Other photographer watching/shooting you?

[kimberley]

OKay I have a question to ask...as this happened to me last night...

I was shooting a lovely family at a public park last night and my client asked me..." Oh hey is that guy with you, he is taking picures of us?..." I turned around becasue I shoot alone and a very friendly looking, older gentleman was sure enough there camera in hand...now I didnt see him take our picture but he looked at me and I looked at him gave a friendly nod and went on trying to wrangle the toddler I was attemping to photograph. I tried to reassure the mom, my assumption, he was probably just watching to see how I shot...I went on my business and this gentleman continued to watch us and I mean watch us, everytime I looked up he was there...now he stayed a far distance away but he was ever present. At this point mom was becoming uncomfortable....the session was almost at a close and I was at my wits ends trying to get this child/(*&^% to umm whats the word sit still...no go for him....I reassured mom again, again trying to salvage what little I had left of the session with this toddler..not wanting to stop to go police this gentleman...

Now Im a pretty out spoken person and will usually tell people exactly what I think, like I said I didnt feel threatned by this man, he looked very nice, had a nice camera, etc and I had a hunch what he was doing....and i didnt know what to expect by approaching him...you never know and it could have gone anyway either he could have been pleasent and kindly walked away or he coulda freaked out and then I would have a scene with my clients and their children around. I choose not to approach him and assume him for a professional...

OKay now to my question, guys and girls, would you approach someone, in all reality.....I usually would in most situations but this session was a bugger and every little thing was a distraction...

and what is the proper etiquette....I know I like to people/photog watch but it a way where I am not seen and if seen move on....and I would never take a photograph of someone else....not saying this man did..just saying...

post away!!

[sparkyjr]

Not that there's anything illegal about what he was doing (as far as I know), but if it starts to affect your model(s), then it should become concerning. In that case, I would kindly approach and ask him to respect the shoot.

[andyz]

While it may not have been courteous of him, the "I can shoot in public" cuts both ways. I personally wouldn't be a good street shooter, or to have done this. But I may have been interested in seeing how a photographer operated. I may have even snapped a shot or two, but I wouldn't have over stayed my welcome.

Bottom line, I think you could ask him to leave as the distraction is making it hard to do your job. But I don't think you could do much more.

andyz added 0 Minutes and 15 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

While it may not have been courteous of him, the "I can shoot in public" cuts both ways. I personally wouldn't be a good street shooter, or to have done this. But I may have been interested in seeing how a photographer operated. I may have even snapped a shot or two, but I wouldn't have over stayed my welcome.

Bottom line, I think you could ask him to leave as the distraction is making it hard to do your job. But I don't think you could do much more.

[J Eddington]

I would have taken a picture of him! Then I would have approached him and explained that he was making my client uncomfortable. It could all be innocent but you never know.

[ldelacruz]

Maybe he bought a good camera and doesn't know how to use it? I agree if it was making your client uncomfortable to ask him to back off. I've watched a few photogs before to see their setup. Taking pics of you pretty much tells me he is not a pro.

[Coogie]

This is one of my pet peeves. I'm not questioning the legality of it, but A-holes like that old guy give the rest of photographers a bad name. It's already hard enough to take a camera with you in many places without people thinking you're either a terrorist or a perv, and guys like that just make it harder. I'm not a confrontational person but I would have approached the guy and asked him to knock it off - especially since there was a kid involved.

I don't have an issue with general street photography where the people who are in there are just random faces in the crowd or someone performing where there is a reasonable expectation that people will photograph them, but to single out people and kids in particular is pretty creepy.

[toverman]

We'll never know his motivations, and I'm not sure what I would have done. The fact is, the way you relate the story he was causing a scene of sorts; approaching him from a safe distance and being casual ("Hey, how are you doin'?") would make you look sane and him crazy if he did something strange.

If he was a professional, it is extremely unprofessional to interrupt another photographer's session in any manner (even long-distance hovering is off limits). We were hiking recently and when I noticed a photog with clients we made tracks in the opposite direction as quickly as possible.

[wclavey]

This is an interesting question, I think. When I was younger and lived in New York City, I worked for a student-run daily paper, and each spring we ran a special section called "They Shoot New York." All the photographers for the paper went out and did street shooting for a week or so, in addition to covering the assigned news stories. It was not uncommon for us to shoot, as subjects, other "professional" photographers doing their work. We didn't intrude, but we would always get pictures of commercial shoots, wedding shoots, portrait shoots, etc., in addition to hundreds of other shots of life in New York. We even had shoots one year of Woody Allen shooting a movie on campus.

People shooting portraits on the streets are fair game, just like people skating, playing checkers, buying coffee, collecting garbage, or anything else. The negative issue I see is the hanging around part. We never really had much time for that - - maybe I would spend 10 minutes or so on any subject and then I needed to move along (...we were actually assigned sections of the city to cover...).

Had it happened to me, where the photographer were to turn around or motion to go away, I probably would have simply smiled, waved with my camera, and walked on... but it never did. It is easy to speculate now looking back... But I think that, realistically speaking, as others have said, he was not doing anything wrong - - perhaps not friendly or polite or endearing... but not wrong.

When I'm out using the LF camera on the street, it has not been uncommon for people to campout and watch for 20 minutes or more... and that was nothing more special than an old 4x5 and I'm usually shooting trees or buildings... nothing nearly as exciting as a real portrait session.

We can't have it both ways.

[CaptainTom]

I would have had to stop and make time since it was affecting the client.
Probably innocent enough, but you could ask him to keep his distance because he was a distraction. You have no rights except to ask. If he refuses, you need to adjust or move on.

[MHampton]

Just my opinion, but you were both in a *public* park, he was quite a distance away and even if he was taking your picture, while it may bother you he is well within his rights.

If you wanted to approach him and say something politely like "Could you help me out. My client is being hard to handle and your presence is making the mom nervous. Would you mind moving along?" Then it would be up to him to either politely move along or tell you he has as much right to be there as you do and ignore your request. "Going police" on him isn't going to help the situation for anyone involved. And if he's just a guy with a camera hanging out in the park, he could be looking for squirrels. Whatever, I would feel pretty certain that his intention wasn't to cause you problems with your shoot. He probably was interested in what was going on and enjoying watching you wrangle the little one.

Again, just my opinion, but it sounds like the kid was stressing you out a little (and maybe the mom too) and this guy was caught in the crossfire.

[jeffkohn]

I don't shoot clients. But I do sometimes carry quite a bit of gear into parks and other natural places, and I've occasionally seen folks take pictures of me doing my thing. Doesn't really bother me.

Photographing other photographers is a pretty common motif for street/documentary photographers, so I don't see how it would be any cause for concern. If a similar situation were to happen again you could consider asking them politely to move along so that your client is more comfortable; but I wouldn't get confrontational or angry because you have no real grounds for doing so and it's less likely to get the results you want.

[kenw]

i don't think the issue is one of "rights" or privacy, it's simply about courtesy and not interfering.

[kimberley]

:) Ken

kimberley added 11 Minutes and 30 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

okay, see this is what I dont get.....if Im at a park and some man starts photographing my children without my permission, then it is well within my rights as a parent to do something...just because it is a right doesnt mean it should be used...public parks dont give you free rein, yes you can photograph people but I also have right to my privacy and if you invade my privacy and I feel threatned I will take action...weither that be police or a verbal warning.

and Michael if the kid was stressing me out then Im not doing my job well...believe me he was hard but I dont get easily stressed with children...the fact is that mom was stressed that a strange man was photographing and watching her children...

[Marv800]

i would have murdered him, but i'm a psychopath :)

[toverman]

Originally Posted by kimberley

okay, see this is what I dont get.....if Im at a park and some man starts photographing my children without my permission, then it is well within my rights as a parent to do something...just because it is a right doesnt mean it should be used...public parks dont give you free rein, yes you can photograph people but I also have right to my privacy and if you invade my privacy and I feel threatned I will take action...weither that be police or a verbal warning.

Here's where I have to disagree ...

You do have a right as a parent to raise a fuss, but should have no real expectations of privacy in a public place. Police? They might very well show up, but there's nothing legally they could do to someone photographing whatever in a public place.

Public parks don't give you free rein? Which public parks?

As a parent, I'm with you on your thought process. But I'd be the one to leave if I felt my family was being threatened. It's my only realistic course of action. It's also the only one that's 100 percent effective in diffusing a situation.