The picture you wish you never took!

**Derf** · 02-03-2008, 11:42 AM

Couple years ago

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 (EMT or just well prepaired and in the right place). 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 to see them

Would like to hear your stories....

**T-Bird76** · 02-03-2008, 11:50 AM

OMG Fred I remember when you told me and showed me this......truly sad. I'll say one thing, you did a great job at capturing a moment in time which is what we do. Some might think its not right but the documentation of events is what photographers do. I remember looking at those pictures not knowing who any of the people were but somehow you felt as if the woman laying on ground could have been your mother, wife, sister, GF, or friend...very sad.

**emshighway** · 02-03-2008, 12:26 PM

I did spot news photography years ago and still know those who do. It's a job like any other. You capture the moment in time.

I have taken shots for EMS and FDNY. That became my part of the job that day, to record the action.

You did what you naturally do.

I got shots of a medevac coming into 6N5 probably twenty years ago of a private garbage worker who got his legs crushed on Liberty Ave when a car rear ended his truck. At the time I lived in Howard Beach so on the way home I stopped by the scene and got the aftermath of the truck and car with PD doing the investigation then drove back into the city to drop off the film. Two shots made the Daily News.

**Steven Holzinger** · 02-03-2008, 09:01 PM

F-14 Tomcat crash at Willow Grove on June 18, 2000. I was there for it and have spectacular video of it happening. If I happen to be at an airshow and know something is going wrong, I will keep my camera rolling, and hope it helps with investigations.

**PhilDernerJr** · 02-04-2008, 08:06 AM

If your intentions are not to capitalize on such an accident, then it's fine to take photos. There is artistic and investigative value to such photos.

**emshighway** · 02-04-2008, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by Phil D.

If your intentions are not to capitalize on such an accident, then it's fine to take photos. There is artistic and investigative value to such photos.

Why not sell it? Like I said I have done it and know persons who still do. It is just another aspect of photography. You are documenting news.

**PhilDernerJr** · 02-04-2008, 02:23 PM

Oh, you can sell, I just think that if you take a photo with dollar signs in your head, then you're lacking a certain compassion.

Just my view on it.

**G-BOAD** · 02-06-2008, 10:21 PM

I think a photographer should be able to take photos of such events without feeling guilty. However, I never wish to witness such an event, and wish they will stop happening.
The only time this happened to me was when our train collided with a truck. I think the driver was taken to the hospital, and I'm not sure of the outcome. I took three photos, they are not graphic, and I can post them later.

**Matt Molnar** · 02-07-2008, 10:30 AM

My philosophy is I hope I never see anything rotten happen, but if it does, I hope I have my camera with me.

**PhilDernerJr** · 02-07-2008, 10:36 AM

I've happened to witness a lot of gruesome things in my day, but I never had my camera with me for any of them.

**adam613** · 02-07-2008, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by GothamSpotter

My philosophy is I hope I never see anything rotten happen, but if it does, I hope I have my camera with me.

Ditto. We were actually having a discussion about that at work during lunch the other way...there are a LOT of amateur photographers in my office, and the general philosophy seems to be "never leave home without at least a point-and-shoot".