Landscape Photography... Etiquette?

anonymouscuban

As with almost everything we do, there is a certain level of decorum and etiquette that one must learn so as not to offend others or look like a total kook.

When I surf, I don't drop in on someone else's wave. When I'm pushing weight at the gym, I don't use the squat rack for anything other than... well... squats. So what it is proper form when shooting landscapes?

Is it OK to setup in someone else's line of sight or do you find another spot? Do you walk in front another dude's lens or do you first ask if he's got an exposure going?

This has happened to me so far every time I've gone out shooting over the past few weeks. So am I just expecting too much of people or is this stuff as uncool as I think it is? :dunno

kdog

No, you're not expecting too much, Alex. The problem is that common courtesy isn't all that common. Some of it is ignorance of etiquette which can be taught. But there will always be people that just don't give a fig about others.

My wife and I see this every day when we're walking our dog along the local city creek trail near our home. Most of us locals have our dogs on leashes and carry poop bags to clean up our dogs messes. But there are always a few people out there that think their dog is so well behaved that it can run free off the leash, allowing them to jump on our dogs on leashes regardless of how much inconvenience that causes other owners. And of course they leave their dog's poop behind for other folks to step in. Both of those are against city ordinances and piss off the rest of us. Just this morning one woman had a lab off leash that ran after a small dog causing a semi-handicapped owner a lot of panic and grief. Then it came over to our dog to play running circles around us until the owner came over and apologized saying, "bad dog". I told her the dog wasn't being bad, it was the owner, and that she needs to keep her dog on a leash. I have no problem reprimanding poorly behaved people, and so far nobody has beat me up over it.

But I digress. I really think it's more of a statement about society than it is specifically about photographers.

Sara Marino just wrote a great blog entry about this which you may enjoy. http://sarahmarinophoto.com/landscape-photography-etiquette/

anonymouscuban

kdog wrote: »

No, you're not expecting too much, Alex. The problem is that common courtesy isn't all that common. Some of it is ignorance of etiquette which can be taught. But there will always be people that just don't give a fig about others.

My wife and I see this every day when we're walking our dog along the local city creek trail near our home. Most of us locals have our dogs on leashes and carry poop bags to clean up our dogs messes. But there are always a few people out there that think their dog is so well behaved that it can run free off the leash, allowing them to jump on our dogs on leashes regardless of how much inconvenience that causes other owners. And of course they leave their dog's poop behind for other folks to step in. Both of those are against city ordinances and piss off the rest of us. Just this morning one woman had a lab off leash that ran after a small dog causing a semi-handicapped owner a lot of panic and grief. Then it came over to our dog to play running circles around us until the owner came over and apologized saying, "bad dog". I told her the dog wasn't being bad, it was the owner, and that she needs to keep her dog on a leash. I have no problem reprimanding poorly behaved people, and so far nobody has beat me up over it.

But I digress. I really think it's more of a statement about society than it is specifically about photographers.

Sara Marino just wrote a great blog entry about this which you may enjoy. http://sarahmarinophoto.com/landscape-photography-etiquette/

I guess you're right Joel. I comment about this very thing to my wife constantly. I don't know why I'm then so surprised when people just act like assholes. Driving is the worst. People cut you off, they can't wait a couple of seconds for you to pull out of parking space so they punch right past you, endangering themselves, you and anyone else nearby. Oh, and I have no problem telling people they're assholes. Just yesterday we went to a bakery that gets very crowded. There was a line for tables. 3 guys just bypass the line and take a table that was just vacated. We were next and I politely told them to get up. One guy thought I was just gonna go away when he told me that it was there table and I didn't. Again, I was polite but assertive. When he saw I wasn't backing down, they got up and left.

Just assholes everywhere I guess. Photographers are not immune.

Will check out that blog. Very timely.

Stumblebum

In my experience most photogs are really respectful of the frame space. After all these years, maybe one or two jerks were obnoxious enough to invade the space, ignoring the abuse that was being heaped upon them by me and other photogs besides me. Example would be sunset on Delicate-Arch in Arches National Park. We all were standing next to each other waiting for the "light" and at the worst moment this guy decided to do hand held photography and walk up to the arch.

But that is truly rare among photogs. Most hikers and pedestrians are also respectful but they have a 3-4 second rule. They pause with smile and curiosity, but if you don't get your shot right away, they need to move. However, there is that 20% group of hot-hiking ladies that I have noticed will get pissed off, and purposely walk into the shot without saying excuse me or anything to make the point that path belongs to them.

WORST OFFENDERS are the #$%^& who need to take their own picture taken either on top of the arch, or blocking the sun during sunset, or jumping on Llama, etc etc. Why these folks are in love with their own #$%^ face is beyond me.

I never ruin another's shot, even if it people taking it with a cell phone.....for the record! Cheers!

Sam

I hope your not waiting for it to get any better. :cry

Sam

CatOne

anonymouscuban wrote: »

As with almost everything we do, there is a certain level of decorum and etiquette that one must learn so as not to offend others or look like a total kook.

When I surf, I don't drop in on someone else's wave. When I'm pushing weight at the gym, I don't use the squat rack for anything other than... well... squats. So what it is proper form when shooting landscapes?

Is it OK to setup in someone else's line of sight or do you find another spot? Do you walk in front another dude's lens or do you first ask if he's got an exposure going?

This has happened to me so far every time I've gone out shooting over the past few weeks. So am I just expecting too much of people or is this stuff as uncool as I think it is?

Stepping in front of someone's camera is pretty damned rude. I'd certainly ask someone who did that when I was shooting to move.

That said, if we're talking about delicate arch all bets are off. Too many people, and too many clueless people, to have a fighting chance there :-)

Wiren

The crux of the problem
I have had both sides of the spectrum. The folks that are passionate about photography and treat it like a business and devote all their spare time to it mostly think about things like etiquette. I have had folks ask if they mind if they shoot right next to me... worried about stealing the POV.... being congenial and polite to one another is like everything else in life... etiquette makes for respect and can create friends... I have made quite a few over the years that I speak with from time to time... without the etiquette that both parties displayed, we would have missed out on a great friendship with a common interest.

I have also seen the fly by night folks that got their camera at a Costco close out sale (or because they had money to burn went to a camera store and threw money at the best gear they could get) show up where they see a group of photogs.. walk out in front of everbody with the wrong lens for the situation and start snapping away while ignoring the group asking him to move, then pack up like everybody else is wasting their time and walk off.... sometimes crudely commenting back to the group at large..... these Jack Holes are hard to avoid.

The problem is that the prevalence of DSLR cams being so accessable and inexpensive these days makes any butt-munch with a little money feel like if they buy the gear they are automatically a profressional phototog... they go out while traveling only so often without researching their shoot and figure a maching gun shoot for 5 minutes will produce an award winning shot when they have time to get it off their card sometime in the next year... when it fills up because they set the compression level on the card to the lowest possible in order to have the capacity for 8,000 images..... isn't that awesome!!!

We are never going to get away from them.... I don't usually have to deal with them as a lot of the areas I go to are not visited by many of those types and the times I go (usually at 0-dark-thirty) is not when the crowds arrive with the kids in tow.... I am usually leaving the highly visited areas just as the early birds are arriving (9-10 am after the kids were dressed and fed), so I guess it depends on where you usually frequent and at what times.... as I said.. I try to avoid the highly popular and easy to get to areas and prefer to look for landscape opportunities that not many of "those types" care to travel to........

You are always going to encounter the jerks.... just be polite, establish a new POV if possible and necessary and you may find yourself walking away with a better shot than you intended in the first place... that also has happened to me.