Getting Caught

We discussed this stealth thing some time ago and one guy wrote that he wore a bright yellow high visibility jacket (like road construction workers wear) and everybody ignored him. He looked sort of 'official'.

A store near me sells these jackets and I'm tempted... Especially if a friend of mine who has the equipment could print 'Photographer' on the back in big letters.
 
ClaremontPhoto said:
We discussed this stealth thing some time ago and one guy wrote that he wore a bright yellow high visibility jacket (like road construction workers wear) and everybody ignored him. He looked sort of 'official'.

A store near me sells these jackets and I'm tempted... Especially if a friend of mine who has the equipment could print 'Photographer' on the back in big letters.
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That seems like one of the best things to do. If you look very official, people treat you very officially, even if you stand out. Unfortunately, dSLRs are so commonplace, that someone with one doesn't look as important as they used to.

I find that people know I'm not just some 16 year old taking myspace pics of friends when they ask to see the picture I took,and I tell them it's film. Film seems to be taken more seriously. I'm not saying that digital isn't great, i'm just saying what I've noticed in the public
 
ClaremontPhoto said:
We discussed this stealth thing some time ago and one guy wrote that he wore a bright yellow high visibility jacket (like road construction workers wear) and everybody ignored him. He looked sort of 'official'.

A store near me sells these jackets and I'm tempted... Especially if a friend of mine who has the equipment could print 'Photographer' on the back in big letters.
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A hard hat works well too!
 
It was only once when i was at the "wrong place" (although public street) to take pictures.
I took one.
It took me 15 to 20 minutes to get myself out of the trouble.
No matter what i pretended (Look there is no picture, Look there is no battery, Look there is no display. Look, i am just testing this old stuff. Look, i was checkin the buildings in the sunshine. Look, you are not even visible. Look,there is no film in the camera. Look, i mean no bad.) everything was fruitless.
In the end they got bored.

And the shot is not even that good.
 

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woa, "Brucie" is quite some dude 🙂 he even yells after the poor surprised dude "you are on the street you know, whaddaya mean not here!"
It shows very well the idea that people on a crowded street are way too busy to bug you about photography.

And his images are indeed showing surprised or busy faces, most i find quite interesting!
 
Worst experience I had was in a diner... Took a pic of a middle aged waitress with a plate of burgers behind the counter. She didn't say anything but she called her manager. Manager raised quite a fuss - she was Korean and didn't speak English very well... Ended up, I gave her the roll of film to calm her down. It was quite a scene.
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Melvin said:
It's rude to take pictures of strangers without asking. Legal, but rude.
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Then I'm rude. Oh well.

What about the ATM machines? They take photos without asking. Traffic cameras? TV cameras of celebrations in Time Square on New Years Eve? All rude?

Oh well. Life goes on. Life sucks, get a helmet.
 
I would rather go without the meal and be kicked out than sacrifice a whole roll with potentially good shots on it.

One time I was doing street photography in downtown San Diego and, in the middle of a bunch of shots, I took a picture of some bored 20-somethings waiting at a light in a car. Long story short, one of the girls felt threatened (from having her picture taken on a public street while she was fully clothed, not even caught picking her nose) and somehow managed to have two cops detain me while they ran my name through their database to "make sure" I wasn't a convicted sexual predator ala taking perv photos.

My opinions about both cops and 20-something women suffered a bit that day... I mean Jesus, you couldn't even see her that well in the picture, but GODFORBID her highness has her picture taken, and OMG THINK OF THE CHILDREN!
 
russianRF said:
One time I was doing street photography in downtown San Diego and, in the middle of a bunch of shots, I took a picture of some bored 20-somethings waiting at a light in a car. Long story short, one of the girls felt threatened (from having her picture taken on a public street while she was fully clothed, not even caught picking her nose) and somehow managed to have two cops detain me while they ran my name through their database to "make sure" I wasn't a convicted sexual predator ala taking perv photos.
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By this i take revenge for you!

Downtown-ish San Diego, a twenty-something, in a car, and me with my 6x9 fuji rangefinder.
😀
 

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russianRF said:
One time I was doing street photography in downtown San Diego and, in the middle of a bunch of shots, I took a picture of some bored 20-somethings waiting at a light in a car.
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I was outside the John Wayne airport in SoCal, having a smoke, saw two cops riding in two golf carts and took their photo. They saw me do it and rolled on over to where I was sitting.

One of the cops asked me for the camera. I politely refused to hand it over. He asked me to show him the photo I took, and I politely refused to do that, either. Then he asked for my ID, which I provided. He called it in and we waited while they ran a warrant check on me. He told me he could confiscate my camera if he wanted to. I shrugged and said nothing. He finally gave me back my ID and said "Have a nice day, CITIZEN." I wished him well and finished my cigarette.
 
Once i took a shot in downtown Denver of two cops on motorbikes, one of which was a woman. They just looked cool.
They both started grinning and ha d very proud look on their face.
And I don't think i look more attractive or friendly than you, Bill.

Possibly those two realized they look a bit stupid on the golf cart, while my two knew they can only look cool.
 
Gumby said:
There must be a special class at police academies that teach rookie cops how to tell lies like this with a straight face.
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Cops are just people. They have the same flaws as the rest of us. Sometimes they assert powers they don't have, and often, they get away with it because people don't really know what powers they do and do not have.

His lie was no different than the guy who tells the Salvation Army bell ringer that he gave at the office. Expedient, simple, and an attempt to get on with things. I just didn't go for it - to his credit, he didn't press the issue.

I used to work in law enforcement - that may be why I know what police can and cannot actually do legally (although times have changed and they may well have powers in some jurisdictions that I don't know about by now).
 
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