Question For Photographers. Do You Shoot Alone Or With Someone Or Group?

I would prefer to shoot alone if possible ..

even though I also enjoy shooting together with friends

but most of the time I always shoot with helicopter / airplane pilots from the air


michelle saraswati

I definitely prefer to shoot alone! It takes concentration and I find being with others is a distraction. I don't like meet-up groups for that reason. If I do go with someone it's usually a person who isn't shooting, so they just come along and go where I'm going.

I totally agree with you Jessica! Photographing is just such a personal thing. I hate feeling like I am holding anyone up and I just feel like I MUST do my own thing at my own pace. It takes an incredible amount of personal patience. The only thing that sometimes is scary, is when one goes to a place that is not particularly safe and one is alone. I try hard to avoid doing that, but sometimes those are the best photo opportunities, i.e., going down a road that looks moody.

Never ever with a group though now and then I will with a friend.

Yes, Diana! Normally I spook easily but when I'm shooting, my camera give me courage to do things or go places I normally wouldn't! Ya know?

Showed up to shoot a lake in Wilmington NC not knowing it was a bad area. I figured it out when I realized the dude in the center of the bridge I was planning on shooting from was a pharmaceutical sales man using bike messengers to deliver his wares.

I find bad guys are usually not out at sunrise though so shot it the next morning.

I hear you, Jessica! I love going to Harlem and lonely streets in Manhattan... I am often spooked, but the adrenaline keeps me so excited and challenged to no end!!! I say to myself if I get mugged or raped, at least I will die doing something I love... hehe!

Even if someone is with me - I'm shooting alone.

I prefer to shoot alone. Often, I'm out in the boonies all night and i go alone many times. Other times, my hubby or son will go - it's nice to have a Sherpa. It does get spooky though - I've watched too many Criminal Minds episodes.

I prefer to be alone so Im no rushed or pulled in other directions. I especially enjoy "me time" out on a hiking trail.

Try Bedford-Sty for adrenaline. Even I didn't get out of my car there.

alone, exceptions for true photographer friends, especially those with boats and really long white L lenses

I often shoot hummingbirds from a campsite. I sometimes invite birders into my campsite to watch, since my long trips are often quite lonely. We exchange info, and usually they get a lesson on how to see the hummingbirds extra close up. Sometimes I take a photo of them posed behind the bird, such as in my avatar photo, and give them a copy. But non-photographers get bored with my long visits to individual sites. For example, when doing landscape photography, I may spend most of an afternoon at an iconic view, such as tunnel view in Yosemite. My wife usually just reads a book while I take photos if she is with me.

Prefer alone. The times I have been with a group, it feels like fishing with combat fishermen in Alaska.

Friends with L glass are of course always welcome.

I usually shoot with my husband, which was a good thing when I fell on the rocks at the beach and broke my hip about five months ago. Because I was paying too much attention to what I was shooting and not enough to the slippery moss hiding in the rocks. He gets tired and frustrated with all the time I take on my photography, but he doesn't like to be left behind, so we compromise. Both my son and hubby get embarrassed at me shooting so many pictures. They say I look like a tourist. And they do not see what I see. When I show them my pictures afterwards they always say, "I never saw that."

Alone all of the time. I try to shoot with my brother once every two months just to catch up. A lot of times I have a schedule that revolves around being at a certain place at a certain time. I have tried to go with wife and kids but they hate it, they hate the outdoors period. However, they like the beach, which is why I have NO photos of the beach. I always miss sunrise/sunset when with them due to their schedule, which is fine. Alone is what I prefer even though I go to some dangerous spots, especially Chattooga River, or bug infested low country swamps. I could not imagine taking anyone to these spots, it would be non stop griping.

Great Topic!

I bought my wife a 50D just so she would have something to do when I stopped to shoot.

I have shot with some hard core friends. One met me at Sandy Point in MD. We had to leave the house at 0200 to get there an hour before sunrise David Hahn from FAA shoots with me at times. A few others have been willing to do the 0200 wake-up to make my timetables. It is rare though.

I absolutely do not do groups anymore, ever. Social stuff is great in social settings but I would still prefer to be alone in nature even when I'm not shooting. The exception might be when I go to a birding hotspot and other birders are there. They are generally low key and pleasant. I do purposely hike with friends on occasion but only when I can resign myself ahead of time to knowing that I've blown off any chance of getting more than a grab shot. Feels like a waste of a perfectly good day! Shooting with another photographer can work if they are like-minded (meaning they can shut up and not scare the wildlife) but I won't take a non-photographer with me on a shoot. I have gone out to remote places to shoot and initially been disappointed when another photog shows up but sometimes they turn out to be really nice and I end up enjoying sharing that time with them in spite of myself.

Being a single woman in Harlem or very dark streets in Manhattan do spook me a lot at times.... but I am compelled to shoot those incredible unique places. It becomes a big question mark at times.... but I feel so much adrenaline that sometimes the photo Op wins out. Then once I grab it... I feel like I just got high on the best of all drugs!

My wife and I always shoot together but once on site we go our own way. We have done it for so long we work well together and inspire each other. What one misses the other mentions.

Definitely alone!

I did my first group photo walk last Friday evening in Miami and immensely enjoyed meeting fellow photographers from all over Florida but the only keeper from the night was taken when I separated from the group.

Friends with white lenses are deeply appreciated since muggers will go for them first!

I hear you, Lynn!

Oh wow, I think I would be really bothered shooting with another photographer!!! I am definitely not interested in doing a group thing. It would feel too crowded, I love shooting on my own and not 'competing'/ vying for the same sorts of shots or whatnot. The few times I've been in a spot where there were one or more other serious photographers (I'm not counting casual ones), I've found it kind of annoying. haha.

Edit: I did used to have an ex who also took up photography, I didn't mind that both of us took shots. It was interesting to see how different his were than mine; we both focused on such different things.

But for me photography is so pleasurable alone, I just love it.

JC I have my own share of L glass.... just not he tele stuff.... I don't have pockets of money, if you wanna buy something you can help me get that 1200mm L I have been looking at! Just kidding I am lucky to have a friend who has a 300, 400, and 800, and is pretty good about letting me borrow them

"I shoot alone, yeah
With nobody else
You know when I shoot alone
I prefer to be by myself..."

Sometimes it nice to go out with folks or to run into them trackside and catch up or share train chasing stories. Other times it's nice to just head out alone.

But best of all is to go chasing trains with my son!

Yay, everyone!!! I agree!

Serious photography, started not that long ago, I am with my dog most of the time. She is like my shadow. I would say shoot alone if that doesn't count.
Sometime my husband tag along with me, but he is looking at birds and I am busy looking at the little things in the forest.usually tiny things, the mood of the view, or composition, look for certain light. colors and textures, my mind keeps going, usually I would get really hyper keep taking it and taking it. turning my body in this way that way.sit and stand to get a better angle. it is sort of like physical activity. I forget the people around you. so anyone with me would be very boring

I shoot alone if possible. Other people either get annoyed with me or get in the way, make too much noise and disturb the moment.... My family are used to waiting for me to catch up...

Richard Reeve
ReevePhotos.com

I usually go alone, but have a few photog friends that I go with occasionally. When I do go with someone, we tend to go our separate ways but within earshot of each other. I would never go with a group because I like to get out and de-stress. I've only run into one situation on my own where I was a bit scared...I was in a pavilion by a lake shooting birds in the water and an older man snuck up and cornered me. I had my camera with 500mm lens so I knew I could knock him out if needed. Turns out, he was harmless.

Cascade Colors made me think about a situation I was in a couple of weeks ago. I was on the Blue Ridge Parkway at a popular overlook. It soon got crowded and I left because of that. I went a couple miles down the road to a single car pulloff to finish the night. I dislike the crowds and feel like an idiot standing in a row with other photographers. I also dislike when I am shooting a roadside flower and someone pulls over, waits for me to finish and shoots same thing, happens frequently on parkway.

Definitely alone... i can't imagine shooting in a group, or even another person...
the dynamics would be an imposition and rob the spontaneity of the moment...

Like many of you, I prefer to shoot alone. I will sometimes take my teenage son along with me, though, both for company and another person with me (if I am going somewhere out of the way).

Alone is much easier... I can focus on what I want without boring other people and take as long as I need to get a shot.

I agree Toby! And with all of you!

Alone, a few successful times with a good friend of...geez, almost 25 yrs so she can be quiet and seems to mostly enjoy being part of the 'trip'. Although my first real away trip to Charleston earlier this year, I was extremely thankful to be alone, I know I would've had to compromise if she'd gone with either restaurant choices, of which mine were cheap fast food because I was on a tight budget and too hot and sweaty and tired to spend bucks on a nice place, and she loves to window shop and I'd of had to 'wait' for her and for me, this was NOT a vacation trip...it wasn't as hardcore as a JC trip (lol!) but I'm proud of what I did accomplish. Still have tons of images to sift through.

Alone - "more freedom".

alone, but sometimes will take my students with me because it is my job.

With the exception of sometimes with my brother when I still lived in Florida I shoot alone. Hike through state forests and swamps trying to find wildlife means being silent. The more people there are the more footsteps there are to be heard by everything. And people don't seem to understand talking as badr was the only person I could take with me because we could walk miles and not say a single word. We just used hand signals.

Of course that's not without it's risks. I've been treed by feral hogs, nearly eaten by big gators, tracked by a large black bear that I was tracking at first and in Oklahoma I had a mountain lion come up behind my while I was down in a creek bed photographing some deer. That was a close one. But I still go at it alone because had there been more than one person I wouldn't have even seen any of that.

Easier to wander around when alone. With others I always get the feeling they want me to hurry or I have to keep one eye on where they are.

Always be sure to be behind the wheel of the car also. Other drivers don't understand the absolute need to pull over immediately!

Always alone, its my time to relax from daily life and work.

Diana, remember the big Blizzard in January 2014? I live in the suburbs north of NYC. Well, that day I took the train into the city. Everyone was leaving the city early and I was going in! I went to Central Park and the Flatiron District and nearly froze to death, but it was worth it.

I prefer to shoot alone, however one of my brothers comes with me sometimes depending on where I am going ;) I also like to shoot with a friend sometimes but I think a group would be too much. People getting in your way, etc. However, I've never shot in an group before so I could be wrong.

Looks like the photographers have spoken and alone is the choice shooting method, which I share. My daughter comes with me when she can, but when she is with me I shoot mostly landscapes, street scenes and such, as other people make noise that may scare my subjects.

Going alone to me also assures me that I am the only person that has a particular shot. I have had friends go with me, and they like to chat about silly topics that don't concern me when I am shooting-my photography time it MY time. I get to be alone with my thoughts, dreams, and aspirations. I can take the time to wait an hour for a specific bird to show up, or wait for the lighting to be right for MY shot. I don't have to worry about another person getting bored because they got their shot and now I am wasting their time...and they want to talk but I am being moody because I am ignoring them and scowling when they spook my deer.....

I prefer to shoot alone. I can more concentrate on what I want to shoot and just diving better into photography. Once in a while though, I go with other friends (we do plan to take pictures), however, the camera around the neck is more a formal thing so we are talking but not shooting and most likely end up in a ice cream bar or somewhere else... ;)

Oh, now when my 15 year old is with me we shoot together. He has his own Canon 5D now and we can literally spend two hours in a zoo's reptile house and we also spend days searching for reptiles in the wild. That I truly enjoy.

I agree totally with you, Diana. I shoot alone unless at night or if there have been reports of cougars or bears.

Jessica... I live north of the City too. in Port Chester..... we are probably neighbors!