Jul 14, 2011 / Topic Ideas

Can a camera truly capture a moment in time?

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  1. No, a camera cannot capture the moment. It’s impossible to capture the essence of living in a photograph….

    BUT.

    A camera and it’s photo can help preserve the memory of that moment…helping the viewer to remember and relive the feeling of that moment over and over…and to share it with others.

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  2. Absolutely and I do that always whenever I have the chance. I carry a camera with me everyday and if for any reason I don’t I have my smartphone and always use it as I love to capture such moments as one may never get the same moment again!!

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  4. Well, I would venture to say that an image produced by a camera is defined by its boundaries and therefore, consciously, the viewer is likely to be aware of the camera and its user. This, I feel, is the case in mediums such as news reporting which is factual, and where the viewer perception is coloured by a desire to find out what is happening in the world.
    However, when the photographer produces an image that is so absorbing, then that’s when the boundary begins to blur. It becomes so thought-provoking and moving that the viewer begins to become part of the story – a strong connection can be made, whether the image is striking or when the subject matter is profound.
    There is a need for a photographer, as with all artists, to define his goals, and work from a solid framework.
    At the same time there should be some experimentation – the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them.

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  5. Yes, I think so! If it didn’t, why would we persevere to take the best photo we can…. That moment is frozen in time and that picture has the responsibity of drawing the onlookers into something you felt was worth capturing.

    It makes me wish I had time to blog my travel pics – I have thousands and some take me right back YO the moment

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  6. In a sense, yes. The camera only sees what is in front of it at that particular moment in time. It cannot see the next second, minute or hour so it cannot capture the future. It cannot see what has gone past so it cannot capture the past. Only what is now, the scene before it, at the moment the shutter clicks can it stop time, but only for the length time of the action of the shutter speed that has been selected. The camera nor the user needs to be seen in the image as they are irrelevant to the scene itself. They are not important nor need to be known in order to achieve this once in a lifetime moment as that particular moment will never be again. The camera and the user are the means to achieving the end result.

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  9. Perhaps a camera can capture, just a tiny part of our lives, our world and our experience in that 1/25th of a second and perhaps it says something about us too, we, the ones behind the camera, in terms of our goals, hangups, turn-ons and desire for self-expression.

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  11. In life all we truly have are our memories. For some, Alzheimer’s will deprive them of even those before their lives are spent. For most, memories remain, more or less intact, until we die. Photos help us sustain moments in time that might otherwise be lost to us forever…forget Alzheimer’s or even death. So I keep my little, red Canon handy so I can “point and shoot.” And capture another morsel of a precious commodity that doesn’t last forever…life.

    Come visit and see if you agree…enjoy! 😉
    http://hugmamma.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/daily-post-challenge-188-can-a-camera-truly-catch-a-moment-in-time/

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  12. What better way to capture a celebration moment like wedding with a camera eh? 🙂

    I believe a camera (and thus the photos) helps capture certain moments. However, the very meaningful background story leading to that moment may not be captured. So, over time, the people who are not involved may not know the significance of that moment.

    Imagine we had a rough battle in the soccer field, mud covered, but we won against a very strong team. Those involved would know the story and know the significance of this photo, at that moment. But, when the later generation look at the photo later on, they may just say “bleat, dirt covered players”.

    As for the camera and its user, they have no choice but to count on another cameraman.

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  13. Honest I think a sometime it would accomplish a neccessity for the best source of Relief grasping accounted points at thought where depicting down as moisture A angst of a moment is a scrabble of a thought at a veiwer looking to stare at distance in place. I dont have a camera Costs, are eiw very not a really Dispense at capturing. A tough Quick durably made camera is a purchase to place at masting finishes to keeping moments in time. think they took my pict.

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  14. No, I think it could not. Whenever you look at pictures of people, you couldn’t really tell what are the true emotions that people in the pictures feel at that time. They could be smiling, but deep inside, they hate what’s happening. That’s why I don’t like photos with people in it. I prefer inanimate objects as a subject in pictures.

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  21. It captures the space we occupy in a moment yes, and brings memories to mind later on, but I dont think it can truely capture a moment in time. In terms of animals, it cant show what we were feelling or thinking when it takes it’s shot, it wont feel the joy of holding your newborn baby or dying at the teeth of a lioness, it doesn’t feel the moment.

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  22. I think it ultimately depends on what defines a moment, and what kind of moment we are trying to capture.

    If the photographer themselves are not a key element of the moment and are just experiencing greatness with someone else then it most definitely can be captured.

    Consider wedding photography (perhaps more by a friend that a hire), as cliched as it may be, the moment is not anything to do with the photographer directly, however a romantic capture will show the moment for what it was.

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  26. A picture can never replace the actual moment as it only holds a fragment of the event, however, it is still one of the best alternative we can get to help preserve our memory (the other one being videotapes).

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  27. Have you ever seen a beautiful sunset, fantastic landscape or brilliant full moon then take a photo of it and the photo turns out completely naff and not the way you pictured it. On the other hand when you see fantastic shots taken by photographers you just are in awe of the colour, the setting and the overall scene

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  28. If is possible to self capture in moment that was a great bonding both of your camera 🙂

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  29. Street photography is a perfect example of capturing a moment in time. But even so, depending on when the photographer pushes the button depends on the story the photograph tells. A photograph is taken from the photographer’s perspective and hence is a representation of what the photographer wanted you to see. Hence the photograph can be a distorted view of the truth, i.e. taking a pic of somebody from behind at a very low angle will make their posterior appear a larger than what it actually is.

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  30. my camera is like my baby! So ya i do think that it can capture a moment! sometime you can see the emotion in the photograph and sometimes you have to look for it but trust me the moment it’s there!

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