People have such different opinions on tourists. Some people love them and others love to hate them. Tourists seem to be interested in the strangest things and often take photo's that make us scratch our heads and chuckle a little as well. Tourists get excited about things that we don't even pay the slightest attention to and they ask questions about everything. I love tourists because they do what any good photographer should do. As a photographer we should be out asking questions and looking at things with fresh eyes that others ignore so that we can make them stand out in an interesting way. I got such odd looks from people as I was bent down taking photo's of trash cans in Astoria and snapping Photo's in the Library in Seattle but nobody was offended and I was given a smile and walked away with photo's to enjoy.

Golden Anchor Salmon

Above: Trash Can in Astoria, OR

Being a photographer I am well aware that I often look like a tourist even in my home city so why not just go with the flow? The advantages to being seen as a tourist are pretty good. One major advantage is that people tend to forgive you more for including them in your photo. People often just assume you are some random person on a tourist vacation shooting for their travel album if you present yourself as a possible tourist. The perception of you can often be very different if you appear to be a professional out on shoot. If people feel this is the case you may feel great about their view of you but the downside is that they tend to be more suspicious and leery of you and your actions.

It's all a blur

Above: Library halls in Seattle, WA

 I don't mind if people give me a strange look as I am taking a photo of a sign in SF Chinatown or of people hanging out at Fishermans warf. They tend to smile and have something to talk about and I get a photo. So please enjoy being a tourist with me and looking for odd things that others may walk past even in your home town. I hope you won't avoid being a tourist and instead enjoy it but maybe you don't need that fanny pack and cheap tourist t-shirt... Just sayin'

Keep it clean

Above: Sign at one of my favorite restaraunt's in San Francisco Chinatown