Avoiding harassment when shooting in the street

[Robert Opheim]

I have been asked by a Washington State Park Ranger if I had a permit to photograph in a local State Park. She said that my equipment looked like "professional equipment." I explained that my equipment was old (the newest from the 1980's) and that I was a hobbyist.

I took photographs in downtown Seattle some years ago, before Covid. I was set up across from the then fairly new Seattle Public Library. At that time there were few people living on the street. It was late in the afternoon, a man walked by and said "that looks like a very expensive camera" I felt uneasy by how he said it. If I went back to photograph I thought that I should have someone watching my back.