I can’t stand malls. I try at all costs to avoid them like the plague – or should I say H1N1! However, this Fall I have been volunteering my fundraising expertise to a local Portland non-profit called “Step It Up, Inc.” that is headquartered at the mall.
I have committed myself to volunteering twice per week at the Step It Up, Inc office. So, this has been forcing me to be at the mall. Every day that I am there, I find myself feeling sick to my stomach at the site of all those people gorging themselves with Hot Dog on a Stick, McDonald’s Express and Cinnabon. Bleck. And, then I begin to feel sorry for those lifeless shoppers rushing out of the department stores with two clothing bags hanging from each arm. As if that was the biggest highlight of the year for them.
I think perhaps the only positive activity that is happening at mall is the year-round indoor ice skating rink. Yesterday, it seemed like every Portland public school kid was wearing a pair and hugging onto the railings as they attempted to coordinate their inline skating skills. Each time I walk into the mall I immediately walk over to the rink to take a few shots of the skaters on ice. I’ve got wishful thinking that that rock star blog-surfer fairy will send me a brand new SLR Nikon D40 (or better) and then I’ll be able to capture a better freeze-frame shot of the kids. This one kind of looks like the yedi on ice.
On my way out of the mall, I found SantaLand. I saw a mother with her little girl walking slowly through the lane ropes anticipating a cozy visit on Santa’s lap. Yes, this creeps me out and ALWAYS has. I think my sick mind is tainted after I watched “Bad Santa” years back. I thought I’d try a few shots of him sitting there. As I looked into the view finder to see what I had quickly produced, I heard the SantaLand attendant strictly call over to me, “Umm, Miss… you can’t take personal photos of Santa. It’s a copyright infringement.”
I was corteous and turned off my camera and turned around to walk away. But, what I really wanted to say to him was, “How the hell is taking a picture of Santa a copyright infringement? I mean, Santa isn’t copywritten! Whatever, SantaLand attendant man! Whatever!”
Exhale. It’s such a relief to me each time I step outside into the great wide open after having spent hours inside the mall.
Cat
November 27, 2009 at 11:30 am
Hmm…I’m the same way: never been a huge fan of malls. They’re nothing but money traps, plus they never have anything I want. Overpriced really. Horribly so. LOL…I don’t know what to say about that phony mall Santa—that’s weird, but it makes me want to try to get a picture of the one sitting in the mall here. I love challenges.
As for the kids in the skating rink, can you manually change the shutter speed on your camera? If you can, try to put it to 1/1000 or more, since it’ll work for fast action-type scenes. If there’s a dial for the “sports” scene on your camera, you can try that too. Hope that helps.