What do you tell people?

[Dmitri]

Say you're at an event snapping away. People see your nice camera and move out of the way for you, everyone is gracious. You know inside they think you're with some paper or magazine, but really you're just taking pics for fun.

When someone finally asks, "Who are you with? Who do you shoot for? etc" - what do you tell them? I always feel like a bonehead when I say "oh, just for fun".

Do you say you're a freelancer, do you pretend your with a local paper?

 

[analog.universe]

The one time I got asked that, I was shooting a band because I knew them... so that's what I said. I think the dude that asked was from the local paper though

 

[Overread]

No one's ever asked me that question

I think I need a reporters vest or something or some fancy ID card clipped to my chest!

Anyways if they did ask it would be something along the lines of "just for fun"

 

[imagemaker46]

If I'm on assignment I tell them who I'm shooting for, without adding any details. I usually get asked if this is a hobby, I just tell them no, I do it for a living, if they ask more questions I'll chat for a while, it's just being social. I don't think these days people assume that you might be working for a paper or magazine, there are usually too many people with cameras standing around. The easy answer is to just say, I'm doing this for myself. If you tell them that you're doing it for the local paper you risk getting caught up in a lie.

 

[MissCream]

I always get asked that... I awkwardly answer "myself", then I usually give them a business card or something along those lines.

 

[ghache]

If they are also shooting i respond with the same question and once they tell me for who they shoot, i respond the same thing and usually leave before them hahahahaha
i'm an asshole.

 

[Trever1t]

wait...people get out of your way???

 

[Josh66]

No one's ever asked me that question

I think I need a reporters vest or something or some fancy ID card clipped to my chest!

Anyways if they did ask it would be something along the lines of "just for fun"

Nobody has ever asked me either, and I do wear a vest sometimes.

If they did ask, I would probably just say that I was shooting for myself though.

 

[480sparky]

I dress up like Muammar Gaddafi. Folks tend to leave me alone.

j/k. I've only had one person give me the Third Degree, and after the second question I realized she was plastered.

My only other issue is when I use my 50-ft mast out in public. It tends to raise a few law-enforcement eyebrows.

 

[skieur]

When I get asked, I sometimes have to think which organization, paper, tv station, or company I am working for at the moment. To make matters even more complicated, I have been occasionally "loaned out" from one organization to another for a particular project. Although somewhat "strange" as a concept, I have benefitted financially from such arrangements.

skieur

 

[KmH]

I just point to the embroidered logo that I have on most of my shirts and say, "for these guys", and then hand them 2 or 3 business cards.

 

[WesternGuy]

If asked, which is seldom, I tell people I am on a SKI assignment. = Spending Kid's Inheritance - - I get a weird look and they usually utter something like "oh" or "oh that must be interesting" and leave me alone after that.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

 

[Garbz]

I tell them I'm a terrorist and just staking out my next job. Then I remark at how much better the lighting would look if the walls were painted red. Then I make it a quick job to leave.

Usually works, but one day I ended up with a girlfriend doing this so that was an epic failure of getting people to leave me alone.

 

[bentcountershaft]

I tell people I normally shoot porn but the economy has forced me to do some freelance work for an anonymous conglomerate.

 

[sierramister]

If you're at a football game and there a ton of photographers on the sideline and you don't have a deadline or need a shot for the paper, consider stepping aside or shooting from the endzone. The game I went to last night was littered with photographers, and by my last count there were not 120 publications in our area.