I ask this as it really bugged me the other day when I was taking the pictures of the Tour of Britain Cycle race.
Is there an expected element of "Photographers Etiquette" or is it always literally a free for all...
Whilst I appreciate, journalistic wise there is a free for all requirement to get that unique story picture, when it comes to being on an open road with 100s of yards of free space to choose from - would you set up right in front of another photographer with your DSLR and equipment? Am I just too polite not to do such a thing myself - should I be ruthless and not give a damn?
The story: I drove up the hill having picked where to park, where to walk to, where to set up by looking at google maps, working out angle of sun etc so it wasnt right in my face, so I could get the pictures of the Tour of Britain as it was passing through Gloucestershire.
I even walked along the road quite a bit so that I wasnt in the way of the crowds, in the way of anyone else and even had a nice backdrop for when cyclicsts came round the corner (I'd picked a stretch of road where they would cut round the corner so they would be closer to me etc), and I set my bag etc down and set myself up a good 30 minutes prior to their arrival. A few test shots with passing cars and I was set....until...
with about ten minutes to go...some lady comes with her DSLR and tripod, etc and sets up no more than ten yards in front of me, right on the apex of the corner I had my view all set on and basically completely ruining my entire line of sight with back drop etc - she then wasnt happy there an moved even closer...
By then I just loudly shouted "FFS", grabbed my stuff and walked off down the road to the next corner...I still got my pictures, but no nice backdrop of Gloucester from top of hill.
My question is....would you do such a thing just for your pictures - is it just me that is too polite that if it was me, I would have perhaps asked if it was ok to set up just there in front or even by the side of the person if the angles were that good...but right in line of picture??? arrgghhhh!!!
Thanks,
Is there an expected element of "Photographers Etiquette" or is it always literally a free for all...
Whilst I appreciate, journalistic wise there is a free for all requirement to get that unique story picture, when it comes to being on an open road with 100s of yards of free space to choose from - would you set up right in front of another photographer with your DSLR and equipment? Am I just too polite not to do such a thing myself - should I be ruthless and not give a damn?
The story: I drove up the hill having picked where to park, where to walk to, where to set up by looking at google maps, working out angle of sun etc so it wasnt right in my face, so I could get the pictures of the Tour of Britain as it was passing through Gloucestershire.
I even walked along the road quite a bit so that I wasnt in the way of the crowds, in the way of anyone else and even had a nice backdrop for when cyclicsts came round the corner (I'd picked a stretch of road where they would cut round the corner so they would be closer to me etc), and I set my bag etc down and set myself up a good 30 minutes prior to their arrival. A few test shots with passing cars and I was set....until...
with about ten minutes to go...some lady comes with her DSLR and tripod, etc and sets up no more than ten yards in front of me, right on the apex of the corner I had my view all set on and basically completely ruining my entire line of sight with back drop etc - she then wasnt happy there an moved even closer...
By then I just loudly shouted "FFS", grabbed my stuff and walked off down the road to the next corner...I still got my pictures, but no nice backdrop of Gloucester from top of hill.
My question is....would you do such a thing just for your pictures - is it just me that is too polite that if it was me, I would have perhaps asked if it was ok to set up just there in front or even by the side of the person if the angles were that good...but right in line of picture??? arrgghhhh!!!
Thanks,
Comment