How NOT to make friends with your fellow photographers

kdog · March 9, 2013

Well before dawn, at least a dozen photographers lined up to catch the sunrise on the observation platform at Zabriske Point in Death Valley. Just when the light started getting good, this idiot shows up and sets up his tripod in-front of the observation area and in everyone's shot. He firmly ignored polite requests, firm demands and expletives. As if that weren't bad enough, he kept changing his position causing everyone else to react to his movements and ruining long and multiple exposure shots.

I'll tell ya, I do a lot of crazy things sometimes to get the shot, but blatant bad manners like is not one of them. :nah

TonyCooper · March 9, 2013

Well, landscape shots usually bore me. No offense to those who shoot them or like them,
but they just aren't my thing. Kinda like anchovies; either you like them or you don't.

I find this shot of yours very interesting, though. You've captured landscape, a memorable
scene, and a bit of wry humor. How many people come away from Zabriske Point with a
photo like that?

A good day's shooting, in my view.

ian408 · March 10, 2013

My rule is whomever is before me is before me.

He must be pretty good to ignore everyone else

kdog · March 10, 2013

TonyCooper wrote: »

Well, landscape shots usually bore me. No offense to those who shoot them or like them,
but they just aren't my thing. Kinda like anchovies; either you like them or you don't.

I find this shot of yours very interesting, though. You've captured landscape, a memorable
scene, and a bit of wry humor. How many people come away from Zabriske Point with a
photo like that?

A good day's shooting, in my view.

Thanks, Tony. There's a lot of truth to what you say. Which is why a lot of my landscape buds and I probably spend almost as much time shooting each other on these trips as we do landscapes. (See [thread=137761]this thread[/thread] for example.) We'll also often include shots of random photographers to add interest and/or scale to a shot.

Getting that one epic landscape shot that can truly hold its own just on its own merits is deceptively difficult, but so rewarding when you get it. It keeps us motivated to keep practicing and improving, but very little is sacred for having a bit of fun along the way.

kdog · March 10, 2013

ian408 wrote: »

My rule is whomever is before me is before me.

He must be pretty good to ignore everyone else

No kidding, huh? I'd love to see his shots. He certainly didn't know the area, as he could have walked 50' down the trail and around the corner and would have had the same view and been out of sight.

ian408 · March 10, 2013

kdog wrote: »

No kidding, huh? I'd love to see his shots. He certainly didn't know the area, as he could have walked 50' down the trail and around the corner and would have had the same view and been out of sight.

His attitude tells me he would have been better off just rolling the window down

novicesnapper · March 12, 2013

I personally would have picked up my equipment and setup 20 feet in front of him. But that's just me lol.

black mamba · March 12, 2013

novicesnapper wrote: »

I personally would have picked up my equipment and setup 20 feet in front of him. But that's just me lol.

I like that approach. And if he got aggressive with me it would have quickly become the " Brawl at Zabriske ". My tolerance for pricks like that has dwindled down to zero.

Sam · March 12, 2013

I to have had something similar happen. Here is an example of a photographer staying way out of the scene.

Here is a group from Germany who jumped right in front of us! It was horrible! All we got was a hundred shots of them in front of us.

Sam

Earache · March 12, 2013

Sam wrote: »

.......Here is a group from Germany who jumped right in front of us! It was horrible! All we got was a hundred shots of them in front of us.

Sam

Chimping never looked so good!

Earache · March 12, 2013

black mamba wrote: »

I like that approach. And if he got aggressive with me it would have quickly become the " Brawl at Zabriske ". My tolerance for pricks like that has dwindled down to zero.

Pay - per - View ? :lurk

spacefuzz · March 13, 2013

kdog wrote: »

Well before dawn, at least a dozen photographers lined up to catch the sunrise on the observation platform at Zabriske Point in Death Valley. Just when the light started getting good, this idiot shows up and sets up his tripod in-front of the observation area and in everyone's shot. He firmly ignored polite requests, firm demands and expletives. As if that weren't bad enough, he kept changing his position causing everyone else to react to his movements and ruining long and multiple exposure shots.

I'll tell ya, I do a lot of crazy things sometimes to get the shot, but blatant bad manners like is not one of them. :nah

Well it does suck he wasnt courteous enough to share the space I just wanted to point out that where he is standing is actually the most common place for photographers to stand at Zabriske, I usually see 20+ people in that area below the lookout (on the 6 occasions I have been there).

How wide were you shooting? Im suprised he was even in your shot.

kdog · March 13, 2013

spacefuzz wrote: »

Well it does suck he wasnt courteous enough to share the space I just wanted to point out that where he is standing is actually the most common place for photographers to stand at Zabriske, I usually see 20+ people in that area below the lookout (on the 6 occasions I have been there).

I've photographed from that spot before too but you're missing the point. The folks in the observation area were there first. I don't know about you, but I personally would never set my tripod up in front of folks already shooting, certainly not without asking. There are other ways to shoot over that ridge. He could have simply walked further down the trail until he was out of sight. It's maybe 50 yards tops.

How wide were you shooting? Im suprised he was even in your shot.

First of all, he wasn't really in my shots. I found it easy enough to move to a different spot and compose around him, something that other photographers weren't necessarily able to do (there were some elderly and handicapped people there as well). However, your comment is surprising coming from somebody who's been there that often. This is 65mm, pretty much a standard composition from the observation area.

spacefuzz · March 13, 2013

kdog wrote: »

I've photographed from that spot before too but you're missing the point. The folks in the observation area were there first. I don't know about you, but I personally would never set my tripod up in front of folks already shooting, certainly not without asking. There are other ways to shoot over that ridge. He could have simply walked further down the trail until he was out of sight. It's maybe 50 yards tops.

First of all, he wasn't really in my shots. I found it easy enough to move to a different spot and compose around him. However, your comment is surprising coming from somebody who's been there that often. This is 65mm, pretty much a standard composition from the observation area.

How did I miss the point? I said that wasnt very courteous of him. In this instance though I think your over reacting a bit. As you said you could compose around him, he was quite a bit aways from your group not blocking you with his body, you could have walked up to shoot next to him to mitigate things passively, and we all need to learn to play nice with each other. There is a lot of room at this location, unlike some place like the mobius arch where if he was in front of you he would block your entire shot.

kdog · March 13, 2013

spacefuzz wrote: »

How did I miss the point? I said that wasnt very courteous of him. In this instance though I think your over reacting a bit. As you said you could compose around him, he was quite a bit aways from your group not blocking you with his body, you could have walked up to shoot next to him to mitigate things passively, and we all need to learn to play nice with each other. There is a lot of room at this location, unlike some place like the mobius arch where if he was in front of you he would block your entire shot.

I'm over reacting because I find it appalling that somebody would set up a tripod in front a group of photographers including elderly and handicapped that in no way could have walked down that slope? Well ok.

spacefuzz · March 13, 2013

kdog wrote: »

I'm over reacting a bit because I find it appalling that somebody would set up a tripod in front a group of photographers including elderly and handicapped that in no way could have walked down that slope? Well ok.

Yeah as for me personally, I wouldnt have done it but I stopped long ago caring too much about what other photographers did. Kept giving me heart burn. One guy in the Sierras during fall color threatened to knife me if I walked in front of his camera, not even set up, just walked. People are just crazy.

kdog · March 13, 2013

I'm actually with you, 'fuzz. If it were just me, I wouldn't have thought twice about it and joined him on the ridge which is a better place to shoot anyway. My beef with the guy is how he was basically flipping off a crowd of fellow photographers.

spacefuzz · March 13, 2013

kdog wrote: »

I'm actually with you, 'fuzz. If it were just me, I wouldn't have thought twice about it and joined him on the ridge which is a better place to shoot anyway. My beef with the guy is how he was basically flipping off a crowd of fellow photographers.

Eia · March 13, 2013

There are so many people at these kinds of landmarks that I always assumed were out of the way places -  Which is why I prefer looking at beautiful iconic pictures and will stick with local and unknown places!:D just kidding...kinda Your photo is gorgeous anyway!

How NOT to make friends with your fellow photographers

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