Pest Perched on a Pedestal in the Park by RedundantlyAbundant
Open full image in new tab Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.
No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in the grass at the park taking pictures of flowers when some tattooed asshole on a bicycle accosted me. In a menacing tone, he says, "Are you taking pictures of my house?" I was in a bad mood so I snapped back at him, "I am taking pictures of flowers buddy, so fuck off and leave me alone." (I was kind of shocked at my own response) He then rode off on his bike without uttering a rejoinder.
Today I was taking shots at the same park for about ten minutes before some guy yelled something out at me while he was driving by. I couldn't make out what he said. Another ten minutes passes by and a cop pulls up. The cop watched me take pictures for about 15 minutes. The picture you see above was the last shot I took. When I climbed back into my car, he took off. Maybe I'm only paranoid, but it sucks to think that I can't even enjoy my little hobby amongst the flowers and bugs without getting harassed.
Perhaps I have unwittingly sparked a sordid mess of events and I am caught in the middle. Am I the victim of a case of mistaken identity? At least life is never boring.
Anyways, that is the story behind this shot. I was only able to take one shot before it flew off.

Comments (33)
The picture is awesome Matt, love the colors in background, perfect DOF too !!! I guess you only needed one shot ! :o) And about the harassment: i was unlucky enough to experience something like that. As i was taking some shots of a kitten on the street. Some pissed woman came to me and asked why i was taking pictures of her house. And the neighbours had complained too she said. It took me almost half an hour to convince that lady i was only taking pictures of the kitten. sigh So i dont think you are paranoid, i think the people that harass us are paranoid. Or maybe they have something to hide ? Well anyways i VOTE for this beautiful shot made under pressure by peeping coppers lol
wow, amazing artistic act you catched here so wonderful,Matt. a funny and most beautiful image. great DOF of course. * VOTE * !!!!!!!! #:O) !!!!!
Are you wearing a t-shirt with a provocative text 'Destruction team 12b' or so? LOL That's the life of an artist, unappreciated by the mob, had that with my Crocumulus too - join the club! Under these circumstances surprisingly good capture, excellent work!
Enmos and RedundantlyAbundant I know what you are talkin'about. This is some Paranoid World we live in. Great catch! Love The Colors!
I guess you trained this fly very well....is the next trick making it jump through a burning hoop? hehehe....great colors !!
Are you serious? You can't even take pics in a park? WTF is the world coming to for photographers.... It's getting to the point where everyone with a camera is looked upon suspiciously.... as if the camera figures into some great terrorist plan for destruction.... sigh.... OK enough ranting ..... love the photo Matt, sorry you had such a shitty time of it.
Paranoia runs in Panic Park...soon only Insects will tolerate the Paparazzi.
Here's one for you... photographing my local library exterior I was accosted by security guards requesting I.D. &c. ... 'oooops sorry (them) we thought you might be taking photos to decide where to put a bomb ... alert but not alarmed!'. (P.S. I think I know where I want to put a bomb now!!!)
Had to chuckle about your trials and tribulations, and can sympathize. It's even worse if you get caught digging up an ammo can or a hidden Tupperware container while geocaching. One thing about taking pics with a digital camera, though...you can show folks what's on your "roll". :-) Anyway, great shot!!!
Well, maybe the guy's got a beautiful wife... :D She's gotta be prettier than this bug! :D Outstanding macro, with excellent DOF :)
Great shot, love those background colours: sorry to hear you had such hassle but I can't stop laughing at all comments! As you said life is never boring and this page has been very entertaining, thanks guys - I must fly now........
LOL what other tricks can he do :)
Sounds like you responded something like I would have LOL! Are we related here? Nope life isn't ever boring is it? Excellent macro Matt! Love the bg colors! :) And the detail on that fly is exquisite! :)
Great pic Matt....maybe you need to take some shots of little boys and girls at school and really get some attention....hahaha...or try going into your local courthouse with a clip board and a pencil and just stand there lookin around and writing things down...that really gets attention. Yep...we have paranoia all around but it's really fun to mess with them...but a great pic.
Fantastic shot;;;and funny too !
If he gives you anymore trouble, cycle through your images on the camera and ask if any of them look like his house. Ask him if he lives on the end of a flower's stamin, or maybe up an insect's butt. Maybe you're taking pictures of his relatives, and that scares him. Great image. Love your macros.
ohhhhh.....wowww..excellent shot...!!!!! love he Colors!...cool.
Excellent shot....perfect details....
Have yet to came across this 'hassle' thing...wa wa one day I guess...superb shot ...:)
Excellent shot Matt!! I love the colors too!! V
Excellent image!!! Sorry to here about the hassles.... it's definantly a paranoid world we live in...
Sounds like everyone else is paranoid :P Fantastic macro shot, love the colors =)
Fantastic colors in the background excellent choice if you were going to get one shot. Top notch work Mat. Randy
How sweet she's blinking at you ;o) Fantastic DOF! Excellent job, Matt! vote
That is why I'm glad that I have my own piece of land to crawl about on, taking pictures :-) You can get some pretty strange looks from bystanders if you shoot with others around :-) I guess it's a matter of not understanding what you are doing on theire behalf. But this is an Excellent capture!! I'm impressed by your indifference about the cops watching you while shooting!! :-)
Well, shave youre beard, take off that Marokken dress and get a haircut :) Get totaly pissed, eat as much pork as you can manage in public, wisstle the stars and stripes. Then, when that does not work, hope you reincarnate as a fly :) Sorry for being just a little cynical, but ive been reading some real odd story's about people being harresed when taking just there normal dose of average macro photo's. Thats a sign. Somethings rotten.
LOL funny and excellent shot :-) vote
i heard that one from a security gaurd (addiek)... i could be a spy... scoping the place out to BOMB it... me... uh huh... right... :p... it's everywhere matt ... i like stevermstrong's ideal :] ...oh & hey... your fly is showing beautifully here :]
came back to read some more stories... noticed i misspelled... eeek
Teally fantastic!
Jeez! Crazy how many jerks there is on this earth huh! I guess they're just really bored in their life!! Ur shot is splendid anyway, despite the bad conditions in which it's been taken! ;) Again, that colorful background is fabulous! ;) This deserves a vote, for the troubles! ;)