'Hello, can you take a picture for us....?'

Earlier, while on the way to the gym, I noticed a small group of tourists looking around anxiously. The man caught my eye, and approached me.

'Hello, can you take a picture for us....?'

I nodded and gave a smile.

He handed to me his SLR camera, and gestured to me:

'You look through here, and press the button here. And oh, please don't include those bicycles'

After making sure the aperture was correct (he had already set it to the correct setting), I gave the routine 'one two three' bit and snapped the shutter, and gave a thumbs up.

As I continued to walk along the river, I mused to myself: Why does every tourist who apprehends me for aid in getting their perfect holiday picture need to tell me where to look (be it the viewfinder of a typical lens camera or the LCD viewer of a digicam) and where to press the button? Doesn't everyone know the basics of operating a camera?

Then I wondered further: Perhaps they just wanted to make sure that the picture comes out well. Especially if its a film camera where they can't look back at the previous pictures on the fly. Or do they not trust others to know how their camera works? Any opinions? Would you entrust your once-in-a-lifetime picture to a strange on the street?