Quick Background
My wife has been taking real estate photos for about 12 years now. About 5 years ago or so, clients starting wanting aerial drone photos for the properties. My son got his Part 107 (I was out of the country) adn he has taken probbaly 100 or so drone photos for her. Well- he went off to school so I had to get my Part 107. I have taken probably 100 or so aerial photos for her clients that wanted it. This has been over a period of about 3 years I guess.
Every now and then, usually when I am in a subdivision, someone night come out and ask what I am doing. I am as nice as they are. If they are freindly, I am too, and explain what I am doing- that I am not taking drone photos of their house., etc. That usually takes care of any issues. I will add- that when I go out there to do the drones- sometime my wife is with me and her car says something like Real Estate Photography, etc. But- when we go out there- there is usually not a sign in the yard for the house that we are photographing as the real estate agents sign is not up in the yard. And- we (and me) are not really supposed to say what house we are taking drones or pictures of.
But about 3 or 4 times now (worst was today and I am getting to that part) someone comes out and tell me I cant be there and I cant fly a drone around their house and I am invading their privacy- etc. I explain that I absolutely can be there and I am not doing anything wrong and try again to explain that I am not doing anything wrong and I am not taking photos of your house. I end up by telling them that I do not have anything else to say to them and to please leave me alone to do my job and call the police if they want; they never have.
So now for today; My wife has to take photos of the house and we need to do drones also. So we take 2 cars- drones will only take me 15 minutes- it will take her 2 hours in this big house./ So we pull up to the house and park across the street up about half a house so that our cars dont show up in the drone pictures and make more editing work. Her car has her company name on it. I park behind her and we put out our orange safety cones around the vehicles. We step behind my pickup truck. We parked the cars on the property line between 2 houses so as to not block any mailboxes. I get the drone out, prepare it and I take off. We turn around and sit on the curb right behind my truck.
I have the drone up for about 10 minutes or so- get most of the shots she wants. Then a man comes out of the house that my wifes car is in front of, goes to his mailbox and turns and says- in a gruff agressive tone- what are you doing in front of my house!??? I explain- in a calm tone- we are taking drone photos of a house across the street. He says- you are in my yard and you cant take photographs of my property- YOU NEED TO LEAVE!!. I said one more time- we are not taking photos of your property and we are not on your property. Keep in mind- my drone is still up. He yelled and said you are TOO on my property...... I am leaving out the colorful language he spouted. But he then turned and starting marching/stomping over towards us telling us to get off his property.
Sooo- I then stood up ready for what else might happen. My wife is still sitting on the curb and he comes and stands right beside her (I am on the other side) balls up his fists and says to me- you are about to get punched in the face. I yelled back and told him we were not on his property and to call the police if he has a problem and to leave us alone. He yells some more and I told him never mind I will call them. I called 911 and he was still yelling at me but then turned and stomped off cursing at me more telling me I am an ***hole. I hung up the phone. BTW- fun fact- if you call 911 and hang up they will call back....
Not that it matters- but I am not a small person- I am just over 6 feet and weigh about 215 pounds.
If we had not already had the drone up and he acted like that we might have just gone ahead and moved to the other side of the house./ But we already had the drone up and he went from acting like he owned the streets to marching over to us like he was going to physically attack us.
Am I the only one that something like this has happened to? What would you guys do if someone started marching over to you like that?? Let me add that I used colorful language too after he started cursing at us and my wife.
Any thoughts? Am I the jerk here???
My wife has been taking real estate photos for about 12 years now. About 5 years ago or so, clients starting wanting aerial drone photos for the properties. My son got his Part 107 (I was out of the country) adn he has taken probbaly 100 or so drone photos for her. Well- he went off to school so I had to get my Part 107. I have taken probably 100 or so aerial photos for her clients that wanted it. This has been over a period of about 3 years I guess.
Every now and then, usually when I am in a subdivision, someone night come out and ask what I am doing. I am as nice as they are. If they are freindly, I am too, and explain what I am doing- that I am not taking drone photos of their house., etc. That usually takes care of any issues. I will add- that when I go out there to do the drones- sometime my wife is with me and her car says something like Real Estate Photography, etc. But- when we go out there- there is usually not a sign in the yard for the house that we are photographing as the real estate agents sign is not up in the yard. And- we (and me) are not really supposed to say what house we are taking drones or pictures of.
But about 3 or 4 times now (worst was today and I am getting to that part) someone comes out and tell me I cant be there and I cant fly a drone around their house and I am invading their privacy- etc. I explain that I absolutely can be there and I am not doing anything wrong and try again to explain that I am not doing anything wrong and I am not taking photos of your house. I end up by telling them that I do not have anything else to say to them and to please leave me alone to do my job and call the police if they want; they never have.
So now for today; My wife has to take photos of the house and we need to do drones also. So we take 2 cars- drones will only take me 15 minutes- it will take her 2 hours in this big house./ So we pull up to the house and park across the street up about half a house so that our cars dont show up in the drone pictures and make more editing work. Her car has her company name on it. I park behind her and we put out our orange safety cones around the vehicles. We step behind my pickup truck. We parked the cars on the property line between 2 houses so as to not block any mailboxes. I get the drone out, prepare it and I take off. We turn around and sit on the curb right behind my truck.
I have the drone up for about 10 minutes or so- get most of the shots she wants. Then a man comes out of the house that my wifes car is in front of, goes to his mailbox and turns and says- in a gruff agressive tone- what are you doing in front of my house!??? I explain- in a calm tone- we are taking drone photos of a house across the street. He says- you are in my yard and you cant take photographs of my property- YOU NEED TO LEAVE!!. I said one more time- we are not taking photos of your property and we are not on your property. Keep in mind- my drone is still up. He yelled and said you are TOO on my property...... I am leaving out the colorful language he spouted. But he then turned and starting marching/stomping over towards us telling us to get off his property.
Sooo- I then stood up ready for what else might happen. My wife is still sitting on the curb and he comes and stands right beside her (I am on the other side) balls up his fists and says to me- you are about to get punched in the face. I yelled back and told him we were not on his property and to call the police if he has a problem and to leave us alone. He yells some more and I told him never mind I will call them. I called 911 and he was still yelling at me but then turned and stomped off cursing at me more telling me I am an ***hole. I hung up the phone. BTW- fun fact- if you call 911 and hang up they will call back....
Not that it matters- but I am not a small person- I am just over 6 feet and weigh about 215 pounds.
If we had not already had the drone up and he acted like that we might have just gone ahead and moved to the other side of the house./ But we already had the drone up and he went from acting like he owned the streets to marching over to us like he was going to physically attack us.
Am I the only one that something like this has happened to? What would you guys do if someone started marching over to you like that?? Let me add that I used colorful language too after he started cursing at us and my wife.
Any thoughts? Am I the jerk here???