The joy of the self-timed photographs

Taken from a dining chair

Travelling as a couple has its own advantages.  You get a double room by default; you can send your wife/partner to buy a ticket without queuing up in a men’s queue; you can taste your partner’s vegetarian food without sharing your own non-veg food; the car/bus/train/plane ride is less boring; and finally, and most importantly, you are with someone you connect from home that makes you less homesick.

Taken from a garden chair

Travelling as a couple can be difficult also. Mainly, when you want to take a photograph. You are always on a lookout for similar couples and you end up approaching them with an ‘I’ll-take-your-photograph-if you’ll-take-ours’ sort of attitude.

A boulder can be the best tripod

You are constantly scanning your fellow travellers to see whether he/she has the same or equal make of camera (esctatic to see an upgraded version), so that you do not have to explain how to take your photograph properly.  We have ended up giving our camera to people who have, instead of taking our photo, have taken their friend’s photo.

Another stone wall balanced the camera

Or you even end up giving your camera to an over-enthusiastic neo-camera geek who thinks he/she knows everything about shutter speed and aperture size and as a result changes all the settings, taking a shot that is either over-exposed or under-exposed.

The solution: self-timed photographs.

A sub-shrine served our purpose

But self portraits are tough for a number of reasons; you can’t see yourself to know how you look. Setup can be more time consuming due to the running back and forth and getting it right.

A granite wall took our photo

Focus is difficult because, again, you can’t see where that focus point is resting and if you are using a timer mode, there is a chance you are not in focus as the camera found something else to focus on.

Don't focus on the tree trunk

And it can be dangerous too. There have been many occasions when our camera has tumbled to the ground or, as a matter of fact, the photographer (on most occasions my better half) has taken a tumble too! We have tried balancing our camera on rocks, bricks, trees, stairs, our car, even using the lid of a dustbin once (eww).

Our car served as a tripod

But the joy of  jumping in as part of a photo yourself? Priceless. Some of our best photographs were taken with the self-timer. Don’t you think so?

The dustbin @#$%