Cameras, Concerts, and Missing the Moment

Cameras, Concerts, and Missing the Moment July 24, 2012

When I went to the Signature Sound/Collingsworth family concert in Shipshewana this summer (for which a review IS forthcoming, I promise), I brought a camera, as I do for every concert. Unfortunately, the Blue Gate Theater doesn’t have the greatest lighting conditions for hopeful photographers, and my view of the stage for the entire first half of the concert was dodgy and intermittent. So while I did manage against all odds to capture a few middling decent shots, I didn’t bring home a particularly spectacular crop (pun not intended).

There was one moment in particular where I really wished in hindsight I had put the camera down. On “Glory to God In the Highest,” Signature Sound had Phil Collingsworth Sr. join them for the “moves.” I thought, “Now that would be a great moment to catch on camera!” So I raised the camera in anticipation of the moment… and I couldn’t focus properly. It looked like a blur. And by the time I lowered it, the moment was gone. I had missed it. I never actually saw Phil Collingsworth dancing with Signature Sound, because I was so busy trying to pin it down and CATCH it that I lost my opportunity to simply ENJOY it.
I read a good article by Tim Challies recently that explores this very phenomenon. We live in a world of “capturing” gizmos. Everyone is always trying to record the moments around them. But really, a recorded moment isn’t going to be the same as a moment enjoyed in full when it’s actually happening. Your iphone will jiggle. Your camera will suffer from bad lighting. Color and detail will be fuzzed out. Audio will be sub-par. Yes, you’ll be able to go back and relive a recorded moment, but which is better? Having a cruddy recording of a moment you never got to enjoy properly, or having a great memory of a moment you did stop to enjoy properly?
Now of course, if nobody brought cameras to their concerts, there’d be no pictures or videos for the rest of us to enjoy (we’re thinking of you, Diana!) But I for one am thinking that I may start leaving mine home a little more often. What about you? Do you always carry a camera to every concert you attend?


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