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Originally Posted by shirl  it really annoys me. I am afraid if I see it I just have to say something - politely of course
Shirl |
I'm not a photographer (though I do tend to carry a little digital point & shoot camera) but I agree with pretty much everything in this thread although in my case it applies to dogs chasing deer rather than photographers. (One on Saturday afternoon involved 3 dogs and came perilously close to getting someone seriously hurt when they chased 20-odd red deer stags towards them as they were lying on the ground - a very close call). And the attitude/manners of the owners do generally leave much to be desired. The trouble is of course that by the time anything is said the damage has been done.
I'm not a golfer either but it seems to me that ideally wildlife photography is like golf - it's a question of personal integrity; you play by the rules against yourself. If you don't play by the rules then your results are inherently devalued. When you take a picture think about what a photo of yourself taking the picture would look like.
(the sign in the background is the warning not to approach too closely to the deer!)
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Originally Posted by DuncanE I have often wondered what is acceptable with the likes of places like Richmond Park where the animals are slightly more used to human activety. |
In RP the serious wildlife photographers cause little problem. They have lenses which are akin to binoculars (or telescopes in the case of one Polish man on Saturday evening - I met him at 6 and he had been lugging his enormous kit round the park since 4am!) Their problem is generally that they're not used to being a mere 30 yards distant! It's the out-for-the-day brigade of wannabe Attenboroughs who try to get a full-screen TV-quality picture of a deer who are beyond the pale: they don't know when to stop until the deer move off and some of them don't stop then.
To the person who asked about distance - set 30 yards initially in the open areas if it feels safe to do so. If the deer then move towards you, you're in clover unless of course it's the red deer rut. And of course you can get much much closer if you stick to the paths (see above). The deer have a clear mental map of where people should be...