Camera-shy subjects?

[WaylonJennings]

How do you guys handle it when you're doing a feature on somebody, but they do NOT want a photo taken? It's happened to me more than once. It can be quite frustrating.

 

[Tom Petty]

**** 'em. write another story about someone who doesn't mind.

 

[slappy4428]

Cold, yet accurate....

 

[WaylonJennings]

OK, I'm not talking Prep of the Week here. And I don't look at features as rewards to be dispensed to gleeful, appreciative subjects.

 

[Rosie]

I've come across this over the years and I wish I could tell you exactly what I do to get the picture.

But I always manage to talk them into letting me take their picture.

 

[Irish_Italian_Stallion]

No action shots available of the subject?

 

[Sam Craig]

I've never had that problem as far as covering high school sports is concerned. Even the shyest interview subjects would consent to having their picture taken.

 

[Stone Cane]

I had a local guy who was being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame - couldn't have been more cooperative leading up to the big weekend. I spent time with him and his family at his house, long interview with him & his wife, follow-up phone calls for the usual crap I forgot to ask, the works. But he politely declined to have his picture taken and wouldn't budge. It's easy to say "**** 'em, write a story about somebody who doesn't mind," but in this case, we worked around it with file art an an illustration.

The "**** 'em" mentality isn't always the best one.

 

[Overrated]

Upper deck them.

 

[WaylonJennings]

No action shots available of the subject?

Yeah, not that kind of subject.

 

[Sam Craig]

Stalk them and take a picture of them picking their nose while at a red light. ;D

 

[Pete Incaviglia]

At one paper, I wrote a story on a poke player who made it to some pretty high stakes, televised tournaments. He wanted no photo taken. So my SE stole one off the interwebs.

 

[joe_schmoe]

Well, you definetly don't want it to become a hostile thing, but you should try to find out why. Some people just don't feel photogenic (like me, I hate seeing my mug shot), others it's a privacy thing. Whatever. But sometimes just having them talk about why helps them reason it out in their own mind and some will give in. You can mention how good it'd be to have it, but don't be pushy as again, some give into reason after thinking about it.

If not, their ain't much you can do, but give the editors plenty of warnign in advance because it can change how a story is played too.

 

[Sam Craig]

Maybe they're in witness protection.

 

[SportsDude]

Nothing like wasting an hour on a long day trying to talk some idiot into taking a picture that takes five seconds.

One woman wouldn't let me take hers until she put her make up on. Her make up was half an hour away at home.

I don't say much, I just ask why not. Then I hang around and make it obvious I'm going to be annoying as hell. That usually gets them moving.

 

[Steak Snabler]

I have an aunt and a cousin (her daughter) who freak out every time you try to take a snapshot of them at family gatherings. I suppose it's a self-esteem thing. Maybe that's the case with the people discussed in this thread.

And not to threadjack, but I always cringe every time I see a story about someone who has a huge sports memorabilia collection (or rare coins or dolls or whatever). You (and they) are just inviting people to try and rob them.

 

[Songbird]

How do you guys handle it when you're doing a feature on somebody, but they do NOT want a photo taken? It's happened to me more than once. It can be quite frustrating.

As the world's best photographer , I love the camera-shy subjects. Some of my best shots, I think, were of shy ones who I got to trust me enough to open up and shine for the camera. Just gotta work your mojo.

 

[Batman]

Depends on what the story is about, but you might could ask them for an older personal or family photo. Something from their scrapbook, perhaps. It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing.

 

[Cadet]

Maybe you could get them to agree to be one of multiple people in the picture ('Here's Mary playing with her kids'), or be in an off-the-focus shot ('Here is Mary making her famous soup' and it's more of an over-her-shoulder shot of the soup pot). Sometimes photos that aren't the "say cheese" variety make people more comfortable.

 

[Tom Petty]

I had a local guy who was being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame - couldn't have been more cooperative leading up to the big weekend. I spent time with him and his family at his house, long interview with him & his wife, follow-up phone calls for the usual crap I forgot to ask, the works. But he politely declined to have his picture taken and wouldn't budge. It's easy to say "**** 'em, write a story about somebody who doesn't mind," but in this case, we worked around it with file art an an illustration.

The "**** 'em" mentality isn't always the best one.

i think the **** 'em approach works perfect in this case. when i was younger i tried to talk people into taking a photo but came to realize i simply don't have time to play coy with some derelict who doesn't want his or her picture taken.

if they don't want to take a pic, fine. take a mug and run the damn story down a rail.