The strange things people do when they see you out taking pictures.

[Branka]

The first day I got my camera I was so excited to try it out I went out and started shooting anything and everything. There was a nice full moon out that evening and I wanted to take a few photos of it. I was really enjoying the moment when all of a sudden I heard a car stopping behind me and a woman shouting 'What are you doing?!!!!' I got so scared I barely managed to explain what I was doing. The woman just slamed her car door and drove off leaving me confused and ruining my day. It's been two years after this happend and I'm still not comfortable taking pictures outdoors

[daft_biker]

That sucks There's some loonies out there....stuff 'em...don't let them get in the way of you enjoying your photography Only problem I've had in Edinburgh was a security gaurd telling us we weren't supposed to be on crown property or something...we got the shots anyway

I get some funny looks taking macro pictures....but then again hanging upside down from a fence to photograph a fly maybe doesn't look too normal to horse riders. I've no idea why

[crunch]

I've also had that 'so, you're takin' some pictures' line before. Numerous times.

Our university's botanical garden is THE spot for lovers on campus. It's also got some amazing plant life. So there I was, tripod and all, taking some pics of flowers, trees, whatever, when this guy comes over really really mad! He wants to beat me up, because I'm spying on him and his girl... After some explaining AND him basically forcing me to show him all my photos on the camera, he stalked off again.

Scary stuff!

Cheers!

[hpebley3]

I've not had any issues like these when out by myself, but it reminds me of a couple group incidents.

1) I'm a member of Photowalking Utah and there was a group of about 12-16 of us walking around downtown. We stopped at this interesting hotel entrance that had some limited space. So most of us were standing around with our cameras, bags and tripods while we took turns in in twos and threes shooting this doorway. A car drove past slowly, did a U-turn, came back the other way, did another U-turn and stopped. The question asked was "Who are you waiting for?" They thought we were a bunch of paparazzi waiting for someone famous to come out the door. The didn't quite get it when we told them we were taking pictures of the door itself.

2) One of the founders of the Photowalking Utah group, my friend Rich Legg, was out shooting on location in downtown SLC with a Kenneth Linge seminar, again with a bunch of photographers standing around with gear, when someone stopped and asked him "Is this the Photowalking Utah group I've heard about?" Sort of ironic that, of all the people to ask, they'd pick him.

[tracypneal]

This is too funny... I just had this experience a few days ago. As I was trying to locate neat sites to take pictures of for the 'Assignment: Construction' I remembered that the local mall was adding some new stores. So I drive over and pull into a cove and with my window rolled down and sat in my truck taking pictures. When I pulled up I had noticed that there was a 'rent a cop' (no offense) car sitting there and I could hear the guys talking, but they weren't visable at that point and I didn't think much about it.

I had just finished reading an online photogtraphy lesson that day and was concentraining on the lines and so on trying to get a good frame and snap a picture. After the flash went off I heard, "what was that?" Next thing I know here come the 2 rent-a-cops telling me that I wasn't allowed to take pictures there because the construction outfit who was doing it was concerned about confidentiality and copyrights...

Jeez - I explained what I was doing, and they were very nice to me, but they still made me delete all my pictures... I had taken some pretty cool ones too!

[MarcelLuettmann]

A very nice thing happened to my wife, a friend and me while we were sightseeing in Perth, Australia.
We were standing at the fence, taking shots of the Government House, when a security guard came out of his little office/entrance guarding building. After a few minutes of chatting, he said that the prime minister was in holiday, Western Australia was 'between PMs' anyway (if we got that right), nobody's home, so he could show us the ground floor of the house. Upstairs was out of bounds, but if we liked, we could look around in the garden on our own afterwards. I guess he was bored, and having two beautiful girls with me should have helped, too...
I even got a shot of a christmas card signed by Queen Elisabeth II and Prince Philip.

Marcel

[TAWW]

Originally Posted by Car2n

I have a park across the road from my place that has one of those water splash pads the the kids run around through the various water spouts etc. I'd love to set up over there and take some pics of the kids playing with the water.
I don't even dare,,,

I was watching a video on Street Photography about a year ago, and the photographer had some pictures of children enjoying a local amusement park. The photographer made the comment that if his son came home one day and made the comment that a man was taking pictures down at the playground that he would run down to the playground and ask what the person was up to. So why is it ok to take the picture at the amusement park but wrong at the local park? Why does this photographer who routinely takes candid pictures of people/children in public places, immediately thinks the man at the local park must be up to something bad.

[hpebley3]

Originally Posted by tracypneal

I had just finished reading an online photogtraphy lesson that day and was concentraining on the lines and so on trying to get a good frame and snap a picture. After the flash went off I heard, "what was that?" Next thing I know here come the 2 rent-a-cops telling me that I wasn't allowed to take pictures there because the construction outfit who was doing it was concerned about confidentiality and copyrights...

Jeez - I explained what I was doing, and they were very nice to me, but they still made me delete all my pictures... I had taken some pretty cool ones too!

No, no, no. That's how our liberties are eroded, one event like this at a time. First read this and then next time something like this happens, be very nice back and say "Sorry, I can't do that." It's the job of every one of us to keep our freedom.

Cheers.

[PnwGuy]

One incident stands out in my mind. About a year ago I had a service call outside of North Bend WA. which is sort of up in the mountains. There were a lot of trees covered in moss along this winding two-lane road so I pulled over to get some shots. I had my tripod out and was aiming down into the ravine when this school bus approaches then stops in the middle of the road next to me. The driver wanted to know what I was taking pictures of. I told her I was shooting the trees. She have me a strange look and proceeded on her way. As she pulled off all these little faces were peering at me out the windows. I just found it all a little odd.

One more thing...when out walking around I notice how photographers tend to size up each others' equipment as they pass. This is more evident with men than anything. I've seen it time after time. I'll be walking and another photographer will be walking towards me. Often we'll make eye contact and exchange nods, but then the eyes immediately drop down to the gear. Is this just a man photographer thing?

[Marmalade]

PnwGuy - I don't think that it is limited to men. I was at my cousin's wedding and both wedding photographer's looked at my camera, one man one woman. The man gave me a dirty looks everytime I took a picture. Thing is I was taking pictures of the guests and location, not the bridal party.