How safe would you feel out alone with your camera equipment ?

If you dress like a junkie or a bum and use an old haggard fishing bag for your gear and don't shower for week or two then nobody will come near you (y)
Have we met? :D


I always put my wallet in my front pocket now
Just to be on the safe side .
I've always carried my wallet in front pocket, usually a zipped one too.
TBH I never understood people that carry them in the rear pocket, or inside jacket pocket.
 
i'm a very short tog at 5'2" and just about weigh 62kg if its been raining heavily. I Photographing in and around Birmingham city centre alone and in both day and night.
and I've no idea if it's is luck, experience, or street cred lol but I have had no issues whatsoever with people threating my safety or attempting to steal my gear.
If I am shooting in Birmingham city centre my camera is always out on display not hidden away in my bag, maybe people see me as a weird bloke with the camera.
 
I'd take a hit for you Dale...:)

This is what friends do. (y)

That said, I would help any person that might be in trouble.

I have experienced irate parents one time, I was walking near a kids play area and assumptions were made which resulted in the police being called. Long story short, the parents got a warning for wasting police time. Another occasion, I was in the middle of a town, on a bridge, watching for the local heron and 2 guys and a lassie with obligatory staffie approached me, wanting 'a go' of my camera. As with a lot of towns these days, there is a drug fraternity present and these were obviously part of it. I had a 7D at the time with a 100-400L, so about £3k's worth new. They weren't too pushy but it was an unpleasant experience.

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I'm always wary if I don't know the person, 999 times out of a 1000, they will be decent folk but it only takes that one time.
 
The only groups that truly scare me are the drunks, their behaviour is so unpredictable. they often want to do the weirdest and most dangerous things to impress their peers I avoid pubs at kicking out time if I'm shooting late.

This. I generally don't feel uncomfortable. With or without a camera. I suspect carrying expensive kit around just exaggerates any concern you'd already have.

However, in the presence of drunks (or drugs) it's a different matter because the people you're dealing with have already given up a level of rationality that you could use to talk a situation down.
 
Hi, I have never been in a dangerous situation so far, maybe by being cautious:

I carry only one camera in my hand when walking about.

Time: Not going out before 8.00 a.m. (I met a few very unpleasant people in Lisbon when I went for an early morning walk. Clubs and discos close at 6.00 a.m. there. I felt uneasy, hailed a cab to take me home.)

Not after 6.00 p.m. in lonely places. I go back to my Hotel at 9.00 p.m., using crowded streets.

Place: Avoiding well-known trouble spots, no-go areas, train stations, parks, etc. ...

Appearance: Being inconspicuous. Clothing, cap, trying not to look "rich" (long-sleeve shirt covering your ROLEX, for example), keep iPhone in your pocket ...

Contact: Avoiding eye-contact, no talking back when addressed.

Money: I do not take my wallet out of my pocket in public places. Before I go out, I put what I need in a pocket. Never change money, if someone wants coins, because this
means taking out your wallet ...
 
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It's not just in cities you need to be on alert. The last time I had a bunch of yobs check out my gear while passing was down by the river. Ask any fisherman, they'll have similar concerns about being attacked as riverways and forests are perfect for junkies or teens 'knacker drinking'

Then I must be lucky in the places we go. I've covered miles through woodland and countryside before and not seen another person!
 
I live in an area which can be a bit rough and I/we often go along a disused railway track or up into the hills, places were we're away from houses and shops but are likely to come across some people. I've never seen any serious trouble but drugs and booze can be a volatile mix and they're there sometimes with their camp fires and tins. I started to think about security and possibly getting mugged so I recently bought some cheap Chinese watches which I wear now to these places rather than my Swiss ones. I don't know if youngsters today would show much interest in a watch, they'd probably be more interested in my phone which is a PAYG hand me down and camera in that order or maybe they'd just wonder what was in the bag, whatever the difference it makes wearing a cheap watch makes me feel better. When going to these places I usually just have the camera and just the one lens.
 
I think in many big cities and capitals, the muggers would try to target tourists and not serious looking togs.

For sure, in Hamburg, just to the East of the main train station are a LOT of little used camera and phone shops. All tucked away in low-rent basements. Lots of interesting cameras at lower-than-ebay prices. I don't think for a minute that any legit owner would ever go there to sell their gear - it's all stolen. I suppose the question to ask is why the shops have only the camera and never any of its accessories.

(Annoyingly, the German police seem to turn a blind eye to all of the dodgy goings on East of the station. It seems that as long as the scumbags don't hang around West of the station - where the posher shops - that there's a laissez-faire attitude to low-level crime.)
 
Then I must be lucky in the places we go. I've covered miles through woodland and countryside before and not seen another person!

Yet ... doesn't mean they're not out there. I'm sure anyone who has been attacked or mugged will probably say they never saw any signs of trouble on that route in all the years they took it. Truth is you can get jumped just about anywhere, could be right outside your front door.
 
Yet ... doesn't mean they're not out there. I'm sure anyone who has been attacked or mugged will probably say they never saw any signs of trouble on that route in all the years they took it. Truth is you can get jumped just about anywhere, could be right outside your front door.

My front door is inner city. The chances of finding a group of drugged up, drunken yobs out in the middle of the countyside at 7:00am on a morning has to be pretty slim I would say.
 
I've never had any problems, but if somebody wants my camera gear, they are welcome to it. That's what insurance is for.
 
I go out to the local marsh area for night time photography and usually take a bags worth of gear, its always dead but as it’s pitch black and eerily quiet I’m always on edge thinking that anyone or anything could come and get me and there would be no help for miles. But the light pollution is the lowest there locally so what you gonna do...
 
My front door is inner city. The chances of finding a group of drugged up, drunken yobs out in the middle of the countyside at 7:00am on a morning has to be pretty slim I would say.

I've come across them at that hour when I used to go fishing. They'd be still drinking from the night before. Regardless, that's you covered and you feel safe where you're at but not all woodlands are scumbag free and many people do get attacked at such locations
 
I've come across them at that hour when I used to go fishing. They'd be still drinking from the night before. Regardless, that's you covered and you feel safe where you're at but not all woodlands are scumbag free and many people do get attacked at such locations

Okay.
 
Yeah, but you boys can still carry semi auto .22's and handguns for self protection;)

GC

We can?? shotguns maybe but I don't think we can carry hand guns

At least here , in comparison to the States, you're very unlikely to be held at gun point. It'll be mostly hammers, knives, crow bars ... stuff you could defend against given the chance.
 
We can?? shotguns maybe but I don't think we can carry hand guns

At least here , in comparison to the States, you're very unlikely to be held at gun point. It'll be mostly hammers, knives, crow bars ... stuff you could defend against given the chance.

For sure, NI has the least restrictive firearms legislation in the UK. The only part that's more restrictive than the mainland is shot guns are limited to 2 x cartridge unlike the 3 x cartridge pump action over here.

GC
 
For sure, NI has the least restrictive firearms legislation in the UK. The only part that's more restrictive than the mainland is shot guns are limited to 2 x cartridge unlike the 3 x cartridge pump action over here.

GC

I'm down south, definitely no hand guns here - well, there is but nothing legal about them
 
I'm 6'2" with a shaved head, people don't tend to bother me. Funny really as I am quite non confrontational and passive as a person, 'laid back to the point of being horizontal' has been said!

I guess I am lucky in that way!
Sounds exactly like me, except I'm 6'4 (y)

I've never worried tbh, even on Holiday walking around back streets of Havana or Marrakech etc. (neither of which were intimidating or worrying in the slightest tbh). I don't carry bags of gear, usually just the camera on a sling strap. The only time I tend to have multiple cameras and/or lenses and other things is when out taking landscapes, or at motorsport events and the like, and I've never had a reason to be worried then either.

Now I'm not saying that I'm immune to having my gear stolen or being mugged or whatever, but also I put things in perspective. Despite all the scare mongering on the internet and media the chances of an individual being mugged are pretty slim, and as horrible and frightening as it undoubtedly is if it happens to you I'm not going to go around worrying about it happening. Plus, I'd hazard a guess that most of the unsavoury people would be more interested in mobiles and wallets and I'm not going to stop carrying those either.
 
given my age and a now dodgy ticker I suppose I should be more aware ,but I'm still fortunately built like the proverbial outhouse . and having grown up in a very rough east end anyone would have a bit of a problem trying it on . not saying that it couldn't happen but I think muggers tend to go for easy targets
 
I have travelled the world with my cameras and not had a major problem yet. Had a couple of scares in New York and LA but I nearly always carry my camera in a small rucksack which I wear across my chest so I can ‘see’ my cameras at all times. I get the camera out, take the shots, then replace it in my rucksack. Not had a problem in Thailand, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, Canada....... Ithink it’s all about being sensible and not flashing your gear about.
 
I have travelled the world with my cameras and not had a major problem yet. Had a couple of scares in New York and LA but I nearly always carry my camera in a small rucksack which I wear across my chest so I can ‘see’ my cameras at all times. I get the camera out, take the shots, then replace it in my rucksack. Not had a problem in Thailand, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, Canada....... Ithink it’s all about being sensible and not flashing your gear about.

Strangely I felt a lot safer in NYC, even at 3am, than I would ever feel in small town Ireland. The bright lights help in areas like TS but even down side alleyways, never felt any danger. That time of the morn in the city is as lively as early evening here though. I guess if I'd strayed further I might not have felt so secure
 
given my age and a now dodgy ticker I suppose I should be more aware ,but I'm still fortunately built like the proverbial outhouse . and having grown up in a very rough east end anyone would have a bit of a problem trying it on . not saying that it couldn't happen but I think muggers tend to go for easy targets

easy targets, nah, they wouldn't want to harm a little old bloke like me .... :thinking:
 
given my age and a now dodgy ticker I suppose I should be more aware ,but I'm still fortunately built like the proverbial outhouse . and having grown up in a very rough east end anyone would have a bit of a problem trying it on . not saying that it couldn't happen but I think muggers tend to go for easy targets
Us East Enders cast a giant shadow even in our 70's, just one "gertcha" from us and the thugs scatter
 
Us East Enders cast a giant shadow even in our 70's, just one "gertcha" from us and the thugs scatter

I'm a little bit younger than that, shadow is getting increasingly larger with age i'm sorry to say
 
I shoot in Leeds quite a bit, sometimes early, sometimes late and have never felt intimidated by anyone. There are always people milling around so that seems to make it 'feel' safer. That said, I don't venture much to the dark & miserable bits at night - mostly cos they aren't photogenic at night as there's bugger all light

Being out in the Lakes stupidly early or late and alone never ever feels unsafe. Its not obvious hunting ground for muggers, but if they had any sense then they could mug 6-12 photographers on a morning in Autumn at Buttermere alone!!!

If I was to go anywhere with the merest hint of concern I would take someone else with me

If one person tried it on I'd hope to talk/battle my way out of that; if 2 or more then I'd happily remove the memory cards and hand the gear over

Dave
 
if we 70's remember that we are probably a shadow of our former selves.
Speak for yourself ... ( wish I was TBH :D )
 
Strangely I felt a lot safer in NYC, even at 3am, than I would ever feel in small town Ireland.

Conversely, when we stayed at a friends' in NYC, we felt more on-edge than anywhere else on our 10-month round the world trip.

We're lucky to have travelled pretty extensively, and 9 times out of 10, I'm the typical tourist with camera on the outside, especially since getting a PD capture clip so it's just snapped onto a sling/ruck-sack. I'm certainly aware of the value of the gear, but only rarely bother to put it out of site.

My partner and I are pretty savvy to these things I think, sometimes you turn a street and the vibe changes, so we just turn back again.

In many countries, regardless of the gear you're carrying, being a tourist instantly makes you notably richer than the locals - so you're already a target.

Only been pick-pocketed once which was in Havana. Our friendly guide managed to nick my phone from my bag whilst we were sharing a coffee - but he left my camera, passport and wallet (all in the same bag). Ran up a helluva phone bill mind...
 
Personally I keep an eye out for trouble if I'm on my own, never really had any bother so far, but it's about being aware. I see people walking about on their phones and they are totally out of touch with whats around them. They are sitting ducks like that.
 
i have been to quite a few countries and the only one I had to be very careful about was Egypt. Just didn't like the people at all, one passenger stupid like took £300 out and it was nicked by pickpockets. Even going through the river locks you got this from them (see photo). Most of the time when out I took my camcorder which fitted into my trouser pocket were I could keep my hand over it. No way would I take out a big DSLR camera

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Our daughter lives in New York with her family and we visit at least twice a year. I'm usually to be found in Central Park as soon as the light permits and I've never felt unsafe there. I seem to spend a lot of time with with "Good mornings, lovely day and enjoy yourself" as much as pressing the shutter button. There is a considerable police presence which obviously helps and I know that the Central Park of today is a far cry from that of yesteryear. I admit that I'm more wary of street photography in the city itself but I've never felt threatened.
Discretion is always the better part of valour.
 
Personally I keep an eye out for trouble if I'm on my own, never really had any bother so far, but it's about being aware. I see people walking about on their phones and they are totally out of touch with whats around them. They are sitting ducks like that.

Agreed.

I also haven't had any issues yet and go out alone in London, often after dark.
I guess it partly helps that I'm 6 foot and definitely not slightly built, also looking a bit strange with grey beard and pony tail.

I'm usually carrying a Canon 5D3 with 24-104 lens round my neck and a 70-200 f2.8 in a small rucksack (that doesn't look like a photography bag).
It probably helps that the camera strap is a Black Rapid one which I have diagonally across me with the camera hung upside down (it attaches via the tripod mount), so when not in use, it's hung by my side usually under an open jacket, so fairly discreet, even when the longer (white) lens is attached.
 
I live in a reasonably safe area & have quite old gear so I've never been bothered. I certainly have gone out shooting on my own after dark both in town & at more secluded locations.
I'm more concerned about leaving camera gear in the car. The cost of replacing a window smashed before the miscreant knew what's in the camera bag is enough of a pain.
 
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