A passerby photographs Tiger & Bunny, Youmacon 2013

Short answer - no!

Maybe that seems surprising. Not all photographers feel this way! After all, it takes work to set up a shot! You find a setting, pose the models, get the expressions right, and so on. Then, after all that sweat, someone else comes up and snaps the same photo?! What gives?

Okay, well, it USED to bother me. Then I realized something BIG -

They're NOT going to get the same shot!

For example: Take these Night Vale cosplayers from Katsucon. They did a great job on their outfits, (*cough* and I have a crippling weakness for Night Vale) so of course I wanted a photo! While I was getting them set up, other people were snapping pictures too.

Most got this shot.

But I got THIS shot.

Getting this photo required a closer crop, coaxing a smirk out of "Cecil" (in purple), and then clean-up and editing in Lightroom. This photo is MINE. *cackles happily*

BUT - It's great that people took the top image too!

We are performing art in a public space. Of course the public is going to be interested. I see asking for the photo as a compliment, both for me and the models. People are telling us on the spot they like our work enough to want to remember it. That's pretty high praise! (There IS a caveat here - if it's a private shoots, I'm going to ask you NOT to move the subjects!)

The takeaway is this - No two photographers are going to take the same photo. You can have the same subjects, setting, and lighting, and still get very different images. Maybe you want to spend 5-10 minutes on a pose, or maybe you just want a quick snap for a memory.

So no - I almost never mind. I'm cool sharing, because everyone wins!

CREDITS
Tiger & Bunny
Tiger: worthythunder
Bunny: LunaRiven

Welcome to Night Vale
megnesiums as Cecil
sherlockandmoriar-tea as Kevin

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