What a Creep!

He's probably just some old, widower that started taking a photography class to fill his spare time since his wife passed away. Here, he saw a young man reminiscent of him in his prime, and he decided to practice his new photography skills on a moving subject. When you came up to see the pictures he was probably overjoyed, finally someone to talk to about his photography! "They came out great!" he started. Then, you stole his only memory card and ran off with his photography.

You crushed an old man's heart today

Yes, hes a creeper. However, you were running in PUBLIC. He was within his legal rights to take pictures, because you are in a public setting and have no reasonable expectation of privacy.

Bottom line - You broke the law by taking his SD card. He was a creeper, but not doing anything illegal.

You want privacy while running? Buy a damn treadmill, and use it in your home.

Not entirely true. When it comes to photographs, even in public, a person has the right to refuse to be photographed. It's not about privacy, it's about common courtesy. Was the OP right to take the SD card? No. But he is right to be upset about being photographed.

A person has a right to ask not to be photographed in public, but if someone ignores that request, the photographer is not outside his or her rights. Even with minors. I used to be a reporter and we could take photos of anyone in public and even publush those photos without permission.

He's probably just some old, widower that started taking a photography class to fill his spare time since his wife passed away. Here, he saw a young man reminiscent of him in his prime, and he decided to practice his new photography skills on a moving subject. When you came up to see the pictures he was probably overjoyed, finally someone to talk to about his photography! "They came out great!" he started. Then, you stole his only memory card and ran off with his photography.

You crushed an old man's heart today

Report him!

He's probably just some old, widower that started taking a photography class to fill his spare time since his wife passed away. Here, he saw a young man reminiscent of him in his prime, and he decided to practice his new photography skills on a moving subject. When you came up to see the pictures he was probably overjoyed, finally someone to talk to about his photography! "They came out great!" he started. Then, you stole his only memory card and ran off with his photography.

You crushed an old man's heart today

YES.

what else was on the sd card? or do we want to know?

alright to all the law abiding citizens....I have just returned the SD to his house....I have however deleted all the pictures of me off of it...and there were no other pictures on it just a bunch or me...now if I am in fraction of some other law...I really do not care at this point...he has has blank card back...

I hope after all the trouble you gave him, you at least gave him a hummer.

(Yea, I'm going to hell. I'm ok with it.)

With my knee in your crotch. OK I probably couldn't really do it. I can sure think about it. Real Hard.

.... Ok then. I'm going to just assume you were joking, and not ACTUALLY so immature to be angered enough to want to inflict personal injury on me because of a differing of opinion.

It's not really as simple or small as a differing of opinion. When you have been the victim of a stalker (and mine did a great deal more than take my pictures) anyone belittling anyone’s need for and right to personal safety and security is part of the problem. And you did indicate that you knew you were going to hell for it and were OK with it so, clearly, you are aware of your contribution.

Are actually concerned about personal injury? Really? Because I do know what that's like. So, given the knowledge that we have no information about each other, I suspect that you are attempting to trivialize the concerns of anyone with an opinion that differs from yours. Some stance you’ve got there.

Am I the only one who really doesn't find this creepy at all? In my state you can photograph anything you want that happens publicly (unless otherwise posted)...you can't however steal things that other people are showing you in good faith. I suppose he could have asked to take photos, and you could have asked to have them deleted. But whatever, just don't see this as a creepy occurrence at all.

I don't really find it creepy either. So no you're not the only one. But I find it really rude that he went up to the guy asked to see the pictures (which by law he had the right to take) and took his sd card after the guy was like "yeah they're really good." I doubt he was going to go have some "private time" with them and was probably taking photos for artistic reasons not perverted ones. And just cause he drives a van doesn't mean he is a creeper.

All a really good point, and I've been photographed in the past, but it's polite for the photographer to state their intent and ask permission to take a couple shots. The way the guy was doing it, from a van, turning around to get more shots, just not a good way to go about it.

He's probably just some old, widower that started taking a photography class to fill his spare time since his wife passed away. Here, he saw a young man reminiscent of him in his prime, and he decided to practice his new photography skills on a moving subject. When you came up to see the pictures he was probably overjoyed, finally someone to talk to about his photography! "They came out great!" he started. Then, you stole his only memory card and ran off with his photography.

You crushed an old man's heart today

That is a perfectly reasonable scenario, though the stuff about his wife having just died may be stretching the point.

The fact is that there are a lot of keen photographers around, of which I am one, and the fact is that it IS absolutely legal to photograph anyone in public.

I have photographed people in all sorts of situations without incident or complaint, perhaps being an attractive female I have "got away" without seeming creepy, but nobody has reacted as the OP did, and if they had I'd certainly have reported them to the police.

To the OP - not everything is about "you" maybe he was just trying out photographing moving people, which is rather an interesting technical challenge.

alright to all the law abiding citizens....I have just returned the SD to his house....I have however deleted all the pictures of me off of it...and there were no other pictures on it just a bunch or me...now if I am in fraction of some other law...I really do not care at this point...he has has blank card back...

I hope after all the trouble you gave him, you at least gave him a hummer.

(Yea, I'm going to hell. I'm ok with it.)

With my knee in your crotch. OK I probably couldn't really do it. I can sure think about it. Real Hard.

.... Ok then. I'm going to just assume you were joking, and not ACTUALLY so immature to be angered enough to want to inflict personal injury on me because of a differing of opinion.

It's not really as simple or small as a differing of opinion. When you have been the victim of a stalker (and mine did a great deal more than take my pictures) anyone belittling anyone’s need for and right to personal safety and security is part of the problem. And you did indicate that you knew you were going to hell for it and were OK with it so, clearly, you are aware of your contribution.

Are actually concerned about personal injury? Really? Because I do know what that's like. So, given the knowledge that we have no information about each other, I suspect that you are attempting to trivialize the concerns of anyone with an opinion that differs from yours. Some stance you’ve got there.

You sure have a way of twisting words, don't you?

I mentioned I was going to hell for telling him he should have given the old man a hummer. Since you are obviously lacking a sense of humor, it was a joke.

I was not trivializing his fear. I was simply stating the old man was NOT breaking the law, and the OP was NOT within his rights to take the SD card, or bust the camera as others suggested. Its called laws, and we have them for a reason.

At no point did I tell the OP not to worry about it. By all means, EVERYONE should take steps to protect themselves. I am a firm believer in personal rights and the right to protect yourself, within the legal limits of the law.

In this case, the old man did nothing LEGALLY wrong.

Your case was a COMPLETELY different case. Just because YOU were stalked and molested does not mean ALL people that give someone a "creepy feeling" are predators. I'm not belittling your situation or what happened to you, I'm simply stating that the legal fact of the matter is you cannot treat someone as a criminal just because YOU don't like what they are doing.

So go ahead, threaten me with bodily harm because you inferred a bunch of things that I never even said. It sure shows your intelligence and maturity level.

P.S. I never said I felt threatened by you saying you wanted to knee me in the crotch. I was pointing out it was immature and ridiculous, especially since we have no idea where the other person lives, nor do I care.