What are your photography pet hates?

[LouiseTopp]

I have several, so here is a list. Please feel free to add your own.

People who come up when you are taking photo's, and the conversation might go like this?

Do you want me to take a photo of you?
No thank you
Do you know a what's her face (eg)?
NO!
Are you working for a paper
ARRRGH!

Also people who stand in the way after you have set up your tripod in a church etc and try to 'photo bomb' your image.

Show offs with longer lenses who claim Canon and Nikon are the king in camera's and nothing else will do.

Overdone HDR

People asking what you are doing while you are taking photos, or what kit you own or what lens you used or do I know David Bailey etc. I WISH.

Horizons wonky, I stand wonky!

Snobs who are rude just because they own a Hasselblad, or pure gold camera.

Drunks shouting out 'take a picture of me!'

[Shadowman]

People chatting loudly during nature walks, even in city parks. It usually scares the animals away.

[Kris V]

I have several, so here is a list. Please feel free to add your own.

People who come up when you are taking photo's, and the conversation might go like this?

Do you want me to take a photo of you?
No thank you
Do you know a what's her face (eg)?
NO!
Are you working for a paper
ARRRGH!

Also people who stand in the way after you have set up your tripod in a church etc and try to 'photo bomb' your image.

Show offs with longer lenses who claim Canon and Nikon are the king in camera's and nothing else will do.

Overdone HDR

People asking what you are doing while you are taking photos, or what kit you own or what lens you used or do I know David Bailey etc. I WISH.

Horizons wonky, I stand wonky!

Snobs who are rude just because they own a Hasselblad, or pure gold camera.

Drunks shouting out 'take a picture of me!'

I agree with all of them, and don't forget the classic: "Your pictures are so good, you must have an expensive camera".
Other pet peeves of mine: smooth silky water and selective colouring.

[Shadowman]

I agree with all of them, and don't forget the classic: "Your pictures are so good, you must have an expensive camera".
Other pet peeves of mine: smooth silky water and selective colouring.

I must have been living in a vacuum when first exposed to selective coloring or I just wasn't paying attention., The first time I paid attention to selective coloring was the Gatorade commercials and I was so intrigued by the technique. What spoils most techniques is when everyone learns how to do it and you begin to see a flurry of works repeating the style; while on the other hand whenever an artist tries something new it rarely ever gets appreciation and some styles get squashed before ever seeing any exposure.

[Black Pearl]

People with DSLR's who think they are superior to anyone else using another type of camera just because its not a DSLR.
People who don't think an iPhone (or other smart phone) is a valid way of capturing images.
People who have expensive gear and look down on others with basic kit.

Actually you can group the whole lot together - I HATE narrow minded snobbery - almost as much as I hate pixel peeping but we won't go there or I'll explode and the wife gets annoyed as I make a mess

[Donald]

I think mine have been covered already.

Primarily, it's the 'I think mine is bigger than yours' brigade. Response = 'Yeh, but do you know what to do with it?'

[Manfred M]

One peeve of mine is the iPad owners who stand in front of everyone else holding said device high over their heads, blocking their view and shooting the whole time.

I have no issues with either selective colouring or silky water. Both can (and do) work, but there are too many people around that figure that a mediocre image can be saved by post-processing. There is a lot of mediocre HDR work out there with the "grunge" filter doing the heavy lifting. When you check. many of the images aren't even HDRI, but rather a single tone-mapped image. Almost as bad are the people who dismiss photos that use these techniques, without looking at the artistic merit of having done so.

I'm also peeved by the folks that say they only shoot "existing light". That generally translates into "I don't know how to shoot with flash, so I'll pretend I don't need it to cover up this lack of knowledge". Rule #1 I learned many years ago in the film days was, if the shot is not working for you, "just add light".

However, my biggest peeve is the self-proclaimed anti-photography "police". You know the ones that loudly declare "you can't take a picture of that!" or "do you have the owner's permission?". This sometimes includes, unfortunately, people in authority; police officers, security guards and general passers by who seem to think that anyone taking a picture must be up to something immoral or illegal.

I'm also not a fan of the "purists" who insist that "Straight Out Of the Camera - SOOC) is the only way to shoot and those of us who dare to post-process are somehow cheating and acting immorally.

[chauncey]

those of us who dare to post-process are somehow cheating and acting immorally

Where does that leave me with my smoke images...

'Tis only a shallow ego that worries about what other folks think.

[TrishBJ]

I still have lots to learn and have trouble with some of the acronyms that are used in posts. HDR = high dynamic range. But what is HDRI please?

Re the peeves, I agree with many of those posted, especially the 'mine is bigger/better than yours' crowd. Another is people who think that their way of doing things (whether it be equipment, subject matter or processing) is the only way, and those who prefer something different to them are committing a grievous sin.

[Venser]

I used to belong to a number of sites where you could vote on images in a challenge. You throw out a 1 on a 10 point scale and they scream to high heaven that their photo doesn't deserve that because of [insert any reason here]. It's subjective and you're asking for a score to be placed on the image. Suck it up when someone else doesn't like it.

[Manfred M]

I still have lots to learn and have trouble with some of the acronyms that are used in posts. HDR = high dynamic range. But what is HDRI please?

HDRI - High Dynamic Range Image

[dasmith232]

I think I've been able to relate to many of these in the past. I'm kind of at the point that I don't really get bothered by much anymore. Regarding camera snobbery, yeah it's alive and well far too often. I actually teach a lot of photography classes and topics, so I end up working with a lot of different cameras every week. The brand doesn't matter most of the time. Most cameras do just fine.

So my "pet love" (opposite) is more along the lines of working with a student or whomever that has a "lesser" camera (or at least they think that because they've been told that by the snobs), and we do something really fun with it. They get really, really happy when we do things like high-speed capture with a point-and-shoot, or full-on portrait lighting with studio strobes on an entry-level DSLR.

[IzzieK]

Mine has been covered already by those that posted before me...

[dubaiphil]

How many megapixels is that?

[FootLoose]

"How much magnification is that (lens)?"

"Can I have a look?"

"Canon, eh.... My (brother/friend/football hero etc) has a Nikon and takes really good pictures"

[Saorsa]

I shoot a lot of nature which requires stillness and patience. My pet peeve isn't the person who asks what I am doing and talks quietly about the birds or bugs. It's the one who zooms up on a bike comes to a halt to tell me there is a big bird sitting on a wire half a mile away. They usually come up at some speed and brake hard scaring my target away to tell me this.

[MattNQ]

When shooting sports, (eg netball) I sit back a couple of metres from the corner to not be too intrusive for the players, but also so I don't get a netball in the face
So I accept that people will walk in front of me. But there are always a few that stroll up and stop, right in front of me. AArrrgh!
Luckily my shutter is so noisy that the next burst I fire off, they turn around in surprise "oh, are we in your way?"
Other peeves have been covered;
I only upgraded from a D3000 to a D3 for shooting sport this year (yes, I know I am a slow updater). Used to laugh when someone who had seen my photos shot on the D3000 would say "Oh, you must have a really good camera" To which I replied..."well actually its got less Mpx and is worse in low light than your phone" That really confused them

Oh, yes, and another vote for the SOOC brigade being annoying. Maybe when I can turn water into wine, the SOOC images from my aging cameras will magically be perfect, but until then I will be more than happy to adjust anything that needs tweaking - NR, sharpening, etc to make a photo I am happy with.

[rpcrowe]

Tilted Horizons
Sunsets
Wide angle lenses used on people up close
Sunsets
Converging or diverging vertical lines in architecture
Sunsets
Unsharp faces
Sunsets, sunsets and more darn sunsets
Only to be eclipsed by flowers and more flowers.
Finally, travel shots with no people appearing in them
Oh BTW, did I mention SUNSETS

[tao2]

over processed photos

badly/over-used HDR

badly used HDR combined with b+w conversions...nah, it doesn't disguise or repair a badly taken photo.

intolerant photographers. If yer sitting there surrounded by thousands of camera phone, ipad, compact camera wielding bad people - what the hell are ye doing there at that time of day? Suffer for yer art ; get up at dawn or go out at last light,take a flask with ye, get the shot, go home for a full breakfast or a good supper and a glass of wine, feel pompous, self-satisfied and superior...

Oh and over-processed photos and HDR...AGAIN!

[FootLoose]

... go out at last light,take a flask with ye, get the shot, go home for... a good supper and a glass of wine, feel pompous, self-satisfied and superior...

Well, that is something I hadn't thought of. I was given a flask a couple of years ago and wondered what I would ever do with it. Thanks for the tip, Boab.