Other photographer watching/shooting you?

[danchez]

this has been another good thread to read.

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by alamoshutterbug

Hi mister photographer person,

I am with a client right now and I don't know if you expected or noticed but what you are doing is unsettling for my clients. I am sure you can understand how this makes my job particularly difficult being that I am taking their portrait and need them to look comfortable and relaxed. Now I know it is your right to do so but I just wanted to politely ask if you could refrain from taking pictures of my paying clients. If we need to leave and go elsewhere we can.

Have a great day and enjoy the park.

If you can't take heat stay out of the park. Frankly, I would not consider a photographer who had to take a client to a public place to shot very professional.

By the way do you know that you don't need a permit to conduct a paid photo session in a public park?

[kenw]

Originally Posted by johnastovall

(silliness removed...)
By the way do you know that you don't need a permit to conduct a paid photo session in a public park?

maybe not in Greater Dublin but lots of places do require a permit. It's called using a public area for commercial purposes.

[johnastovall]

I constructed that sentence badly. It was to imply that in most places one does need a permit to shoot commercial work in a public place.

Try re-parsing it.

[Angelo]

I would have put the guy to work, holding a reflector or something....

[MHampton]

Originally Posted by Angelo

I would have put the guy to work, holding a reflector or something....

Now there's a thought no one else brought up.

[danchez]

yeah, that's a good idea, a creepy guy with a camera is making your client nervous, so you stop and invite him to work with you. Yeah, I'm sure the client would love that.

[MHampton]

At least he would have approached the guy and started some sort of dialog.

[CaptainTom]

I'm still shocked to think that anybody thinks that somebody watching you or taking your picture while you are in a public place is immoral.

I go to the park all the time. Should I be afraid now that I'll get arrested ?

Where's that dead horse icon when I need it ?

[danchez]

OOOOH, I got one for ya Capt.



and for once, I find myself in total agreement with the Capt.

[Rson]

Originally Posted by CaptainTom

I'm still shocked to think that anybody thinks that somebody watching you or taking your picture while you are in a public place is immoral.

I go to the park all the time. Should I be afraid now that I'll get arrested ?

Where's that dead horse icon when I need it ?

[Angelo]

Originally Posted by kimberley

... I turned around becasue I shoot alone and a very friendly looking, older gentleman was sure enough there camera in hand...

Interesting how a "very friendly looking..." guy now turns into a creepy person.

[danchez]

Originally Posted by kimberley

.....At this point mom was becoming uncomfortable....

well, if mom was getting uncomfortable..... apparently she didn't think he was too friendly.

[klynam]

I like the ideas so far, but realistically...

Taking pictures of "the onlooker" wastes your time...
Putting "the onlooker" to work holding a reflector wont make your client more comfortable...
Asking "the onlooker" to move along stands a good chance of backfiring into an argument...

Explaining to clients IN ADVANCE weird stuff like this can happen during a public shoot would probably help (but wont fix the issue entirely.)

And these are just some of the many reasons I prefer NOT to shoot in public places.

[SpeedRacerSlots]

Kim:
Dont know if you are still reading this or not, but...
I saw the same thing happening a while back and had seen the person (female) taking pictures of others in parks and public areas in our neighborhood...
We were out for a bike ride and I stopped and asked one day when I saw her at the lake by my house (there was a photog taking Quincenera photos down by the water) and she stopped on the street corner to take a few pics of their activities.

The line that she gave me was that she was HOA and was "documenting" activities when concerns/complaints about activities in the area were reported.

Dont know if you had that happen or not...

Did you happen to wheel around and take a shot of the other photog?