Photographers' paranoia

[Braineack]

because everyone knows it's the gear that makes the photographer.

nice one liner. Care to elaborate a bit? I really don't see how what you wrote pertains to the question.

If you have to ask, you just don't have the eye for it.

 

[pgriz]

I've come across this a few times in our photo club. Most of the time, the person who has the shot is possessive about it because it's their claim to fame - they found a neat location and the resulting image is pretty good. So people say he or she is a good photographer. If someone else took a picture from the same place and got a much better shot, then the first person would be revealed as not so good. On the other hand, the guys and gals who know their stuff don't mind sharing - they know that they have the skills to pull off a better photo than would most of the wannabees. I've had a similar reaction from people who have their "special" technique, which they didn't want to share because, I guess, they were afraid of being less "special".

 

[480sparky]

What's even worse is those who destroy a scene after they shoot it.

 

[Derrel]

What's even worse is those who destroy a scene after they shoot it.

Food photography buffs are the WORST at that...they EAT the doggone evidence!!!

 

[limr]

I agree that it's a part of being human, not just a photographer. There's a famous saying that has been attributed to, amongst others, Henry Kissinger, William Sayre, and Samual Johnson. Basically, "Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics, because the stakes are so low."

People are territorial. Something I remember all too well from grad school was the push to find your own little research niche that had nothing to do with your adviser's research. You do NOT step on toes. If there was the slightest hint that your research could even vaguely put your prof's research into question, then you'd be raked over the coals. All for what? The six people on the committee who would read your research and maybe the 6 others who would read it over the rest of your career?

Who's going to see all these photographs that get lost in the sheer avalanche of online images? A few friends and family, maybe a couple of people from forums or blog followers? Stakes? None. Resulting bitterness? Unlimited.

 

[robbins.photo]

I agree that it's a part of being human, not just a photographer. There's a famous saying that has been attributed to, amongst others, Henry Kissinger, William Sayre, and Samual Johnson. Basically, "Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics, because the stakes are so low."

People are territorial. Something I remember all too well from grad school was the push to find your own little research niche that had nothing to do with your adviser's research. You do NOT step on toes. If there was the slightest hint that your research could even vaguely put your prof's research into question, then you'd be raked over the coals. All for what? The six people on the committee who would read your research and maybe the 6 others who would read it over the rest of your career?

Who's going to see all these photographs that get lost in the sheer avalanche of online images? A few friends and family, maybe a couple of people from forums or blog followers? Stakes? None. Resulting bitterness? Unlimited.

Kind of reminds me of a bit of wisdom my grandfather uttered once. "You can fix a real grievance, but if the slight is only in the imagination that man will hate you forever and nothing you can do will ever fix it"

I ran across it years later in a movie stated slightly differently but the gist was the same and it's very true.

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[TCampbell]

I wish a fellow photographer would come up to me and start talking to me, heck even a Nikon user would be good.

A NIKON user?! You ARE desperate for friends! :mrgreen:



I can't believe I posted that. It must be that I'm currently enjoying my third adult beverage of the evening as it's -2ºF outside and steadily falling. See, I'm already sorry!

 

[robbins.photo]

I wish a fellow photographer would come up to me and start talking to me, heck even a Nikon user would be good.

A NIKON user?! You ARE desperate for friends! :mrgreen:



I can't believe I posted that. It must be that I'm currently enjoying my third adult beverage of the evening as it's -2ºF outside and steadily falling. See, I'm already sorry!

Well when my toes finally recover from the frostbite if I remember I'm sure I'll get horribly offended. Ok, well if I remember... lol

 

[minicoop1985]

because everyone knows it's the gear that makes the photographer.

nice one liner. Care to elaborate a bit? I really don't see how what you wrote pertains to the question.

If you have to ask, you just don't have the eye for it.

Braineack, did you use the sarcasm font?



To throw my hat in the Nikon/friends ring, all my friends have moved away, turned into two faced lying twits, committed general asshattery... So I'm a perfect Nikon customer!

 

[bc_steve]

I'm only secretive about my snowboarding spots!

 

[ann]

I don't know about the food Derrel, sometimes they do strange things to make the food look better

 

[Pav10566]

Sad that some people react in such a manner...perhaps they seem to lack a certain confidence and are worried that you might make better pictures than they do ...

 

[robbins.photo]

nice one liner. Care to elaborate a bit? I really don't see how what you wrote pertains to the question.

If you have to ask, you just don't have the eye for it.

Braineack, did you use the sarcasm font?



To throw my hat in the Nikon/friends ring, all my friends have moved away, turned into two faced lying twits, committed general asshattery... So I'm a perfect Nikon customer!

So do they have different lines for that at the camera store?

"No I'm sorry sir but I can't ring you up, you need to be in the asshattery line"

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[JoeW]

Have you ever run into any photographers that, when you approached them to enquire about where exactly a shot of theirs was taken or the location of a certain area, they acted totally selfish and paranoid to the point of obviously lying to you in the face and trying to avoid the question? Some may even openly say it's their secret. Others may act like total douches and say something along the lines of "sure, I shot this in Rio de Janeiro, if you've got the eye for photography, I'm sure you will find it. If not, nevermind. No one helped me out when I started. You gotta go out there and find it yourself."

Any thoughts as to why people behave like that? Are they scared others will go to the same location and shoot it better than he did? But no two photos can be the same, don't they know that? What's the point in being deliberately vague about it? Do they think they will be considered rude if they simply say no and therefore come up with ****ty photographic "philosophies" like the one I mentioned above?

I had such an experience about a month ago. How about you guys?

Yes, I've run in to that. And I've probably also been guilty of it. And I've also shared many of my locations. Let me explain...

I run in to photographers all the time who aren't willing to do the work. They'll say something like "I don't know of anyplace in the Washington DC area that has good scenery" or "there are no waterfalls near here--where did you shoot that waterfall?" Frankly, I'm reluctant to reward lazy people who expect others to do the work for their lack of willingness to do research or invest a little bit of time or think or even just use google or google earth. At the same time, I'm very willing to support people who clearly are working at this art, I'll volunteer ideas or location suggestions all the time to people who have clearly invested some thought or prep in to their art.

 

[batmura]

Have you ever run into any photographers that, when you approached them to enquire about where exactly a shot of theirs was taken or the location of a certain area, they acted totally selfish and paranoid to the point of obviously lying to you in the face and trying to avoid the question? Some may even openly say it's their secret. Others may act like total douches and say something along the lines of "sure, I shot this in Rio de Janeiro, if you've got the eye for photography, I'm sure you will find it. If not, nevermind. No one helped me out when I started. You gotta go out there and find it yourself."

Any thoughts as to why people behave like that? Are they scared others will go to the same location and shoot it better than he did? But no two photos can be the same, don't they know that? What's the point in being deliberately vague about it? Do they think they will be considered rude if they simply say no and therefore come up with ****ty photographic "philosophies" like the one I mentioned above?

I had such an experience about a month ago. How about you guys?

Yes, I've run in to that. And I've probably also been guilty of it. And I've also shared many of my locations. Let me explain...

I run in to photographers all the time who aren't willing to do the work. They'll say something like "I don't know of anyplace in the Washington DC area that has good scenery" or "there are no waterfalls near here--where did you shoot that waterfall?" Frankly, I'm reluctant to reward lazy people who expect others to do the work for their lack of willingness to do research or invest a little bit of time or think or even just use google or google earth. At the same time, I'm very willing to support people who clearly are working at this art, I'll volunteer ideas or location suggestions all the time to people who have clearly invested some thought or prep in to their art.

So how do you determine who has and has not "invested some thought or prep in to (sic) their art"? Do you simply say no if someone asks you where did you shoot that, and yes if they say where did you shoot that? I checked google earth and couldn't find it?