Safety while on a Photography Outing.....

[Soocom1]

interesting note on the mobile phone apps.

the locational tracking thing has been around for along time. But for where I am at, its generally useless in most of the rural areas because we dont have good broadband and the GPS units really dont ping satellites, they ping towers. And we have multiple black hole areas.

 

[AlanKlein]

another 4-5 pounds

Empty my hand gun weighs 14.6 oz.

Why would you carry an empty gun? Wouldn't a blackjack be a better choice?

 

[AlanKlein]

interesting note on the mobile phone apps.

the locational tracking thing has been around for along time. But for where I am at, its generally useless in most of the rural areas because we dont have good broadband and the GPS units really dont ping satellites, they ping towers. And we have multiple black hole areas.

That's been my experience in many hiking areas. Without the towers, auto pinging won't work. Of course regular cell calls don;t work either. If you're really worried, you can buy satellite pingers or more costly satellite phones. The pingers will alert your coordinates to a satellite service that contacts the authorities to search for you. But for the most part, a simple GPS will at least get you back to the car. Just remember to put its coordinates in before your start your hike, something I often forget to do. Take extra batteries too.

What's nice about the GPS breadcrumb trail that's stored, when you get home, you can dump it onto a satellite map. It will show your whole hike. You can also store intermediate waypoint coordinates at key spots like where you took a picture. That will show up on the map so you know exactly where the picture was taken if you want to return to shoot it again during another season.

 

[webestang64]

another 4-5 pounds

Empty my hand gun weighs 14.6 oz.

Why would you carry an empty gun? Wouldn't a blackjack be a better choice?

Two shows Saturday, don't forget to tip your waitress.

 

[Mike Drone]

another 4-5 pounds

Empty my hand gun weighs 14.6 oz.

Why would you carry an empty gun? Wouldn't a blackjack be a better choice?

Two shows Saturday, don't forget to tip your waitress.

Waitress? It's grab and get out here...

*Edit... the food, grab the food and get out...

 

[Dave Maciak]

Has anyone ever been concerned for their personal safety during a photography outing? There are two incidents that cause me to think about this topic. Last winter I was walking in downtown Springfield at night doing cityscapes photography. It was about 9:3o or 10:00 PM at night. Two guys rode by on bicycles and one of them said, ''Hey look there's an old man with a camera taking pictures, how neat is that?''. Then last weekend I was at a state park setting in a lawn chair in a meadow taking bird pictures. A pickup truck drove by and there were two men in the back of it. I heard one say, "There's a man setting in a lawn chair over in the woods''.

In both of the situations it made me think of the vulnerability of being robbed.

At the same state park there was a female photographer taking pictures of a sunflower field. She was out in the countryside of course. Someone tried to block her car in and trap her. She got away and eventually called the police.

Photographers and other hobbyists seem to be vulnerable.

Any thoughts or experiences?

Thank you,

Lonnie

Yup: covering the unrest in 1992 LA. Young man tried t

I have a "baby horse" Commander....small but potent. And a small piece of paper saying I am allowed to carry it. It was made in 1980-something in Connecticut.

I was once accosted on a city street by a homeless guy who demanded my F3 and MD-4 combo. I wrapped the neckstrap three and a half times around my right hand, basically welding the camera to my hand. I told him that I would crack his skull open with the camera if he came any closer to me.

"Oh you wouldn't do that,"he said to me, "that would ruin your camera."

"I don't give a $h!+, I have another one at home. Besides, this is an F3, and the motor housing is solid metal..it'll split your f***ing skull wide open and it won't even hurt the camera. Come and get it."

He thought about it and stepped backward.That was in 1986. It was in the (now)Sacred Heart hospital area of Eugene, Oregon. I was 22 or 23 years old at the time.

I was covering the LA riots in early 1992, was in the Wilshire district. Felt the strap being jerked off my shoulder. out of pure adrenaline (fear!) I whirled around and smashed him in the face--also F3 and MD4. Knocked him silly and a bloody mess. Police, LA Sheriff Dept deputy saw the whole thing.
Other time was in Santo Domingo, 1965 during the revolution. Was with a rifle squad from the 82nd Abn, on a roof top. Rifle round hit about a foot above my shoulder, got concrete dust on me.
Recent time was when I spent too much money on a German camera: wife was ready to do me bodily harm!!

 

[stevebohne]

I think anytime we are out with our gear we are perceived as at least possible targets. When I was operating 3 studios and doing proms and weddings, I was hauling between $5,000 and $12,000 in equipment. Normally I had someone else with me. But on more than one occasion (normally the wedding reception at the trailer park "clubhouse" or the wedding in downtown Detroit) we were sized up by a couple of guys trying to figure out the risk/reward of jumping us. I'm no Hulk Hogan, but I'm not little either. One of my assistants was 6'3", and he had b*lls of brass. He walked right up to a group of guys who looked sketchy and asked them, "Who wants to be the first to go to the Emergency Room?" He was trained in unarmed combat. The guys mumbled something then walked away! In full disclosure, I must admit I was more than a little concerned...

 

[pocketcamera]

that's the thing of the game. A group of gentlemen in the 1800s solved the problems we face in trying times of lawless people trying to rob us.

COLT ARMS, Smith and Wesson, created legal teams that work well at letting you protect yourself. It might not be "cool" in some circles to go about armed, but you need to understand that carrying a camera around is dangerous.

Seriously, everyone knows the cost of a leica or Hasselblad or phase one, but NO ONE can tell them apart from my D7500 or my vintage film cameras that cost oh about 4-20,000 LESS

 

[johngpt]

I'm really happy to see the general gist of these posts.
Situational awareness.
Preparedness.
Folks talking about being prepared for being out in the environment and training in self defense.
I'm pleasantly surprised to see how many admitted to carrying a firearm.
I have to consistently remind myself when out shooting (camera) to get my focus out of the viewfinder and back to what's around me.

 

[compur]

I mostly shoot with old film cameras when others are around. Never had a problem even here in LA. I guess the crooks think they're worthless which is fine with me. Even so, I keep the camera in a bag when not actually shooting, never dangling from my neck. I also don't use a bag that looks like a camera bag. I use a plain old canvas pouch type bag. The cheaper looking, the better. Regular camera bags might as well have "Steal My Expensive Camera" written on them. I only use them for storage. I would never use one when out shooting around others. And, no camera logos visible anywhere such as on straps, hats, T-shirts, etc.

 

[pez]

When they steal my gear, their hearts sink when they see that it's Pentax, lol.

 

[AlanKlein]

I think I found my camera that was stolen.