jaems wrote:
The only thing that bothers me is when people ask me how much my stuff costs. I don't want to be rude to them, but I don't even know how to respond to such a question. Usually I just say "I buy a lot of used gear, so not as much as you'd think."
I've had people try and get me to reveal an exact figure. All I would say is "more than the car I drive".
I get asked at least once a month.
Do you guys encounter this behavior as much as I do? How do you handle it?
I tell them it's a cheap piece of junk that was on sale at Best Buy. They seem to lose interest then.
I generally don't mind, sure there are annoying questions fairly often, but some people are genuinely interested and I like to talk shop with them. I've been told about wildlife or interesting shots that I'd have never known about without talking to people. If I'm shooting and someone comes up to me, I'll continue what I was doing and answer while still shooting.
I'm regularly asked what my gear costs, can you see the moon with that, who I'm working for, how many megapixels or how much zoom, and the slew of similar questions many of us probably get. I try to come up with creative answers if possible.
As for worrying about theft, I can only remember one night where I was in a parking lot unpacking gear where I noticed someone in a shadow watching me. I kept an eye on him, and when he started walking toward me, I kept packing my gear with one hand, the other deployed a Spyderco out of sight. My other hand went for a monopod which is always kept in the car. Guy walked past me, not too close nor too far, paid me no further attention, but his body language and how he kept himself in the dark while watching me had me on edge.
When I'm in an area where I feel that there's higher-than-average risk to my gear, I will bring a monopod, tape over the identifying marks, get a flashlight out in my hand, have my hand on a Spyderco ready to deply it quickly, or go with a friend. It all depends on what level of paranoia I've got about the area.
jaems wrote:
The only thing that bothers me is when people ask me how much my stuff costs. I don't want to be rude to them, but I don't even know how to respond to such a question. Usually I just say "I buy a lot of used gear, so not as much as you'd think."
I've had people try and get me to reveal an exact figure. All I would say is "more than the car I drive".
I get asked at least once a month.
Do you guys encounter this behavior as much as I do? How do you handle it?
One time when on vacation in London with my wife, one guy pointed at my camera and asked me how much I paid for it "in front of my wife" There was no way I was going to tell the truth! Not unless I wanted to spoil the rest of the vacation after my wife found out how much I spent on it )
If someone ever tries to get my gear, I would simply whack them on the head with my monopod without hesitation. My gear is what I make a living with and cannot afford to loose it to some thug.
Venus wrote:
Everywhere I go I seem to get all the attention.
I am 4 foot 10 and carry a Canon 1000mm F5.6 L USM lens attached to 1Ds Mk3 on a huge tripod all the time.
no, i do not like attention and it's annoying to have bunch of people stared at my camera while I was trying to take the shot, kinda made me look out of place....
Unfortunately I hate drawing attention to my gear, hence I use my limited number of white lenses less often than I was hoping to. Up to 200mm I don't have to though.
One other reason why I like the 5D.
Yes, it would be nice to have some of the superior 1Dxxx features, but not the 1Dxxx body.
20D and 50/1.4 often substitute as the "inconspicious" combo, with the 100/2.8 macro as a longer version. Could put on the 35/1.4 or 17-40/4 (or any other black L lens), but that already seems to start drawing more "red stripe" attention, which negates the the "inconspicious" part
malice4you wrote:
I generally don't mind, sure there are annoying questions fairly often, but some people are genuinely interested and I like to talk shop with them. I've been told about wildlife or interesting shots that I'd have never known about without talking to people. If I'm shooting and someone comes up to me, I'll continue what I was doing and answer while still shooting.
I'm regularly asked what my gear costs, can you see the moon with that, who I'm working for, how many megapixels or how much zoom, and the slew of similar questions many of us probably get. I try to come up with creative answers if possible.
As for worrying about theft, I can only remember one night where I was in a parking lot unpacking gear where I noticed someone in a shadow watching me. I kept an eye on him, and when he started walking toward me, I kept packing my gear with one hand, the other deployed a Spyderco out of sight. My other hand went for a monopod which is always kept in the car. Guy walked past me, not too close nor too far, paid me no further attention, but his body language and how he kept himself in the dark while watching me had me on edge.
When I'm in an area where I feel that there's higher-than-average risk to my gear, I will bring a monopod, tape over the identifying marks, get a flashlight out in my hand, have my hand on a Spyderco ready to deply it quickly, or go with a friend. It all depends on what level of paranoia I've got about the area....Show more →
My good friend who is a long time photographer (pro, mostly weddings) and is also a martial fighter (there's martial arts for display and practice, then there's martial fighting that teaches the actual application of the styles) that I shoot and spar with was telling me about his gig in New York. During a break in the shoot (with about $20,000 of gear around) a rather big thug walking by brings out a knife when the rest of the crew were slightly away and distracted, and demanded him to hand over the gear. My friend Steve puts his arms up and backs away saying something like "please don't hurt me!" and back behind a mailbox, the thug reaches over the mailbox and Steve uses the mailbox to snaps this guys arm! Takes his butterfly knife (which he fortunately knew how to use with all that fancy stuff they do) and turns it back on the thug who freaks out and runs away! everyone comes back not knowing what just happened and they continue the shoot as if the event never happened!
The attention can sometimes work to your advantage.
When travelling I notice locals often object when shot with P&S style camera's. But when you use a dslr with a large diameter lens (say 24-70) people often become more interested and approachable, making it a lot easier to get into contact and collect nice portraits from cooperating subjects.
Probably also has a lot to do with the way you handle the interaction, but larger set-ups are definetly big plus in these cases.
Being a Sports photographer who is just starting out shooting little league games for profit, I love ALLLLlllll the attention I can get regarding my equipment.
Dislike it. So much I even started to consider buying some small rangefinder camera when shooting somewhere where lot of people around can be expected.
Worst case is shooting somewhere on exhibitions or some actions like big mineral exchange etc. Photography is allowed here, but many people glare at me like I'm gonna rob the place in the evening, I even met one guy taking photo of me as "an evidence". Others with compacts and phone shooters can usually shoot without problems. On the other hand, on such actions, when shooting some particular sample, it's better to ask person to whom that belongs, in most cases it's without any problem then...
By the way: The most frequent question when I meet someone with prime 400 mm lens attached: "How big zoom does that have?"
in the past i didnt care what ppl think when i take out my camera w/ a huge lense attached (back in the film days). But now I am afraid to do that.. why?? because everyone has a DSLR w/ a L or white lense. and once they see someone they start looking at you funny... or they might think "oh, this guy is not using a L"
I've accumulated better gear over the years, to help me get the best shots possible when I'm out and about. Unfortunately, in the more interesting parts of the UK at least, having flashier looking gear will generally either:
a) get you into trouble with people that think you're a paparazzi vampire, resulting in loss of stealth and inconspicuous advantage..
b) drag you into a conversation about the gear with some genuinely interested member of the public
c) get you mugged and spending the next few hours in hospital and/or police station
Ironically, any of the above will probably result in you missing a shot that you could have otherwise got by secretly toting a mobilephone with a 2mpix cam.. lol.
I do the sort of photography that generally attracts attention. When I take NYC skyline shots, I generally have to go to places where there are a lot of tourists with point-and-shoots (or D40x/XTi-class cameras with kit lenses). They don't bother me usually...a lot just stare at me with my tripod and white lens (a 70-200 f/4). Some ask me to take their picture...I don't mind, but I doubt my pics come out any better than theirs What's fun is when someone who has a DSLR wants to talk shop...I've picked up more than a few tricks from those conversations, and I've taught a few people how to do HDRs. Mostly harmless.
Aviation photography attracts much less harmless attention. The cops don't mind us; most of them have seen us and know that we're an extra set of eyes who will call them the second we see something untoward, and I (or my lawyer) can always talk my way out of it with the ones who don't like us. The problem are the passersby who threaten to call the cops, the FBI, the DHS, the TSA, etc. You really want to infuriate someone? When they threaten to call the cops, respond "Please do!"
Speaking of safety, a couple of weeks ago I was carrying my camera bag and a tripod, and some jerk on the subway was getting off the train threatened punch me in the face if I didn't stop crowding him with my bag. I ignored him. After he got off the train, some woman says, "I'm impressed that you ignored him." I said, "He wasn't going to do anything, and nothing I said could have helped." Some other guy says, "And you could have used that tripod to defend yourself anyway." Amusing in hindsight, not so much at the time...
(A note on my appearance: I'm medium height, very white, and you'd never know from looking at me that I lift weights 3-4 times per week...)
Cementjungle wrote:
No, the 1DM3 with a 70-200 2.8L on it makes for a great weapon.
Talking about weapon, I have a good one.. or bad one for me...
I was working in a building next to the US consulates in Toronto and one day at lunch I decided to go out shooting around the office (I guess you can see where this is going by now). A few minutes later after taking a few shots on the street (not at the US consulate at all) I wandered further along and suddenly an unmarked car pull up infront of me and an RCMP officer came out and asked me why I was taking picture of the US consolate. I explain to him that I work next door and photography is just a hobby of mine. He asked if I have any weapons on me, and I joked " no, unless you consider this (my 5D and a 70-200L) a weapon!" He was not amused at all about that comment. Some people has no sense of humor . Then he asked for my IDs and took down my info. I offered to show him my photos on the LCD and he just glanced at it briefly. I think I am on the black list somewhere now but fortunately I have traveled to the US since then and didn't get stopped at the boarder.
Depends on who it's coming from. A few quick comments or questions don't bug me at all and I feel "proud" of my equipment, but then there are the people who don't shuttup and interfere with what I'm doing. I especially hate the "how many MP does that have?" and I've started replying lately with "31" to which I get some great looks on their faces
Spock lonewolf wrote:
By the way: The most frequent question when I meet someone with prime 400 mm lens attached: "How big zoom does that have?"
That too. My roomate just bought a Canon P&S with 10x zoom, and she has asked me a few times "how much zoom does your camera have?" and I try to explain to her the differences but I get the deer in the headlights look from her. She's not terribly bright.
There was no way I was going to tell the truth! Not unless I wanted to spoil the rest of the vacation after my wife found out how much I spent on it 
)