Could you please not take pictures

I've never heard of soccer for pedophils, but I have heard of some sicko's taking pictures of kids gymnastics. If my child goes into gymnastics I will not be taking my camera for the comfort of the other parents.

To a soccer game or baseball game? You bet I'll be there with my telephoto lens on.

I'm invited and paid to shoot under 10's soccer, rowing and gymnastics by the parents

i have just applied for my "not a pervert background check" as i think this is a valuable tool to have in this day and age.

Just say " Hi, I'm Peter Read Miller, nice to meet you!"

This stuff gets really REALLY tricky, really REALLY quickly. It can get very rough on the amateur photographer's end. Best advice I can give you is to approach the coaches beforehand, introduce yourself, tell them what you'd like to do, and maybe even offer to send a photo or two of the kids in action back to them once you've cleaned everything up.

They may say that it's just not a good idea, and unfortunately, you'll have to call it a day. But, if the coaches like the idea and give you permission, the resulting disagreement you went through above wouldn't have happened. All you would have had to do is let the woman know that her child's coach agreed to let you take some photos in return for a few finished photos via e-mail for free.

Past that, you're no longer involved at all. The disagreement/argument/​fight is now between the parent and the coach not between you and the parent. In other words, while the coach may still ask you to leave after the parental complaint, you do have a "get out of jail free" card to play as soon as she says the first word.

How about you show up one day with a 1d body and a big long white lens resting on a monopod..... They don't even ask if you shoot for anyone.......They just assume you are a pro....

fubarhouse wrote in post #6004910
Pfft, why can't people think?
It's been said over and over, a photographer uses nice equipment, a pervert uses some dodge equipment and tries to hide it and looks rather suspicious. Paedophiles are my one true hate on this planet, I understand everybody needs something to give them satisfaction but children? It's wrong and gross, they deserve the death sentence.

TooManyShots wrote in post #6010011
How about you show up one day with a 1d body and a big long white lens resting on a monopod..... They don't even ask if you shoot for anyone.......They just assume you are a pro....

Theres a lot of truth to this.

We shoot for the local sports boosters-- and AAU--and AYSO--and the permission slips all contains a photo release.

We have never been questioned---and after a while you just become a part of the scenery.

Man does have a point. I can't say for sure that they'd leave you alone, but with a Canon 1D body and oh... a Canon EF 300 f/4L IS on a Monopod, I doubt you'd hear much from anyone. People would probably think you were from the local newspaper or something.

Doug Stanhope has a very funny, and very raunchy, comedy bit along these lines; it's fantastic.

Today I was shooting a football league. Hired by the president and half my family either coaches or plays on the team plus the kids i know from my wife's school, I had no idea who anyone of the older teams. (She teaches kindergarten so I know kids/parents grade 5 & below)

Well, I just hopped the fence to get some better shots, as I was informed I could do and I would get an official pass when games finally start and no one said a thing. In fact coaches were moving for me. I known confidence goes a long ways, but hey, it worked. Or maybe it was the 70-200 on the 20D, bag on my shoulder, and hat turned backwards the yelled "some kinda pro photographer or something..."

Probably because the parents hadn't had a chance yet to compare notes and try to figure out who "that guy with the camera is". You probably weren't approached until they were relatively certain you weren't related somehow to any of the players. Just a guess though.

I think the OP has the "right" to take the pictures. However, there are enough things in the world to take pictures of without having to make a bunch of mother's nervous.

Would it be cool for someone to stand outside the fence of an elementary school and take pictures of the kids at recess everyday? I don't think so. While the motivations of a person that takes pictures of groups of random kids may be totally innocent - I can certainly understand why a parent would find it creepy.

poloman wrote in post #6006364
I can understand a parent's concern. There might be other reasons they don't want you to shoot their kid. Perhaps they are running from an abusive situation?

And stopping to play a little organized field sport while on the run...

If I have people confront me on any kind of terms like that I show them my NYIP Student ID Card to show them im not some random person taking pictures of their children and they just ask me some questions and I give them an email they can get ahold of me if they want copies of the prints (its my hobby and I dont plan to make money off of my hobby ATM)

hortonsl62 wrote in post #6005815
And when a parent asks you not to take photographs because it makes her/him uncomfortable, I think you have a choice to make between their feelings and your rights.

My rights would win this mental tug-of-war every time, assuming I was approached. I haven't been bothered yet though - my lens is white. And typically the closer you are to the sideline the less likely you are to be questioned. Stand right on it and you're golden.

The bottom line is this:-

If you're taking photos of an organized event (like kids sports), then if you're in any doubt about wether you can take photos or not, you should go talk to the organizer on-site (just talk to one of the coaches who will direct you to who's in charge).

It's the guy in charge who has say-so over photographer's rights, not you, and not any random parent who has an issue with you. If the organizer says "No", then respect that decision. If you want to contest that decision, then make a formal request to the governing body.

A while ago, I was photographing kids playing rugby and one of the coaches challenged me. So we went off together to seek guidance from the guy in charge. It turned out that all the parents automatically sign a photo release with the contract for their kids to join the club. Thereby declaring that they let anyone take photos of their kids while they're on the field.

ImRaptor wrote in post #6009178
I've never heard of soccer for pedophils, but I have heard of some sicko's taking pictures of kids gymnastics. If my child goes into gymnastics I will not be taking my camera for the comfort of the other parents.

To a soccer game or baseball game? You bet I'll be there with my telephoto lens on.

I'm sorry, I don't see the difference between those sports. Maybe it's because I'm not a sicko.