Dealing with ignorant bystanders

[Ninja]

Im sorry but im going to side with the fisherman in that vid.
The drone wasnt just flying past getting general footage it was sitting there taking pictures of some people without asking. How many of you would feel ok with someone you didnt know photographing you so blatantly without asking first? Put yourself in the same situation. Would you feel ok being filmed by an eye in the sky without knowing why or how the images were to be used?
Put the camera in someones hand down on the pier and have them do the same thing and i bet you feel more than uncomfortable.

Do you have any idea how many cameras there are in cities filming you constantly? If you are out in public people are going to see you. Your statement is ridiculous.

On the topic at hand. I've had nothing but positive reactions when out in public. The bigger problem I have is people walking up to me while I'm flying and asking questions or wanting to talk about "the drone" in a way that is disruptive. I try to be polite and engage them, but when I'm working I really just want to be left alone and you can only answer "hey what kind of drone is that" so many times in a day before getting annoyed. I literally had someone stop their car in the middle of a road and block traffic to talk to me while I was filming a music video scene in a park yesterday.

 

[brad90631]

Im sorry but im going to side with the fisherman in that vid.
The drone wasnt just flying past getting general footage it was sitting there taking pictures of some people without asking. How many of you would feel ok with someone you didnt know photographing you so blatantly without asking first? Put yourself in the same situation. Would you feel ok being filmed by an eye in the sky without knowing why or how the images were to be used?
Put the camera in someones hand down on the pier and have them do the same thing and i bet you feel more than uncomfortable.

Well here in southern CA where can you go where not on some kind of camera. I bet there was some kind of Camera on that pier. hell I have security cameras if you walk down the side walk in from of my house I have you recorded.

 

[timax]

Right or wrong , i can tell you now as a pro photographer with near 30 years of commercial experience , you can expect to be abused if you poke a camera at someone without asking.
2 weeks ago my assistant and i shared a job photographing several suburbs for a property developer. I did just fine but he was asked to stop taking photographs at a local soccer game , tennis courts and i think a library. Why? because people dont like being photographed by someone they dont know. You can argue your right all you want but just expect to be abused.
The comment about security cameras is just silly. We know why they are there and who is behind them.

 

[JohnHan]

Right or wrong , i can tell you now as a pro photographer with near 30 years of commercial experience , you can expect to be abused if you poke a camera at someone without asking.
2 weeks ago my assistant and i shared a job photographing several suburbs for a property developer. I did just fine but he was asked to stop taking photographs at a local soccer game , tennis courts and i think a library. Why? because people dont like being photographed by someone they dont know. You can argue your right all you want but just expect to be abused.
The comment about security cameras is just silly. We know why they are there and who is behind them.

Right photogs have been dealing with this forever. Generally if someone doesn't want to be photographed they will let you know. Be it SLR or flying craft. It's usually a good idea to diffuse the situation by "appearing" to acknowledge their concerns. With all the RC aircraft out, people watch the news and feel "justified" in being confrontational. Expect it and prepare for it. Unless you have some magic power over the ignorant to suddenly make them understand "reasonable expectation of privacy". (Also people that watch the news move from "ignorant" to "misinformed" to "manipulated", much more dangerous than simple ignorance.)

I will add that an SLR doesn't sound like a million bees and won't give you a haircut. If someone is out on a nature trail in a public area it's reasonable to expect they don't want to be followed by a noisy aircraft. We can be respectful without giving up our rights to fly. While we still have those rights. And rest assured our rights to fly will be changing soon. This opinion is worth what it cost you. Nuthin

 

[Scotflieger]

This is what I use. It may point you out but people (here) can be understanding and wait to you have landed. It is also useful to have one or more observers to keep the people clear especially of the landing site (>30m). Always be willing to answer questions as people are genuinely interested.