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Why so many rear-end photos of buses these days?


RailBus63

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As a transit enthusiast, I appreciate that so many fellow fans post their photos on this site, on other websites and on Facebook and similar social-media sites.  I've been around long enough to remember when slide shows with friends and magazines like Bus World were the only places to see photos from cities other than your own.  It's awesome that so many fans have connected over the Internet and that it's now possible to see and share photos from virtually every transit operator in North America and beyond.

That said ...  I find myself somewhat surprised that there are so many fans these days who seem to take the majority of their bus photos of the back of the bus, not the front or side.  Don't get me wrong, I appreciate variety and I support the freedom of any photographer to capture the image as they see fit.  I've collected various rear photos of buses over the years since that side was often neglected by many hobbyists in the past.  It just seems like a growing number of photographers who do much of the picture-taking from behind the bus - as in, entire albums on Facebook consisting of nothing but bus photos taken from behind.  I suspect that some fans are nervous about being confronted by the driver and feel that they will not draw attention to themselves if they photograph from behind, but that's just a guess.  There are also a lot more bus fans who focus on engines and transmissions than I ever realized, so maybe that's part of the explanation too. 

I'm not judging, just curious what others think, particularly if you do a lot of rear-end bus photography.

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Personally, it depends on the circumstances for me. I have a number of buses I only have rear photos of, and that's either because walking to the front would not produce an optimal angle, or if I was too rushed to stop and take photos from multiple sides. I prefer not to photograph the bus if the driver is standing outside of it, but if they're inside the bus, then I will go ahead and take the photo from the front.

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 The majority of my rear shots are photos where the bus is displaying something special, or if there is something different about the back of the bus. (For example, YRT Nova 1505's rear fleet number is a different font to the standard YRT font.

Edit: I usually also take a rear shot if the bus is on a route it rarely appears on. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I agree with @leylandvictory2 about wraps, but I try to get a front shot no matter what. I actually very rarely go for a rear shot, because in my personal opinion, the front of the bus shows more of the bus, and is more interesting to photograph. As for rare buses, and odd route assignments, I will photograph the rear, and the front. But to each their own, and I'm sure that there are other reasons. 

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I initially did mainly take rear and side shots since I was afraid of drivers getting angry, but I got over that phase after 2014.

However since then I've been taking shots from all angles including the rear. I've always liked the rear of cars and buses in general. I like different styles of tailpipes, rear end designs, rear windows, HVAC designs, rear destination signs, etc. 

As for bus fans being interested in the powertrains, I am one of them (hence the user name). :P 

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I much prefer front-end curbside shots whenever possible, as this is the angle most riders see when they are waiting at a bus stop.  However, if I have enough time and there are enough buses, or if one bus stays still long enough, I try to capture as many angles as possible--front, rear, curbside, streetside, broadside, face- or rear-end-on, etc.  If the fleet is large enough, I try to limit myself to two photos per bus, to try and capture as many vehicles as I can.  I also try to capture variations in the specifications between different orders if applicable, such as OC Transpo's GM/MCI/NovaBus Classics or Orion V buses.

I have never been overly concerned about people's reactions to my bus photography, especially since I have been taking these photos for nearly twenty years, but I do try to be as discreet as possible.  Hence, I have a small camera and I try to avoid getting drivers or passengers in my photos.  I have received both positive and negative feedback, and had chats with security officers, but my goal is to create and maintain a record of different agencies' buses for posterity.  After all, someday the LFS and Xcelsior will be out of production, and there will be ageing, dwindling fleets of the venerable vehicles, and we'll have photos of them when they were brand new. ^_^ 

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  • 2 years later...
On 9/10/2016 at 11:42 PM, tomsbuspage said:

I much prefer front-end curbside shots whenever possible, as this is the angle most riders see when they are waiting at a bus stop.  However, if I have enough time and there are enough buses, or if one bus stays still long enough, I try to capture as many angles as possible--front, rear, curbside, streetside, broadside, face- or rear-end-on, etc.  If the fleet is large enough, I try to limit myself to two photos per bus, to try and capture as many vehicles as I can.  I also try to capture variations in the specifications between different orders if applicable, such as OC Transpo's GM/MCI/NovaBus Classics or Orion V buses.

I have never been overly concerned about people's reactions to my bus photography, especially since I have been taking these photos for nearly twenty years, but I do try to be as discreet as possible.  Hence, I have a small camera and I try to avoid getting drivers or passengers in my photos.  I have received both positive and negative feedback, and had chats with security officers, but my goal is to create and maintain a record of different agencies' buses for posterity.  After all, someday the LFS and Xcelsior will be out of production, and there will be ageing, dwindling fleets of the venerable vehicles, and we'll have photos of them when they were brand new. ^_^ 

While I try to not include people in my photos and videos, people do need to remember that there can be NO expectation of privacy on public transport.

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13 hours ago, Loud-Invero said:

While I try to not include people in my photos and videos, people do need to remember that there can be NO expectation of privacy on public transport.

This is actually not true in Quebec.  According the the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Aubry v. Éditions Vice-Versa inc., [1998] 1 SCR 591, 1998 CanLII 817 (SCC), "An artist’s right to publish his or her work cannot include the right to infringe, without any justification, a fundamental right of the subject whose image appears in the work."  The image of someone in a photograph is protected under the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. ch. I, 5.: "Every person has a right to respect for his private life," (RSQ, c C-12).  The Supreme Court held that under Quebec law, a photographer can take photographs in public places but may not publish the picture unless permission has been obtained from the subject.  However, this does not apply if the person was simply in a photograph of something else, or is a public figure or celebrity.

There was much discussion about this court case in the media after Princess Diana died in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi.  There is a similar law in France in which someone's image may not be published without the subject's permission.

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1 hour ago, Loud-Invero said:

Wouldn't this include basically be anything? Transit, famous building, etc?

According to Wikipedia:

"The Court limited this requirement to exclude persons whose photographs were taken during an event of public interest. That is, a person of public interest or equally an unknown person who is implicated in a public matter cannot claim image rights. Consequently, anyone whose photograph was incidental to a photo of some matter will be treated as part of the background and will not be able to claim their rights were violated."

I imagine that a passenger sitting on a bus or waiting at a stop would likely fall into the background category, but a driver or inspector might be considered the subject of the photo.  I'm no lawyer, so I'm not certain what constitutes what.  In Aubry v Éditions Vice-Versa inc., 17-year-old Mlle Aubry was awarded $1500 after the magazine published a photo of her resting on the steps of a building by a public street in Montreal.  She sued the magazine after her friends saw the photo and laughed at her, and the judgement was upheld by our Supreme Court.

I've never had any problems with people in my photos, but I do try to avoid people in my photos in any case.  Besides, they get in the way of the bus!

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