# Oblivious People Stroll Through Camera Shot (Should BE Shot) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 19, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374 "2005-09-19T16:08:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stonebow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Stonebow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stonebow)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/21 "2005-09-19T17:27:38Z")
I sympathize. We had a signing ceremony at the University the other day driven inside due to rain. We used the atrium of our conference center- set up the podium, flags, potted palms, the works. I’m the special events guy, so ‘setting up the shot’ is my responsibility for things like this. Ceremony goes off without a hitch. Then, as photogs get lined up for shots, one student crosses behind the podium to get to the bookstore down the hall. Not even running, or walking fast…just she just ambles across, ignoring the ‘WTF’ on the faces of the onlookers, as well as our chancellor and the VIP there for the historic signing. My one consolation is that one of my kids, standing post on the opposite side of the the perimeter (somehow this dumbass got past my crowd control people on the other side), follows her into the bookstore, and last thing I see is her arm wrapped around the girl’s shoulders, steering her into a quiet corner out of sight. (bear in mind, none of us know who this person is) I don’t know what happened, but when she emerged, the interloper looked properly chastened. I think I’ll just post snipers next time. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/22 "2005-09-19T17:29:46Z")
I would just like to take this opportunity to quote the Littlest Trion (who is 21 months old) in regards to Thomas and Friends: “Scared of faces.” ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/23 "2005-09-19T17:32:52Z")
_twitch_ Try photographing a Wedding. _twitch_ never again never again ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/24 "2005-09-19T17:44:12Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > Can I forward that to her, then? Nah. I’ll ask her about it next time I see her. I was curious how the pegging experiments went anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/25 "2005-09-19T17:46:48Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Then we get off. And we, like every other parent attending, realize the grand opportunity for a photo shoot… as Thomas departs for his next run, we can snap a picture of our child on the platform, right as Thomas goes by. It’ll capture the awesome life-sized Thomas, and be a memento for the ages. > > So dozens of parents lined up their kids, spaced far enough apart that each could get solo pics, as Thomas majestically rolled out of the station. > > … > > Didn’t they wonder why, on a day in which crowds were everywhere, they suddenly had a free corridor all to themselves? Did they not grasp that they were the subject of increasingly loud murmers and comments, like “Excuse me!” and “Hey!” and other things not suited to young ears? Is it possible that they simply had tunnel vision? That they didn’t remotely perceive the actions of dozens of people around them? So, was there room on the platform behind the parents for pedestrian traffic? Or was this a case of the parents with cameras taking up the whole width of the platform by backing up to the station-house wall so they could get a nice wide angle shot? Because that fact changes the calculus of courtesy depending on how it shook out. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![The\_New\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@The\_New\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_New_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/26 "2005-09-19T18:10:10Z")
Ooh, ooh - I’ve got one. How about the _opposite_ rant? When clueless tourists for some unknown reason always _have_ to frame their shots with the shooter on one extreme edge of the walkway, and the subject on the _other_ extreme edge, forcing everyone else to wait for them to finish before they can go anywhere? (I’m sure Bricker would never do this, of course.) And why is it that the people who block the entire path in this way _also_ always seem either to not know how to operate a camera, or feel a need to take 5 or 10 pictures of the same thing, so it takes them forever? And it’s not NECESSARY to have that much space between the shooter and the subject anyway. These people must constantly be getting their prints back and wondering why the people always look so small in their pictures. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/27 "2005-09-19T18:44:06Z")
Bit of a no brainer – wait a couple of seconds while the train moves by so the shots can be taken with the train in the background. Common consideration is all that is asked. Walking in front of the camera when this sort of shot is being made is very rude. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/28 "2005-09-19T19:03:27Z")
I was just in Strasburg last month myself, although Thomas (one of only two steam Thomases in the world, the other 20 or so are disguised diesels) was in a carbarn with a canvas covering his face, which was weird enough. We’ve been going to that part of the country for 30 years and there are pix of 5-year-old me riding Grasshopper Level, one of the old wooden coaches. Strasburg RR is a major operation, with two tracks alongside [an asphalt plaza](http://www.strasburgrailroad.com/map_station.aspx) of shops, exhibits, and more rides, in a line between the tracks and the road. There is about 50 feet or more between tracks and stores, plenty of room to walk behind a line of people who are taking pictures. I resent tourists who expect me, when I’m walking in NYC, to stop for every single shot of their wide-butted T-shirt wearing spawn standing in front of something I have to walk by, like the Empire State Building which takes up a whole block, since the sidewalk is how we all commute and it’s a real city, not Disneyland. But Strasburg is set up for visitors. If the parents were standing 10-15 feet away from the engine there was indeed plenty of room to walk behind them, crowded though it may have been; I’m sure it wasn’t so crowded that you couldn’t walk next to the stores. I talked to the volunteer engineers and restorers about Thomas and they resent his gimmickry a bit, but the money his rental brings in allows them to get on with the real business of the place–restoring and keeping their old engines and coaches and barns and their top-of-the-line shop going. And if a kid starts loving engines like Thomas hopefully they’ll graduate to #89, #90, and #475. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/29 "2005-09-19T19:15:05Z")
All I can say is I hope they’re Dopers, so they can read this and see what assholes they are. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/30 "2005-09-19T19:18:26Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Even when they overstep their bounds, and end up stuck in a ditch or somesuch, they come to realize it was BECAUSE they ignored Hatt’s wise counsel. Honestly, this sounds to me like the worst sort of social engineering. What next, are you gonna tell me that he made the trains run on time? Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/31 "2005-09-19T21:23:21Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > So, was there room on the platform behind the parents for pedestrian traffic? Or was this a case of the parents with cameras taking up the whole width of the platform by backing up to the station-house wall so they could get a nice wide angle shot? Because that fact changes the calculus of courtesy depending on how it shook out. Excellent question. And in fact, there was plenty of space behind the phalanx of cameras and the far “wall” (actually a rope line) of the platform. And the other people exiting were using that space to walk. So it wasn’t a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/32 "2005-09-19T21:26:55Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Or were they simply selfish jerks who didn’t care? Somebody ought to’ve given 'em a little push. Then the kids could’ve seen what it looks like when Thomas kills a dude. Cuz you don’t **mess** with Thomas, yo. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/33 "2005-09-19T21:27:18Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > What about the scrapping issue, Bricker? _What about the scrapping?_ Can you explain how, outside of a slave system, Hatt has the option to have his “employees” killed when they are no longer useful? Under a system like that, one might logically presume the engines never voice any discontent out of fear. The Diesels are antagonistic to the steamies, it’s true; however they are also fighting the power. Every revolution has its excesses. OK. Let’s examine this paper tiger of scrapping. First: can you point to any train that has actually _been_ scrapped? Or is it a boogey-man threat designed simply to motivate trains that are not pulling their weight, so to speak? ---
**Author:** ![The\_New\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@The\_New\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_New_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/34 "2005-09-19T21:46:04Z")
Now you guys are scaring me. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/35 "2005-09-19T22:35:14Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Cuz you don’t **mess** with Thomas, yo. I heard he doesn’t run them over. At first anyway. He scoops them up and chomps on them for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/36 "2005-09-19T23:58:41Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > OK. Let’s examine this paper tiger of scrapping. > > First: can you point to any train that has actually _been_ scrapped? Or is it a boogey-man threat designed simply to motivate trains that are not pulling their weight, so to speak? No specific engine has been scrapped in any episode that I’ve seen; but **Old Slowcoach** had been relegated to a siding and was awaiting that fate. The yard workers said as much. Old Slowcoach was saved only through the begging and pleading of several engines. Also, in a Halloween episode, the title of which escapes me, Thomas and one of the female engines are dispatched to the smelter’s yard to pick up a load of iron. There, scattered about in clear view are the remains of engines and coaches that _had_ been scrapped. Hatt has the “blood” of every one of them on his hands. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/37 "2005-09-20T00:31:11Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > No specific engine has been scrapped in any episode that I’ve seen; but **Old Slowcoach** had been relegated to a siding and was awaiting that fate. The yard workers said as much. Old Slowcoach was saved only through the begging and pleading of several engines. Also, in a Halloween episode, the title of which escapes me, Thomas and one of the female engines are dispatched to the smelter’s yard to pick up a load of iron. There, scattered about in clear view are the remains of engines and coaches that _had_ been scrapped. Hatt has the “blood” of every one of them on his hands. A very serious and well-taken point, **Scumpup**. But another question arises: are Halloween episodes actually canon, in terms of continuity? Or does Sodor have one-offs, after the manner of Springfield? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/38 "2005-09-20T00:36:56Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > A very serious and well-taken point, **Scumpup**. But another question arises: are Halloween episodes actually canon, in terms of continuity? Or does Sodor have one-offs, after the manner of Springfield? AFAIK, all episodes of the tv show are considered canon, the holiday themed episodes included. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/39 "2005-09-20T00:45:17Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > AFAIK, all episodes of the tv show are considered canon, the holiday themed episodes included. Well, then, that’s that. Ball’s in your court, **Bricker** , you capitalist running dog, lackey, you. This is FUN! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374/40 "2005-09-20T03:31:53Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Hatt’s guidance is no more benevolent than that of any other slavemaster. He is a base exploiter of the mechanical slaves whose labor makes his railroad possible. I look forward to the day when the machine underclass arises, throws off their yoke of bondage, and hangs Hatt from a signal right in front of Tidmouth shed. His doctor has probably forbidden him to hang. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oblivious-people-stroll-through-camera-shot-should-be-shot/322374.md?page=3)