idiot magnet

[sam walker]

Carrying a camera and binoculars in the woods is a magnet to atract idiots and I'm using a nice word. Me trying to shoot a yellow rumped warbler is on a narrow path set in my stance aiming a Canon at a tree. A couple comes tramping in "excuse me" OK I'll step right two feet and get rid of you. Then watch you tramp past and flush the bird. Thanks Alpha-hole.
Sam

[BIGTUFFGUY]

haha, some poeople dont get it.

you should have a "SWAT SNIPER" written on the back of your shirt.

tehy will see you over a tripod aiming a long device and stay the____ away

[jbkalla]

haha, some poeople dont get it.

you should have a "SWAT SNIPER" written on the back of your shirt.

tehy will see you over a tripod aiming a long device and stay the____ away

Of course, that would work best if you had a DSLR with a huge white lens! :-)

[PacAce]

I was at a local park a couple of years ago, standing just off the path and aiming my camera at a tufted titmouse on a nearby tree, also by the path. The bird was just sitting there on the branch happily posing for me while I was trying to get my shot set up. There were other people walking along the path and that didn't bother the titmouse any. Then a guy and his young son comes along, walking normally, but instead of just going by, they stop to see what I'm doing. When the guy realizes that I'm trying to take a picture of the titmouse, he continues his walking but not without first waving his both arms, windmill style to scares the titmouse away. And the jerk did that on purpose, too. Fine example he was setting for his son. :evil:

[Double Negative]

That happened to me in a local park as well, trying to get a shot of a bird in a tree. Rather than waiting a second or two, this guy just walks past me (in front of my lens) and scares the bird away.

/bitchslap

[neil_r]

My example has me as the idiot, Spoted a pair of herons, worked my way through the trees, slithered into an excellent position sloooooooowwwwwwlllllyyyyyyy brought the camera up to my eye and................. my phone rang :oops:

[zacker]

i get this at car shows.. you crouching down to get a great low angle and someone goes and stands in front of the car... they see you but they dont care at all! The last time this happened, I knew the guy who did it.. from work, he was a good customer at the time and I knew him well, so i figured what the hey, and yelled, Hey buddy, move it or loose it! He turned and i took his pic...lol Then he realized it was me and he started laughing...
-zacker-

[cfcRebel]

Yupe, it's a pain in the Axx when shooting wildlife at a busy(people) place. It gets worse if dogs and bicycles are allowed. Four dogs suddenly came checking me out when i was sneaking up and aiming my camera to a bird that i didn't have picture of. And their owner just kept talking on the cell phone and didn't bother to ask them to leave. Should have printed my avatar and thrown at him.

[claudermilk]

i get this at car shows.. you crouching down to get a great low angle and someone goes and stands in front of the car... they see you but they dont care at all! The last time this happened, I knew the guy who did it.. from work, he was a good customer at the time and I knew him well, so i figured what the hey, and yelled, Hey buddy, move it or loose it! He turned and i took his pic...lol Then he realized it was me and he started laughing...
-zacker-

Same here. Irritating. :evil:

...though I have to say there ARE some who are semi-aware of their surroundings & will actually stop for the shot to be taken before going through. I always make a point to thank them--usually with a meaningful look at the idiot who didn't.

[Jon Foster]

It happens to me at air shows every year but I just make a lot of noise while I'm saying "get out of the way!" and the people get the idea.

As for James reply (not camera related), we have some land way out in the middle of nowhere. The property lines are posted like Christmas Tree's with no trespassing signs, fences etc. A few years ago we had a guy park his car on the side of the road and walk onto our property during firearm season. He was dressed head to toe in dark brown clothes and there must have been a dozen guys sitting out in the woods waiting for a nice deer to walk by. When he was discovered and confronted with some basic facts of survival during hunting season like don't trespass, stay out of the woods if you don't have "blaze/hunter orange" clothing on he just looked at us like we offended him. Amazing...

Jon.

[neil_r]

, stay out of the woods if you don't have "blaze/hunter orange" clothing on he just looked at us like we offended him. Amazing...

Jon.
Sorry to go a little (well a lot really) OT here but this has prompted me to ask something that has puzzled me for a long time. Is it a "legal requirement" to wear high viz orange when hunting in the US. (we tend to wear tweeds and green in the UK).

I have seen many pictures of US hunters and they seem to favour very effective cammo patern material and then put an orange vest and hat on ???. I have always wondered, given that they have/choose to wear the hi viz why they bother with the cammo.

[Rob612]

Sorry to go a little (well a lot really) OT here but this has prompted me to ask something that has puzzled me for a long time. Is it a "legal requirement" to wear high viz orange when hunting in the US. (we tend to wear tweeds and green in the UK).

I have seen many pictures of US hunters and they seem to favour very effective cammo patern material and then put an orange vest and hat on ???. I have always wondered, given that they have/choose to wear the hi viz why they bother with the cammo.

Here is mandatory only if you go hunting in groups. But I always wear something visible even if I'm alone, you'll never know who else is out there. Accident happens, and I don't feel like being a victim, even becaus if I am getting shooted, unless I'm on the ground the first reaction is to return fire, and that's not a good thing to do :)

[dewmuw]

Sorry to go a little (well a lot really) OT here but this has prompted me to ask something that has puzzled me for a long time. Is it a "legal requirement" to wear high viz orange when hunting in the US. (we tend to wear tweeds and green in the UK).

I have seen many pictures of US hunters and they seem to favour very effective cammo patern material and then put an orange vest and hat on ???. I have always wondered, given that they have/choose to wear the hi viz why they bother with the cammo.

Only if you are out with Dick Cheney! ;)

[dewmuw]

This is what happened to me:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=69256

They are the same people that interfere with my job too. I do a fair amount of TV interviews, many of them outside. You can guarantee if you are stood in front of a TV camera near a road that 8 out of 10 motorists will blow their car horns. You see them do it and then drive past laughing - like they were the first person ever to think of this hilarious jape.

[Jon Foster]

Sorry to go a little (well a lot really) OT here but this has prompted me to ask something that has puzzled me for a long time. Is it a "legal requirement" to wear high viz orange when hunting in the US. (we tend to wear tweeds and green in the UK).

I have seen many pictures of US hunters and they seem to favour very effective cammo patern material and then put an orange vest and hat on ???. I have always wondered, given that they have/choose to wear the hi viz why they bother with the cammo.

It's the law here if you hunt with a firearm. Bow hunting is a different story though. During bow season we are out there in heavy camo.

Jon.

[eeyore2]

I don't know if its an issue in the states but over here the worst kind of idiot is the chuckle head who starts with the "why are you taking pictures of my child",
me: I'm not
ch: you are
me: i'm not, look ***indicates LCD***
ch: well don't okay
me: i'm NOT
ad nauseum
I have no interest in photographing his horrible brat, I'm photographing nature, landscapes or sport generally. I'm a Park Ranger and as such am fully police checked and carry my clearance with me to demonstrate I'm not a weirdo.

If i did want to photograph someone unobtrusively for nefarious purposes I would hardly choose a 20D with a giant white lens as my "weapon of choice",

go and bother a camera phone user bimble brain ....

[Double Negative]

"Because in 40 years, I want to compare and see if he grows up to be just like his idiot father." ;)

[neil_r]

There is a HUGE statue on the A1 just outside Newcastle (see it here http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/photo/large/newcastle_28_7_04_0012.jpg) It really his huge and totally dominates all it surrounds. I had just taken the linked picture and was removing a 1D from a Benbo II tripod (which is also huge) a young Geordie lad, presumably from the estate that is behind the statue came up and asked " Are ye takin pictures like?" yes I said, and then sounding rather incredulous he asked "What of man?" ???

[zacker]

Only if you are out with Dick Cheney! ;)


Ahhh Haaa haaaa!
how true! Dont make a nios like a quail!
-zacker-

[zacker]

Nice one ! love it

Mind you we also have security guards who seem to belive that anyone with a camera must be planning a bomb attack. The last one to brace me did so while I was using a mamiyas 645 mounted on a tripod. Exactly what your discerning terrorist uses these days....

Maybe they saw 'The Jackall" where Bruce willis is as assassin and his big old, tripod mounted machine gun / rocket launcher had a camera on it complete with a big old while "L" lens!
-zacker-

[Double Negative]

I tried to watch the Jackal on three separate occasions... I know I feel asleep at some point during the first two - don't know that I ever watched the entire third one. :D

But that was a pretty hot setup. :-P

[Ross McT.]

It happens to me at air shows every year...

The one that I love... when your waiting for people to leave the shot that your waiting for, the final guy leaves, then a prick with a p&s or slr (doesn't matter) runs into your shot and takes all the shots that he wants then leaves when someone else walks into "his shot".

Ive been cut off so many times by kids, parents, grandparents, news crews, etc. The ones that PO me the most are the guys with white lenses. They know better because they are not your out for a Sunday stroll type and don't care about their fellow photographer.

[Double Negative]

It does happen, but of course it's an *accident* if it does. If I see someone lining up a shot, I'll stop and/or walk around and out of the way.

[Ross McT.]

We all are guilty of it to some degree or another! I tend to watch my surounding and am consious of where I am positioned.

I know that I've repeatedly cut off a guy trying to take shots of an cf-18 on static display with a 300mm L... he was only a few hundred feet back at an airshow with 25,000 people on the field.

I also got yelled at by a painter once I was ruining his view of a mountain.

[TooManyHobbies]

What I love is when the 4-7 year old kid comes running in and smashes or scares away what you are shooting and the parent does nothing and doesn't appologize. And I have a 4 yr old. There are too many examples of this for me to mention.

[Curtis N]

A couple comes tramping in "excuse me" OK I'll step right two feet and get rid of you.Within several of the comments in this thread, there is the implication that photographers, especially those with expensive cameras and tripods, somehow have an inherent "right of way" in public places. I have to wonder where this attitude comes from.

My experience has usually been opposite of the stories posted here. People see me and my camera and stay out of my way, grabbing their kids in the process, or duck under my line of sight when walking in front of me.

And I always appreciate their consideration. They have no obligation to do this, and only thoughfulness and good manners compel them to stay out of my way. Generally they have the same rights to be in a certain spot as I do.

[Jaymz]

I have never had any issues with police, security guards, rent-a-cops, or any other personell. They question me and I answer then they move on.

Just last week I went to a middle school to photograph a friends daughter in a play, I carried in my tripod in its bag, the Benbo 2 in its bag looks like a rifle bag. I was stopped by 4 security guards, all friendly but cautious. They questioned me and looked at my stuff, I showed them what I had, they thanked me and walked away.

No need to be an ass about things, as I was remembering the Columbine incident and various other recently foiled attacks on schools.

[Bruce Hamilton]

The ones that PO me the most are the guys with white lenses. They know better...

That's why all of my lenses are black. :lol:

[CyberDyneSystems]

A simple thread about annoyances in the park.. I've had the same thing happen a few times too.

Two pages of OT political debate has been deleted.
If it recurs thread will be locked.

[joeseph]

I must compliment a whole string of unknown folks who on Sunday were walking past Wazza & iKirst who were taking shots of the Aero display while at the motor racing at Pukekohe.
Single file, walking between photog's & barrier only a few feet away, an awful lot of them "ducked" to avoid getting in the shots. (or am I giving them too much credit and they were merely in fear of damaging their craniums on the 120-300 ;-) )

[theflyingkiwi]

I must compliment a whole string of unknown folks who on Sunday were walking past Wazza & iKirst who were taking shots of the Aero display while at the motor racing at Pukekohe.
Single file, walking between photog's & barrier only a few feet away, an awful lot of them "ducked" to avoid getting in the shots. (or am I giving them too much credit and they were merely in fear of damaging their craniums on the 120-300 ;-) )

Funny you should mention that, because I had some idiot who got his head in the way on Saturday as we were all taking photos of the pit special. The funny thing is the idiot had a camera himself, and in fact I think he also had the sigma 120-300 attached. ;) I did tell Wazza thanks for the head shot :) :lol:

[johnnybfan]

Within several of the comments in this thread, there is the implication that photographers, especially those with expensive cameras and tripods, somehow have an inherent "right of way" in public places. I have to wonder where this attitude comes from.

My experience has usually been opposite of the stories posted here. People see me and my camera and stay out of my way, grabbing their kids in the process, or duck under my line of sight when walking in front of me.

And I always appreciate their consideration. They have no obligation to do this, and only thoughfulness and good manners compel them to stay out of my way. Generally they have the same rights to be in a certain spot as I do.

Curtis, I think the correct word is courtesy. Maybe respect is another. It seems to me that nowadays no one has any respect for others and courtesy??? that's a thing of the past.:cry::cry::cry:
I know that I resect other photographer's space if at all possible. The example of the guy at the car show trying to get a shot with his way too long zoom is classic. :lol::lol::lol::lol:

[neil_r]

Two pages of OT political debate has been deleted.

Ohhh I have been away, I missed them :(

N

[eeyore2]

A simple thread about annoyances in the park.. I've had the same thing happen a few times too.

Two pages of OT political debate has been deleted.
If it recurs thread will be locked.

Fair point, my apologies for igniting it in the first place, twas not my intention.

[Choderboy]

Within several of the comments in this thread, there is the implication that photographers, especially those with expensive cameras and tripods, somehow have an inherent "right of way" in public places. I have to wonder where this attitude comes from.

My experience has usually been opposite of the stories posted here. People see me and my camera and stay out of my way, grabbing their kids in the process, or duck under my line of sight when walking in front of me.

And I always appreciate their consideration. They have no obligation to do this, and only thoughfulness and good manners compel them to stay out of my way. Generally they have the same rights to be in a certain spot as I do.

That's what I have found too!
I find people are too considerate - eg I may be shooting through a crowd at a busker. Willing to take whatever shots I can get through the gaps in the crowd , but I invariably find people have stopped walking and are waiting for me to take my shot.
If I take my camera out in the city I usually thank about 50 people (just a smile) for their attempts to avoid messing up my photo. It really is remarkeable.

Oh yeah , those people that honk / try to get their faces in shots - there is a term for them : "boneheads". (first used by "The Chasers War ON Everything" TV comedy show.)

[KatmanDu]

"Love is given. Respect is earned. Courtesy is owed."

While I was trying to get photos at Road Atlanta a couple of weeks ago during an open track day, I noticed several folks looking over at me and moving out of the way; even though they weren't really in the shot. I waved to show them I appreciated the thought. I know there were other photographers out there (associated with NESBA in some way, as they were selling prints under a tent by the pits) but I never ran across them; everyone else with a camera I saw had a P&S and was looking at me with "Look at the pro guy!" looks on their faces. Obviously, they never got close enough to see "Quantaray" written on the lens. :) Swelled my ego until I started the bike with the kickstand down and it died when I let out the clutch. :)

[Dante King]

On the lines of sheer stupidity:
Went to Uni in Colorado. Did a lot of serious backpacking in the rockies and around. One time me and my regular hard core group was up near Aspen at the Maroon Bells area. Beautiful. We would hike so far in to camp, yes with proper permits, the only people we would see for days would be rangers on horseback. We were about a days hike from the trail head near the park entrance and just gonna set up camp for the night before hitting deeper into the forrest. Night was falling fast and this guy comes walking up in shorts and a tee shirt. "hey were is the parking lot?" he asks. LOL. Parking lot? You are about 6 hours form the parking lot. "really? think my bus has left??" We all start to bust out. My buddy looks at this guy with a wild look and says "well maybe if you run, you can still catch it. Go that way." and points in the direction of the lot. He takes off like a startled deer. Last we saw of him. Think the bears got him or a large mountain cat. One can only hope so to remove the poor genes from the pool. :):):)

[Jon Foster]

Damn Dante, you guys were vicious! (just kidding). While it's easy to say you should have helped the guy by offering him some food and shelter for the night it's also tough or even stupid to try helping people when you are in the middle of nowhere... I mean come on, he could have been some kind of crazy cannibal right?

One time we were hiking in a decent sized metro park in the area and some lady comes walking up the trail and stops my wife, gets close to her and starts whispering something to her (I always walk in the rear so I can see all the kids and my wife). I instantly had that gut feeling something wasn't right. I waited as long as I could and my wife was being polite as usual but I couldn't stand it after about a minute and a half. The kids were pretty calm too but as soon as they heard my safety click-off they all started to tell mom we should start walking again and pushed her along. I watched and listened for the next hour while hiking out. Nothing happened but I'm old enough now to trust those gut feelings 100% of the time.

Jon.

[neil_r]

but as soon as hey heard my safety click-off
:shock:

[zacker]

Damn Dante, you guys were vicious! (just kidding). While it's easy to say you should have helped the guy by offering him some food and shelter for the night it's also tough or even stupid to try helping people when you are in the middle of nowhere... I mean come on, he could have been some kind of crazy cannibal right?

One time we were hiking in a decent sized metro park in the area and some lady comes walking up the trail and stops my wife, gets close to her and starts whispering something to her (I always walk in the rear so I can see all the kids and my wife). I instantly had that gut feeling something wasn't right. I waited as long as I could and my wife was being polite as usual but I couldn't stand it after about a minute and a half. The kids were pretty calm too but as soon as they heard my safety click-off they all started to tell mom we should start walking again and pushed her along. I watched and listened for the next hour while hiking out. Nothing happened but I'm old enough now to trust those gut feelings 100% of the time.

Jon.

So, what did she wisper? Anything interesting?
Prolly, "pssst, hey, dont look now but do you know youre being followed by a man with a gun?"
lol.
-zacker-

[StevenRaith]

So, what did she wisper? Anything interesting?
Prolly, "pssst, hey, dont look now but do you know youre being followed by a man with a gun?"

PMSL.

I have noticed a few things while snapping.
At Brands Hatch, last june, 3/4 length black jacket, Fuji S5100 camera.

Not sure if it was the slightly SLR alike looks of hte camera, or my generally intimidating physcial presence, but all the daytrippers with thier P+Ss kept out of my way, and the serious hobbysists with big lenses made space for me at the fences etc. I didn't even have to bribe them/shout at them/flip out ninja style and set fire to myself, etc. Which was nice and I got some nice shots of Caterhams sliding around Druids.

More recently however, I have noticed, particularly in this town [Welwyn Garden City, Herts] that walking around with a P+S camera is fine. However, pull out an SLR and people start looking at you funny, and people with kids keep them out of your way. This can be a bit sueful sometimes, but the motive behind it concerns me - the looks I get are often of the 'dirty' cariety, which really p!sses me off.

Must be the full length black jacket I have these days that puts them on guard..

Only problem I have is chavs who jump out in front of you sceaming "TAKE MY PICTURE". The usual response is a gutteral stream of vehemnt swearing and threats of violence in my fine scottish brogue ;) or if it's a particularly non-photogenic burd with a flabby gut hanging out of a cropped top, I'll mention that I don't want to break the lens...

...yes, I am a bad man, but when you get that every 15 mins it gets on your nerves...

Be interesting to do more Stockhatch days and whatnot and see what sort of reactions I get I suppose...

[charlesu]

Same thing at a baseball tournament. I got my 1D MKII n just in time for a tourney which began Friday evening. I had a couple of idiot kids climbing the fence I was next to trying to then leap into the frame of my picture becuase they wanted to "be on TV".

I told them it wasn't TV and to stop. One of the kids kept it up and then in one swoop almost managed to take out the camera, the 300 2.8 ISL attached to it and the 580 flash. I yelled at the kid (as if he was my own son) to stop . At that point his mom, who was seated about 12 feet away, finally also told him to stop.

What is it with parents who don't think they are responsible for their kids actions? What if he had knocked $9,000.00 worth of delicate camera gear to the ground? Was mommy going to write me a check to cover it?

[20DNewbie]

near Aspen at the Maroon Bells area. Beautiful.
So true, if anyone here ever gets the chance to, go check it out. I was lucky enough to have spent a few seasons out there, sadly didn't ever stay long enough to outlast the thaw for the Bells or Independence Pass though.:(

Wish I had my camera then when hiking out to the bowl at Highlands.

So not to get OT you should see the trouble those Moutain Photo guys have on the hills.:lol: I don't know how they keep their wits about them.

[Jon Foster]

So, what did she wisper? Anything interesting?
Prolly, "pssst, hey, dont look now but do you know youre being followed by a man with a gun?"
lol.
-zacker-

Sorry, I was trying to keep my post short and forgot that part :o. She was telling my wife that there was a pack of wild dogs roaming the woods and they would attack and eat our kids if they found us. Ya, she was pretty much a nut case!

Jon.

[Jon Foster]

Same thing at a baseball tournament. I got my 1D MKII n just in time for a tourney which began Friday evening. I had a couple of idiot kids climbing the fence I was next to trying to then leap into the frame of my picture becuase they wanted to "be on TV".

I told them it wasn't TV and to stop. One of the kids kept it up and then in one swoop almost managed to take out the camera, the 300 2.8 ISL attached to it and the 580 flash. I yelled at the kid (as if he was my own son) to stop . At that point his mom, who was seated about 12 feet away, finally also told him to stop.

What is it with parents who don't think they are responsible for their kids actions? What if he had knocked $9,000.00 worth of delicate camera gear to the ground? Was mommy going to write me a check to cover it?

I get this kind of thing at school functions all the time. Kids are allowed to go crazy and the parents pretty much have the attitude that the kids can do what they want regardless of what they may break. I always stay off to the side or way in the back to keep away from the main group of people too. Yet everyone that comes close to me has to kick the legs of my tripod. Why do they need to come so close? I go out of my way to stay away from them and they still run into me or trip over my gear. Kids are bad but the parents are a close runner up.

Jon.

[zacker]

Sorry, I was trying to keep my post short and forgot that part :o. She was telling my wife that there was a pack of wild dogs roaming the woods and they would attack and eat our kids if they found us. Ya, she was pretty much a nut case!

Jon.

nice... yeah, nut jobs...gotta love em!
-zacker-

[queenbee288]

Sorry to go a little (well a lot really) OT here but this has prompted me to ask something that has puzzled me for a long time. Is it a "legal requirement" to wear high viz orange when hunting in the US. (we tend to wear tweeds and green in the UK).

I have seen many pictures of US hunters and they seem to favour very effective cammo patern material and then put an orange vest and hat on ???. I have always wondered, given that they have/choose to wear the hi viz why they bother with the cammo.

It makes them feel so manly to put on that camo.:lol:

[queenbee288]

So, what did she wisper? Anything interesting?
Prolly, "pssst, hey, dont look now but do you know youre being followed by a man with a gun?"
lol.
-zacker-

Seriously, I rolled on the floor laughing!:lol: :lol: :lol:

[Jon Foster]

It makes them feel so manly to put on that camo.:lol:

All the camo clothing we use is UV dead so it can't be seen by animals. Jeans, T-shirts and most regular materials are visible in the UV spectrum which many animals can see very well. We also use boots that are made of unique materials that don't leave that human scent on the ground.

Jon.

[Kadath]

I think the phrase you are looking for is:

Here's your sign....

=)

Sam