Pervert or legal? You make the call...

[jwbryson1]

Who do you think was in the right in this situation---the photographer or the dad? I'm not sure we have all the facts needed for this case, but this is a good enough reason NOT to take photographs of kids without the parents' permission....legal, or not.

[video]http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/83050990/[/video]

 

[Tee]

It's all about intent. In this example, based on the report that the camera was filled with nothing but candid children images....gotta go with pervy.

 

[Awiserbud]

Indeed, In this day and age people should know better than to take pictures of children, I think i would have reacted exactly the same way. The worst thing about these kind of incidents is its going to make it harder for people to be out in public with a camera. we will all become the enemy.

 

[Justman1020]

Dude is obviously a perv.

 

[ghache]

obviously a perv for sure. I never take pictures of kids in public places, NEVER. even if they makes great photos as they are so spontaneous and nothing if fake about them.

 

[Mike_E]

I didn't watch the whole thing but if you take more than one shot, or set of shots at one locale, you probably need to reexamine your motives.

Kids are people too and are thus fair game for photographers. HOWEVER, not only do we photographers have rights as citizens we also have a responsibility to our fellow citizens to not creep them out!

Kids make great art, they are going to be photographed and their parents are going to be annoyed so you as a photographer are going to need to learn how to deal with it beforehand. How?

1. Be good enough that you can size up a scene and snow what is going to look best at the best angle without having to move around and look like some freaking Bigbird looking through your viewfinder.

2. Be good enough to already have your settings corrected for the shot. If not this, then be able to adjust them in a Hurry. It can also help if you can strike up a conversation with some of the parents if there are a group of kids there, being seen as one of the group lends confidence.

3. Move along, once you have your shot there is no need to hang around and make people nervous.

4. If the parent/s see you, make eye contact with them; if you aren't doing something wrong then there is no need to act like it. Once you do make eye contact smile and move towards them, have a business card ready and a copy of photographers rights (in your pocket- only bring this up as a last resort). Comment on the day and how it's good to see kids (kids in general, not their's specifically, you don't want them to feel that you've singled their child as that would only make them more uncomfortable). Let them know what you are doing and ask if they share an interest in photography, if so then chit-chat with them about gear and so forth and if not spend a few lines on how much you enjoy it.

You can still run upon some crazies and some that think that they should be paid. If you can't get yourself out of the situation Do BE THE FIRST to call the police. The cops almost always show up on the side of whomever called them- not to say that they can't change their minds once they've gotten there but why not start off on the right foot. Often you can calm a situation when you call the police; a) people think that if you were doing anything wrong then you wouldn't be calling them and b) A lot of wacked out people just don't want to deal with the police.

 

[runnah]

As a new dad I wouldn't take too kindly to some stranger, photographer or not. Those without kids don't know how protective you become. There are millions of more photos to take out there than someone's kid.

Don't give me. Load about rights, public space etc... It's common sense to not violate people's privacy and personal space.

 

[amolitor]

The first rule of news is: they always get it wrong. Every single time.

 

[sm4him]

Well, certainly the way the "victim's" parent tells the story, with the guy's camera being FULL of shots of little kids, it makes you wonder...but I wonder if the guy isn't exaggerating the camera's card contents, by a lot? If the guy was really just wandering around, taking nothing but pictures of kids, yeah that's differently creepy. Doesn't necessarily make him a pervert, and it's almost certainly not illegal...but it's creepy, and I wouldn't have wanted MY kids to be one of his photo subjects.

Still--tackling someone and beating the snot out of them for taking pictures isn't exactly cool, either. If the guy had actually threatened my kid or something like that--well, God help him if he threatened my kid!--but if it was just that he was taking pictures and it seemed suspicious, I think I'd have called the cops, then maybe gone after him to see if I could get a picture of HIM with my phone camera or whatever I had at the time, to show to the cops.

In today's world, it really just ISN'T always wise to be taking pictures of kids in public. But I gotta admit, I've done it from time to time, because they are just SO adorable sometimes. I saw these two little boys--brothers, I presumed--at the fair this year, standing watching one of the carnies blow bubbles and then trying to catch them. It was just too cute, and I took several pictures before I ever even THOUGHT about how it might look to be taking pictures of perfect stranger's children. BUT--if I'd been questioned by the police, my camera's contents would have revealed that kids were NOT the focus of my outing.

I try to be careful and think about how things like that could look to a parent--but I also get caught up in a moment sometimes, and because *I* know my motives are entirely innocent, I think nothing of it. I hope I never get tackled and beaten for it! But then, if the parent "caught" me taking pictures, I also wouldn't hurry off, I'd approach them and tell them what I'd taken a picture of and why, show it to them...and probably delete it if they weren't okay with it.

 

[amolitor]

For all we know the dude's taking a photography class and is doing an assignment with a theme "fun at the fair" which happens to include some little kids because, hey, who has fun at the fair?

Sure, there's some hints that ALL THE PICTURES WERE OF LITTLE KIDS!!!!!!! but of course this dude is going to say that -- he just ATTACKED a guy TOOK HIS CAMERA and started flipping through it. You really think the guy interviewed is telling the truth? There is zero chance he's telling the truth. He's embellishing something, because that's what people do, they embellish to make themselves look better. Always. It doesn't matter if you just filled the rabid buffalo with your bare hands, stick the camera in your face and the buffalo is gonna be 50% bigger in your mind.

 

[amolitor]

Holy crap. Psych. Now we have to like one another's posts

 

[skieur]

Seems like an over-reaction on the part of the parent.

 

[bhop]

One of the first comments from the link:

"This happened 6 years ago, way to be on top of breaking news...Ralph Cameron Lakin, 55, La Palma, was convicted of eight misdemeanor counts of secretly photographing underage girls for sexual gratification. He was sentenced to four years of formal probation, given 100 hours of community service, and he ordered to register as a sex offender."

So.. I guess pervert?

 

[pixmedic]

Its always an overreaction until its your kid, then its being a protective parent.
There never seems to be a shortage of people that actually WANT their picture taken, so there doesnt seem to be a huge need to photograph other people's kids. If you want to practice child/people photography, advertise free portraits on craigslist.... You'll get plenty.

I dont advocate attacking someone.... But being a parent i understand that you have no chance of justifying taking random shots of my kid to me. I dont fault anyone for being upset about it. Public area or not, its still pretty creepy.

 

[KmH]

The video is from May 2007.......................

Any law suits? What happened to the cop? Edit: I missed bhop's post. http://www.ocregister.com/news/lakin-168057-girls-young.html