Crazy lady!

[audioguy]

I've tried to live much of my life by this axiom: "when in doubt, don't". Regardless of its legality, I would never fly my drone over/near that many people. If something were to go amiss in the operation of your drone (and if you read this forum enough, you know it can) and your drone were to hurt someone, you would at the least get financially "whacked" and could end up with jail time. Not worth the risk.

 

[Imtnbike]

Are you serious??? (it's whether)...

Are you serious? Three question marks?
Let’s not get chippy here.

 

[Eddington]

At that altitude no one would know if it had a camera

Don't you know that all drones have cameras and are therefore evil! </sarcasm>

 

[RBeaton]

Drones aside down here they're about to pass a law making it illegal to take pics of your own kids at the beach unless you have a blue card.
A blue card is what you need to work with children.
Thanks to a few "undesirables" and political correctness gone crazy we all suffer.

Where is that? Your right to photography is protected under the the first amendment in the US. In a public space, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy.

I will echo the sentiments of others about that if you're a man, alone, and taking pictures anywhere near children, it can attract bad attention. It's not fair (and maybe not discriminatory if it were challenged?) but unfortunately the way it is right now with an overly sensitive society. As someone who has done some legitimate photography for my employer, I have been stopped by police and parents. I was taking pictures of a concert once behind the last row of people (to get the dark silhouettes of the crowd with arms in the air to overlay against the brightly lit stage), and some angry mom turned around and insisted I deleted all my pictures because I guess her kids were there too. Who knew? It was dark out with bright stage lights. Why would a predator type of person go through all the hassle of walking around in plain sight with professional photo gear wearing a legit photo clearance necktag? Phones are the much bigger threat - they're everywhere and everyone has them.

 

[Roc Rat]

Every conflict I have had with drones has been with women...not sure why. Guess they figure they are "Guardians of the Galaxy"

 

[Geodiver]

Today was my son's last day of swimming lessons and it was all play time. I figured I would catch some video of him going down the slide ext. I was outside the pool area in the city park (right outside of pool in parking lot, VFR) while my wife stayed with my son inside the swim park. About half way through a crazy lady came up and said she didn't appreciate me flying my drone where children are. I was very polite and explained I am recording my son who is at swim class then she started saying you're a ******* pervert get the *** out of here ext.. Again I politely told her this is a city park, I'm recording "my son", everything I am doing is legal and that if she has a issue with it call the police. She proceeded to curse me out for the next 5 minutes and I just ignored her occasionally saying call the police.
This lady didnt even have a child in the swim class because I know all of the parents who are and have attended the class for the past 3 years.
Anyways I figured I would share my crazy lady story. Got some great shots despite having her cussing at me.

I totally understand wanting to capture great family video. However others “anti drone population” don’t care if you are a good person or a perv, they always assume the worst. Because of this we always need to do what is best for the hobby, I would have used my phone or something else in which that same women would have beat her chest about too. There really is no winning here just have to keep the negative press as low as possible surrounding drones.

 

[beejAMG]

Not siding the “crazy lady” but lets reverse the situation. You see a man in a parking lot flying a drone over a public pool. Would you think that it was a parent taking videos of his son or would you think otherwise? If that pilot tells you “im a parent and im taking videos of my son” would you take his word straight away?

I cant blame the “crazy lady”. If you want videos of your son swimming. Rent the whole pool or better yet buy your own pool and record all you want. Until then, stop defending yourself and saying youre not doin anything wrong and only taking videos of your son coz at that time, youre the only one who can see that youre only taking videos of your son, for all the “crazy lady” knows, youre taking vidoes of everthing whilst youre up there.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Cops called on me while flying for official business. People are just too paranoid and don't want to learn about the regulations regarding drones.

You rock! Handled very professionally. One of the reasons I wear these, deterred several situations like shown...

 

[Brojon]

Good lord! What is it with the drone cops?!!
First off everyone assumes he was flying over people - I know at OUR pool there's a fenced in area (he plainly says his wife was INSIDE with his son) and there's plenty of room with no people outside. Given the drone can rise up over the fence he then has a much better vantage point without being anywhere near people.
I think maybe a few questions and answers would be appropriate before everyone starts dog-piling on a fellow member and making uninformed posturing comments - I think they call that "virtue signalling".
Sheesh... rant over.

 

[Brojon]

Not siding the “crazy lady” but lets reverse the situation. You see a man in a parking lot flying a drone over a public pool. Would you think that it was a parent taking videos of his son or would you think otherwise? If that pilot tells you “im a parent and im taking videos of my son” would you take his word straight away?

I cant blame the “crazy lady”. If you want videos of your son swimming. Rent the whole pool or better yet buy your own pool and record all you want. Until then, stop defending yourself and saying youre not doin anything wrong and only taking videos of your son coz at that time, youre the only one who can see that youre only taking videos of your son, for all the “crazy lady” knows, youre taking vidoes of everthing whilst youre up there.

Doesn't matter - there is ZERO expectation of privacy in public (in the USA land of the free anyway) and any photographer is well within his rights to photograph kids. In fact I had some parents call the cops while I was shooting some kids playing in a public fountain and the cop was very nice and explained to the ladies that I was within the law - in fact they might want to come see what I was doing and if they asked nice I'd send them copies.

 

[Brojon]

It's perfectly normal to have an objection if you feel someone is perving children,

Utter BS on it being ok to object - there's zero proof and what the heck kind of sexual deviancy are you going to indulge in public with a camera?
Lemme tell ya a true story. A friend of mine was Lebanese. He was playing with his daughter in a park and some old biddy thought he was being inappropriate in he kissed her too much. Not kidding.
Next thing he knows they took his kids from school and they had to take a class. What they didn't know was that they inadvertently "admitted" to guilt by doing so.
Next thing they know the kids are fostered out. All because of one nosy old biddy with a dirty mind. He said he would never again trust the government after that ordeal.
Sorry to say but there are real perverts out there but they are the ones that see filth where there is innocence. As a photographer I object in the extreme to the notion that you are disallowed to capture some of that innocence and purity because other people have perverse notions.

 

[gjmphoto]

Utter BS on it being ok to object - there's zero proof and what the heck kind of sexual deviancy are you going to indulge in public with a camera?
Lemme tell ya a true story. A friend of mine was Lebanese. He was playing with his daughter in a park and some old biddy thought he was being inappropriate in he kissed her too much. Not kidding.
Next thing he knows they took his kids from school and they had to take a class. What they didn't know was that they inadvertently "admitted" to guilt by doing so.
Next thing they know the kids are fostered out. All because of one nosy old biddy with a dirty mind. He said he would never again trust the government after that ordeal.
Sorry to say but there are real perverts out there but they are the ones that see filth where there is innocence. As a photographer I object in the extreme to the notion that you are disallowed to capture some of that innocence and purity because other people have perverse notions.

So...if I'm getting what you're saying, if someone suspects someone of photographing children with the intent to do them harm, they should not object, ignore it, and not react? That it is "utter BS" to object if you suspect something, because "there is no proof"?

I'm not saying that all the objections have merit - and frankly people have let their concerns get way out of hand...it's a terror mentality...but I'm not willing to suppress concern because "odds are" there is no harm. Again, I'd rather err on the side of caution. Is it ridiculous that we can't bring a bottle of water through security on airplanes? Of course it is...but are you willing to take the risk of not erring on the side of caution for all of our population?

It would be great if everyone's common sense was just like mine...but it's not. It's not BS...it's different.

 

[Brojon]

How is photography in public with other adults looking on a instantly suspect activity?
No - sorry you're invested in that mentality but I disagree that somehow you can scry the photographers intent just from the activity.

 

[gjmphoto]

How is photography in public with other adults looking on a instantly suspect activity?
No - sorry you're invested in that mentality but I disagree that somehow you can scry the photographers intent just from the activity.

You can't. Look, I'm a professional photographer. I shoot dance studios (ages 4-18), models of all ages, families, and high school students / seniors...etc. I have to keep everything locked down. I make sure I have a second in the room (female) when I'm shooting. I have to take extra precautions to assure that there is no semblance of impropriety. And that's OK. I get it - I'm also a parent (my kids are grown already) and I understand the concerns - more importantly, I respect the concerns. I respect the right of the parent to be concerned...whether I agree or not. Once a parent understands me, and sees my concern and respect for theirs, they tend to be far more trusting.

 

[Sportking]

lol

She should respect her elders, lol. Some folks just have to be argumentative by nature.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Photography and the law - Wikipedia

 

[Brojon]

You can't. Look, I'm a professional photographer. I shoot dance studios (ages 4-18), models of all ages, families, and high school students / seniors...etc. I have to keep everything locked down. I make sure I have a second in the room (female) when I'm shooting. I have to take extra precautions to assure that there is no semblance of impropriety. And that's OK. I get it - I'm also a parent (my kids are grown already) and I understand the concerns - more importantly, I respect the concerns. I respect the right of the parent to be concerned...whether I agree or not. Once a parent understands me, and sees my concern and respect for theirs, they tend to be far more trusting.

Well that goes without saying for a studio - I used to shoot team sports, cheer competitions - all sorts of youth. When doing shoots you insist on an adult chaperone - SOP. Not sure why you're mixing up the scenarios here - wee were discussing public photography.
When the potential for privacy exists you take precautions to avoid any implications of impropriety.
There is none of that needed when in the public eye.

 

[Brojon]

Photography and the law - Wikipedia

How about an actual lawyer's take on things. This is what I carry with me to show to sanctimonious people trying to quote what they think is the law. Even cops do not necessarily know the law.

Bert P. Krages - Attorney at Law

 

[Drgnfli]

Today was my son's last day of swimming lessons and it was all play time. I figured I would catch some video of him going down the slide ext. I was outside the pool area in the city park (right outside of pool in parking lot, VFR) while my wife stayed with my son inside the swim park. About half way through a crazy lady came up and said she didn't appreciate me flying my drone where children are. I was very polite and explained I am recording my son who is at swim class then she started saying you're a ******* pervert get the *** out of here ext.. Again I politely told her this is a city park, I'm recording "my son", everything I am doing is legal and that if she has a issue with it call the police. She proceeded to curse me out for the next 5 minutes and I just ignored her occasionally saying call the police.
This lady didnt even have a child in the swim class because I know all of the parents who are and have attended the class for the past 3 years.
Anyways I figured I would share my crazy lady story. Got some great shots despite having her cussing at me.

LOL! Now if you were standing at poolside using your phone to photograph your son she would not have said a word to you. Some uninformed folks think drones have some magical ability to see more than they want you to see... or something... I guess... but they don't hesitate to harass you...

 

[Drgnfli]

Drones aside down here they're about to pass a law making it illegal to take pics of your own kids at the beach unless you have a blue card.
A blue card is what you need to work with children.
Thanks to a few "undesirables" and political correctness gone crazy we all suffer.

All laws are made to protect us from the .01% ******** on this planet. Because of that small minority we all have to suffer the pains of stupid laws... IMHO!