Mr Angry - my shutter's too loud apparrently!

[michaelgreen78]

Well, I had it confirmed on Saturday evening that my shutter's far too loud! :oops:

I was asked to take pictures for a local choir of their Christmas concert including their formal shots and right near the end of the concert a guy came over to me and told me to "shut up, don't you think you've taken enough f***ing photos by now, all I can hear is your f***ing shutter..." :eek::evil:

"And a merry Christmas to you too" I thought!

Now I'd been asked by the choir to take their photos. I didn't use flash so as not to disturb the singers/audience and I kept to the back and sides so that I didn't get in anyones eye-line. There was another chap at the back shooting a video and he said that he hardly noticed me at all. I can't imagine how I could have upset anyone (although this chap was sitting at the back and not with the audience so I question whether he even paid to get in!).

I guess my main gripe about this is that he was rude from the off - if he'd come over and asked politely I wouldn't have minded so much because I had probably bagged enough shots but he was rude from the word go. :mad:

[cosworth]

You should have taken his picture right after he said that.

[michaelgreen78]

You should have taken his picture right after he said that.

I actually had a strong urge to do so...but didn't want to have my camera ripped off me!

[Zilly]

You should have taken his picture right after he said that.

nah make sure u have the flash attached just flick it on then hit the dof preview button while its in hit face ;) then take a picture

[Anke]

I see from your sig you have a 20D, can I only assume it was this that you were using? I had one as my last body and it drove me nuts in bird hides, as well as other birders :D

[scotteisenphotography]

You should have taken his picture right after he said that.

Hah, you always have the best comments

[michaelgreen78]

Yeah, although I used both. I had 30D rigged up on a tripod with the 70-300 and I was using the 20D handheld with the 24-70. Both pretty load I guess. 'Specially when the 24-70 was hunting for focus...:o;)

[kevin_c]

My 20D has the loudest shutter I've ever heard. Why do Nikon shutters sound so much quieter and silky smooth?

[Curtis N]

People don't go to choir concerts to listen to cameras. They go to listen to the choir.

Next time, tell the choir director if he wants pictures you'll shoot the dress rehearsal.

[Mum2J&M]

If the choir had requested you take the pictures, this guy can go screw himself IMHO.

[zacker]

i dont know.... curtis is right as is the photog,,, the only WRONG one is the loud mouth... but only in the fact that he was rude.. hey, maybe he was recording the concert illeagally and you ruined it for him....lol I prolly would have just told him to go jump if he dindt like it, im being paid to shoot this event...its MY JOB!!!

[cosworth]

20 years ago this wasn't a problem in the days of Olympus and Pentax SLRs. Ae-1 SLRs used to fire at will and those who did not have one wished they did.

9/11, the internet and P&S cameras have enabled the layman to be judge, jury and executioner and to enact those god given rights to bitch and complain.

I seem to have a knack for ignoring peopel when they confront me with my camera. My time working the beach in the Caribbean helped. If a woman was topless and thought I was shooting her, they sometimes complained. I just kept on shooting what I was really shooting.

I hate to say this but it's like rapists. Until someone actually stands up to them and puts them in jail they keep re-offending. People that are unreasonable need to be shown/told that they are being unreasonable. In this case most don't think he was, but his delivery was.

[Curtis N]

If the choir had requested you take the pictures, this guy can go screw himself IMHO.It's not quite that simple. We need to at least make an effort to educate our clients, for everyone's benefit.

If in this situation, there was one person angry enough to start shouting obscenities at a concert, that probably means there were quite a few others equally annoyed but perhaps less vocal.

Telling people "The choir director hired me" won't make them any less angry. It'll just make them angry at the photog and the choir director. It solves nothing.

Common decency should dictate that we show due regard for the people who attend performances of any kind, especially if they pay for admission. Sometimes musical directors don't realize what a distraction a photographer can be, and we need to help them understand the greater ramifications of having someone shoot during a performance.

[gjl711]

It's not quite that simple. We need to at least make an effort to educate our clients, for everyone's benefit.

If in this situation, there was one person angry enough to start shouting obscenities at a concert, that probably means there were quite a few others equally annoyed but perhaps less vocal.

Telling people "The choir director hired me" won't make them any less angry. It'll just make them angry at the photog and the choir director. It solves nothing.

Common decency should dictate that we show due regard for the people who attend performances of any kind, especially if they pay for admission. Sometimes musical directors don't realize what a distraction a photographer can be, and we need to help them understand the greater ramifications of having someone shoot during a performance.
I think a lot of folks are assumeing that photography is silent as is the case for all the P/S/compact cameras out there and forgetting that a SLR is still a noisy thing so we as SLR photogs need to make that clear. I don’t condone the guys behavior but I understand his frustration. He came to listen to music and is distracted by a constant loud CLICKing.

I had something similar happen to me and I felt like telling the guy off. I went to see Leonard Nemoy speak at a local campus and they allowed cameras. The guy next to me was clicking away for the whole 90 minutes and it became rather annoying. The only thing that restrained me from going off on the guy was that I as a photog knew I was jelouse because I left my gear home and so I just put up with it. But inside I was screaming “he hasn’t moved in 90 minutes, how many more pictures of him standing there do you need.?”

[Tixeon]

If you really want to start a brawl, cover the event with a film based Hasselblad.:)

[BillsBayou]

My 20D has the loudest shutter I've ever heard. Why do Nikon shutters sound so much quieter and silky smooth?

They're taking blurry pictures.

[BillsBayou]

You should have taken his picture right after he said that.

My thoughts exactly.

[SlowBlink]

There's a case you can get which is used for still shots on film sets. You can use the box to knock him out and he won't hear the sound of the shutter for a while. :)

[FlyingPhotog]

It's not quite that simple. We need to at least make an effort to educate our clients, for everyone's benefit.

If in this situation, there was one person angry enough to start shouting obscenities at a concert, that probably means there were quite a few others equally annoyed but perhaps less vocal.

Telling people "The choir director hired me" won't make them any less angry. It'll just make them angry at the photog and the choir director. It solves nothing.

Common decency should dictate that we show due regard for the people who attend performances of any kind, especially if they pay for admission. Sometimes musical directors don't realize what a distraction a photographer can be, and we need to help them understand the greater ramifications of having someone shoot during a performance.

Very well said.

Once upon a time, there was a thing called "tact" but these days, it seems to be sadly lacking both in front of and behind the camera.

This proves to me (flame suit on) that being paid to shoot something does NOT make you a professional.

It's exactly as Curtis says: A real professional would think it through and realize that shooting an actual performance with a paying audience is not the best way to accomplish the job.

[MDJAK]

Well, no one can argue with Curtis. He is indeed correct. But I digress

When someone comes up in a belligerent manner such as that, they lose all credibility in my opinion, and I would have told him to go F himself. Unless he was a lot bigger than me, that is.
me

[the_incubus]

If you really want to start a brawl, cover the event with a film based Hasselblad.:)

or you can whistle really loudly. When someone comes over and asks what the hell you are doing say that it helps you concentrate :D

[Stefan A]

The suggestion of shooting only the rehearsal doesn't really work. As a performing musician, I can tell you that rehearsals just do not have the same look as the concert. The performers are not wearing their uniforms (and shouldn't have to). The lighting is most likely not the same. Sometimes, the location is not the same. There is typically various things on stage - purses and such - that wouldn't be at the concert. Sure, I guess a concerted effort could be made to make the rehearsal look like the concert for picture purposes. But for the performers, that's not really ideal.

What I think would be a better solution would be to allow the photography during the concert. But tell the photographer (or photographer tell the director) that pictures would only be taken during a certain time period - maybe only the first 20 minutes or so. Perhaps there could be an announcement before the concert that this would be taking place which would disarm the audience. Of course, no flash.

I was recently at St. Patrick Cathdral in NYC shooting an orchestra concert. There was another, more "professional" photographer there being fairly rude the entire length of the concert. Literally getting right in the performer's space. Used the flash a few times. Stood in front of audience members for extended periods. Chewing gum. I admit that I shot the whole time as well. But no where as many shots, no flash, never stood in front of people any longer than it took to get the shot.

I think from now on I will consider this thread if I do a shoot like this. But as for the original post, of course this man's comments were uncalled for regardless.

Stefan