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

good story 🙂

usually people get filmed in the city (malls, squares etc.) and don't even notice it but the M5 user with his lens cap on gets pursuited 😀
 
I was in a bar, with a bunch of people who had just gotten laid off from my company, and I was waiting for someone to move so I could get my shot. Two women and a guy where way in the background and they motioned for me to come over. I walked over and they said "Who are you shooting for?" I said I was just shooting some friends from work and if it looked like I was photographing them I'm sorry I wasn't. At some point one of the women said give me your camera and let me see. I said I'm sorry I can't do that, at which point I motioned to get up and the woman dug her long finger nails into my arm and the guy motioned as if he was going to start a fight. I walked away, with some scratches. On their way out they said "if those ****ing pictures end up on the internet you are ****ing dead!" Anyway this kind of thing just pisses me off and gets my adrenaline flowing, I didn't reply but its hard to be accused of something you haven't done. Its hard for me to be threatened by people because they were in the corner of my frame or far off in the distance, or in this case not.

My point is, I feel for you Jack.
 
Children, 911 and insanity.

Children, 911 and insanity.

I was photographing a schooner (for hire) as it rounded a point and I could only get a good shot from a home association beach. I was clearly pointing my 70-200 to the sea but as I walked back to my care I got wierd looks from some woman. Later the police called me and asked what I was doing photographing children on the beach. I explained what I was photographing and directed them to the website with the mages. I could have said it was none of their business, but I was on a private beach, in a very public downtown neighborhood.

Next time I will stop and ask someone who is giving me fierce looks. What is it with folks? Too active imaginations.

I was also photographing at Yale, and informed the area allowed no photographs SINCE 911. WTF?
Sigh....
 
I have been a street shooter for many, many years. Fortunately, I have only a handful of unpleasant experiences, with most of those being the past couple of years. Usually, when confronted by someone about taking their picture, I smile, walk up to them, offer them my card and explain that I am a street shooter. Most of the time this works.

However, one of the more unusual confrontations I had came at a biker rally. I was shooting random people in a crowd when a tough looking biker approached me and asked if I had just shot him and a group of his friends. He pointed to his friends. I told him that I had shot them and he replied in the nicest way, "Hey, I hate to be an asshole about this, but do you think you could delete that photo? My friend over there is very, very paranoid about having his picture taken and he has a good reason for that."

I promptly deleted the picture. He thanked me and walked away. I saw him nod to his friends.

So, sometimes, people may really have a legitimate concern about having their picture taken in public. This example is the only time, when confronted by someone, that I felt as though the subject really had a reason to be concerned about me shooting his picture and where and how that picture would be shown.

Other than that, I have found that for the most part, your body language, your demeanor, and your verbal communication skills can go a long, long way in making people at ease while you are street shooting.
 
rudolf said:
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?
Click to expand...

Yeah. Worse that sometimes he might have a really big camera. And if You accidentaly do the same to him, You end up with a couple of days or even weeks of bad luck.
 
jmarcus said:
Rick,
If someone says that to me I'll delete it too. But its hard if someone is an asshole to you. Did you feel fine about deleting it?

James
Click to expand...

Yes, because of the way the guy approached me and he really was polite in asking about me deleting the photo. Also, after shooting in the streets for many years, you almost develop a 6th sense about things- when to shoot, when not to, and who to shoot, etc. This was one of the rare times that I was not taken aback whatsoever about deleting the shot.

Usually, if someone is really being a jerk about it, I just ignore them and turn around and walk off. I never, ever try to escalate the situation, I don't care how much in the wrong that person may be. In the long run, it is just not worth it.
 
In general, I find that using a classic camera like an old Leica results in people being much more likely to be amused/fascinated as opposed to threatened.

"What kind of camera is that?"
"Can you still get film for that camera?"
Etc.
 
I was once aggressively told to delete a photo from my Leica. I refused on the grounds that binoculars do not take photos.
 
Carry a walkie-talkie and when someone confronts you, speak into it "Stand down, some d*** has just drawn attention to me" then say to the confronter "We've been working months on this case!" 🙂 lol
 
If you feel you are in danger, pull out a cell phone and call 911, showing the aggressor what you are doing.

I have had only one bad confrontation occur while out taking photographs. On the other hand, I have had three or four road rage incidents where I felt my life was in danger from the maniac in the other car.

In every case, when I showed the other person my cell phone, going so far as to dial 911, they moved on. It doesn't work immediately, but once the other person realizes what is about to happen to them when the cops show up, they calm down enough to see they are about to get into a lot of trouble, and decide to go do something else. It actually turns the table on them - instead of you being the prey, you become the hunter, and they run.
 
Rick Waldroup said:
However, one of the more unusual confrontations I had came at a biker rally. I was shooting random people in a crowd when a tough looking biker approached me and asked if I had just shot him and a group of his friends. He pointed to his friends. I told him that I had shot them and he replied in the nicest way, "Hey, I hate to be an asshole about this, but do you think you could delete that photo? My friend over there is very, very paranoid about having his picture taken and he has a good reason for that." .
Click to expand...

I think he approached you in the best way possible. Most people would delete after a polite request like that.
 
The rare unpleasant encounters I've had seem to stick the longest in my memory. I mean it's perfectly understandable that someone doesn't want their picture taken, people who just turn their heads or raise their hand don't bother me, it's when they really go berserk that I wonder why such a reaction ?

Perhaps it's my impression or I must look real shady on the street but there's few parts of town where I won't attract suspicious looks, even with a small Leica
 
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