Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??

Subject: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,Clint Westwood
Date: 03 May 11 - 08:21 PM

My wife was excited to secure 2 middle 2nd row tickets for Kate Rusby
at Weston super mare playhouse.
Not a cheap night out or convenient for local public transport.
Quite an effort really, but a special night out.

Ruined by a knobhead hobbyist photographer in the front row [approx seat A16]
An older chap, 50s to early 60's, totally selfishly absorbed in snapping away with his digital camera.
Ms Rusby's set, and this is in a traditional seated dark concert venue, slow mellow, quite melancholy songs,
the atmosphere completely ruined by knobhead photograper's over bright backlit viewing screen
and pulsating flashing green and red LED lights...

Oh and his occasional oportunistic chanced flashfoto snaps.

So after about half an hour of his constant distracting and annoying antics
my blood boiled to the extent of reaching over forward to tap his shoulder
and request politely that he please eased off a bit.

His response was immediately confrontational and aggressive..

A bit embarrassing really only a few feet away
directly in front of Ms Rusby herself...

My anger management skills were seriously stretched when he snarled something to the effect of

"what's your problem, there's nothing happening !!!???"


what !!???

and this is mid way in a particularly sad atmospheric song..


luckily, even in the dark he may have noticed
that even sat down I'm a bit big and imposing looking ?

whatever, he mumbled abit to himself before making a show of putting his camera away.

In the interval I apologised to the couple next to me
for potentialy creating a bit of a stir.
They were completly in agreement, but such nice people they sat there
politely and quietly suffering the infuriating distraction of his bright lit camera.

He might just as well have been randomly flashing a torch in our faces during those bitter sweet sad songs.

Me and him swapped a few sideways glances during the interval weighing each other up..

Other people a few seats down on the 2nd row joined in complaining about mr knobhead photograper, only after he'd got up and gone for a walky..

A member of the venue staff was notified to look out for him..

Lights down second half of concert, he defiantly switched on his camera for about a minute, then switched it off again,
but his 'mrs' then turned on her very bright phone
and decided that this was the best time to start typing away
texting during the first few verses of the next song..

Remember these are not chavvy teenagers, but well grown up middle aged adults,
probably quite well educated and not too badly off..


I tried to settle down to enjoy what was left of the concert
but was still too wound up and stressed [sorry, male fight and flight adrenalin..]

All I really can say is " what a selfish old C***"

doesn't matter what age or social standing people are..

if they are deep down ingrained ignorant selfish cretins.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,Clint Westwood
Date: 03 May 11 - 08:33 PM

ps, Joe and clones.

Guest "Clint Westwood" is obviously a discrete pseudo name
to protect from identification and a possible potential local folk pub punch up.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,Clint Westwood
Date: 05 May 11 - 09:41 AM

Ok, at risk of bumping a topic of no interest to anyone else -

While this is still fresh in my mind and still annoying me,
people like that are just another kind of social bully
who depend on others being too polite & timid to risk confrontation
if they dare ask them to desist in anti-social behaviour..

So just wondering how some of you folk would deal with this kind of agrivating situation ???

[oh, and he is obviously a lousy photographer taking endless slight variations
on the same basic snap...]

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,glueman
Date: 05 May 11 - 10:04 AM

Only cads and bounders use digital. Gentlemen prefer film.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: Silas
Date: 05 May 11 - 10:18 AM

I think "You can either put it away in one piece or put it away in bits, its up to you mate" would work quite well.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: Maryrrf
Date: 05 May 11 - 10:22 AM

At our concert series we had a person who showed up a few times claiming that he had a "contract" with the performers to take photographs of them. Turned out he had emailed them in advance to ask if he could take some photos at their concert and they said "sure", but they had no idea who he was, just assumed he was a fan that wanted to snap a few shots. He was extremely intrusive, walking around with his camera during the concert, using the flash, snapping multiple photos, etc. We had a talk with him and he stopped coming around.

Unobtrusively taking a few photos is fine, but some people just don't seem to have a clue about how distracting it can be. I forgot the lyrics once in the middle of a song because someone kept snapping flash pictures from a close angle. It's not polite to the audience or the performer.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: sheep-player
Date: 05 May 11 - 12:09 PM

What i don't get is guests coming with their friends who then spend the all evening taking 100s of photos of them singing. Haven't they photos of them already, and why so many?

But much worse is that 99% of people don't realise they have a 'mute' sound option somewhere for camera opening & picture-taking. Their noisy camera keep spoiling the singing all night long.

I often lose patience and ask them (very loudly) to stop the racket. Why should they spoil my evening?
Besides, there is no sound on a photo, so why can't they wait the end of the act, or between songs?

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,glueman
Date: 05 May 11 - 12:35 PM

Digital photography has encouraged camera users to believe 500 shots must be better than 5. They're wrong of course.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,lively
Date: 05 May 11 - 12:44 PM

No photographer or media person/team be they "official", amateur or professional, should interfere with the enjoyment of PAYING punters.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 05 May 11 - 12:45 PM

Only happened to me once - At a concert in Brussels. Can't even remember who it was but, as I had paid to go in I guess it must have been someone I was interested in:-)

Anyway - Table seating. Quite intimate 'night-club'-ish venue. The group on the next table insisted on taking no notice of the concert at all and speaking loudly for the first 30 minutes. They were English speaking so I know they would fully understand me when I said in a very loud voice during a quiet period,

"Excuse me, I have paid to hear the act. Not you. Would you mind keeping quiet please."

I was most surprised when everyone in earshot turned and gave me a round of applause:-) The group glared at me and all around but stood up and left all the same. I was quite shaky after as the adrenaline wore off but it was very satisfying!

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: Deckman
Date: 05 May 11 - 12:51 PM

A while ago I had a "detatched retina", which was sewn back in place by a very skilled doctor. But for several months, my right eye was extremely sensitive to bright lights, including cameras. During several concerts I was doing then, I had to ask the audience to refrain for snapping pictures. It worked mostly, except for one jerk that kept coming up to the stage and shooting up at me at very close range. Once, when he did that, I blew the song. I knelt down and quietly asked him if he wanted to die now or later. No one else heard me but him. He tip toed out ... to applause. bob

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 05 May 11 - 01:28 PM

Its exactly the same with professionals. At a John Jorgenson concert, several years ago, I had to politely explain that I had actually paid to see the concert and that he should "P*** *ff". One of his photos has since been the staple advert for Schertler pickups.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,captain farrell
Date: 05 May 11 - 01:59 PM

I have brought this up before and it really really really spoils your night out cameramen please be invisible to the naked eye

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 05 May 11 - 05:00 PM

Where's the management when all this is going on?

If I were performing, I'd tell the guy to stop.

If the atmosphere is loose enough that photos are okay, they can be taken during applause, when there's plenty of noise already.

Such are my views.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: John P
Date: 05 May 11 - 07:43 PM

It's not just the photographers. It's anyone who pursues their own disruptive thing during a performance. Like singing along. I saw Jethro Tull a couple of years ago and had to get quite nasty (after a couple of polite requests) with the guy behind us who was singing along with Ian Anderson very loudly. If the performer doesn't invite you to sing along, please don't!

And then there's the coffeehouse gigs where a table front and center is full of people with no interest in the music. It's really hard to connect with an audience when you have to do it past a group of people talking loudly. I don't think there should be any requirement that they pay attention to the music, but why don't they move to the back? Why doesn't the management ask them to? It makes me feel like I'm a TV babbling away in the corner.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,Ralphie
Date: 06 May 11 - 01:29 AM

2 stories. Firstly, back in the 90's a very highly regarded Female singer (I won't name her here) doing a very high profile concert, noticed someone filming her (without permission) on a camcorder. She stopped mid song, and without explanation, walked off stage. She only came back, after the bloke had been ejected. Quite right too!
The other occasion, which turned out to be Ivor Cutlers last performance. He stopped mid song, and said..."Hey, You in the front row. Are you recording me?....(pause).....Don't"
Most big rock gigs I've worked on, photographers get a very strictly controlled amount of time in the safety area in front of the "Mosh pit" to do their snapping. and are then told to leave. This normally happens in the first couple of songs. (As people have said, a photo can't tell you anything about the song!) After that, the audience can enjoy the gig.
At a Folk gig (Pub/Coffee House, whatever) It's just simple courtesy to ask first, as a kick in the teeth often offends. Most artists I know would be only too happy to agree, (as long as it was done discretely), but, would always insist on being sent copies. (pretty simple nowadays.) You never know, the photographer might just have captured that magic moment that becomes the cover of your next CD!
So, Restrained photos with the artists agreement, Fine...Standing in front of the stage with a large lens camera, shooting up the singers nose, and pissing off the audience...No!

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: Tootler
Date: 06 May 11 - 07:04 AM

Most major venues have a strict "no photography" rule.

I was at a concert by a well known act at the Sage Gateshead a couple of years ago when two people sat next to me got out a camcorder and started to film the performance. The light of the little monitor that camcorders have these days was intensely irritating and I was on the point of asking them to stop when the usher appeared and asked them to do just that. They did stop - with somewhat bad grace - but I noticed they did not return after the interval.

Ralphie, I agree that your "highly regarded female singer" was right to have the person ejected. However, I do feel it would have been a small courtesy to the rest of her audience if she had explained why she was walking off and when she would return.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,LDT
Date: 06 May 11 - 07:14 AM

I don't always take photo's (as its not always appropriate) but when I do. I only have little digital compact camera, take no more than one pic per couple of songs/tunes or one per performer and don't use flash (instead turn up the ISO and hope my hand doesn't shake too much). Plus I try not to raise the camera above my head so as not to block anyones view.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,Jim Martin
Date: 06 May 11 - 08:45 AM

I think it's intensely annoying to have our enjoyment of concerts/sessions constantly interrupted by flashing or other lights on cameras.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 06 May 11 - 09:16 AM

I just take photos during the encore, and then only if the act stands reasonable still.

Interesting that folks think that if you are not touching your camera, nothing is happening - wrong!!!If it has HD video record, it's a good way of catching reasonable sound for up to 29 minutes at a time (on mine)!!

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 06 May 11 - 09:27 AM

I would only taken artist photos in an outside venue. I am used to bands videoing their own performance & their friends taking photos all the way through, often getting in the way of the paying audience in a small room/bar. We also got a noisy table of diners asking the management to ask band to be quieter as they couldn't hear each other. The band refused to return for the second half.

RtS

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: Tim Leaning
Date: 06 May 11 - 09:31 AM

Turn of the beepy pretend camera noises ,,,use the veiw finder and try and not be a knob...its easy enough to do innit..

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: breezy
Date: 06 May 11 - 04:23 PM

Put such behaviour down to ignorance


As for those who want to take photos thats fine


Does that little thing fit up up your a##e mate?



I am only 5'6'' these days but was 5'7'' at one time, the 'photographer' was 6' 6'' and heavy. He would stand in front of the stage during a day-time concert and was a preverbial pain. Eventually I asked him to desist, I was a steward at the time. His response was that he was the official photographer.

I was later confronted by him and his 'bird'. What a gob she had on her, oh and i think there were kids in tow too. in for a penny eh?

The incident happened awhile ago but I remember it well.

This thread will cause me to have flash-backs and I'll now have to book a few more therapy sessions.


Why do theatres stipulate recording or photography are not allowed?

Well done Clint and remember. 'You are not alone'

To any organisers reading this, please take Clint's points on board .

As performers maybe we can ask that should someone wish to take a snap then they can do so at an appropriate moment,

Like in the middle of the last verse of our most poignant song!!

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: sapper82
Date: 07 May 11 - 08:57 AM

I take pics whenever people do not object but still us film.
Despite the cost, I prefer this for several reasons, the main one being that I do not blast off willy nilly, but look for my shots.

Effectively, instead of the digital shotgun, I'm a film sniper.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: Deckman
Date: 07 May 11 - 11:36 AM

This thread is proving to be very useful to me. I'm still have vision problems, in fact I'm having another eye surgery soon. I've been warned by my doctors that after my next surgery, my eye will even be MORE sensitive to light ... if that's possible.

I'm heading up north soon for some gigs. In re-reading this thread, and the various postings, I'm of a mind to head off trouble before it happens. At the beginning of a concert ... before if possible ... I'll ask the picture takers to refrain from shooting shots DURING a song. I'll ask them to wait for the song to end, during the applause. That lets ME know when to expect it, and lets THEM know when I'm expecting it.

It seems like a reasonable compromise? bob

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,999
Date: 07 May 11 - 11:40 AM

It sure does and is, Bob.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,AEOLA
Date: 07 May 11 - 03:45 PM

Quite right! Unobtrusive and only with the Artists permission.Any decent photographer would stay out of the way.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: GUEST,Ralphie
Date: 08 May 11 - 03:11 AM

Tootler "The Revered Singer" of whom you speak, did indeed return, and explained to the audience why she had left, (after about 5 minutes or so) to a huge round of applause....She also extended her set by about 15 minutes, so, the audience got more songs for their money!

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: Paul Reade
Date: 08 May 11 - 03:05 PM

The insensitive knobhead photographer isn't only found at gigs.

One of our favourite short walks is from Keswick to Friar's Crag - it's usually a bit crowded there but most people find a place to admire the view, and even take photos, without getting in anyone else's way.

A couple of times recently though the ambience has been ruined by photographers, usually with expensive-looking equipment, who like to act as if they own the place, pushing through, standing in front of people, getting their families to pose and generally ... being knobheads!



That's my "moan of the day" out of the way - I feel better now.

Subject: RE: Tech: Concert Photography:nuisance knobheads??
From: Leadfingers
Date: 08 May 11 - 07:00 PM

I dont always take camera gear to gigs , as I usually have too many instruments and stuff to carry - but IF I do , I ALWAYS ask the Artists if its OK to take snaps , or to video the show - And I ALWAYS say that I will send them anything that comes out well .
And I DONT Stand in front of the paying punters either !!