Togs in wrong place?

This morning I was down on the shore of Derwentwater, hoping for mist or a great sunrise. In the event we got the sunrise with no mist. I was at Friar's Crag, a small outcrop of rock just outside Keswick. There were numerous photographers there (me plus another ten or so), of which there was a group of about five or six, plus a few single guys scattered about. Of all the people there, I was the only one in amongst the rocks on the shoreline at Friar's Crag, all of the others were on the flat gravel part of the shore, the other side of the fence. In the first photo you will see where the group was, although when I took the image the five or six had dwindled to two. The second photo is one that I took from my vantage point in the rocks. The group was I think some learners, plus a guy giving tuition. I respectfully mentioned to them that where I had been provided some great lead-in shots, with rocks, a fallen branch, the fence and other interesting foreground details. Where they were stood there was just gravel and the fence. I think they were in the wrong place, but I would be interested to know what everyone on here thinks?

BTW, where I was is in the extreme right of the first image, to the right of the fence.

Togs in wrong place?



My vantage point, with fortunate duck on stone



Just a bit of fun.

Oh yes, another thing that made me think they missed some opportunities, they all had tripods but none were set low. So their reflections would not be as good as they could be, neither the foreground detail. I had no tripod, but used live view to get the camera as low as possible. Again, what do you think?

Cheers
David

Where they not using big stoppers and using the fence as lead in foreground material...?

Possibly Stu, but even so why wouldn't they want better foreground details? They could still have used big stoppers from a better vantage point? Also, you could still use the fence if you were the other side of it.

Cheers
David

Cast not thy pearls before swine....

Perhaps they were reproducing a view they had seen before? Derwent water with nice sky and fence going into the water?
I think I have seen that quite a few times!

Originality is much more difficult to do. Your originality and skill is well known here, that's why you got your ducks to pose for you by that rock. That's why you took an original view, even when you were within a few metres of them!

Nice shot by the way.

I think it's quite hard to double-guess what they were trying to achieve, although it would be interesting to see their images. That's the only way we'd know for sure.

Lovely second shot but I personally think there is no such thing as the right spot in a place like that. It's all in your head. What you see, how you see it, what you want the photo to become. That argument aside, people sadly have sheep mentality. They often arrive at a known place and all they care about is replicating an image they have in mind, even if it's far from ideal; instead of taking a bit of time to have a wonder about and scout the place for suitable vantage points. Also, where the fella is stood on your pic, seems like a perfect place for an ultra wide shot or a pano of the whole scene and the fence is the most obvious, if somewhat boring 'lead' (I'd also get a photographer in it (what is he doing on the other side of that fance?!)

Who knows what those other photographers came up with. The view and lighting are wonderful. All I know is you came up with two stunners, as you always do when you visit the Lakes. Perhaps they were about to dash off to photograph that famous boathouse at the north end of lake Ullswater - its what a bunch of beginners would surely do.
David

Thanks for the responses so far everyone, as you can probably guess, I was just playing devil's advocate and hoping to prompt some interesting debate. I have no idea why they were positioned where they were, or what they were trying to achieve, they may indeed have had a specific shot in mind.

However, it struck me as I was there that everyone was on the gravelly (boring?) bit of the shoreline, except me. I suspect this was more to do with the terrain being more difficult where I was, in that getting to the right place involved a bit of scrambling over rocks, nothing strenuous, but not flat gravelly terrain.

Also, I was surprised no-one else was using a low perspective, there were 5 or 6 guys with tripods, all of them set to full height, plus a few others without tripods who were all stood up at full height. Any views on this anyone?

Regards
David

They were after this view:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5013f4b2c4aaa4752ac69b17/5395a67be4b0902e...
It does look to be a photography workshop and they probably had to use the the ready made tripod holes for the purpose! Possibly this:
https://www.alanranger.com/lake-district/
If it is a workshop, the course organiser will find it easier to make use of expected foreground features for the course demonstration rather than something that might not be there every time thus give an appearance he didn't quite know what he was looking for.

That makes sense John, thanks for the explanation. Funny thing is, I had a chat with the guy who was clearly leading the group and mentioned to him there were some good lead-ins on the other side and as I walked away he set of to have a look! BTW, the image you've linked to, how did you get to that particular shot?

Regards
David

The well trodden tripod holes arn't always a so called bad idea...

Ah, you see, that’s where you went wrong. If you find an original view the first rule is to keep it to yourself!

A Google search for Friar's Crag images, especially one linked to a photo workshop. It just had to be there!
I'm sure he'd be interested personally for other views, such as yours. He might use your viewpoint next time!

Great shots too!