Came across this the other day. Lucky I always carry a camera around otherwise I may have missed it. Unfortunately it was my small camera but it seemed to catch the moment ok
Yip just like normal news today; get the shot no matter what. BUT then this may have also been a training exercise! Then again they might have also just been transporting sick (common flu) crewmen from one of our fishing boats off the coast getting ready to leave for international waters.
and if he's not a photojournalist? just someone getting kicks from photographing a chopper? was he getting in the way of the people landing it, making them land it slower, delaying the medical care? was he getting in the way of the people unloading the patient off the chopper? again, delaying medical care? maybe not.
Grudge, what would Dave have had to do when professional help was already there? Offer himself up for some mouth-to-mouth resuscitation? Why not take advantage of the photo op? Looks like some ready presence of mind to me, with a good outcome in photos.
i never said he would have to do anything, but my first thought upon seeing the STRETCHER come out of the chopper, was about him getting in the way, and hes clearly only just arrived at the scene, so the chopper may have had issues landing or anything like that. in any case, those problems were obviously avoided, but I don't think some people think about things clearly when they're out photo hunting!
Grudge sorry if you find this series offensive but I was not out hunting I was actually stopped from leaving the parking lot due to the incoming chopper. So I decided to take a few shots of said chopper in flight. The building in the background is a hospital and it is quite a common occurrence for sick seamen to be flown in from there trawlers off the coast. It is also a common thing for this hospital to do training exercises of this sort. In this particular case it was a seaman that had to come in for a routine operation. Incoming chopper
doesn't offend me at all, I've just seen many accidents occur when people slow down to take photos or stare at car accidents, and I could just see the same thing happening here. But obviously you know alot more about the situation than i do, so I'm sure it was very safe!
I don't think it's weird at all. I built a cell phone tower building a couple years ago at a local public access boat ramp and saw all of this commotion from where I was. The back story was that 2 people drown on fathers day at the beach. This is a couple days later when the police recovered the bodies. I had my camera, and these photos almost made the newspaper. The editor liked them but he said that they were having a busy news day and they didn't have room for these shots. I just was at the right place at the right time. I am not a morbid photographer... matter of fact, I think I am a darn good photographer.
I found this comment a bit funny. YES, there are people who get kicks of photographing choppers! Check this out and you'll find out. (4000 pages showing helicopters at work, shot by pilots and spectators) http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=292051
I think a lot of assumptions are in this post. If, If, If. My old German Grandfather had a saying, I heard it countless times from my father growing up, Capitol I, Capitol F, the largest two letter word in the English language. IF my aunt had balls, she would have been my uncle. And what if he's not a PJ? A lot of amateurs get the drop on a leading story that no "real" PJ was there to get. Had he been in the way, someone would have corrected the situation. These pros aren't shy about telling you what they think, and they have backup.