Confrontation

It's the reason we have laws aginst marrying your sister.

On the bright side, Darwin always has a way of catching up with people like that. Rest assured in the thought that this idiot will some day meet the guy who pulls out the .44 and shoots him.

At that moment...he will wish it was you shooting him

Kal

I think this was a classic example of what I like to call "Tree growing from head syndrome". Chances are that you were taking a picture of (or looking at) something in their general direction. They assumed you were shooting (or about to shoot) a picture of them, when in fact, you were too busy focusing on something else to notice them. It is kind of like framing a portrait but not realizing that the tree in the background will ultimately look like a tree growing from your subject's head. These rocket scientists were the trees in this case. I always make it a point to isolate my subjects, or try to avoid distracting objects like trees or idiots from interfering with my images. This is especially useful when photographing your own kid at the local park and making sure that some over zealous soccer mom's kid doesn't creep into your photo which would make her think that you are some sort of deviant set on photographing her little mucus-infested brat. The moral of the story is to always make sure you don't have that unwanted tree (or person) in your background when you are about to compose your shot.

sounds like they associate with the hicks living here in Lawrence County, Alabama (Stereotypical redneck county, full of trailer parks and trucks. Just watch Sweet Home, alabama ).

We have a park in Decatur, alabama which has a little area for kids to play in the water. A woman in one of my photography classes was threatened by a woman because that woman thought my classmate was taking pics of kids in swimsuits. My classmate wasnt even taking pictures over there (or that's what she told the class). she was taking pictures of flowers and plants and stuff and just happened to walk by.

Gotta love people... :/

Pinholemaster said:

Or carry a 44 magnum, walk right up to this asshole, and stick the barrel into his face. I'm sure the seat of his pants would get very stained at that moment. HA!

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Dangerous advice. Never pull a gun on anyone you don't intend to kill. If you don't shoot him you could end up being pistol whipped with your own gun. If you shoot to wound there will be more than one side to the story when the police come.

I used to ask my Dad, who was a fanatical gun owner and champion marksman as well as a lawyer, about this. He always said, "Let the cops shoot him."

c6h6o3 said:

"Let the cops shoot him."

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good advice.

I don't know if this has already been said, but you know if you catch one of these guys alone, he wouldn't so much as look at you.

It's a crazy world and I don't get this aversion people have to photography or inadvertently winding up in a picture. I'm out in Los Angeles and, God forbid you level a camera in anyone's direction, a fight could break out.

I used to carry a gun back in the early 1990s - right after the riots. I almost plowed someone on a couple of occasions. I'm glad I didn't. On the other hand, letting them know I had it caused them to back off. It's a tough call. Are you willing to kill someone? Eventually, I decided that I wasn't.

zinnanti said:

...I used to carry a gun back in the early 1990s - right after the riots. I almost plowed someone on a couple of occasions. I'm glad I didn't. On the other hand, letting them know I had it caused them to back off. It's a tough call. Are you willing to kill someone? Eventually, I decided that I wasn't.

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Good for you. It hit me that I am very happy I do not live in a place where guns are used to kill people. There is a lot of guns per person, but they are almost solely used to kill animals.....but some people click - but they are hardly used for self defense.

I was attacked/harassed once when I was shooting in Bordeaux. I was taking a picture of a kid running after a ball in an old neighborhood. I was taking the picture quite openly. The kid's dad "clicked" came towards me shouting in a very aggressive way. I stood still, apologized, and handed him my Leica. This seemed to calm him down....and since it wasn't a digital he did not know what to do and returned the camera. I left shaken, but unharmed. Since that I have made sure to make eye contact with the parents before shooting kids...

Thanks Christian.

This might be a little O.T., but as long as were on the subject of violence vis-a-vis shooting . . .

. . . for anyone thinking of traveling to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, avoid the Pelourinho. That's the area where the elevator goes to the top of the bluff whereat the colonial structures are. This is a wonderfully beautiful area, but leveling a camera at the wrong person WILL get you in serious hot water. It's not a privacy thing, but a money thing.

The most dangerous places I've been with my camera: (1) Livingston, Guatemala, just south of Belize, and (2) Salvador (proper) in the state of Bahia.

If you do plan on traveling to Brazil, feel free to drop me a line. I deal with the consulate quite regularly and know the country.

Anyone else have any world-wide warnings? Maybe we should start a new thread on it.