Dumbest Photo Question that You've Ever Been Asked

<p>This is meant in good fun.  Upon explaining to a coworker, who brought four rolls of bulk-loaded Tri-X to me to develop, that the I would return the cassettes since they were reusable, she beamed and asked <em>"Does this mean I can shoot this film again?"</em><br>

We all need a good laugh so share some of those questions.<br>

<em></em></p>

<p>A musician didn't know how to use a FAX machine so she asked for help. Once the FAX was sent, she asked in a deeply puzzled tone: "Howcome the paper is still here?"</p>

<p>"whats an 8x10?"<br /> - a friend/model I was working with.</p>

<p>sad thing is that she was serious... so i proceeded to explain all the paper sizes to her...</p>

<p>Of course she can use it again. You just need to tell her the secret how.</p>

<p>well, how about  "Is that a camera?"<br>

or someone once asked me what a Head Shot was.  that one actually isn't so dumb so I had to explain it's just a picture of your face (head) usually for modelling agencies.<br>

THEN, when they asked again why it's called a head shot, it became a dumb question.</p>

<p>One more: Back in the mid-70's I was showing a small 110 camera to a potential customer. He asked me: "Where does the picture come out?" What was so funny was the camera was actually smaller than a box of Polaroid film that was on one of the shelves.</p>

I had a Mamiya TLR mounted on a tripod and pointing towards a building. As I looked down into the viewfinder, it all went dark. I looked up and somebody had ambled in front of the camera. He peered into the front of it, then looked at me and said, "Are you taking photographs?"

 

I resisted the urge to say, "I'm trying to, but some bonehead keeps getting in the way."

<p>I have a huge 500mm telephoto lens for my Nikon F2AS. I taped a note to<br>

the lens shade so people can read it as they walk by:</p>

<p>"Dumb Things People Say to Photographers who are Using Long Lenses"<br>

1/ Are you a professional?<br>

2/ Do you work for National Geographic?<br>

3/I'll bet I know what you're shooting.<br>

4/What are you shooting?<br>

5/Can I look through your lens?<br>

6/How much did all that stuff cost ?<br>

Best rgards,<br>

/Clay</p>

<p>Actually none of the last 5 questions are dumb...<br>

OK maybe number 3...</p>

<p>How about " what kind of camera should I buy" ?</p>

While sitting in the stands prior to a game someone took a look at my F4S rig and said to me 'now that's a REAL camera.' It would have been dumb I guess except it was a very impressed 11-year-old so I thanked him and showed it to him. I did have a Bill Engvall moment yesterday though. Parked on the side of a very quiet country road I was shooting an old country store, a pair of cameras evident, when a jogger came by, stopped running and said (wait for it) 'taking some pictures today?' I just nodded, said 'uh huh' and we all moved on.

 

Rick H.

<p>Back in 1997: "I just ordered a F5, should I get the Nikkor 35-80 zoom with it or do you suggest me somethi

ng cheaper from Sigma or T

<p>You're going to love this!</p>

<p>So back in the day, I was an indentured servant in a one hour photo lab in downtown Orlando. Before digital, before APS, still getting enough 110 film dropped off to cause eye twitches. The housing market was booming and there were a ton of realtors dropping off film a couple times a day that they just had to have right away.</p>

<p>So one day, one of the particularly pushy ones comes running in (literally), hands me a roll, and tells me that this one is extra special and she really needs it right away. Seems she just found this house and needs to get it listed *right now* because she's sure she has a buyer already. Then she tells me she wants them all as 5x7s and she wants a couple of them as 8x10s. She knows exactly which ones she wants enlarged but can't wait for the proofs to come out. "Here, I'll show you which ones!" and proceeds to pull the negs out of the canister to show me! "Huh? how come I can't see them?"</p>

<p>It all went down hill from there.</p>

<p>I Luis,<br>

How about 'irritating questions constantly asked' ?<br>

The answers are: No,No,doubt it,Kodachrome,No, an arm and a leg !<br>

Best regards,<br>

/Clay</p>

It wasn't presented to me as a question, but as a demand when I worked in a full service film lab many years ago. A pro wedding photographer chewed me out because I wasn't able to make 8x10 prints from 35mm film without cropping. I tried to explain that I couldn't change the rules of geometry, but they weren't having any of it. This sort of thing was a daily occurrance, and it's why I laugh when people bitch about digital causing the industry to go downhill. Long before digital the wedding photo biz was full of know-nothing hacks.

<p>I must admit to something very stupid and funny I said when being lended a rangefinder (mamiya 7) from my University.<br>

So I was handed over a mamiya 7 rangefinder and we were discussing how to use it and so on - such as is it hard using a rangefinder rather than a SLR - as you expect.<br>

I looked through the viewfinder and saw that I could see the lens, and said "how do you avoid photographing the lens?"</p>

<p>Anyone who sees a nice print and says "You must have a real nice camera"  Yes, Yes, Yes, the camera does all the work, Thank You.</p>

<p>I was once lectured from a distance that "there is no hunting in this park". Apparently from where he was standing, my extended tripod over my shoulder looked like a rifle.  :)</p>

<p>When I worked in a camera store all those years ago, I sold a guy a roll of 120 film and he went away happy. Late r, however, he called to tell me he saw the number in the little red window on the back of the camera, but it was upside down.  "Does th at mean my pictures are going to be upside down?" Holy cow, I couldn't even talk to the guy because I laughed so har d .</p>

<p><br />One more (from the same camera shop). In those days 126 film was quite popular. It was a square format, as man y of you will recall. I absolutely could not "teach" one customer why some of his photo got cropped out o f a 5X 7 print. "You can't take a square and turn it into a rectangle without losing something," I told him. He didn't get it, an d my teaching skills just weren't up to the task of dealing with an id iot.</p>

I used to get a lot of blank stares and eyerolls while explaining to our customers that their Vivitar digital camera is not in fact broken, but that the $1 50 pack of 'super heavy duty' batteries MAY be to blame for their taking 1-2 pictures before the batteries are dead. Also a lot of, "Why is this poster-size enlargement of a scan of a wallet-size picture so grainy?"

<p>A customer, while looking inside the film compartment of a tiny Olympus Stylus Epic, asked where the memory card went.</p>

Go over to Ya Hoo Answers, the photography section, if you want to see some of the dumbest questions you can imagine. It

is mainly more misconceptions and attitudes. Far, far too many people think all they have to do is buy the latest and

greatest whiz bang digital camera and they are magically going to have "perfect, professional" pictures, even though they

don't know an f stop from a door stop. Plus, in their minds, it doesn't matter what they do with the camera anyway,

"photoshopping" fixes everything.

 

I just have to get off there sometimes I get so enraged at the nonsense.

 

steve

<p>Does that camera take color film?</p>

<p>This brings me to the photo store basic converstion:<br>

- Sir, may I help you?<br>

- Yes, I'd like to buy a camera<br>

- Which one are you interested in?<br>

- One that makes good pictures</p>

<p>When shooting with a long zoom, or telephoto lens. "how far can you see through that?".When working in a local lab. Upon getting back their slides from processing. "Hey, where are my negatives!?" </p>