"Did you take my picture???!!!"

J

JackForster

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Scene: Manhattan, Lower East Side, ah distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December

Dramatis personae: HCB wannabe, irritable pedestrian

So I'm fiddling with the meter on my camera, standing on a corner outside the local diner. Suddenly this lady walking by jumps in my face.

"Did you take my picture? Huh?? DID YOU TAKE MY PICTURE??"

I look her up and down and then, savoring the moment, say, "Gee, while I admire your powers of observation if you look just a _little_ closer you'll see that THE LENS CAP IS ON."

Finis.
 
For a moment I thought you will tell a story about stealing the picture by some unknown photographer.
Just imagine: you see almost perfect scene and suddenly...! The unknown and quick photographer with some small camera moves just in front of your lens and like a shadow clicks his camera's shutter just in this second when the frame became in 100% pure perfection.
He disappears.
Two days later, when you stopped feeling depressed (and stopped drinking) situation occurs once again: just before you press the shutter the same shadow steals YOUR FRAME.
Disturbing, huh?
 
That's what I got from this guy. I assured him that I hadn't :angel:
Pete

CNV00011%252520%2525284%252529.jpg
 
I was just getting a reading with an M5 of the pavement and assorted players in front of me when a guy lurches out of a shop into the path of my rangefinder just as I drop the camera from my eye. "Did you take my picture? I'd really like to know." "No I didn't." "Well I saw you with your camera up and I really want to know if you took my picture." "Well, you've asked me and I've answered and you will just have trust what you hear and there's no way you can confirm that what I've said is correct." Before this went any further I realized that I recognized him from a different department of where I work, and he the same. He also realized that the 'let me see' and the 'I want you to delete it' approach was not going to work as he was staring at a film camera. Only once has this happened. Maybe an M5 in silver is just too noticeable.
 
Maybe the Silver M5 is really too noticeable, one time I was taking a picture of a tiny closing shop and the alleyway next to it, some guy pop out from the shop next to it, and goes on a rage bender, asking me repeatedly "what are you taking pictures of!!!?" and I kept telling him just a snapshot of the street, but he wouldnt stop, just to my luck, a tourist came to ask where one of my favorite shop is, so I tip my hat to the guy and took off, even the tourist couldnt understand the logic behind this guy, apparently they saw it all.
 
A few days ago I was waiting in my car in front of a supermarket. In another car sat a little girl with a remote control and she was playing with a barbie on rollerskates that raced across the parking lot. Nearby stood an old man watching the racing barbie and I took a photo of him and the doll because it looked as if he was playing with it. A few seconds later a woman ran to me and asked me if I took a picture of the little girl and why I did that. I told her that I could hardly see the girl because she sat behind the open door of the car and that I took a photo of the man and the doll. She was sceptical but I couldn´t show her the photo. (I was shooting with a Rollei 35) and so she let me go. but I guess she noticed my license plate...

Thomas
 
Lets face it, some people are paranoid.

My usual ploy for taking a street photo in which someone appears who look as if they might object, is to take the photo, look annoyed as if they got in the way by accident and not catch their eye for any prolonged period but to start recomposing as if now I am going to get the good shot.

Its seldom I have had people complain directly. For some reason I have found that buskers who play the violin are the most surly. Perhaps such a serious instrument demands a serious response and they are embarrassed at having to busk rather than being Konzertmeister for the New York Philharmonic.
 
peterm1 said:
For some reason I have found that buskers who play the violin are the most surly. Perhaps such a serious instrument demands a serious response and they are embarrassed at having to busk rather than being Konzertmeister for the New York Philharmonic.
Click to expand...

I think maybe I know at least one of these violin buskers - he used to be my neighbour, and was prone to surliness at the bets of times.

Marty
 
peterm1 said:
Lets face it, some people are paranoid.

My usual ploy for taking a street photo in which someone appears who look as if they might object, is to take the photo, look annoyed as if they got in the way by accident and not catch their eye for any prolonged period but to start recomposing as if now I am going to get the good shot.

Its seldom I have had people complain directly. For some reason I have found that buskers who play the violin are the most surly. Perhaps such a serious instrument demands a serious response and they are embarrassed at having to busk rather than being Konzertmeister for the New York Philharmonic.
Click to expand...

Put a buck in their can and they will usually put up with unlimited photo taking. But tell them to keep acting surly!

Randy
 
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