How to handle "Camera Agressive People" in public areas

[mermaidshells]

First off any advice you have for how to handle this particular situation professionally would be amazing and I appriciate any input good or bad.

My husband and I went out for a very late dinner, and the only places open were bar/club types. We get to a restaurant and people are taking pictures all over the place with point and shoots. Plus there's an amazing crowd dancing on the dance floor! I've yet to try to get any shots of people dancing much less in such a low light environment so I figure this is a great opportunity to practice. After eating I grab my camera and look around for waitstaff. I run into a wait staff and ask him if it's okay if I can take some shots of the crowd dancing. Turns out this guy is actually the owner/manager and says that he has no problem with it, but reminds me that if anyone doesn't want their picture taken they're within their rights and I'm to move on to someone else. Knowing that fact ahead of time anyway (YAY for DPS articles on your rights as a photographer!), I agree I will do my damnedest to stick to a core few people who are okay with me shooting.

I go onto the dance floor and find a group that's having a blast. I pull them aside and tell them I'm a student working on my portfolio. I ask if it's okay if I tail them as they dance. They're ecstatic about it and enthusiastically agree. So I back off a bit and let them do their thing.

I'm shooting for about 20 minutes when a woman and a few of her friends block my shot. I shift myself a bit to get my camera on my group. After about a minute or so I notice rude gestures and the fact that one particular woman in the group is getting very upset and thinks I'm taking pictures of her. The music is roaring and I try to explain to her that I'm taking pictures of the group to her left but to no avail. She can't hear me and mouths that I'm a creeper. Her friends flock around and are obviously asking what the problem is. She points at me and mouths 'camera' and 'stalker bitch'. At this point I'm trying to ignore her, I'm moving to get around her and continue shooting my group. She and her friends decide to move into my field and dance making rude gestures and yelling names at me. At this point I'm OBVIOUSLY trying to photograph other people, yet they continue to block my shots.

After a few minutes of this my husband comes forward and gently pulls me from the floor and suggests we leave. We head out, I delete any and all shots with her and her friends and now I'm sitting at home wondering, "What the hell would happen if this was a professional job?"

Had this been a professional job and I was working for a group going to enjoy the night out, or a restaurant/club owner this would have been a serious problem. The woman and her friends were seriously pissed off that I was taking pictures in their general direction and then decided to block every shot I was trying to take. They continued to do so even when I moved myself away from them.

Here's some solutions I've come up with if this were a situation where I was working as a hired professional. Some of these seem straight up silly/unprofessional to me but I thought I'd put it here anyway:

1. Approach the group politely and hand them a business card showing them I'm a professional. Explain that I will remove any and all photos from my camera that I have captured of them. Additionally, ask the group politely to understand that I'm working for group/restaurant-owner and if they don't want to be in the shots I will respect them, stay out of their way and ask that they stay out of mine. If still they continue to be hostile to me I'd approach a manger or bouncer about it.

2. Ignore them and move on to a different area (pretty much what I did). If still they continue to be hostile toward me perhaps approach a manger or bouncer about it.

3. Ask my clients to explain the situation to the group. If still the ladies continue to be hostile, approach a manger or bouncer about it.

4. Put my camera down and explain to my clients the problem. Let them handle it.

5. Straight up go to a manager or bouncer with my client/s in tow. Explain the situation and allow security/manager to handle it.

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What would you do? Have you ever had 'Camera Aggressive' people around you during a gig? How did you handle the situation?

[gturner]

Or you could tell them that if they don't want their picture taken, they should stay out of public spaces.

Lucky you have a ladies touch, I would told them where to go after they became cheeky.

[OsmosisStudios]

Originally Posted by gturner

Or you could tell them that if they don't want their picture taken, they should stay out of public spaces.

Lucky you have a ladies touch, I would told them where to go after they became cheeky.

And that's a great way to not get another job from that club.

Have a few business cards with your name on the front and a blank back. Take a pen (i use a sharpie) and write "I'm working for the club". Walk over and hand it to her. If she flips you off, then get a bouncer or the manager. Most people just nod and accept it.

[GadgetRick]

First--and some people won't agree with me--but it's always easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to get permission in the first place.

With that said, think about your situation, you're in a bar, it's late and people are partying hard. Obviously, the woman--and her friends--who gave you a hard time were partying a little harder than others. Not much you can do about that. However, when you run into people like that, you can only remove yourself from the situation. Nothing good ever comes from it. I know, I used to bounce and you can't win an argument with a dunk.

Sorry you had such a problem.

[jdepould]

I'd probably just ignore them and find another angle, maybe try to place them behind me. If they were really disrupting actual work, I'd just ask the client to handle it, it's their place and their dime.

Though it is a bit odd that they were actively getting in front of you, yet didn't want their pictures taken.

[idcrewdawg]

I too would have used the business card technique.

[Clickhead]

I have shot countless clubs, parties, random functions and concerts, gigs, jam sessions and all sorts in endless public places. I have hardly ever asked anyone for permission ever to take their photo. I don't have time. By the time I ask the moment I wanted to photograph is already gone.The majority of the time I don't even ask management permission either. I have never had a problem.

I have over 10,000 photos of random strange people having a ball and often out of their heads and out of all those I have had only maybe 3 or 4 ever say that they preferred not to be photographed. I respected that and worked around them. Yet within an hours or so even these 3 tapped me on the shoulder and almost insisted that I take their photo too.

They say that the government is photographing or videoing each of us an average of 300 times every time we step out of our doors. All clubs, bars, venues etc all do the same with their CCTV.. none of them asked our permission. So I don't feel a need to either.

I see it like this... if people like you.. they will let you take as many photos of them as you like.. so for me it's not about getting permission or legal approval it's about people liking you and trusting you in an instant..

Some people have instant rapport with the general public or charisma for want of a better expression and some simply don't.. some can cold sell encyclopaedias on door steps and make a ton of money and some will forever get doors slammed in their faces and the dogs set upon them.

I take a moment to get a feel for the location I'm in and more importantly let the location and the people there get a feel for me.. then I start shooting. I make a point of showing people some of the shots on my camera screen and soon as they see how great they look and we all smile and laugh, others too jump into the fun and want to be a pert of it.It's highly infectious.

I offer my email or take theirs if they want and email them their pic the next day. (This has led to lots of work by the way)

That's basically the black and white of the matter. You don't sell the product.. you sell yourself. They either like you or they don't.

Rules? Permissions? Humbug... some of the best photo on this planet are taken outside of all rules and the best photographers in the world work outside of rules all the time.

Those people continuing to block you when it was clear you were not shooting them but other indicates that it was personal.

[mermaidshells]

Originally Posted by jdepould

Though it is a bit odd that they were actively getting in front of you, yet didn't want their pictures taken.

No Kidding! This is what really stumped me! They get mad about the fact that I'm taking pictures and then turn around trying to get into every shot. Maybe their reasoning was if they ruined all my shots and kept getting in the way I'd leave ... which I guess worked in the end. Either way it was seriously vindictive and they made it a personal issue (on their end at least).

Thanks for all the advice you guys have given it's most appreciated! Seems the general consensus is to have a business card on hand/talk to the clients. I'll keep this in mind for future shoots.

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by mermaidshells

No Kidding! This is what really stumped me! They get mad about the fact that I'm taking pictures and then turn around trying to get into every shot. Maybe their reasoning was if they ruined all my shots and kept getting in the way I'd leave ... which I guess worked in the end. Either way it was seriously vindictive and they made it a personal issue (on their end at least).

Thanks for all the advice you guys have given it's most appreciated! Seems the general consensus is to have a business card on hand/talk to the clients. I'll keep this in mind for future shoots.

Should have just taken MORE pics of them at that point...

[Brian Mullins]

ok.. first let me say that this is NOT a public place. It's privately owned and you are there with the owners permissions and stipulations to get permission from anyone you photograph.

To be honest, as soon as you saw the problem you should of stopped shooting, spoke to the person who had a problem in a less noisy are to explain you are shooting for fun, with the clubs permission, and no images are of them or their group. Taking care of problems before they become an issue is something you have to do as a photographer.

If they were still uncomfortable, ask you group to move to the opposite end so there is no confusion.

The club owner is letting you shoot as a favor... saying you are "shooting for the club" is a wonderful way to get kicked out when they complain. The club's main interest is in keeping their guests happy and if you infringe on that, you will loose, every time. Be professional, be nice and, in this case, retreat and regroup is a viable option.