we have a thread here already for pics of girls giving beach voys the finger. I have quite a few of these, a few of which I'm reposting below. Since i don't recall the name of the thread, I can't post the link here. Maybe someone else knows.
Anyway, but since Wildasu has now decided to grace us with his presence in this thread, I suppose that this now is THE thread for this topic! I appreciate Wildasu's recollections and they are a constant reminder of the risks and rewards inherent in doing this type of photography. Also, it got me thinking about some of my own unpleasant encounters.
Portland nighttime WNBR: A guy told me he didn't like my face, didn't like my flash, and wanted me to get my butt out of there. That was a pretty "up close and personal" confrontation. Yes, he was in my face, and he didn't like what he saw. I don't know. Others have told me I'm rather cute...
beach photography: One thing I learned when trying to do beach photography is that if you try to disguise your camera, it can backfire on you. People seem to especially not like it if you are devious like this. Wildasu alluded to being out in the open about things. In retrospect, it might have saved me some embarrassment if I had followed that advice. On one beach trip, for example, I hid my camera inside a little box with a hole in it. I was discovered, and the guy that discovered it held up the little box for all to see and made a mockery of me. I was out of there in a flash. This happened one other time, and now I look back on this with a lot of regret. People notice you if you are fiddling with stuff, even if its not a camera. If you are acting in a way that suggests you are taking pics, it doesn't matter if an actual camera is not really visible. They will become suspicious, and then proud of themselves that they caught you! They will want to tell everyone else!
be careful at events: Some events have photographers but they are mostly all friends of the people that are naked. I got in this situation once where everyone, unbeknownst to me, pretty much knew everyone else. I was an outsider but didn't realize it, thinking the event was more public and open than it really was. and so I brazenly got out my camera and started taking pics with a big telephoto. Pretty soon, an older gentleman with a steely, victorian manner approached me and began insulting me. He said everyone else were friends of the nudes. His manner was to haul me "to the principles office" so to speak, the principal being the woman organizing the event. The pics had to go. A witness was selected from the crowd to watch me delete my photos. Everyone was watching. It was gruesome.
At another event, I happened upon a beautiful topless girl at one point, and began shooting. And then I just kept on shooting and shooting and shooting....overdoing it really. I lost track of time. When I finally stopped and began to walk away, I looked back and out of the corner of my eye, saw a woman approach the topless girl and point to me. My pace quickened and i knew it was time for me to get the heck out of there. But the girl put on her shirt and followed me. She approached me and asked that I delete every pic. There were hundreds! - I was embarrassed to have her see just how many pics I had taken. I apologized sincerely. She was pretty nice about it though which made this not a really bad experience. She could have been really b*tchy, but I still felt really bad afterwords.
At Fremont, I have several pics of girls either pointing at me or giving me the finger. I would post them, but I usually delete these. There are also some sequences from OCF showing guys and girls giving me the "Get the heck out of here" looks.
Anyway, I have heard of far worse stories. These really aren't that bad, in part because I rarely do beach photography. That is were you run into the most problems. Also, I don't shoot overseas (brazil!) where it seems people can get even angrier.
I do usually though get mocked at least once by someone at the Portland nighttime WNBR. I suspect it will happen again tonight, and I am prepared.
Klondike