Yeah buddy, I’m talking to you!

JavierJavier Registered Users Posts: 152 Major grins
edited May 11, 2012 in Street and Documentary
I ran into this scene and was more curious to see how this scam worked so I watched and chose when to shoot. Follow the adventure down below.

*The images below are in the order I made them*
So as I snuck in here, I was watching and trying to figure out who was a
part of this con.
DSC_0354.jpg

When they saw me take the picture, I just walked away with the intentions
of trying to come back for the money shot (no pun intended), but here is what
the crowd looked like after the bus had picked up half of them.
DSC_0377.jpg

In this frame, the elderly lady you see next to the con with the smile on her face
was ''allowed'' to win $20.00....
DSC_0378.jpg

So After that picture, I walked to the other side. Nobody noticed me as they
where to busy watching them take her for $100.00 !!! She then started accusing
the con of ripping her off and making a bit of a small scene. I knew then she was
not a part of the con, but a victim.
DSC_0380.jpg

So that is when I could not take it and would not stand for it, so I started to
get in his face as well (In Spanish) and started to snap away and threatened
to call the police if he did not give her back her money. That is when his thug,
tried to grab my camera and lets just say, he did not succeed 8~) The adrenalin
rush was amazing I must say as he took a nap.
DSC_0381.jpg
My blog, where the eyes are the window to the soul.
Thank you very much, Javier

Comments

  • RyanSRyanS Registered Users Posts: 507 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2012
    It is rare that the camera catches crimes in action. Rarer still that they are captured in a way so powerful. #4 is definitely the "money shot." And the last one... You can read what type of person that is just by looking at his face. You can see the tension. So glad your camera (and you) survived without being harmed. Thank you so much for posting these Javier. Quite amazing.
    Please feel free to post any reworks you do of my images. Crop, skew, munge, edit, share.
    Website | Galleries | Utah PJs
  • PattiPatti Registered Users Posts: 1,576 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2012
    Yowzer! Nothing like a bit of drama to add to the shoot. Thanks for posting.
    The use of a camera is similar to that of a knife. You can use it to peel potatoes, or carve a flute. ~ E. Kahlmeyer
    ... I'm still peeling potatoes.

    patti hinton photography
  • lizzard_nyclizzard_nyc Registered Users Posts: 4,056 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2012
    How on earth are people still falling for this crap!
    I knew about this in the 80's when I was a child and you knew sometimes the winners were in on it.

    I feel bad for the little old lady. Makes me angry just thinking about it.

    Glad you spoke up and then some.

    Great documentation of the event.
    I'm not condoning (not that's not the word) but I would hope you wouldn't put yourself in danger, but sometimes it can't be helped.
    I've interfered in physical domestic disputes in the past against my better judgment, never with camera in hand though to document--so hats off for that.clap.gif
    Liz A.
    _________
  • toragstorags Registered Users Posts: 4,615 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2012
    Excellent series

    Not a fan of "street" tilt, #2 works good for me; it gives the feel of the haste of guerilla photography

    Nice work
    Rags
  • RSLRSL Registered Users Posts: 839 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2012
    Good shooting, Javier. Last summer a guy slashed my camera strap and my hand along with it in a situation like that, but I didn't come out of it with the success you had in this one. I'd just started to shoot and I never got what I was after. Two guys were involved, and both are still in the pokey.
    Russ Lewis
    www.FineArtSnaps.com
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2012
    RSL wrote: »
    Good shooting, Javier. Last summer a guy slashed my camera strap and my hand along with it in a situation like that, but I didn't come out of it with the success you had in this one. I'd just started to shoot and I never got what I was after. Two guys were involved, and both are still in the pokey.

    Russ, glad they caught the guys and locked them up. Just curious..........how long was the sentence?

    Here in the Peoples Republic of Ca they like to catch and release. I think the theory is they keep them long enough to get any medical care they need, three meals a day, exercise, some quite time and they are ready to go back to start the process all over again.

    Sam
    www.samlinvillephotography.com
  • JavierJavier Registered Users Posts: 152 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2012
    Thanks for the comments folks.
    Sam wrote: »
    Russ, glad they caught the guys and locked them up. Just curious..........how long was the sentence?

    Here in the Peoples Republic of Ca they like to catch and release. I think the theory is they keep them long enough to get any medical care they need, three meals a day, exercise, some quite time and they are ready to go back to start the process all over again.

    Sam

    Don't forget the cable TV and free internet.
    My blog, where the eyes are the window to the soul.
    Thank you very much, Javier
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2012
    Javier,

    Pleased to see there are still some with a sense of right and wrong, and the ability and willingness to step in.

    You sound like a guy who knows the score so I don't have to tell you the muscle could have had a gun or knife, but I will remind you.

    Of course you realize that this type of scam can only work on the greedy trying to take advantage of the seemingly not so smart guy on the street corner with money.

    OH................nice images!!

    Sam
    www.samlinvillephotography.com
  • HarrybHarryb Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 22,708 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2012
    Outstanding series of captures Javier. Please be careful though. I got some captures of a similar scam during my NYC days. I ended up backed to a wall by two confedrates of the con. It was a bit dicey for awhile.
    Harry
    http://behret.smugmug.com/ NANPA member
    How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? 50. One to change the bulb, and forty-nine to say, "I could have done that better!"
  • RSLRSL Registered Users Posts: 839 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2012
    Sam, They've been in and out on bail. One of the guys is about to walk on probation. The second has been stalling around about a plea bargain. When they picked up these two guys it turned out there were additional wants on them, so the whole process has ground on slowly. The second guy is going to have to fish or cut bait soon because either he pleads or his trial on my count comes up next month. Colorado's getting more like the people's republic of CA, or, as my brother, who lives in southern CA, calls it: "the land of the fruits and the nuts." Everybody seems to be bailing out of CA and coming to CO. You can hardly blame them, but nowadays I see bumper stickers that say: "Don't Californicate Colorado."

    Barnum had the answer to why people keep falling for this crap. There's the biblical statement: "the poor are always with you," and the Barnum statement: "the suckers are always with you." Very often both statements apply to the same person. It's cause and effect.

    Forgot to add: great shots, Javier!
    Russ Lewis
    www.FineArtSnaps.com
  • Quincy TQuincy T Registered Users Posts: 1,090 Major grins
    edited May 10, 2012
    Javier, both some excellent shots, and, more commendably, some heroic action on your part. Well done and well fought :)!
  • rainbowrainbow Registered Users Posts: 2,765 Major grins
    edited May 11, 2012
    Excellent series, commentary, and back story. Glad you are okay.

    BTW, you are presenting excellent work. I am envious of the number of intriguing street shots you get and do justice to!
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