Originally posted by bxf To those who have a problem with photographing people in a public place:
Imagine you are at some attraction and you want to take a photo. Being a popular attraction, the place has many people whose inclusion in the photo is inevitable. What are you to do?
1. Decide to not take the photos?
2. Ask each person who happens to be in the scene at the moment (and not even necessarily a few moments later) for permission?
3. Take the photos, since you are permitted by law to do so.
Both of the first two options strike me as ridiculous and unacceptable. What is your correct solution?
I think the problem arises most often when someone IS the photograph. Not when they are incidental or just a part of the whole as in your #2.
From a personal standpoint if I am somewhere and I see a photographer and know I am part of the scene and not THE scene I couldn't care less. However should someone just decide he wants to me and or one of my grandchildren to be his main subject then I want to know why and will ask, and feel I have a right to ask, and he BETTER have a good answer and a nice demeanor. Not everyone with a camera has the best intentions. Also you never know when you might be putting someone in danger, what if the women who wanted her pic deleted was in witness protection or had moved to avoid being battered. Oh never mind the pic is what is important.
Re: the news papers head photographers explanation for not deleting a photo due to policy. I find that policy is basically a form of not caring who or what gets hurt as long as they get their shot. The shot is everything the subject is nothing. This is their excuse for hitting max burst rate while a child is drowning or a puppy gets run over in traffic. For heavens sake Get The Shot! don't put down your camera to help, after all some perv who gets off on pain and misery shouldn't miss out on the those shots and that = $.
This type of photographer behavior is also like the one who moves baby deer or disturbs bird nests in the wild to "get the shot"