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02/02/2008 10:34:15 PM · #1 |
Okay.....I'm moderately creeped out by the circumstances, yet I still composed the crime scene to its best advantage. I got the cop car, coroner's car, fire truck, the vehicle the victim was found in, a plainclothes vehicle, and a news photographer. This was the end result of a carjacking gone terribly awry, with someone ending up dead in the abandoned vehicle. This was about two blocks from the governor's mansion in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with an all too evident view of the decay of the city in this section.
[thumb]641569[/thumb]******[thumb]641574[/thumb]
I just stopped 'cause I'm nosy; it wasn't like I had a clue at first.......it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out any scene with the coroner's vehicle isn't good, but I am not sure how I feel after having thought about what I stumbled upon on an otherwise unremarkable Saturday morning.
Am I a freak? Is this something any of you have run into before as far as an experience? What do you do if you see a cluster of official vehicles and you have your camera with you? I just don't know what I feel about this whole thing.
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02/02/2008 11:05:17 PM · #2 |
| You had two video cameras in front of you so I clearly don't think you are a freak. In addition both the shots you posted here are respectful shots. Since the coroner was already there odds are that all of your shots should be pretty respectful, but you know from the police tape and the video cameras that this is a newsworthy event. There is indeed a demand and need for freelance shots of this nature. You didn't seek this out you stopped and had your camera. I really don't think you should feel bad about this at all. If you discovered the scene before the police and started shooting pictures instead of calling authorities then I have a problem, but that isn't at all what happened here. You clearly stayed exactly where you were supposed to and framed up a shot that told the story. Being that close to a violent murder scene unnerves many folks, but I assure you from what you have here you shouldn't feel bad about taking the shot, but only for the family of the deceased. Terrible things do happen and they are newsworthy, and what I appreciate most is people who take shots that are respectful and comply with the requests of law enforcement. Sad story but you did nothing wrong and I actually appreciate the way you took your shots. |
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02/02/2008 11:07:47 PM · #3 |
Based on the images you've shared, it looks as though you documented what you saw and it looks like you did it objectively.
There's nothing creepy about that - what happened, happened. You simply recorded what you encountered.
I notice the news crew in your shot. I wonder how their images will be used to tell a story by the media. Will it be objective, or perhaps sensationalized to sell more?
I came across a similar situation (not a crime scene, but emotionally powerful) about a year and a half ago - it was a memorial service in Canada for a soldier who perished in Iraq. I chose to document it the way I saw it, and I believe I respected the situation and took away several images that will have meaning to me for years to come. Nothing creepy about it. When I mentioned this to a fellow photographer travelling our same route at the time, he stated that he personally would not have taken images. I found that odd.
Some things need to be documented, just in case no one else "got it right".
Message edited by author 2008-02-02 23:10:15. |
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02/03/2008 04:41:18 AM · #4 |
"freaky"? it depends on things like 1) what drove you to take the photos in the first place, 2) of what and how did you take the photos, and 3) what you did with them afterwards.
i don't see anything "freaky," here, just some eye-level documentary shots.
it doesn't happen every day, but you never know when spot news is going to happen. you can read the details of this shot in the photo notes.
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02/03/2008 08:27:46 AM · #5 |
Thanks, guys.....you have brought me reassurance and some level of acceptance.
It was weird, but my brain sort of slipped into this strange analytical mode and I scanned the scene for the best possible composition to get the salient info recorded.
I really don't consider myself ghoulish by nature, but I have found myself in difficult situations over the years.
Not too terribly long ago I documented the scene of a car crash where the driver only had minor injuries thanks to a solid car and airbags, but she did about $65K damage to five brand new trucks on the front row of a car dealership. The dealership owner was most grateful for the disc with about 30 images from all angles dsupporting the details of the damage report so that he could clean up his sales lot and get on with life.
So I will be on the job should circumstances dictate, observe what I know to bbe a level of respect and decency, and know that sometimes this just goes with the territory.
I much prefer this kind of random news imagery.....and as I take my camera with me EVERYWHERE, I guess I'm just as likely to get a poignant or fun moment as a sobering, unpleasant scene.
The governor of Pennsylvania walking in the 2007 Gay Pride Parade: [thumb]641690[/thumb]
The tiny pink tags say: "I love safer sex!.
A couple of Gay Pride revelers: [thumb]566923[/thumb]
A local newscaster at the Pennsylvania State Farm Show: [thumb]632472[/thumb]
And particularly near and dear to my heart, the PA CASA Executive Director announces two new CASA Programs in two more counties on the steps of the Capitol Rotunda: [thumb]604564[/thumb]
I guess I just needed to be reminded that when I'm thrust into a newsworthy situation, it's not always going to be flowers, sunshine, and happiness......thanks!
Curious side note......every time I do run into an interesting public scene....there always seems to be a TV crew there.
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02/03/2008 11:38:18 AM · #6 |
Girl gets hit by an elderly man in an SUV and I am 50 feet away. I leap out of the car with my Rebel XT and 70-300 and realized there were 3 people on the phone and someone putting on a rubber glove with a white towel or BIG gauze. I am still fifty feet away... I pick up the camera, zoom and push. I turn and walk away, minutes later I look at the shots on my way into work and see that there is a pool of blood the size of a dinner plate (15 seconds after it happened....I know the outcome already). I tell coworkers (they know me with my camera and I am in shock that I just saw someone die) and tell me how low I am for doing it......then proceed to annoy me the entire day to see the images.
I did what I trained myself to do over years....IF THERE IS ANY EMOTION, SNAP THE SHUTTER. The camera was on AV mode but I was on full auto!
NO, DO NOT ASK |
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02/03/2008 11:51:08 AM · #7 |
Well I have always wanted to be a crime scene investigator, forensics. So I am drawn to this sort of thing.
I think the pictures you have are great. They are very news worthy IMO.
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02/03/2008 02:53:59 PM · #8 |
Anything "freaky"? No. Where's the body? Either use a long lens to pull the body in, or "belly-up" to the corpse. ;-)
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