"Roger N. Clark (change username to rnclark)" wrote in
:

Hi, I need to vent a little.
I just returned from Grand Teton National Park and had a
wonderful time, spectacular weather (meaning a great storm
then clearing clouds to make it interesting). I saw moose
every day, along with deer, elk coyotes, bald eagles,
osprey, etc. I was imaging with my 4x5 and with
digital from wide to long telephoto.

Multiple times, other amateurs would generally ask if they
were in the way of a shot, or if they were, they all quickly
moved when I said something. Everyone was very nice.

Except "The Pro."

I was at Oxbow Bend the morning after the storm, I with
clearing fog and clouds just after sunrise. It was one
of the prettiest mornings I've ever seen there, and
I've seen dozens. I had the 4x5 set up very close
to the bushes, so there is plenty of room all around and
there are only a couple of other people there.

Two women stop, and approach my area.
One is dressed very nice, the other has a camera in here
hand (looked like a high-end 35mm body). She points to a
spot in front of my camera. I have the dark slide pulled on
the 4x5 and am ready to trip the shutter. These two
people move into the camera field of view,
which was relatively narrow as I was using a 210mm lens.
I explained that they were in my field of view and I
was about the take a picture. The woman with the camera
said:

"I am a professional photographer and am getting paid to do
a shoot."

I said "common courtesy would say you should wait until I
am done. There are plenty of spots to photograph here."

She responded: "This is a public park and I am a professional,
I can go where I want."

They proceeded to stay in my field of view while she
photographed the other woman. She would not give me her
name. I called her a jerk and said no real professional
photographer would act this way.

I had to wait until they were finished before I could
shoot again. Fortunately, the clouds and light were
not changing fast, so I got good images, just not one
of those I was planning.

They continued shooting at other places along Oxbow Bend
so it shows that my spot was not the only location,
even for the "pro."

While I did not let the incident ruin my day, I wonder what
I might have done differently. Next time, as soon as there
might appear to be a problem, I think I will act interested
that they are a pro and get their name and a card before
a confrontation starts. Do "pros" shooting models need
a license in the park? I would report them to the park
service, but I don't think it would do any good.


For commercial uses, I believe they might.

But that isn't necessary. Just walk into the middle of her shot and
stand there. Smile and wave ;-)

The other rejoinder is that *you're* a professional mercenary. But
you'll do work on spec from time to time.

Both of these are nice after-the-fact responses, though. If it
happened to me, knowing my reactions to self-centeredness and snobbism
(which generally is, "I can top that, if that's the game"), I'd probably
simply say, "Yeah, so am I. Get the **** out of my shot."

And no, she wasn't a pro. Not by most people's definitions, and
certainly not if she was traveling unassisted and without reflectors,
makeup, a change of clothes or three, yadda blah... I'm not a pro either,
but I'm a damn sight closer than she is!


- Al.

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