No manners from fellow togs

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Dennis
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Hi, i was out today early morning in one of my favorite spots,i settle down in a quite corner with my big green brolley that i wedge into some fencing and it acts like a hide,i settle down and wait to see what happens,the area is open to the public so i accept i am going to be disturbed a few times and i have no issue with that,however today after i had been in my spot for a few hours a group of fellow photographers turned up ,i spoke to a nice chap who was with them who realised i was in a good spot to catch what i had come for as he had seen a few shots from me that i took earlier and sat near me,the rest of the group moved about 15 metres up the path to a
feeding station and starting setting up ,and while i was crouched down at least three of them started testing thier flashes all about the place ,this then started happening regular ,the guy next to me was quite embarrsed about this as it could tell i was annoyed ,now i know i don't own the place and people can do what they like but they carried on even after i said is thier any need for the flash and can they at least show some respect as i had been in my area for hours ,they just marched in started setting up and firing thier flashes evrywere ,i even had a member of the public who said he was going to complain to the people in the national trust pay booth ,i told them how selfish they acted and i moved on as i was quite disapointed with them . Just needed to have a rant as this is the first time i have come across this.
 
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Hi, i do not want to start a long debate ,it was just a bit of a rant ,it was not birds and thier was at least six of them ,it was thier attitude ,we are here now and we dont care how long you have been here, we will disturb everything untill we are ready.If the flash was being used in the process of taking a shot ,well fine,but to start testing and firing all around the place ,in preperation prior to shooting ,thats what got me mad , and why i moved .
 
Sounds like you should have spoken to them rather than post a rant on a forum and get annoyed when someone replies to it.
 
Yep, it's over now ,i will put it down to experience or as they say if you can't beat em join em ....was having a good read on the link of the second post,quite intresting .
 
it happens where ever you are - I've lost count of the amount of people that get in teh way when you go to take a holiday snap but like wise there are numerous people that have waited.
 
Sometimes yo do just need to get it out of your system and have a bit of a grumble. I do think it's a shame that a likeminded group of people can't act respectfully and, if others were disrupted by them, I don't think it's just a case of Den being over-sensitive
 
Sadly, you will come across this behaviour from some photographers - I'm afraid it's a fact of life - some people are just incredibly thoughtless and selfish, but thankfully, they tend to be in the minority.

Last year I was staked out low down and sitting in the midst of low bushes trying to photograph Redstarts with not another living soul in sight. It would be obvious to even the casual observer what I was doing and that I didn't want t be disturbed. This guy spotted me and came right over - standing in the open between me and the target area while his kid ran up and down behind him kicking a football about!

I'm a pretty tolerant person, and I put up with his chatter for about two minutes before I told him in no uncertain terms that I'd like to be left alone and that he probably had 20 square miles of heathland to go at without disturbing me! He went away with his sprog and his bum in his hands, but while we have to put up with thoughtlessness from some people I see no reason to encourage it. ;)
 
Ive come across obnoxious behaviour before from another photographer.

I was out with a friend with the cameras, nice day out etc. We waited about 10 - 15 mins for people to move on so we could get a shot of an old manor house without people or kids running in the foreground. No problem with the waiting, we werent in any sort of rush, just sat on a bench chatting until the coast was clear.

So we get up, get into position and start lining up the shot. Literally as im about to hit the shutter, I see a shape move in front of me through the viewfinder and stay there. All I could see was a browny blob. Looking up to see what it was, you wont believe it, another photographer had just wandered up right in front of two guys with their cameras poised to take the shot, and plonked his tripod down right in front of us!

A sharp whistle and a loud "OI", and the other photographers better half grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to one side, obviously seeing what he had just done. Im still dumbfounded by the ignorance of the man.

Yes it was a public place, he could do as he pleased, but out of general courtesy he could of waited all of 10 seconds, and there was absolutely no way he could of missed us or not seen what we were doing as he decided to set up no more than 2 metres in front of us.
 
One of the reasons i had a bit of a moan about the situation was as follows: my hobby allows me to pick and choose were i go,at my own pace and my chosen area.....i can relax and be at peace with myself........,i have quite a quick temper that as got me in trouble on more than one occassion in the past and i have never been so relaxed and chlilled out than when i am pursuing my hobby,these fellow so called photographers very nearly tipped me over the edge .i believe if they were not in a group it may have been different,they literraly took over and charged around without a care in the world to what i was doing , when i shouted at one to stop firing a test (flash) shot he didn't answer back , what i did was move away to show them i was not happy,what concerned me was if he said anything back i would not have backed down and could have ended up with a heated argument ,which i would not want to happen ,all it takes is a bit of altruism ,i have faith in believing that if the fellow photographers were out on thier own they may have behaved diferentley , in fact i would go as far as to say they would. I am going back tomorrow and i doubt they will be there so i am looking forward to getting some more squirrel shots. :)
 
A few weeks ago I had my tripod set up to photograph a tree that was highlighted nicely when a guy in an electric buggy stopped right in front of me and set up his camera I was gobsmacked
I did not say anything because he was disabled maybe I should of
I waited a while then gave up and moved on
 
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It's not just other those other photographers though is it, so many people walk around like everyone else has to accommodate them and have completely forgotten that there are such things as manners, a complete sense of entitlement.
 
Iris said:
It's not just other those other photographers though is it, so many people walk around like everyone else has to accommodate them and have completely forgotten that there are such things as manners, a complete sense of entitlement.
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That's true but these were photographers - or at least pretending to be - so I would expect them to understand and observe the courtesies.

.
 
My only real experience with a rude fellow photographer was at a large 1 off event at Hadrian's Wall. Knowing it would be busy I got there really early, found a spot to get the shots I wanted, set my tripod up and sat on a rock to enjoy my sarnies and a cuppa.

Lots of other people went past and a few other photographers set up nearby - everyone being polite to each other, chatting and as much as possible staying out of each others shots. Then, about 30 mins before things started along popped another tog (and other half) who proceeded to set up directly in front of me - we're talking about 1 or 2 metres - meaning my shot was now composed mainly of his back. To make things worse, his other half proceeded to sit on the wall next to him (she obviously failed to notice the 'do not sit/stand on the wall as it's a fragile ancient monument' signs placed everywhere) to make sure she got her shots. The two of them didn't care in the slightest as long as they were OK and upset a fair few of us - and not just the photographers.

I know it was a busy public event but the wall isn't exactly short on length, scenic bits or places to stand that aren't right in front of someone - especially at the harder to get to part I was at!

At least most fellow togs are polite. A few months ago at St Mary's Lighthouse one even came up to me to ask how wide the lens was I was using so he could try to work out how far back to stay so he wasn't in my shot. I thought that was really nice. :)
 
LCPete said:
A few weeks ago I had my tripod set up to photograph a tree that was highlighted nicely when a guy in an electric buggy stopped right in front of me and set up his camera I was gobsmacked
I did not say anything because he was disabled maybe I should of
I waited a while then gave up and moved on
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Pssst... Let me let you in on a little secret for free - in order to use a "mobility scooter", you have to be able to walk to get onto it. A second secret is that anyone can buy one!
 
It's pleasing to read the comments here that most photographers are generally decent people. It confirms my suspicions that i've just been unlucky because to be honest the few "one on one" encounters i've had with other photographers (either singular or a group) is that they're self-centered, arrogant and rude bordering on obnoxious. And that's me being surprisingly polite about it.

One day I hope to run in to some of you fellow TP'ers who (mainly) all seem like decent folks somewhere.
 
GeordieLass said:
At least most fellow togs are polite. A few months ago at St Mary's Lighthouse one even came up to me to ask how wide the lens was I was using so he could try to work out how far back to stay so he wasn't in my shot. I thought that was really nice. :)
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At least he was ok, I was there on my own, waited all day for the tide to come in after getting there for shots with the tide out too, set up right in the middle of causeway over to the island, just set off a long exposure, and then a group of 5 or 6 walked over, set up right infront of me and proceeded to do their thing....granted if it was a tourist taking a snapshot, they probably wouldn't understand the whole long exposure thing, but the fact it was a group out on I assume a course (one seemed to be leading the troop anyhow), and I was there, wired shutter release in hand, ND filters on the camera etc etc, really ****ed me off, I told them, and they just looked at me as if I was stupid, like I was the ignorant one and continued to get their shots.

There are some ignorant folk about, but in general, most photographers are great, especially so in the Lakes it would seem, they always like to stop and have a natter about what i'm shooting etc etc.
 
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