How would you answer these IELTS speaking questions about cameras, professional photographers and the media?
IELTS Speaking Part 3
Discussion Questions
Is it really necessary to have a camera in your mobile phone? Why?
Yes, I think it is nowadays. There are so many apps and platforms where you can video chat with your friends and it's also really useful.
For example, if you have an accident in your car you can take photos of the scene to show what happened.
Because so many people are using their smartphones to access the internet, having a camera as part of your phone makes sense.
Is it a better idea to have a camera separately? Why?
No, I don't think so, unless you are a serious photographer.
It's just something else to carry around with you, and you can lose it or leave it somewhere if you're not careful.
I think it's much more convenient to have a camera in your phone.
If you do photography as a hobby then it makes sense to have a professional camera because the quality is better and you can do more things with it.
But if you just want to take photos of your friends and things that happen, then a camera phone is normally good enough.
Is it better to look at your photos on screen or in albums in your view?
I think it's almost the same if you want to show your friends who are with you some photos you have to pass them the album or pass them your phone so they can see the photos.
The big advantage of a camera phone is you can post your photos to your Facebook and Twitter accounts and share them with everybody easily... they don't need to be beside you to see your photos.
Is it really necessary to have professional photographers in the media? Why?
Yes, because not everyone is very good at taking photos.
Photography is a skill and so a professional photographer will always be able to take better or more interesting pictures than an amateur.
And professional photographers get paid to take photos of many different things, not just their friends, family or places they visit.
They sometimes have to travel and research the things they photograph so that's why they get paid.
Do you think that some pictures in the media are taken by amateurs?
It's possible, I suppose, if a person just happens to be in a certain location when something happens then they may be the only person who takes a photo of the event so the picture appears in the media.
We've seen examples of that when natural disasters happen or even when a particular celebrity appears someplace and someone who is not paparazzi or a professional photographer happens to take a photo or make a short video of whatever or whoever it was.
Discussion Questions
Have people become obsessed about taking selfies?
Yes. In fact, this was the third most popular activity on the planet in 2020, after watching YouTube videos and checking email.
So one thing to keep in mind is that you need to be in a safe location where nobody will accidentally bump into your position while you're taking a selfie (think dangerous cliff edge, busy street).
While selfies are now as common as cigarettes used to be, two-thirds of all selfies posted have been uploaded by women.
This could mean there's more pressure for women on social media websites like Facebook or Instagram than there is for men.
People have become obsessed with taking selfies. Another example is that the average teen now spends 450 minutes a day passively scrolling through social media and clicking on stuff - most of which are selfies.
The reason? We're often looking for recognition or validation from other people to make ourselves feel good about ourselves.
There's also lots of advice and tips out there to encourage this behavior, like fixing your hair before taking a selfie, using flash in dim areas, using reference images to get more natural poses (like putting your hand behind your head), turning yourself sideways for profile pictures instead of being front and center, and so on.
On average, how many pictures do you take a day/week/month?
On average, I take about 100 photos a day.
I take this many because I enjoy visual documentation of what my life is like, for myself and the memories might hold with others who come across them as a snapshot through their phone or computer screen years from now.
One tip I use is to keep my camera pointed upwards at all times to capture those beautiful skies and get that aerial perspective when walking along!
Have you ever hired a professional photographer? What was the occasion?
Yes, for our wedding. We hired a photographer because we didn't want to get stuck seeing photos of our happy day through the lens of a phone's camera or tablet's camera.
One thing that's great about hiring a professional photographer is how they know what they're doing with lighting and angles.
They have more than one camera, which can help taking candid shots, so you don't get too many blurry ones where someone is walking in front of the subject or missed an entire expression due to timing issues.
It was important to us also that someone not only be there to document our wedding but also be in charge of layouts and approving all edits before anything went out into the world on social media channels.
Is there anything you don't like about the media coverage in your country?
Only the reason why they keep going on about how the President is incompetent. It's not like he spends hours broadcasting his own thoughts to Twitter. What a waste of time!
But seriously, there are things I don't like about the media coverage in my country. It's too competitive and it doesn't do a very good job at educating people on what life would be like without it (which is probably for the best given we're living in the digital age).
But overall, I think it does an okay job compared to most other countries that have news monopolies or state-run media.
But I do like the idea of people having their own independent thoughts and opinions about issues, even if they are unpopular.
Being truly open-minded about different perspectives is something few people today do. We've become complacent with current norms and refuse to explore anything outside our comfort zone.
Call it ignorance. You know what they say: "Ignorance is bliss".