Pet peeves - let's hear them

[davidmantilla]

<p>Here's mine: So, I'm walking in NY's Grand Central Terminal (GCT) and I see people shooting the beautiful cavernous hall with flash. No, they're not using flash for fill-light for portraits of their friends and loved ones.. just of the HUGE hall. And I'm not talking about point and shoot or smartphone cameras users (they are exempt)... I'm talking about dSLR users with expensive gear (nice-looking glass and battery grip) and attached flash unit (people I would think know what they're doing given their expensive equipment -- if you have a battery grip you really need to know what an f-stop is). </p>

<p>I saw someone adjusting the flash intensity and fiddling with their camera trying to "make it work." (I won't mention the camera brand since I see more and more people picking up dSLRs and treating them like P&S no matter the brand). Hmmm, how about a long exposure? No tripods allowed in GCT, so I was sympathetic, but really? trying to light up GCT w/ a flash unit? I know that's a great flash unit you bought, but bouncing light off a green, curved 40 foot-high ceiling is probably not going to work. So I asked this person, "hey nice camera, what kind of lens are you using? what f/stop?" and they very honestly responded "I don't know." I thought to myself, wow, you bought a prime lens, a big flash unit, a battery grip, and don't know what an f-stop is. (perhaps they borrowed the camera from their friend) I very nicely suggested they try resting the camera at an angle against the floor or marble railing and use a long exposure at f/3.5 (widest aperture) and wished them luck.</p>

<p>Before people jump on me here.. I too was a newbie at one point, so my pet peeve isn't towards other newbies... and I'm not talking about the P&S and smartphone crowd (though they're guilty of this too)... instead at over-use and over dependence on auto camera controls, and hubris at thinking that a flash unit is going to light up GCT, and the lack of "common sense". Maybe this particular person borrowed their friend's camera, so I'm not directing against that person either, but I would think the idea of shooting flash into a far-away moon-lit landscape, or in this case, an enormous hall where the flash's light won't be making it's way back to your camera sensor as a "<strong>common sense" moment: "this isn't going to work, let me try something different</strong>". I hope the paint doesn't fade prematurely on the constellations painted in GCT's ceiling because of all the nonstop flash, because that would really upset me ;)</p>

 

[Spearhead]

<p>Why worry about what other people do? If they ask, I help them. Otherwise, why should I care? It's their life.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>I fondly remember when the whole stadium was lit at night by thousands of point and shoot cameras flashing away. Better than most light shows, but I am sorry I never took a picture of it.</p>

<p>Pet peeves? nah, I just <em>love</em> everybody. :|</p>

[davidmantilla]

<blockquote>

<p>Otherwise, why should I care? It's their life<br>

Pet peeves? nah, I just <em>love</em> everybody. :|</p>

</blockquote>

<p>True.. Little attitude adjustment helps, I guess. ... still bothers me when people hit artwork with flash... doesn't that fade the paint over time? Or just a museum/old-wives tale? Anyway... I need to do more shooting, and less ranting ;)</p>

[steve m smith]

<p>Americans who say "I could care less" when they mean "I couldn't care less".<br>

Pluralisation of words which can already be used as plural e.g. "advice(s)".<br>

The wrong use of "there", "their" and "they're".<br>

Use of the word "invite" in the phrase "I sent you an invite". No you didn't, you sent an invitation. Invite is a verb, not a noun.<br>

The phrase "my bad". Bad is not a noun so you can't own it.<br>

I could go on.... and probably will later!</p>

[dan_south]

<p>Oh, I probably have a lot of pet peeves. One of them is that it's really difficult to attach the cable release to my 5D Mark II when I have it mounted in portrait mode using an L-bracket. One of the few things that I find superior about the Nikon design is that the cable release mounts on the front of the camera rather than side of it.</p>

<p><strong><em>Hey Canon! Fix this on the 5D Mark III! Some of us actually use TRIPODS!</em></strong></p>

<p>Another pet peeve is people who walk up beside me in an attempt to "take the same picture." I can understand this if we're in a crowded location, but if you've thirty miles of Grand Canyon South Rim to work with you don't need to stand next to my back pocket to take a nice shot. <strong><em>Think for yourself!</em></strong></p>

<p>Another pet peeve is the aperture and shutter speed controls on large format lenses. Difficult to read in low light, inconsistent direction of controls, extremely difficult to use with filters attached.</p>

<p> </p>

[dan_south]

<p>Well, Steve, how about?</p>

<p>-- Improper use of the reflexive - "Ask Steve or myself if you need any help."<br /> <br /><br />-- First person subject pronoun used as an object - "Come shoot with Steve and I." - Oh, that one makes me cringe!</p>

<p>And while we're at it...</p>

<blockquote>

<p><em><strong>Pluralisation</strong></em> of words which can already be used as plural e.g. "advice(s)".</p>

</blockquote>

<p>-- Languages that spell words with 's' when the letter should clearly be a 'z'! ;-)</p>

[steve m smith]

<blockquote>

<p>Languages that spell words with 's' when the letter should clearly be a 'z'!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I believe that language is called English, not American. i.e. we are correct!</p>

<p>Some more:</p>

<p>Incorrect use of the word "may" when the correct word is "might". e.g. "I <em>may</em> do something" implies permission to do it. "I <em>might</em> do something" implies that there is a chance that I will do it.<br>

Improper use of the word "momentarily" as in the phrase "I will be with you momentarily". This means that I will not stay for very long!<br>

Using "try <em>and</em> do it" when the correct phrase is "try <em>to</em> do it".</p>

<p>I'm sure there will be more soon!</p>

[Hector Javkin]

<p>Pet peeves?<br /> Complaints about how other people use language.<br /> Complaints about complaints about how other people use language.</p>

<p>And Steve:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Using "try <em>and</em> do it" when the correct phrase is "try <em>to</em> do it".</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The phrase should really be, "try to do it when I get a round tuit." (What is a "tuit" anyway? And in what other shapes do they come?)</p>

[steve m smith]

<blockquote>

<p>Complaints about how other people use language.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Mine are always tongue in cheek as I know language is evolving.<br>

I have had several letters from my children's schools with poor grammer and spelling. These have been corrected with a red pen and sent back to the school.<br>

<br />Just thought of a few more: Mixing up "to", "too" and "two"<em>.</em> And writing "loosing" instead of "losing".<br>

And there's always "alot" or even "allot" being used in place of "a lot" and "should of" in place of "should have".</p>

<p>Muphry's law will take place very soon in this thread: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry's_law">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry's_law</a></p>

<p>Muphry's law is an adage that states that "if you write anything criticising editing or proofreading, there will be a fault of some kind in what you have written.<br />(as there was in that sentence from Wikipedia - which I have corrected for you!).</p>

[rogerwb]

<p>Only one. People who think that every word that ends with an "s" needs an apostrophe.</p>

[steve m smith]

<p>I didn't mention the apostophe one as it's a bit obvious but I have seen apostrophes (not apostrophe's) in odd places too.</p>

<p>A café near me had a sign offering the usual menu of <em>sausage's, tomato's, chip's, </em>etc. but it was also selling <em>toas't.</em><br />And a house in my town had a sign outside listing items for sale. One was a <em>ga's barbecue.</em><br />Local classified advertisements are often a good source of interesting material too. I recently saw one for a <em>George Formby* Grill </em>and also some storage boxes for sale - <em>"useful for storage"</em> if you weren't sure what to do with them!</p>

<p>* <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Formby,_Jr">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Formby,_Jr</a>.<br /><em></em></p>

[steve_levine]

<p>If anyone in NYC were to draw my ire , it would have to be those wonderfully considerate, safe driving cabbies. (Thanks for all those un-signaled turns,sudden mid street stops, and turns from the wrong lanes).Who gives a stale street pretzel about the out of towners, and their inability to operate their cameras?</p>

[steve m smith]

<blockquote>

<p>If anyone in NYC were to draw my ire , it would have to be those wonderfully considerate, safe driving cabbies.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Those we have in London (actually, most of the UK) are the same. It's understandable though as it's very difficult to move that heavy lever which operates the indicators (turn signal).</p>

[chris_waller]

<p>The person who, when I am making a 2 minute exposure of the inside of a church or similar building, walks up in front of my Mamiya TLR, peers into the lens and says, "Is this a camera?"<br>

Oh, and Steve - "It's 'grammar' not 'grammer'. Just thought I'd mention that. :)</p>

[steve m smith]

<blockquote>

<p>Oh, and Steve - "It's 'grammar' not 'grammer'. Just thought I'd mention that. :)</p>

</blockquote>

<blockquote>

<p>Muphry's law will take place very soon in this thread: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry's_law" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry's_law</a></p>

</blockquote>

<p>I told you!</p>

[Hector Javkin]

<blockquote>

<p>I didn't mention the apostophe one as it's a bit obvious but I have seen apostrophes (not apostrophe's) in odd places too.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>But Steve, I know many intelligent people, including one contributor to photo.net who has helped me and countless others with photography, who never know when to use "its" and when to use "it's." It doesn't bother me at all. I had to point out the error when I was grading student papers, but I'm not going to worry about the whole world making that mistake.</p>

[steve m smith]

<p>Another Americanism I don't understand is the use of the word "guess" to affirm something.<br>

e.g. in response to the question, "are you going out tonight?" might be the answer "I guess"<br>

To Americans, that seems to mean yes. To me, it means you're not sure.</p>

[bojepsen1]

<p>I remember an evening in Shanghai, some time ago, when a man with a top dollar DSLR, tripod, and huge flash took several flash-lit photos of the skyline of the Pudong-side of the Bund. There must have been some 500 metres between him and his subject, and yet that flash was working hard with every shot. </p>

[mbkissel]

<p>Yep, Steve, we Americans are an illiterate pesky lot...I guess.</p>

[john_h.1]

<blockquote>

<p>Here's mine... ...people shooting the beautiful cavernous hall with flash.... ...of the HUGE hall.... ... I'm talking about dSLR users with expensive gear</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Why is this a "peeve"? What's the negative effect on you?</p>

[john_h.1]

<blockquote>

<p>Another Americanism I don't understand is the use of the word "guess" to affirm something.<br /> To Americans, that seems to mean yes. To me, it means you're not sure.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The use is actually somewhere in the middle. Think of it as yes without full commitment.</p>

[steve m smith]

<blockquote>

<p>The use is actually somewhere in the middle. Think of it as yes without full commitment.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I have heard it used: Question: "What's your favourite colour?" Answer: "Blue I guess". Your favourite colour (or color if you must) is a definite, not a perhaps!</p>

[jay_poel]

<p>Steve - I really hope you don't have a Facebook account. The spelling and grammar used is atrocious. The most common correction I point out is "damn" not "dam". It must be an American thing seeing as they drop the "u" from colour, neighbour and rumour and a "cheque" is a "check" when Americanized.</p>

<p>I'm Canadian, eh. </p>

[steve m smith]

<blockquote>

<p>Steve - I really hope you don't have a Facebook account. The spelling and grammar used is atrocious.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Not on my page!</p>

<p>It's not the bad spelling I object to on Facebook, it's the use of mobile phone type text including numbers in words and missing out vowels to make things simpler.</p>