Author: Peter Bates

Peter Bates is a writer and photographer living in Florida. He is the administrator of this blog and also runs the blogs Stylus and Hdrbodegaphoto.

Sound, Motion, Memory: The Quiet Rise of the Video Snapshot

My friend Ann recently filmed her first 5-second video: a clip of her at work painting one of her seascapes. You can see her brush moving at the bottom and imagine gulls screeching somewhere off-frame. She wasn’t trying to make an instructional video, and she didn’t plan to publish it to YouTube to get hits. She’s not a videographer; she just shot it on her cell phone for the first time, mostly for her own pleasure — something to show friends on Facebook, a proof of an afternoon well spent. Maybe a client will see it and buy one of her paintings.

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Ann Webb at Work on a Painting

She’s part of a growing trend I’ve come to think of as video snapshooters: makers of short, unpolished, unpretentious video clips captured not as much for an audience (although that may change), but mostly for memories.

Since the Kodak Brownie (1900), the snapshot has been a photograph, a still frame pulled out of a moving life and passed around. “Look at me! I was here and look who else was too!” You didn’t have to stand in line at a photography studio to get cards made.

Now people are reaching for video instead. And why not? The vid-cam is already in their pockets. Some will even become hobbyists and graduate to the nifty Chinese-made DJI Osmo Pocket. A few years ago, this palm-sized gimbal camera didn’t take long to break Youtube with its buttery-smooth stabilization, professional-grade video, and pocket-friendly portability.

Even the pundits don’t try to trumpet this as photography’s replacement. The smart ones see it as an expansion. Video doesn’t erase the still image. It adds a dimension the photograph never had: sound, motion, the volatile texture of a moment as it changes into something else. Your cousin singing at a karaoke event and hitting the wrong note. Somebody getting soaked trying to dodge raindrops. The more enterprising ones become tinkerers and copy videos to their computers to edit in specialized programs. Videos can even contain still photographs that fledgling videographers can insert. That combination is a powerful upgrade to how ordinary people preserve memory.

Video snapshots have barged into another ancient hobby stronghold and made it their own. Travel video snippets are a fast-growing extension of the older hobby of travel photography, and the appetite is immense. Travel video viewership on platforms like YouTube and TikTok has surged in recent years, and travelers increasingly say social content shapes where they go. A fado singer in Lisbon serenading a sunny plaza. A slow climb up a railing-less castle stairway. (Watch out!)

What’s new is its immediacy. Travelers now capture the sounds and sights of a foreign street market or a cathedral bell tower and can share it before they’ve even left the plaza. Unedited of course, but who cares about that?

Part of what’s made this possible is how cheap and good the tools have become. A phone braced on a $15 tabletop tripod produces remarkably steady, pro-level footage. Do an eye-catching time-lapse of a sunset on St. Mark’s Square and you might be able sell it to a travel agency.

If you’re ambitious, you could enhance your footage with a wireless mic like DJI’s tiny Mic 3, a device barely bigger than a coin that records rich audio. Unbelievably, it can transmit cleanly from about a quarter mile away. An amateur can produce audio that rivals a broadcast interview. An Osmo Pocket 3, a selfie stick, two of those mics, and a couple of spare SD cards fit easily into a fanny pack you wear around the waist. That’s how I filmed my video snapshots in Scotland two years ago.

You may think that this adoption of high-quality video has been easy, but it hasn’t. In late December 2025, the Federal Communications Commission added DJI and other foreign drone makers to its “Covered List,” a national-security designation that blocks new equipment authorizations. DJI’s newer Osmo Pocket 4 has been unable to launch officially in the U.S. Stay tuned. It’s still developing.

As an example of travel snapshots, I’ve included at the end of this piece my own eleven-minute travel video, Eight Minuscule Films About San Francisco, a string of video snapshots of the city: the Golden Gate Bridge catching the last light of sunset, the Paramount Theatre marquee glowing at night, a candid conversation with a hotel-management student moonlighting as a sex worker, and a midnight drive through Chinatown scored with jazz. None of these required a film crew. All I had to do was hit record.

Where does this go next? Industry watchers expect the momentum to keep building: travel-related video content is projected to keep climbing sharply as smartphone cameras and pocket gimbals close the quality gap with dedicated cinema gear, and analysts increasingly describe these short, personal videos — not the polished influencer reel — as the fastest-growing category of everyday content. If the last twenty years belonged to the digital snapshot, the next twenty may well belong to its noisier, moving cousin. Ann, for one, is already planning more videos.

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8 Minuscule Films About San Francisco

Seniors Are Turning Anti War

Even their bitterest foes agree. The most recent March 28, 2026 “No Kings Day 3.0” was impressive. It reportedly drew over eight million participants across roughly 3,300 locations. Even where I live, Sun City Center, Florida, an “unincorporated census-designated place” (CDP) of only 30,000 people, drew over 1500 participants.

Who’s responsible for such figures? Who are the organizers? Continue reading “Seniors Are Turning Anti War”

The Warming of ICE

“Markwayne Mullin, Kristy Noem’s replacement as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, has started issuing measures to reform the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE. They are truly impressive!

  • Agents shall now be referred to as ‘preventatives of disorder.’
  • Agents are required to wear new masks with cheery smiles on them, turning detainment into a kinder and gentler experience.
  • Agents must use polite language whenever addressing citizens under suspicion. Example: ‘If you please madam, please lie face down in that puddle.’
  • If the situation requires, they must deploy our new ammunition a ‘foam rubber bullet,’ which, instead of conferring a lethal strike, merely imparts a nasty sting, as in ‘Ouch! Gosh, that really smarts. I better behave.’

In addition, as part of our new outreach program, ICE agents will appear at local schools and read from the newly published children’s book, The ICE Agent is My Fiend Friend.”

The Warming Up Of ICE

“Markwayne Mullin, Kristy Noem’s replacement as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, has started issuing measures to reform the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE. They are truly impressive!

  • Agents shall now be referred to as ‘preventatives of disorder.’
  • Agents are required to wear new masks with cheery smiles on them, turning detainment into a kinder and gentler experience.
  • Agents must use polite language whenever addressing citizens under suspicion. Example: ‘If you please madam, please lie face down in that puddle.’
  • If the situation requires, they must deploy our new ammunition a ‘foam rubber bullet,’ which, instead of conferring a lethal strike, merely imparts a nasty sting, as in ‘Ouch! Gosh, that really smarts. I better behave.’

In addition, as part of our new outreach program, ICE agents will appear at local schools and read from the newly published children’s book, The ICE Agent is My Fiend Friend.”

Can Chatbots Help You with Creative Works?

It probably can. Sort of.

First, a tale from film history. Max Sennett (along with Hal Roach) was an early pioneer of silent comedy. He produced hundreds of reels starring such greats as Charlie Chaplin, Harry Langdon, Roscoe (“Fatty”) Arbuckle, Harold Lloyd, The Keystone Cops, and W. C. Fields. According to histories of early Hollywood comedy, during gag conferences at Sennett’s studio, they sometimes seated a “wild man” among the writers. His job, reportedly, was to generate the raw, outlandish seed-ideas — what some called the “wildies.” Continue reading “Can Chatbots Help You with Creative Works?”

Afternoon at the Carnival World Museum

Have you ever attended a carnival and experienced the rides, exhibits, and games of skill? Did you observe the people who worked there and wonder what stories they had to tell? I wasn’t curious about such things when I was young; I just gleefully participated in the rides and the midway. I also chowed down. What did I care how they made candy apples? But later, I did wonder about things like hitting a device with a large mallet just to ring a bell and win a prize. And why did they call the carousel a merry-go-round? And what was it like working at one of these places? What kind of special skills were required? Continue reading “Afternoon at the Carnival World Museum”

Paddling with One Oar

Sometimes the only way out of a creative fix is to think on your feet.

You’re on video assignment, either for yourself, as a favor for somebody else or — more seriously– for a paying customer. Let’s make it interesting. You’re a ways from home. What do you do if something goes wrong? Give up? Reschedule? No. You figure out if there is a way around the problem while you’re there.

You think on your feet.

I was doing a video featurette on Unique India, a combo Indian grocery/restaurant in my neighborhood. I have two lavalier clip-on mics that are supposed to work together with my Osmo Pocket 3 video camera. Two mics are useful for interviews, when I want to record both myself and my subject. One mic was older and more finicky than the other. When I turned on my equipment, only one mic worked with the camera; the other refused to pair with it. It was only later that I figured out why, but for now I was paddling with one oar. Although the well-behaved mic was working great when attached to the subject, I knew it would not be enough to capture my voice too, without muddying it as I spoke at the periphery.

I decided to proceed anyway. I’d just have to deal with my enfeebled voice later through video editing software. There are ways of doing that.

The second problem arose when Sujatha Byanna, the owner, stated that she felt uncomfortable appearing in the video. She wasn’t dressed for it. I guess I hadn’t been clear before, when I said I was going to shoot a video of her store. She didn’t realize she was to be the star.

But I had to have someone appear. What did I do?

I negotiated. I asked if there was an employee who’d appear and represent her. She found a willing assistant, who proved to be intelligent and articulate. She is the one you now see on the video.

I wanted the owner to have some input, so she agreed to speak without appearing. She responded well to my questions. Unfortunately, as expected, my un-miked voice came out muffled, so I just eliminated it. I was not needed. In lieu of her appearing, I filmed B-roll, quick shots of the store, like the restaurant and the well-stocked aisles.

I never like having to make such adjustments, but when you’re working, the real world can be cantankerous.

That is when you think on your feet. It’s a combination of negotiating and discovering ways out of morasses. It’s an acquired skill, so don’t expect to be able to do it right away. But keep at it and you’ll be able to minimize any difficulties that rear their impish heads.

“Those Dirty Movies”: Sex Ed Films in the Fifties

How did you learn about sex? Were you like many children in the United States in the ’50s and ’60s who just sort of pieced it together aon your own? Nobody told you much– much that was useful, that is– and sometimes they even discouraged you from learning anything they considered shameful. Like masturbation. Or nudity.

Even if you’re a boomer, you may not remember this. There was a famous sex education documentary produced in 1947 called Human Growth. This short film was shown in many public schools for years. It was written by Dr. Lester F. Beck, a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon. He wanted to promote healthy sexuality and family life. The film was even issued in a revised version in 1962.

It has a narrative structure. It’s set in a middle school classroom where the class is discussing a movie about adolescent sexual growth. Sort of. But first, it begins in a family living room. The boy is reading his geography book, but something’s odd The native women have shrunken breasts. No nudity here, at least nothing real. It didn’t matter that most adolescents encountered their first nudes within the pages of National Geographic, and they were in sharp black and white. The magazine sometimes contained topless natives from the global south. It could get away with displaying nudity then because they weren’t white.

They rendered female anatomy sexless. This artistic decision was as intentional as the movie’s harmless title, Human Growth.

Despite these and other cautious editorial decisions (detailed in the video below), Human Growth still encountered noisy backlash from conservative and religious groups. Christians argued against it. A 1952 article in The Catholic World criticized the film, stating, “The presentation of such material to young children is a violation of their innocence and a usurpation of parental authority.”

Why did this happen? Consider the times. Remember, this was the McCarthyite fifties. Comic books with risqué covers were being lambasted in the halls of Congress during Senator Kefauver’s Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. Such a climate made it easy to snatch Human Growth screenings from school rosters, due to pressure from local politicians and right-wing community groups. One midwestern school board voted to ban the film after a heated public meeting. A board member complained, “This film is not suitable for our children. It crosses a line that should not be crossed in a public school setting.”

Human Growth wasn’t the only sex education film screening back then. Smaller companies also released them. A few were even banned, like Dr. Sigmund Winston’s Masturbation: Putting the fun in self-loving. Others were aimed at particular audiences (like only girls) and sometimes veered into the outright bizarre (see below).

Even though the 1962 version of Human Growth came out when I was a mere 15, I never saw it. It did not screen at my school. There might have been too much guff from parents about “inappropriate language in classrooms.” I even overheard one conversation between my mother and a neighbor. Both agreed with what they’d read in the local newspaper, probably the Danvers Herald. “It’s instruction best left for the home.” As if that “instruction” ever occurred in family gatherings.

There’s plenty of blame to go around for the dearth of sexual education during this period, and perhaps even now. Call them what you like — Republicans, Christian nationalists, or just standard hidebound conservatives.–they appear to have won this round in the sex education struggle. Even at that, some sexual information has managed to squeeze through. It’s more likely that the average male does know what a clitoris is and approximately where it is.

They’re just not clear on how vast it is.