers' way.
- Can masquerade as a professional.
- Remember photographer waistcoats back from the days of shooting film at sports event? Well they're not quite dead yet...
- Especially at weddings they've been known to stand intrusively close to the hired professional to try get the exact same shots.
No comments:
Post a Comment