Photographer = candidate for Sex Offenders Register?!

puddleduck

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Andy Drake
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Heard it all now... just got back from a potter around the Wandlebury Ring, just outside Cambridge.

A few kids were playing football - I was wandering around with my camera, and an over-zealous parent comes steaming over to me (from about 200 yards) and screams "no photos of the kids, I'll have you put on the Sex Offenders Register!"

Considering I was shooting landscape stuff with a wide angle and miles away from them (and I don't "do" people anyway!) it was a rather amusing - if confusing - over-reaction from an over-protective parent!
 
every time i heaar of something like this happening i want to scream and shout, i read today of a guy accused of being a p**** which was proved not to be the case the girls admitted to police they lied he is now dead.

some people do not know what they are talking about and that is the worst of it.

by the way did you answer her??
 
That was out of order. :nono: Its one thing to ask a photographer to not take pictures of your child, its another thing to shout a threat like that. Hope it hasnt put you off!
 
It really is getting ridiculous. Its not just photography but people are trying to stop you for doing everything these days.
 
I know how everybody hates this reaction but I would have told him/her to **** off and started maybe snapping them...in a really exagerated glamour shoot way....

'Work with the me baby, yeah, show the camera who's the daddy' type thing...:lol:
 
perhaps we should get a group of us together and wait there next week to see if the parent comes over and accuses a large group or not
 
just reply with

"why would i want to take a picture of your child? there ugly!"

usually works... :D
 
we have a temp ice rink coming to twon next week and i am taking my camera to get pictures of my daughter wioll report back if i get anything of this nature..

it really does make me mad
 
In what current climate would that be?

It would be the one where tabloid papers whip the readership up into a frenzy on very little information - most of which is hearsay and innuendo anyway - and then once something nasty has happened to some unsuspecting innocent they simply say sorry (if you're lucky) and then start all over again. Why do you ask?

Arthur
 
I know how everybody hates this reaction but I would have told him/her to **** off and started maybe snapping them...in a really exagerated glamour shoot way....

'Work with the me baby, yeah, show the camera who's the daddy' type thing...:lol:

:lol::lol::lol::clap:
 
just reply with

"why would i want to take a picture of your child? there ugly!"

usually works... :D

:lol::lol:

In the experiences I have had it always amazes me that normally such parents are some Vicky Pollard type individual, pregnant with a fag in hand as well and normally don't give a hoot what their kids are doing.
 
Madness although if I had seen someone taking a pic of my daughter when she was young I might have enquired what they were doing, all in a very polite way (just before I nutted them:))

Seriously though many years ago we were camping in our old VW and the site warden asked if a photographer could take some pics of our daughter for the camping and caravanning clubs site guidebook
Didn't think of saying no and got some nice pics published in the next years book.

Would that now be frowned upon or would he even dare to ask?
 
I'd have to agree. I'd have said "But I'm not here to photo the kids, I'm here to photo you!" *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click*
 
... but in the current climate perhaps understandable?

However, maybe pointing out it is not up to the general public to do such things would not have been a good idea!


Arthur

Why is it understandable, in what climate? How many paedophiles openly take pictures of children, especially in public places and with professional looking cameras? Surely it’s the ones with small point and shoots or phones that can sneakily conceal their cameras who are a possible danger; a paedophile isn’t going to advertise his intentions any more than a burglar is going to wave his house breaking equipment around in public.
As I understand it, most distasteful pictures of children are taken indoors and by someone the children know and trust. How else are they going to get children into a state of undress. Surely they get no satisfaction from children dressed normally and playing in a group with adults around. If I am correct in this supposition, then perhaps we should ban relatives or family friends from being anywhere near children especially with a camera!

How many paedos do you know or have come across, I certainly have never knowingly met or even heard of one personally, and I don’t know any colleagues or friends who have either. They are out there for sure, and children have to be protected, but lets keep it in proportion.

I cant understand what a paedophile gets out of children in this way, I am sure that to all of us this is utterly abhorrent, but in a few cases this interest does exsist. Having said that, there seems to be far too much public paranoia, and like the health and safety laws, everything is being taken to extremes and totally out of proportion, plus this isn’t being helped by the media who blow things hugely out of proportion.

Wrapping children in cotton wool and teaching them that everything and everyone in the big bad world including anyone with a camera is a bad person and must be feared can’t be the way to give them a balanced start in life.

I see a similarity to the gun laws a few years ago. To reduce gun crime the government took all legally owned hand guns off their owners, when they should have been looking for the illegal guns and owners. This stopped a lot of enthusiasts enjoying their chosen hobby, they were an easy target for legislation and it looked as though something was being done to reduce the problem. Now, many years after stopping the legal ownership of hand guns, has the problem gone away, or has it in fact increased? I’ll let you decide judging by the amount of shootings recently.
 
always knew there was something dodgy about you puddleduck. It's the long coat that does it :)

I wonder which newspaper that woman reads?
 
I was asked while photographing castle hill in Huddersfield, by some silly german schoolgirls, to take their picture: "take or picture, take our picture!" they shouted. I was trying to get a 3 shot HDR and they were waving their arms and jumping up and down.

"OK" i shouted, and they stood still posing. I took my 3 shots, thinking it would shut them up. Otherwise i would have had to wait ages for them to clear off out of the frame. All in good humour, i thought.

Then the minder who was looking after the girls asked what they were "for"? I was quite confused about this and asked her what she meant. "what are you going to do with them?" she asked me. I said i was going to put them on my Flickr website. She said something in german to the girls and then the LITTLE GIRL asked me to delete them. This made me feel quite uncomfortable.

Needless to say i kept a few back and got my HDR and it made the Tripbase travel blog:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timlovelady/3842729754/

http://www.tripbase.com/blog/15-most-magical-places-in-the-world/

so stick up your *ss silly German beeyotch!
 
Why is it understandable, in what climate? How many paedophiles openly take pictures of children, especially in public places and with professional looking cameras? Surely it’s the ones with small point and shoots or phones that can sneakily conceal their cameras who are a possible danger; a paedophile isn’t going to advertise his intentions any more than a burglar is going to wave his house breaking equipment around in public.
As I understand it, most distasteful pictures of children are taken indoors and by someone the children know and trust. How else are they going to get children into a state of undress. Surely they get no satisfaction from children dressed normally and playing in a group with adults around. If I am correct in this supposition, then perhaps we should ban relatives or family friends from being anywhere near children especially with a camera!

How many paedos do you know or have come across, I certainly have never knowingly met or even heard of one personally, and I don’t know any colleagues or friends who have either. They are out there for sure, and children have to be protected, but lets keep it in proportion.

I cant understand what a paedophile gets out of children in this way, I am sure that to all of us this is utterly abhorrent, but in a few cases this interest does exsist. Having said that, there seems to be far too much public paranoia, and like the health and safety laws, everything is being taken to extremes and totally out of proportion, plus this isn’t being helped by the media who blow things hugely out of proportion.

Wrapping children in cotton wool and teaching them that everything and everyone in the big bad world including anyone with a camera is a bad person and must be feared can’t be the way to give them a balanced start in life.

I see a similarity to the gun laws a few years ago. To reduce gun crime the government took all legally owned hand guns off their owners, when they should have been looking for the illegal guns and owners. This stopped a lot of enthusiasts enjoying their chosen hobby, they were an easy target for legislation and it looked as though something was being done to reduce the problem. Now, many years after stopping the legal ownership of hand guns, has the problem gone away, or has it in fact increased? I’ll let you decide judging by the amount of shootings recently.

Eloquently (and well) put.
 
Why is it ...
I think I answered that already above - before you posted this (with which I heartily agree I might add).

Arthur
 
I think I answered that already above - before you posted this (with which I heartily agree I might add).

Arthur

Yes, you answered while I was typing, there's no argument here, if you read what I said we are both playing in the same ball park for sure. :thumbs:
 
It would be the one where tabloid papers whip the readership up into a frenzy on very little information - most of which is hearsay and innuendo anyway - and then once something nasty has happened to some unsuspecting innocent they simply say sorry (if you're lucky) and then start all over again. Why do you ask?

Arthur

Fair enough - I ask because your first post read as though there was a valid reason for them to be concerned! From your last post it sound as thought I thankfully misread your original post.
 
Just to add fuel to the (already seriously well lit) fire. I know of 2 paedophiles, 1 which I have the unfortunate displeasure of knowing in person. Children who were unfortunate to be abused by the people were both in the same family as the abuser. 2 were abused by the uncle, and the others were (shockingly) abused by their own father.

Personally, I think people fuel the fire more than the media. :eek:
 
My favourite one was in Calderglen Park in East Kilbride, there's me with the camera on a tripod with a 10-17 fisheye lens on it taking IR shots of Calderglen House (which is but a speck in the background) when I see this irate woman marching towards me, demanding to know why I'm taking pictures of her kids....

"Where are your kids?" I asked

"over there!" she said pointing to the house, 300 yards away

"where?"

"up at that window on the first floor"

:shrug:
 
you should've let her have a look through the viewfinder and then while she was occupied hit her over the head and thrown her in the bushes ;)
 
Ok slightly away from the topic but all relevent.

I live in Guernsey which is about 10 to 15 years behind the uk in these sorts of matters but I went to my little girls Christmas play the other night, she is 9 and the choir consisted of all ages from 4 up to 11.
Now at the very end we where asked by the headmaster if we would like to take pics of the kids, who by this time had all congregated on the stage ready to "pose".
About 5 of us all trundles to the front and starts snapping, ok i only had my point and shoot with me but NO ONE thought anything of it all these blokes taking pics of their kids.

My question is do your schools still let you do this????

It is nice to be able to walk round Guernsey with my camera and no one even bats an eye lid

spike
 
Ok slightly away from the topic but all relevent.

I live in Guernsey which is about 10 to 15 years behind the uk in these sorts of matters but I went to my little girls Christmas play the other night, she is 9 and the choir consisted of all ages from 4 up to 11.
Now at the very end we where asked by the headmaster if we would like to take pics of the kids, who by this time had all congregated on the stage ready to "pose".
About 5 of us all trundles to the front and starts snapping, ok i only had my point and shoot with me but NO ONE thought anything of it all these blokes taking pics of their kids.

My question is do your schools still let you do this????

It is nice to be able to walk round Guernsey with my camera and no one even bats an eye lid

spike

you have to be joking no school around here lets you take pic's at any school event.
 
Yep, it's happened to me too.

One fine day last summer I was just strolling along this quite packed beach only a few hundred yards from my home. As I walked along, with camera in my hand on my side, I glanced over and this girl flying a kite and thought to myself "that'll make for a nice shot" but then I said "naaa, moving on" and never thought any more about it . . . when this woman came clucking over to me and said "Do you realise there are children about?". I blinked and blinked twice and was speechless for a moment there, finally I said "Of course . . . and . . . is there a problem?". I then offered to show her the contents of my memory card and told her I live locally. She tutted without looking at anything and just walked away.
Needless to say it ruined what would have been a very pleasent Sunday for me.
Seriously, the general public need to get a grip on themselves and keep things in perspective, especially at a time when everone owns a digital camera of some form or another.
 
I know two people who were abused, both were abused by close family members.
 
Maybe it time for the response "are you calling me a pervert? I'm calling the police."
 
Bit of an idealistic thread this one... if you were too get funny with the irate parent then you would be likely to get decked. They might be wrong and be being pathetic, but parents will do what they think is right to protect their kids. What a stupidly distorted world we live in because of a small minority of perverts and a press that loves to promote extremes.
 
Ok slightly away from the topic but all relevent.

My question is do your schools still let you do this????

spike


And my answer is yes, my school does let parents take pictures. School play on Monday and I shall be there with, like many others, my camera. Video isn't allowed, but only because it's breach of copyright on the music, well that's the reason given.
 
Before we know it we will only be able to take pics in the middle of no where,
i find it all very sad that this once great country of ours is just a nanny state.
 
My question is do your schools still let you do this????

No photography allowed because it distracts the performers and annoys the viewers (apparently). You can take a picture of your own child at the end though on their own. Strangely enough the Christmas school plays have an official videographer and go on sale for 20 quid a time. Needless to say my daughter will grow up with no pictures from her school activities.
 
Photographing children in a public place is hardly the sort of photograph that is going to interest pedeophiles. I mean if that is whta they want they can just comne and sit in the park and watch live action for goodness sake. It's all getting out of proportion like most stuff these days.
 
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