Stills or Video?
Monday, January 24, 2011 at 8:30AM
If you've bought a camera in the last two years, chances are good that it can also create video. The means to capture and share these types of digital files has never been easier. Whether posting on Facebook, YouTube or storing it in your phone, access is a breeze.
How do you decide when to take a still picture or video? Here's a few observations I've personally witnessed that I would consider to be using the wrong tool:
At Disney World a few years ago, I watched another tourist videotape a mural.
Also at Disney World, a fake bear head mounted on the wall of a restaurant suddenly started talking, and all at once several people got out their cameras and started snapping photos while it was talking.
Lastly, a guy at an art museum videotaping a painting.
In all of these instances, assuming their cameras had video/still capabilities, they all used the wrong camera function. With the talking bear, video would have been the better choice. You can't hear it talking by looking at a photo. It's as if it was uninteresting as a stationary object, but once it started talking it was suddenly noteworthy. But..everyone took still photos, turning it back into the stationary object that wasn't so interesting to begin with.
The guys who videotape murals and paintings, well, that just makes for some really dull video. A photo would get the point across much better. You'll miss a lot of detail watching video pans of stationary art. A photo gives you a chance to study it more closely.
Video cameras and still cameras are in almost every electronic device we can carry, so why not take advantage of it? What do you use/not use and why?