Personal Safety

I have posted some photos that I took this morning at a Lake in a park near to were I live. I was alone and although there were people around I did feel strangely vulnerable being a lone (4'11") female with some obviously expensive camera equipment which quickly generated a fair amount of interest. I felt particularly vulnerable when a rather tall man with 2 dogs asked what I was doing and then came over and asked to look through the viewfinder. It was a perfectly inocent request and have looked he carried on his way. The park is know for flashers and there have been a few incidents reported in the papers. I was planning to go out pretty early as the light was very good, but delayed my start until about 8am. The lake is a wonderful spot for photography as I hope my photos reflect, and it is a shame that I don't feel safe going there before about 8am.

I was wondering if any other female or male PUs had experienced a similar sense of vulnerability?

You have to consider your personal safety above all else. If you have any concerns about venturing into an area at whatever time of day, don't do it. I'm 6ft plus and there are parts of Aberdeen (Scotland) where I wouldn't think of going at night alone, with or without a camera, even after a couple of pints of Dutch courage. Having said that, fears are often ill-founded, but it's not worth taking the risk. Find a friendly bouncer (if there are any about at that time of the morning) or an ex-French Foreign Legionnaire to go with you next time.

Look after yourself.

Al

Yes I agree safety is number one. We all feel vulnerable at some point but a few things you could consider is:-

1) Camera insurance I looked into it for my stuff was about £40 a year, worth having I think.

2) always carry a mobile and if you can aquire one a personal alarm might help.

3) stay in well lit/populated areas

4)take up martial arts, great for ya confidence and I enjoy it haha

Above all though trust your instincts. Its sad to admit that there are so many bad natured people in the world!!

Nice thought having a nice hunk walking round with me I had a German Shepherd until last April who made me feel very safe (soft as muck though but knew who not to trust!). That said at least one of the incidents has involved a lady walking 2 dogs and even that didn't deter the person! I don't want to allow myself to be dictated to by a minority of not so nice people

Dam right J

Terrible you have to think like that, but you do and get that camera gear insured
If it was obvious that someone wanted to steal your stuff, hand it over, possessions are not worth getting injured or worse over

When i lived in East London we made it policy that when we went out for a few beers just to take twenty quid with us (yep, it was a few years ago)

That way we knew we would hand it over rather than have a go, i'm 6 foot and about 14 stone, but not much use when you are outnumbered and the muggers could have knives

Apart from that just keep your eyes open, maybe go by bike and at least that way if you see any dodgy characters about you can shoot off a bit sharpish
Stay safe and don't worry too much, can't let the few wrong'uns spoil it for the rest of us

Curious. Where I live, I do worry about going out alone, but not through any fear of humans. When they have young, wild boar are a force to be reckoned with. Even with a sturdy Manfrotto monopod as a potential weapon, I would not like to come face to face with a wild boar sow guarding her offspring. Given the chance, they'd eat me alive.

Rumour has it that a local man spent an entire night on the roof of an abandoned building after he was confronted by a number of boar.

In some respects I think I would rather worry about the wild boars

Personally, I'd be more concerned about getting stung by that Bumble bee!
Brave of you to get that close to one.

Nice shots.

Welsh sheep are also quite terrifying when then charge you in a heard.....

A few months ago i was standing on the side of a hill about 4.30am taking a few landscapes when two men came walking up the hill.

One stayed further down the hill and the other came right up to me.My first initial feeling was i'm dead.I know that sounds a bit mellow dramatic but it was very early in the morning and i had about £2000 worth of camera gear on me.

The bloke started to speak to me but i couldn't speak my heart was pounding so much.

He proceeded to ask where the nearest town was because they had knocked down a dear.I pointed them in the right direction and they left.Lucky for me

When i got myself home i got my camera gear added to my home insureance so its now covered for everything when i'm out and about.

Moral. get it insured

I looked into insurance but when I read about all the things that are NOT included I decided not to...
Basically the only thing covered is when you drop it or when it is grabbed out of your hands.

When it is stolen from a hotel room, caravan, tent or car it is not covered.
When I'm on vacation the safest place is in the car where it is not visible from the outside or in our trailertent when we are inside of it but both the car and the tent are not safe storage areas according to the insurance company.

I'm insured for every eventuallity

When I go around Grimsby in the winter doing my night shoots, I regurlaly get asked if I am working for the council & why am I working so late. When I tell them I am taking photos then the perception of people change & are more interested in why am I not using flash or I get drunks laughing about me taking photos without flash in the middle of the night.

I generally find light hearted banter helps & remember not everyone out there is a thief or mugger.

I did however recently cover a gig in Doncaster for an on line mag. Unfortunately the venue was tiny & had no photo pit meaning I had to lean against the speaker stack to get an uncluttered view of the stage & keep out of peoples way. 2 songs in & this guy starts shouting abuse & asking me how much I paid to get in. I tried to explain that I was working & after one more song I would be leaving. Unfortunately this did not seem good enough an answer & he preceeded to throw beer all over the front of my camera whilst I took another photo. Thankfully the security on the stage saw what was happening & promptly removed the guy by his head through the doors! Thankfully the body sealing proved perfectly adequate but for one fleeting moment I really did fear for myself & my equipment.

thats awfull cabstar! Glad u and ure gear are ok