Reactions from Bystanders When Taking Photos of Signals/Signs

[BigMattFromTexas]

Oh whoa, that was weird. I was doing that too. Wow. Strange
BigMatt

[J N Winkler]

oh okay.  didn't think of that.  I'd figure if someone already had a camera the first person they'd ask isn't the one who is occupied with taking a picture of a boring old sign.

It doesn't matter.  Old signs, the Parthenon, whatever--if couples are walking around and see you by yourself with a camera, they stop and ask you to take your picture.  I am usually happy to oblige but it does annoy me a little when I take the picture, hand back the camera, they look at the picture in "View" mode, and I can tell by their palaver that they are unhappy with the way the picture is composed.  What do they expect when they hand their camera to someone they are not paying and do not give him scope to adjust exposure etc.?

[hbelkins]

what's the point of that?  now you've got a picture of some random person that you'll never see again.  great?

Not an issue when the picture is taken with the photo-requester's camera.  Which is something I've been asked from time to time.

But that didn't happen with me. It was my camera. And they didn't leave an address to which i could mail/e-mail the pics, either. So they got deleted off my camera as soon as I got back in the vehicle. This happened in Tompkinsville, Ky.

[froggie]

Just further proof that Kentucky is weird.  In that case, as Jake noted, "what's the point?"

[Chris]

Some 2,000 trucks honked at me while I was taking a video of a freeway widening

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Just further proof that Kentucky is weird.  In that case, as Jake noted, "what's the point?"

Being friendly?

[agentsteel53]

Being friendly?

"can you break your concentration and inconvenience your schedule for something that will end up benefiting neither of us?"

yeah, real friendly.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Being friendly?

"can you break your concentration and inconvenience your schedule for something that will end up benefiting neither of us?"

yeah, real friendly.

Break your concentration? This isn't the case of being in a studio creating something out of your imagination without being bothered.
It's not like the object you're photographing is going to disapear (unless you're photographing weather).

[agentsteel53]

It's not like the object you're photographing is going to disapear (unless you're photographing weather).

you'd be surprised.

[froggie]

Sandor, if you're taking the photo with their camera (as I noted earlier), it's a different story.  But if they want you to take their pic WITH YOUR OWN camera, without leaving a forwarding address or whatnot, then that's where the "what's the point?" comes into play.  Unless you're into that sort of thing.  But not everyone is.

[florida]

Taking photos used to bother me at 18, but not anymore. I don't care what others think (there's a lot worse things I could be doing with my time), but sometimes I feel that people driving in front of me think I'm stalking them if they are in successive shots (like photographing traffic lights along a segment of road).

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

Sandor, if you're taking the photo with their camera (as I noted earlier), it's a different story.  But if they want you to take their pic WITH YOUR OWN camera, without leaving a forwarding address or whatnot, then that's where the "what's the point?" comes into play.  Unless you're into that sort of thing.  But not everyone is.

Well since it was H.B. who had this happen to, why don't you go ask him.

[74/171FAN]

I know I've scared friends(one of them was actually videotaping me once) driving right in front of me or in my car before but overall I really don't care.

[mightyace]

The only time I've gotten a weird reaction that bothered me was back in 2000 when I was in San Diego and it was actually railfanning not roadgeeking.  (but similar thing happen to both groups)

I was in a San Diego bus and we passed the light rail carbarn.  I had to snap around to take a picture of it, but was still shooting out the window.  A woman that looked Hispanic got real upset at me and started yelling at me in Spanish.  I can only guess that she was here illegally and, hence, didn't want to be photographed.  But, I couldn't convince her that I never got her picture nor was trying to.  One other passenger on the bus talked to me later and realized that nothing had happened.  And, yes, the bus driver said absolutely nothing.

[US71]

Not a bystander per se, but I was taking some photos in Dumas yesterday and was followed out of town by the local constabulary.

Also has a state police car stop while I was taking photos in Pine Bluff, but he quickly drove on.

[Alex]

Not a bystander per se, but I was taking some photos in Dumas yesterday and was followed out of town by the local constabulary.

Also has a state police car stop while I was taking photos in Pine Bluff, but he quickly drove on.

I stopped and got out of the car for this shot:



Got back in the car and was about to pull away and saw the strobe lights from a police car on behind me. Stopped, rolled down the window and an old timer cop walked up "just curious as to what you were doing there?" "Taking a photo for a project." "Oh *smiled*, have a nice day!"

The only other copy experience I had was walking on the small sidewalk within the volleyball interchange (should not be a sidewalk there, but its there under the I-240 overpasses!) at I-240/U.S. 70 to get this photo:



Cop queued in traffic rolled her window down and asked "what are you photographing?" "This sign for a project" I answered. "oh *smiled*, have a nice day." I don't remember the exact answer, but it was extremely similar to the Missouri experience.

[mefailenglish]

One time in Chiefland FL, I pulled off the road and put on my four way flashers when I was taking pictures of red 19s, green ALT 27s and black 98s.  I got out of the car and walked up to get a picture, and the very first person who drove by stopped, rolled down her window, and asked if I had broken down and needed help.  "No, I'm just taking a picture of this sign."  I did thank her for asking, though I don't know if she understood why I was doing what I was doing.

[US71]

One time in Chiefland FL, I pulled off the road and put on my four way flashers when I was taking pictures of red 19s, green ALT 27s and black 98s.  I got out of the car and walked up to get a picture, and the very first person who drove by stopped, rolled down her window, and asked if I had broken down and needed help.  "No, I'm just taking a picture of this sign."  I did thank her for asking, though I don't know if she understood why I was doing what I was doing.

That has happened to me a few times, as well.

[ctsignguy]

Only one such experience in my road photographing....last year when i was shooting Long Island Sound from a scenic gas station in Niantic CT when the owner/manager came out and asked me what i was doing. Told him i was trying to snap photos of the boats in the distance (and showed him my LCD display as proof) and Long Island itself, he told me to be careful...there was a nuclear plant just down the road and they would get paranoid over people taking pictures of it...if they tho0ugh someone was trying that, he would be compelled to place slats in his fence and lose the scenic views his location was locally known for...

No problem i assured him, and had no trouble after that

[J N Winkler]

This is to do with rail rather than roads, but the essential nature of the experience is similar.

Today I arrived at Keleti pályaudvar, the main railway station in Budapest, on a train from Vienna.  Keleti pu. has a really bad reputation and tourists are typically urged to steer clear of the currency dealers (exchange rates for euros are unfavorable by at least 20%, and since Hungary is in Schengenland but has kept its own currency, the brokers are alive to the possibility of ripping off tourists with euros in their pockets).  I discovered, on arrival, that it was overrun by taxi and hotel touts as well.

During the almost 3-hour train ride from Vienna, I had observed some features of panel marking of rolling stock in Austria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, including the convention of underlining the nationality sign to indicate ownership of each carriage (A for Austria, CZ for Czech Republic, etc.) and also the practice in Czech and Hungary of identifying a "home" station for each carriage (e.g., "DOM. PRAHA HL. N." on a carriage making up part of a Czech InterCity train).

When I pulled out my camera to take pictures of a few of these markings, a taxi tout saw her chance.  She stood in front of my camera and started her spiel just as I was trying to bring the lens into good focus.  I almost lost it and did a violent "Go away" gesture with my hands.  She thought that was laugh-out-loud funny.

[agentsteel53]

ah good old Keleti - is it still overrun by feral cats?

[Chris]

That sounds like the east station, "kelet" means east, and that's about as far as my Hungarian knowledge goes.

[KEK Inc.]

People were staring at me when I took this photo. 

I was laying with my belly on the pavement. 

[rickmastfan67]

People were staring at me when I took this photo. 

I was laying with my belly on the pavement. 

I might look at you thinking your crazy doing that.

[Scott5114]

When I pulled out my camera to take pictures of a few of these markings, a taxi tout saw her chance.  She stood in front of my camera and started her spiel just as I was trying to bring the lens into good focus.  I almost lost it and did a violent "Go away" gesture with my hands.  She thought that was laugh-out-loud funny.

Ruining someone's picture is a sure way to get business Did she go away?