A-hole goes to jail for assaulting a photographer.

[Blacktop]

Has anything like this happened to anyone here?
I saw this story on a another photo forum.

Driver charged with felony assault for threatening photographer with his vehicle - DIY Photography

I had a similar thing happen, although it wasn't this dramatic.
I pulled off to the side of a back road, to shoot some butterflies that I saw flying around in one spot.


I saw a car go by, then a minute later I see the same car come back around. This old guy that looked like an older Grizzly Addams gets out, and demands to know what I'm doing.


Not being the sort of person that enjoys listening to demands or taking shit off of strangers, I explained to him that it was none of his f**** business.


He said that this was his private property and he's" fixin' to call the law' if I don't tell him what I'm doing.


I told him I was taking pictures of butterflies, not that I really needed to explain anything to him and asked if he would like to use my phone to call the law.


Then he said ,well if I was taking pictures of butterflies I should prove it by showing it to him.
By this time I'm like, WTF? I'm not showing you shit asshole, and you're starting to piss me off.
Besides, I don't see any "private property signs anywhere.


Knowing my short temper, I decided it would be best just to walk back to the car and leave, before somebody went to jail for some stupid assault shit that I would regret 5 minutes later.


Ruined my whole whole day of shooting, just thinking about this a-hole.

 

[JH Foto]

There are some odd folk about...................

 

[480sparky]

I just walk away from those types. They are simply not worth burning any calories over.

Unless they have a badge and gun. I ask if I'm being detained.......... then I walk away.

 

[JH Foto]

On my side of the pond you can take photographs in any public place and you could only fall foul of the law if kids were about.

 

[hark]

I don't ever recall being on anyone's property without their permission. In any case, any comments I've ever received from strangers tended to be positive exchanges. One time I asked a street sweeping driver if I could take a photo of his truck. He declined which wasn't a problem. I showed him a previous photo of a snowplow that blew its transmission--he was amiable with our conversation, but I didn't push the issue with him. I honored his request and didn't take any photos. But then again, I'm a female. Most of my conversations tend to be with men, and as I said, they've been polite. Even the guy working for the Bridge Authority who asked me not to photograph the Trenton Makes Bridge was polite in his request. I didn't give him any trouble with it.

The photographer in the story you linked appeared to be polite, too, but unfortunately you can never tell how someone will react.

As for your exchange ruining your day, Pete, you can choose to react or respond. Reaction tends to be the knee-jerk type. Responding is not letting your gut take control and offering a calm response. You don't always have to fight fire with fire. The way I look at it is this...if a person is going to offer a knee-jerk reaction, then that person is allowing someone else to push his buttons. No thank you to that for me. If anyone is going to push buttons, it will be me.

 

[Roy1961]

had one last year, shooting a bird on a fence, guy with pitbull came running down the road, ask me why i was taking pics of his house, I told him i wasn't, showed him the bird, still accused me, also told me he was phoning the cops, go ahead i told him, then he told me not to come back on the road, i told him its a public road and i can drive on it whenever i liked, wasn't too happy. I still think he was hiding something at his house. LOL.

 

[cwgrizz]

WOW! Just watched the video and all I can say is WOW! The closest thing I had was a lady came home and opened her garage door which was in the background of a shot I was trying to get. I patiently waited for her to close the door and she decided I was up to something so she came and confronted me on what I was doing. At first she was a little loud and confrontational, but after talking for a little bit, she calmed down and went back and closed her garage door. To be honest I was surprised that this lady would have the guts to come by herself and confront me.

As a side note, in my part of the country, the guy in the truck is not the brightest guy and might not have been driving away, but rather leaving in an ambulance and the shooting would have been ruled justified self defense.

 

[Nero]

Never had anything like this happen yet, though this could be due to the fact that I live in Canada which means people are more likely to apologize to me because they think they're ruining my shots.

In all seriousness though, nothing confrontational has happened yet but I'm always ready in case it does.

 

[Danno_RIP]

Gotta wonder what people are hiding or hiding from. That guy was crazy no doubt, but I have gotten a lot of weird looks from folks wandering around in the country. But no one has stopped... And I try to be aware of my surroundings, and I stay close to home...

 

[MaxBlake]

I've found that the way you approach people, or respond to people when they approach you, has everything to do with the way that they respond in kind. In the few instances where someone has asked me what I've been doing, I've simple said, "I'm taking photos. Would you like to included in a few of them?" Most decline, but sometimes they are happy to oblige:

DSC_0101 by Max Blake

Telling them to piss off (or worse) isn't going to make you a lot of friends. It's more than likely to have exactly the opposite effect.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

 

[Blacktop]

I've found that the way you approach people, or respond to people when they approach you, has everything to do with the way that they respond in kind. In the few instances where someone has asked me what I've been doing, I've simple said, "I'm taking photos. Would you like to included in a few of them?" Most decline, but sometimes they are happy to oblige:

DSC_0101 by Max Blake

Telling them to piss off (or worse) isn't going to make you a lot of friends. It's more than likely to have exactly the opposite effect.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

Every situation is different. It looks like being nice wasn't working for the photog in the video. He nearly got killed by being passive.

Myself, I'm the nicest guy that you'll meet until you start threatening me or start acting like a bully.

 

[Woodyg3]

I'm glad the nut case in the video is facing legal charges. The only encounter I've had lately was a teenager who thought it was hysterical that I was taking pictures of birds.

 

[Whiskeyman]

I'm glad the nut case in the video is facing legal charges. The only encounter I've had lately was a teenager who thought it was hysterical that I was taking pictures of birds.

Come on!! You have to admit that it can seem a bit odd!! I've wondered about it myself at times, too.

WM

 

[Danno_RIP]

I really do not like these videos... They guy that is taking them gets to decide how much of the story he is going to tell. Now the guy in the truck should be charged and go to jail. But I just wonder how respectful these guys were before the recording starts.