Misused: Amateur Photographer

There seems to be two ways in which this trope is used- the first fits the definition of 'gameplay feature where you take photos of various things', but the second has a completely different meaning of 'a character in a work who likes photography but isn't a professional'. As the examples below show, it's usually used correctly on video game/trope pages, but is used incorrectly in most other forms of media.

I think it'd be best to split the misuse into a new trope named Amateur Photographer, and rename the current trope to make it clearer that it's strictly a gameplay mechanic.

Quick wick check - (total - 101 wicks, 64 inbounds):

Correct usage:

• Guide Dang It!.Action
• VideoGame.Baten Kaitos
• VideoGame.Bio Shock
• Bonsai Barber
• Playing With.Cosmetic Award
• Discontinuity Nod
• Doing It for the Art
• Double-Meaning Title
• Duel Boss
• VideoGame.Endless Ocean: Apparently correct, lacking description.

Incorrect usage:

• FanFic.A Complete Waste Of Time: Character trope.
• Fanfic.A Miscellaneous Tale Of Night And Day: Character trope.
• TropersDoIt.At Work: Seems incorrect.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Used in a video game entry, but looks like a character trope.
• Characters.Brave Police J-Decker: Character trope.
• VideoGame.Dead Rising Chop Till You Drop: The mechanic was apparently dropped for this game, so character trope.
• Film.Dont Go In The Woods: Character trope.
• Characters.Eternal Sonata: Character trope.
• Manga.GE Good Ending: Character trope.
• Series.Insomniac With Dave Attell: Character trope.

edited 12th Mar '12 10:12:55 AM by whizzerd

I'm not sure that amateur photographer (the non-game mechanic use) is a trope, unless there are other connotations like Intrepid Reporter.

Suggest we rename this to curb the misuse, since it's pretty clearly the name that's causing it. It's about the mechanic rather than a character, so: Video Game Photography? Photography Mechanic? Photography Sidequest (since it's usually a sidequest, according to the description)?

First of your suggestions is the best, ccoa.

And of course, I also support a rename. Clearly a troublesome name.

If it's a video game feature, then a rename should help.

I can think of a few instances where a camera is used to indicate a character is either shy (as in they hide behind the camera lens) or curious (much like the Intrepid Reporter), but I'm not sure if there's enough examples of either to count.

And I agree with Septimus, the first rename sounds good.

N-thing rename. Against split at this time, since I dunno if Amateur Photographer itself qualifies as a trope; there could be tropes about specific types of photographers, Hides Behind A Camera, Compulsory Shutterbug, etc, but not just "amateur photographer". Just axe the non-videogame wicks.

edited 12th Mar '12 10:51:42 AM by lebrel

Supporting rename.

I like Photography Sidequest best, unless there are a significant number of non-sidequest examples.

The Fatal Frame series, Pokemon Snap, there are whole games based around this trope.

We do have other mechanics tropes with "sidequest" in their name that are only mostly sidequests, rather than always. I never see misuse because of it.

Not saying we have to go with that name, just saying that if it's mostly sidequests, then the name would probably work.

edited 12th Mar '12 11:11:37 AM by ccoa

There's never misuse on them, but there's a lot of under-use associated with it as well as edit warring. We have a lot of tropers that can be very nitpicky and they have a tendency to cut the non-sidequest examples.

edited 12th Mar '12 11:16:14 AM by shimaspawn

What, there's edit warring about non-sidequest examples?

In this case, strenghtening the case against Photography Sidequest.

Should we get a rename-or-not crowner already?

There has been on several of the other sidequest tropes with people declaring Not An Example. People assume that if the trope says sidequest on the title then it's about sidequests.

edited 12th Mar '12 11:24:37 AM by shimaspawn

I do like a true Amateur Photographer trope though series like Tamayura run off them as well as a lot of bit characters in series like Heartcatch Precure..

edited 12th Mar '12 11:37:51 AM by Raso

All right then, I wasn't aware it was causing problems.

^ But what is the trope? Just being an amateur photographer alone isn't tropable. Just stating a couple of series doesn't help.

edited 12th Mar '12 12:43:02 PM by ccoa

Agreed. There's no real trope to Amature Photographer. It's just a hobby. It doesn't seem to be presented any one way.

They have a tendency to be a Shutter Bug pulling out their camera all the time to take pictures even when it might be annoying to others, a lot of An Asope moments about how they must capture the heart of a moment and how each shot needs love

Video cameras get the stuff like Ano Natsu De Matteru.

Maybe expand Shutter Bug more and move this name to that as a redirect it has MASSIVE underuse.

edited 12th Mar '12 12:57:32 PM by Raso

You just linked a redirect to that trope, which already exists: Camera Fiend.

edited 12th Mar '12 12:58:25 PM by ccoa

Not all Shutter Bug characters are amateurs. A lot of them are artists. Quite a few of them are quite good and have professional shows.

If they don't make their living off of photography, they are amateur photographers; that's what amateur means. Whether or not they are good at it is irrelevant. The Olympics is restricted to amateur athletes, are they not good at what they do?

Yes, that's the problem. Quite a few Shutter Bug characters make their living off of it. Therefore we would need a different trope for them if we used this name for it.

The Discworld example is one of a character who is a photographer for a newspaper. That's his job. That's how he makes his living.

edited 12th Mar '12 1:05:39 PM by shimaspawn

Yeah, I don't think Amateur Photographer should be redirected to Shutter Bug. It's also a much, much broader name than the trope.

Wow that is absolutely right, Amateur Photographer sounds like it's about a character, not a gameplay element. Photography Minigame? (Okay, only a few are actual minigames, but still....)

Minigame will also cause edit wars. There are entire full games based on this trope. There are series built on this trope. Things like minigame cause people to delete valid examples that aren't minigames.

Just a list of some banal ideas:

• Photography Game
• Photography Gameplay
• Photography Mechanic

...I feel like it should be possible to make a pun on First-Person Shooter if anyone has any ideas.

I like Photography Mechanic as the most inclusive.