I’m just completing a month long trip around SE Asia and have just about had it with the throngs of smartphone and tablet snap shooters (not photographers) who clog every venue I visited. Personally, I have two iPhones and three iPads but rarely use them for taking anything other than something interesting like a sign or other local oddity and usually just for my records. I do, however, take the occasional selfie and may have someone take a quick tourist shot of my wife and I in front of something noteworthy. Other than that, I use my Canon 5D III with a long enough lens that I can breach the wall of smartphones in front of me. I do recognize that these “tourist” photographers have just as much right to take shots as I do but it’s the way they take those photos that drives me crazy. Here are my main issues.

1. They must always stand a long way from their subject so that the entire background is included. This means that for some length of time the lane between them is technically closed while the photographer (I hate to use that word) fidgets with the camera and/or the subject goes through several modeling poses so that the shoot can be completed. Inevitably, the shooter and subject change places and repeat the process.

2. With groups, everybody wants every picture taken with their camera which means that the particular location is closed for a while. Maybe someone should invent a selfie-stick that holds 4-6 smartphones so that they can get it done with one click.

3. In order to take a picture with a smartphone or tablet you must raise it well above your head in order to get a clear shot and in most cases a small adjustment with your DSLR will get you around them for your shot. The worst situation is the tablet user when they hoist what appears to be equivalent of a large sign up to take their shot. Sometimes I wish they would turn the tablet on selfie mode so they could see the annoyed people behind them. I attended a few cultural performances (water puppet show, etc.) and was steaming when a lady in front of us with an iPad appeared to want to video the entire performance and who was totally oblivious the attendees behind her.

4. Lastly, selfie-sticks are really annoying because they are not just used for selfies but for all of their photos. They walk around with a phone on a three foot pole and in large crowd it is just not that practical.

We unfortunately live in an age where everybody on the planet owns a device capable of taking pictures and where in the old days only people with actual cameras taking actual photos would be trying to get the perfect shot of something that they deemed important. Oh do I yearn for those days.