Could you please not take pictures

Hmm...good point.
But since when are parents reasonable people?
I might have a healthy "conversation" with the parent, but sooner or later I would probably back down if the parent felt that strongly about it.

I don't make money off of shooting, so obviously the urgency is quite different and it's much easier for me to just back down.

I guess that's another component that needs to be considered. It's a difficult topic any time it involves kids...

cdifoto wrote in post #6013843
Sorry but the person who pegs me for a pedo without having a clue who I am didn't exactly consider MY feelings or care if they made ME uncomfortable. So basically, I'm calling people out for not living by the Golden Rule: Treat others as you want to be treated.

F*ck ya if you're inconsiderate.

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.

The woman in OP's post had every right to ask him not take photos of her kids.

When my kids had a gymnastics "olympics" (i.e. their gymnastics class had a graduation/end of season performance) the number of people with cameras was second only to the number of people with camcorders, myself included.

I have never ran into a problem taking photos of my kids playing / performing with other kids. However if someone was taking pics of _my_ kids, especially if it wasn't a parent of another child, I would probably have a few words with him / her.

As for your rights, in any country police is going to find a way to circumvent them if they feel that kids' parents have a point. And rightfully so I should add (pun intended). So establishing a good relationship with parents is a must.

I think Amamba's comment about "establishing a good relationship with parents is a must" is areally good point and there should be no reason why a TOG doesn't take that approach before starting. Then if there are any real objections confrontation can be avoided.

Still makes it a sad World where such paranoia and suspicion is rife.

jhcanon wrote in post #6021636
I think Amamba's comment about "establishing a good relationship with parents is a must" is areally good point and there should be no reason why a TOG doesn't take that approach before starting. Then if there are any real objections confrontation can be avoided.

Still makes it a sad World where such paranoia and suspicion is rife.

Unfortunately, the paranoia and suspicion aren't completely without a reason.

I also think the world wasn't much different 30, 50 or 100 years ago, the general public just knew less of it's darker side.

As almost in anything else, any extreme is bad - whether it's extreme paranoia or extreme "I've got the rights dammit !" attitude. Stick to the middle - you have your rights, the other party has their concerns, try to get a compromise. Or just yield - to me, a concern of even an overly-protective parent is more valid than my rights to take a picture. At least since I became a dad myself. (Most likely, for police it will be, too).

I still haven't heard a reason why a parent would be concerned over someone taking photos of fully clothed children playing sports. Taken to the worst extreme, what is the absolute most horrible thing they might do with those images? If they're stalking you or your family, you have more concern than the fact that they have some pictures and they probably wouldn't be stalking you in the open.

So they might "pleasure" themselves to the photos? The same parents, if the photographer said they were working for the local paper, would stand in line to have the same photos taken *AND* published for everyone to see!

Have any kids, Hoff ?

In about 7 weeks, yes. You can tell me my opinion will change but that is rather presumptive, I think. I've been a registered Libertarian, card-carrying member of the ACLU, for 15 years.

time for another group hug

andrew748 wrote in post #6021848
time for another group hug

This is an Opinion thread..thankfully we can all have those.

Amamba wrote in post #6021570
The woman in OP's post had every right to ask him not take photos of her kids.

She may or may not--as pointed out in several previous posts.

Many parental permission slips contain photo releases along with the other release of liability clauses.

When my daughter was coaching Girls on the Run there was one parent who did not want to sign the photo release.We honored their wishes and did not publish any closeup photos of their child--but it did not stop us from taking and posting images of the other participants--or of her in a crowd shot such as the starting pack or awards ceremony.

Diplomacy is of importance--but this may not be the parents right IMO.

Sorry but I'm not going to let some paranoid parent stop me from taking pictures that I have every right to take. If you're that worried about pedo's taking pictures of your kids then maybe you should keep them home rather than expecting every photographer to stop photographing at the events you happen to decide to attend.

I expect and suspect the police will uphold the law in this case.

Kurt

You do realize the law in itself is just a compromise. Since there's no easy way to obtain consent of everybody being photographed in, say, a holiday parade, requiring such consent would basically amount to prohibiting photography. So the law gives you broader rights than a common sense would require, because it's an "all or none" scenario.

As for the police, I expect they would do - within the law - what common sense is telling them. The law is not black and white but rather has a large gray area. And it gives them powers to stop you from taking pictures if they have reasons to believe that you in any way pose a danger to safety of the children, or public safety.

I challenge you to take a largest lens you have, go to the park, and take chest and leg shots of teenage girls. See how long your rights would protect you.

TheHoff wrote in post #6021846
In about 7 weeks, yes. You can tell me my opinion will change but that is rather presumptive, I think. I've been a registered Libertarian, card-carrying member of the ACLU, for 15 years.

Let's have this conversation again in 5-6 years than.

Congratulations, btw ! Your life will never be the same.

Amamba wrote in post #6021972
I challenge you to take a largest lens you have, go to the park, and take chest and leg shots of teenage girls. See how long your rights would protect you.

That's totally different from what we're talking about here but yes I do agree.

So common sense is that anyone taking a picture of children playing a sport is a pedo?

I do not believe the police can tell you to stop taking photos. If they wanted to do that they would have to arrest you if I'm not mistaken, which would probably turn out to be uncomfortable for them if the pictures turned out to be nothing more than the typical pictures you would expect and not the 'chest and leg' shots you refer to.

Kurt