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Sean-Mcr
9th of May 2005 (Mon), 09:22
I'm always in my City taking street photography shots which is becoming my main photographic interest. I like capturing the life in my city by day and by night, a city that's changing which i was brought up in the heart of it. I've taken 100s of shots since i got my 20D (last sep) of people in and around town and never used anything longer then a 55mm

Until Saturday people have always shown great interest in what i was doing and i often send on the shots i take via email for free after i've took them.

What happened is i was walking past a back street in the city centre with my partner, her friend and her fella. I spotted two guys a bit worse for wear and hugging in a drunken stumble...Maybe i should have thought about it but there wasn't time to and i raised my camera and shot them so fast i never even had time to check where i had the af set to.


Minute i took it i heard a mighty yell...



I had until the guy ran down the street to get my camera and bag over my head to be able to defend myself. Just managed it before he got to me, his pal was with him trying to calm him down. You can’t tell half way up the street how out of it someone is but i knew when he got there he'd had a good few more beers then I’d realised. I tried as best i could to explain it was not taken to imply anything ect, that i meant nothing malicious in it. But he was just telling me he'd knock me out ect and getting more and more wound up following me down the street ect...


I had my partner with me, and the guy was getting more abusive and it's not just myself i had to worry about. So i went for him after trying every way to calm him down. So we end up having it out and his pal joins in so the lad with me grabs him and gives him a dig.



Basically we got the better of them, and some decent stranger who was bigger then all of us (i'm 6ft 200lbs) broke it up and the two lads went away...



Now, i don’t take photos to make fools of people, i take photos to capture a momeant in time. That’s all i'm interested in; I'm never going to be a guy to use a 70-200 to capture Candid, and if i started to ask people may a photograph them, then the nature of how i shoot will be lost...


Thankfully out of 100's of times that was my first negative reaction, one mistake in judgment combined with an over reaction and fellas with a drink in them..

I went back to taking the kind of shots i love to take for the rest of the day in bars and the street and got not bother, only smiles and general interest.


I won't let it change me, maybe i'll think a little more. I tend to just focus on what i'm doing, you don't often have time to think about things.



If you're not in to street photography ect you might find it hard to understand. But the last thing it's about is intruding. I'm not going to begin to try to convince anybody because if they don't know that already then i doubt i'd be able to. You get lost in something you love, and no matter what we all like to shoot i'm sure we can ll agree on that...







Knowing me, i'll get in to wildlife photography and get a Hitchcock style bird attack



:mad: :rolleyes: :)

Ballen Photo
9th of May 2005 (Mon), 09:33
WOW Sean, It's good that you got out of this predicament OK. :shock:
I hope your camera gear survived as well.
-Bruce

Sean-Mcr
9th of May 2005 (Mon), 10:09
Yeah, Thanks:)


More then anything i'm just Glad my partner and her friend and Graham who had my back never got hurt

My partners friend ran off out of harms way with it. But i felt bad about that when i realised. I should not have involved them at all, and of course i never knowingly would have got them in to that mess.

Ballen Photo
9th of May 2005 (Mon), 10:27
Yeah, Thanks:)


More then anything i'm just Glad my partner and her friend and Graham who had my back never got hurt

My partners friend ran off out of harms way with it. But i felt bad about that when i realised. I should not have involved them at all, and of course i never knowingly would have got them in to that mess.

Very TRUE. I hate to get friends involved in things that can get them hurt, but this could have happened anywhere. What if your friend was not there to watch your back? A drunk in that frame of mind was just looking for a fight no matter what the circumstances. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Besides, Your friends now have an interesting memory to laugh about later. ;)
-Bruce

Sean-Mcr
9th of May 2005 (Mon), 10:41
I've got the photo to remember:mad: :)

LarrySilva
9th of May 2005 (Mon), 10:47
Would you mind posting the shot?

Jeff Becker
9th of May 2005 (Mon), 10:52
A story with a good ending, we've got to see the picture.

Sean-Mcr
9th of May 2005 (Mon), 11:14
It's not a very good photo, i'd been in doors so i was messing around with the colour temp and forgot to reset it so its blue and the af point was set to off centre:confused: All that hasstle for one awful shot!!!


Here's it is anway the guy in the gap had the problem with it

ssim
9th of May 2005 (Mon), 12:27
Glad that this came out good for all concerned. Of all of these photos that you take, what do you do with them??

Sean-Mcr
9th of May 2005 (Mon), 13:02
They're just for me really, the city and people i love. I've got so much to learn i dont think there would be much else i could do with them but keep them:)

I've sent a good number of photos to the people i've shot after striking up a convo with them. That's why i find the above situation so sad as i've always had a good vibe doing what i do

All's i know i love doing it and what happend on saturday won't stop me

mbze430
9th of May 2005 (Mon), 16:46
I must say, you should try that in Downtown LA or in the rougher neighborhoods, you wouln't be shooting with a camera.

This is one reason why I always try to take pictures of people WITH THEIR CONSENTS. Some people in LA wound up dead for giving a "look"....just image taking someone's picture.....

MgaGagu
9th of May 2005 (Mon), 21:29
Are you british? I stopped reading after you said you gave the guy a "dig" whats that

Grainy
9th of May 2005 (Mon), 21:38
Great story.

Sean-Mcr
10th of May 2005 (Tue), 09:44
Sorry a dig means i smacked him before he had the chance do it first, i just got tired of him telling me he was going to knock me out

Taking photos with peoples concent is would pretty much kill what you're tryng do in a lot of cases.


But i ask for concent at times to and send them on for free

Streetshooter
11th of May 2005 (Wed), 16:48
I hope this incident won't stop you from continuing your streetwork. I also am a street shooter and have been for almost 40 years. Since I started digital work (20D)...my dance has changed somewhat....with a Leica in hand, I use to use hyperfocal distance all the time so making an image was extremely fast...with the 20D, it's somewhat slower...auto focus and stuff and the camera is larger....but I have found my way to dance again and hopefully you will too....and it's probably better if you work by yourself...that way you are less obvious and less intimidating to your subjects...
you can check out some of my work at.... www.streetshooter.us good luck...don

Citizensmith
11th of May 2005 (Wed), 16:59
I live in Sacramento. There was an incident here (a fair while back) where a photographer on assigment taking street photos happened to attract the attention of a group on a corner. They were selling drugs and were concerened about the individual taking photos. They caught up to him and violently expressed their concerns. He died after a short stay in hopspital.

You really need to pay attention to whats going on around you, particularly when taking photos.

Ballen Photo
11th of May 2005 (Wed), 17:34
They caught up to him and violently expressed their concerns. He died after a short stay in hopspital.

I hope they were caught. :(
-Bruce

DocFrankenstein
11th of May 2005 (Wed), 18:27
I wouldn't be happy of strangers taking pictures of me in that pose.

Sorry man, street photography should not go against common sense

BlueTit
11th of May 2005 (Wed), 18:39
I would not be keen being photograped in that pose either, though I would not be quite so aggressive in my objection. I like the idea of street photgraphy but I find a lot of people are not happy to be snapped off guard. Unfortunately I usually avoid street shots just because I dont want the hassle. I also wish the 20D shutter was not so nosiy. Glad you got out ok and that it has not changed how you shoot.

Sean-Mcr
14th of May 2005 (Sat), 16:02
I think two things combined to cause the trouble

One drink, two i never really had time to think about any objection, and i shown lack of judgement. I was brought up in the inner city in Social housing ( as people in the states call it i think) not more then half a mile from where that photo was taken, so i know my way around the city, it's good and bad parts, i feel at ease here.

That though i'll admit does make you complacent, and i do look like a tourist in my own city at times with my camera.

I'd like to be able to say i wouldn't do it again. But i can't

Streetshooter
14th of May 2005 (Sat), 20:08
Sean...the best way to work the streets is to look like a tourist........nobody ever pays attention to tourists.......I'm a tourist through life..............don

Sean-Mcr
15th of May 2005 (Sun), 05:36
You have a point there don,.