Vile In The Via Veneto

Awkward In The Adlerstrsse. Obstructive in Omsk. In other words, the selfieholic. The traveller who needs a picture of themselves in front of an iconic landmark to prove to their friends that they were there and that they were happy. In some cases I wonder if it is a case of them trying to prove the same thing to themselves. Lest you think me a greater hypocrite than I really am, here is a selfie of me taken on a Wallace And Gromit set in Melbourne. Those of you who have been told to avoid me in the street now know why... The image was taken with a standard Fujfilm X-T10 camera by my daughter - the camera has a switch that takes it from my careful settings to a complete auto mode so that I can hand it to novices and get a decent result back. This is not meant to be demeaning - just realistic. Well, if you are determined to picture yourself in any situation, take along one of the Joby sticks to do it - the Telepod comes in several sizes but they all feature the ability to shoot what is on the end of the thing with a controller down near your thumb. If your mobile phone or camera has the sort of screen that flips up and shows you what the lens is seeing as it peers down the stick, you can frame accurately. otherwise just keep blazing away until the guards come and throw you out. Joby TelePod Tripod Mobile Set it up, as I have done, on the product table with the handle folded out to a tripod. Then activate the timing circuit in your camera or the app in your phone. Scurry round in front of it to join the group. And this is not just for selfies in front of Buckingham Palace ( Is that The Queen at the window winding up to hurl a corgi at you? ) Take it to a wedding and use it to foul the big group picture afterwards. Heck, stick the damn thing out sideways into the aisle as they are saying their vows and get it in front of the official photographer's camera. You know you want to. But all is not savagery with these little guys. If you are looking for something in a place that you'll never be able to stretch or bend to, you can sometimes use these and action cams, phones, or compact cameras to do your sleuthing for you. Put it where you dare not go and press the button. Joby always do make good supports. My home studio uses one of their ball and socket heads and it is the best thing since sliced bread. Their Gorilla pods and tripods are also pretty neat gear. Look on the Joby stand at either Stirling Street or Murray Street and find something that will be fun to use.