Worst confrontation while shooting in public?

[dennybeall]

I was shooting business buildings for CoStar Business Real Estate company a few years back as a break from Special Operations Security deployments and as I went by a TV Repair business the owner, who sounded Ukranian, came running down the street hollering and waving his arms. Saying he'd call the police and let him see my ID and such. Nothing to do but just stop and look at him through the open window. After I gave him nothing he finally just wound down and stormed off. I'm 6 feet tall and 250 pounds and always armed so it probably was best that he just left.

 

[Borad]

A few weeks ago I was taking closeups of staples on wooden poles in my area for this site's minimalism contest and some guys came out of the store by one of the poles and started muttering to each other about it. They didn't say anything to me but I left quickly.

 

[imagemaker46]

My worst one and only one in 40 years of shooting. I was working for the Prime Minister of Canada during a Royal Visit. During the official walk I had moved far enough back to get them both walking towards where I was crouched down, not blocking anyone, however the Queen's senior security guard had not been informed that i had full access to all the positions, and I didn't see him coming. Just as I had started shooting I was grabbed by my collar and dragged back to a more "secure" position, all the while I'm trying to explain who i was and trying to get my government ID out. He wasn't having any of it, until I used his name, he seemed surprised at first, I knew his name because he used to be a professional football player, and a friend of my Dad's.

It really didn't matter, i was embarrassed in front of a huge crowd, in front of all my friends that didn't shoot me, but did their jobs and stayed on the Queen and Prime Minister. I did end up missing some pictures, but in the end got a story out of it.

 

[Mr. Innuendo]

I was shooting a steam train in Portland, Oregon one year. A lot of people (maybe a dozen and a half or so) had found vantage points along the tracks, although all were a safe distance from the tracks (save for a high-speed derailment which, frankly, seemed unlikely). I and one other person had DSLR's. Everyone else who'd walked out there was using either their phones or point & shoots.

Some guy in some official looking uniform, on the other side of the rails, started yelling at me and the other guy with a DSLR, telling us we were trespassing and that we needed to get off of railroad property. He said nothing to the other people taking photos. Me and the other guy started walking away, on our side of the tracks, and the dude starts chasing us on his side of the tracks.

At some point, and I don't recall what Snazzy Uniform Guy said, but the other guy yelled out "Come get me, Douchebag".

Well, eventually, they did exactly that.

As we got back to the station area, Snazzy Uniform Douchebag Guy was standing there with four police officers. The police separated us; two cops with each of us. First I explained that I was there alone, and had no ties to the other guy. The police told me I couldn't be on that property because the property belongs to the railroad, and the railroad doesn't permit photographers on their property.

I pointed out the other dozen-plus people who were taking pictures and asked "Well, what are they?" The cop looked at them, saw them taking photos, looked back at me, nodded and smirked and said "You can go".

The other guy was arrested for disorderly conduct, simply because he couldn't keep his mouth shut. He kept yelling at the cops, telling them to "F*** off", telling Snazzy Uniform Douchebag Guy to "F*** off" and, well, I guess they'd had enough. It was a crowded scene, and their method of quelling things was to take him into custody.

As for being hassled by just "people", I can't say it's ever happened (and I don't feel I was "hassled" by police in the railroad incident).

 

[Gary A.]

I've been detained and arrested a number of times ... but never convicted of anything.

 

[hamlet]

Poof pinched my finger once when i wanted to photograph him while he was trying to get a sunflower seed out of my hand.

 

[waday]

I've been detained and arrested a number of times ... but never convicted of anything.

Awesome picture!

 

[KenC]

I've had a few people try to chase me away from their property when I was photographing from a sidewalk. I never point the camera towards anyone's windows, unless I'm shooting the whole house from across the street, so no one could accuse me of any wrongdoing (at least not successfully).

 

[Gary A.]

I've been detained and arrested a number of times ... but never convicted of anything.

Awesome picture!

Thanks. (This pix cost me a trial. lol)

 

[Mr.Photo]

A couple years ago I had a couple of different confrontations. I was working at a security job, and one morning after I got done working I had some errands to do, but had to wait a bit for the stores to open, so was walking around near Burlington City Hall, and unexpectedly came upon an "Occupy Vermont" protest. I of course was carrying around my camera in case I saw anything interesting while walking around. I didn't actually take any photo's of the event, but I did pull my camera up to read a sign across the park using my lens at 200mm. I then see this guy with a little girl who is no more than 5 years old come running across the park up to me. He starts getting in my face calling me a pervert for photographing his daughter, and that he and the other people there are not their to be gawked at and photographed by people. I politely told him what I was doing, and said that I had no interest in taking photographs of him or anyone else. He of course didn't believe me, and demanded that I erase all the photo's I've taken of them in front of him so he could verify that they were in fact deleted. I again told him, that I did not take any photo's, and if I had they could not be deleted as I had my film camera with me. He then made an attempt to grab my camera and I pulled it away and backed up a couple of steps telling him to back off before he got in to some serious trouble. By this time we had gathered a small audience of 5-6 people. He then asked me sarcastically what I was going to do to him, and he made another attempt to come to me to grab my camera. I of course still had my uniform on, but had on a regular jacket to cover it as that was company policy when we weren't on duty. Our uniforms were nearly identical in appearance to the Burlington City Police, and since I covered several accounts in that area, I had a good working relationship with all of the officers. I stepped back when he advanced toward me, and unzipped my jacket a bit, and pulled it aside showing my uniform and badge, and he stopped dead in his tracks with the widest eyes I had ever seen. I then asked him if he wanted to continue the conversation. He was totally speechless at that point. I then told him to turn around and go back to his business or I would have the Burlington Police down there arresting him for harassment. He turned around, and walked away.

Another incident I had was also after work doing security. I got out of work one morning, and it was my day off so usually I would stay up all day, and go to bed at night. I went to the Airport as I enjoy photographing airplanes. Specifically I wanted to get the F-16's at the Air National Guard when they departed. I was outside the perimeter fence along side the city street where everyone stands to take pictures. about that time an Air National Guard security vehicle comes around the taxiway and see's me along the fence with my camera. He then comes barreling across the grass to the fence, and quickly jumps out of the truck with his M-16 and starts demanding that I tell him what I'm doing there. This time I was not in uniform as I had changed clothes after clocking out. I explained to him that I had just got done work, and was just an aviation enthusiast taking photo's of the aircraft as the landed and departed. He then told me that I was not allowed to do so, and that I needed to delete any and all photo's taken. I explained to him that I had just got there less than two minutes before he drove up, and didn't have any photo's. He then took my name, and all of my information including the company I worked for, and told me to leave. Rather than push the issue I just decided to go home. Two weeks later I was approached by my supervisor at work being reprimanded for this incident. I asked them how they even knew that I was there, and why I was being written up for something that had nothing to do with work in any way. It turns out that the General Manager of the company I worked for, and the base commander were very close friends, and they lied saying that I was there in uniform attempting to gain illegal access to the airport to take photo's. I refused to sign their write up, and was eventually fired from my job.

 

[480sparky]

........ It turns out that the General Manager of the company I worked for, and the base commander were very close friends, and they lied saying that I was there in uniform attempting to gain illegal access to the airport to take photo's. I refused to sign their write up, and was eventually fired from my job.

That...............SUCKS big time.