Herds of Cows with Cameras

I was reading G. Dan Mitchell's photography blog today. He posted a really nice shot of rocks surrounded by a lovely flowing river. After describing the shot, he said:

There is a funny story to add to this. As I was shooting, as often happens when one sets up near a roadway with a “pro-looking” gear (hey, all it really seems to take is a tripod), other visitors began to pull over to see what the photographer was shooting, jumping out of their cars with cameras in hand. This in a very dark section of the canyon. With me using a very long lens. Pointed straight down at some boring rocks in the river. Quite a few just shook their heads, looked at me like I was nuts, got back in the cars, and drove on. :-)

This struck me as enormously funny for two reasons. One, I've seen it all the time, especially when driving through some of the more scenic state parks. Someone will stop and get out of the car with a camera (especially a "pro-looking" camera), and everybody else will then follow suit like a herd of cattle. The second reason it amuses me is that my mindset was always that I steadfastly refused to go along with the crowd, no matter how spectacular the view. If by chance (or parental stopping) I got drug into such a scene, I always felt kind of dorky - like I knew there was a better shot somewhere off the trail that none of the other dorks would ever find, and why in the world did I have to get stuck following a herd of dorks who didn't know what they were doing, anyway? :)

Okay, so I've revealed my innate lack of humility.

Enjoy some of Mitchell's photography. His aspens are really nice.

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