Originally posted by Tippster:
Payback's a bitch, so why invite it by being an egotistical ass?
Please don't misunderstand my position.
I'm all for cooperation and work to achieve some semblance of that at such events. I also deal with the reality of knowing who is and isn't in charge of policing photog behavior.
The crux of my point could be answered by the original poster. What happened to the photogs who "broke the rules"?
I'm betting nothing...which has pissed me off before too ;o)
What's the point of "rules" if there's no enforcement? Idle threats of "I'll remember and keep him from working" don't cut it. Not to mention doing nothing to help you overcome the situation in the future.
I'll bet one of the reasons the "rules" are enforced and followed where you work Tippster, is because there are police and secret service around to make sure they are followed, keeping photogs and others in their designated area. It really has little to do with photog cooperation alone.
There's a way to be aggressive yet not upset others trying to do the same job. That skill comes with experience. What also comes from experience is knowing there will always be someone complaining that you got in their way. I'm not a pushy jerk when I work. I'm not arrogant thinking only my shot counts. I work and play well with others ;o)
However...I don't waste my breath complaining because I got out positioned or out hussled. I learn from it and do better the next time.
I guess that's the point I was trying to pass along to others. I was by no means saying we should all play "every photog for themselves and to heck with everyone else".
Know who's really in charge and what the real "rules" are. Be ready for someone to break those rules and have a plan to not get screwed over yourself.
Complaining after the fact because people didn't cooperate and follow "rules" are hollow excuses for not getting the job done. Blame others for the situation getting out of control but don't ever come back without the video unless it truly breaks the law...and even then I can think of a rare circumstance where breaking the law would be acceptable...but those situations are VERY rare.
I've said this before. Several times I've seen photogs from the states come down to my part of the world for some kind of gang bang news coverage. They seem to expect rules and then are surprised when their rules aren't recognized by others doing the same job. Whose fault is that?
Several of those photogs, after having their station spend a lot of money to put them in place to cover something, came back with nothing except the backs of heads and sore ribs.
I don't like it but in some situations that's part of the job.
Again, I'm not promoting we all go crazy and become idiots but...I'm not going to join a chorus of people claiming there are rules we are supposed to follow when my own years of experience have proven to me those rules are not universally accepted or enforced.
I know this is getting long but let me pass along a story from my Miami years. Big plane crash in South America of a flight whose destination was Miami. Camera crews out the wazoo are at Miami International getting shots of grieving relatives arriving and rare moments of airline officials giving sporadic information. There was no press area. It was a mess but I was sent to do my job. A rather well known Latin person was on the flight and their family members arrived, quckly becoming surrounded by out of control camera crews and still photogs. The family was quickly whisked through the security barriers by police. The family and security cross into the area where only ticketed passengers are allowed.
Most of us are smart enough not to cross with them but two or three latin network crews crash the metal detectors, literally push guards out of the way and continue to tape the grieving family members. A clear violation of all kinds of federal laws, not to mention decent human conduct.
I along with others waited smiling, thinking those photogs, while getting the video, would soon be walking back by us in handcuffs. It never happened. They were escorted back to the public area. Given a short speach about "don't do that again" and then left to join the rest of us. Several of us heatedly complained to the police as well as the offending photogs to no avail. The cops, admitted laws were broken but refused to arrest the offending crews saying it wasn't worth the effort since they had bigger crowd control issues to deal with. Post 9/11 this might have turned out differently. On that day it was their video that was aired on a couple of the American networks not mine.
Did I feel bad that they got what many considered the money shots while the rest of us followed the rules? A little but I also know I pride myself, bottom line, following the law and this was one of those times. In this case I "lost" but could defend my actions to my own boss. That doesn't mean the next time I'll be crashing the gates like those few others, however I also don't waste my breath complaining too long. I apply what I learned to future news shoots and accept the results of the present. It's over. Tomorrow is another day.
Sometimes we win being nice and following the rules. Once in a while we lose even though we were nice and did what we were told. Each of us has to follow our own code of ethics while still getting getting the shot and justifying your paycheck (and job future).
There is always someone around trying to be "rule maker". Some have the authority while others do not.
Let's also admit there are times when the shear number of photogs covering an event make it impossible for everyone to get the shot they need no matter how much cooperation and rule enforcement is present.
Plan, plan, plan and then live and learn from the results. As stated in my original post I admit I was stirring the pot with my comments but I was also trying to inject some reality into the thought process of a few ;o)
