Blurring hunters faces on trophy photos

[billc]

Yup have worked for myself since 16 years old 46 now. I dont rub my hunts in a clients face or any ones face for that matter. But I will be dammed if I will be shamed into not taking a picture with my face shown. People know I hunt and if they dont like it they can find someone else to do there work. Plenty of clients out there who have no problem with hunters or hunting.

They want to pick a fight they can look me up any time. I have found when they do try to pick a fight they turn tail and run quick when they see your not a push over. I like my chance if they want to push real hard, I am thinking my gun will just be a tad stronger then the flowers they may hit me with.

 

[gizmo]

 

[Lee M]

Nice one gizmo. I'll be printing that off, framing it and hanging it on the hunting cabin wall!

 

[rinehart0050]

I think that this whole debate isn't just about the aggressive anti-hunters out there. There are lots of people out there that are just generally opposed to hunting or neutral. Many people don't have time to explain the important role of hunting in conservation to every single person they work with. If someone's boss or superior is an anti, them finding out about a hunt could mean missing out on a promotion, a bad evaluation (or a mediocre one, which is just as bad in competitive career fields), etc.

Its all about balance and meeting the client's expectations, whatever they are.

I for one, will post unedited photos here and get rid of this cat avatar when I get back from Africa. But I won't hang any photos up on my wall at work.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Good topic Adriaan.
......... Search engines like google cannot read images or see what's on it, so an image is pretty anonymous or private. ..............

You can search for images on the web. It is not the greatest tool though.
The more distinctive it is the more likely you will get decent results and not just facsimiles.


I searched this image and found every place it is presented on the web.

However,
These were my three favourite guesses from Google.
You will note the incredible likeness of all three.

This was an interesting find. A blast from the past.

Thursday, March 12, 2009
Interview with Jerome Philippe
2:06 PM | Posted by Ben G.
I was contacted by Jerome Philippe founder of Africa Hunting.com on March 10th and he asked me if I would be willing to do a write up about his site. I thought I would take it one step further. I asked Jerome if he would take the time do an interview with me. Jerome agreed to do the interview, so I called him up on Wednesday afternoon and did and interview with him. We chatted for about a half an hour. I want to highlight some of the things we talked about.
Can you tell us about a little bit about yourself?

I was born in France and grew up in Namibia Africa. I moved to the States in the late 80’s to go to school, during that time I met my wife. We got married had a child and moved back to Africa. In 1996 we moved back to the States to give my handicapped daughter more opportunities. My family and I own a large hunting property in Namibia where we have an outfitter service. I have been promoting in online for 12 years at http://www.africanhuntingsafaris.com/.


When did you get into hunting?

I was basically born into it. Both of my Grandfathers hunted, and so did my Father .

What is your favorite type of hunting?

I enjoy Bird, rabbit, and boar hunting; my favorite is bird hunting when there is a high volume of birds and lots of action.

Where did you come up with the Idea for Africa Hunting.com?

Being on the web for 12 years I found there was not a place to find information about all of Africa for hunting. Any thing that came close was very out of date. I also wanted to make Africa more accessible to the world, but mostly the US. I wanted to make it very easy for someone to investigate all the aspects of hunting in Africa like getting, permits, lining up your pass port, and licenses just to name a few. Currently I have around 2800 companies listed in the Africa Hunting.com Directory which supports ratings and reviews.

When did you launch Africa hunting .com?

September 2008

Explain to us why Africa hunting.com is a good site for people to go if they enjoy hunting in Africa or for some one just checking it out?

It has a good rating and reviews section which allows someone to research a lot of different outfitters. The review section can help to expose the bad outfitters and highlight the good ones. Guides can also use the site to promote them selves if they are switching outfitting companies. It also makes Africa hunts accessible to everyone for as low of a price as $7000. (I would rather say: Most Americans would be surprised at how affordable hunting in Africa can be, a nice first time plains game hunting safari including 4 to 5 species, can be around the same price as a guided Elk hunt in North America.)

What advice do you have for someone dreaming about hunting in Africa?

First of all go to my site, and ask people who have done it before questions. Ask your friends about their experiences hunting in Africa, get references, and actually call the outfitters.

Do you have any thing else you would like to tell the readers?

The site is open to every one interested in hunting in Africa; it also has forums, a photo and video gallery and places for writers to post any thing about hunting.

Thanks

 

[Buckdog]

If we choose to cower and hide then we surrender to the anti's!! and they have won. I will NOT HIDE or Cower to them! On my file cabinet in my office is a grizz skull, hunting photo book in plain sight. I was once talking to some clients and a new client overheard and piped in "do you hunt and kill animals? the old clients look at each other with a smile and knew what was coming next. i said yes I hunt and kill and eat animals and she was outraged and had nothing but an open gaping mouth when I told her where the door was and not to let it hit in the ass on the way out! old clients rolled on the ground laughing. i am proud I am a hunter and will not hide and cower in fear of some anti opinion.
But I own my own business so I can and will do as I choose. Others may work in a different enviroment and thats ok maybe, but I have found most people are not really anti hunting just neutral. i have many such to my home and it is filled with trophies and most are interested and good to go and a blank slate to educate to our corner.
I think not using a full name is good blurring photo's thats ridiculous just dont post photo's of those who live in fear of anti's.

 

[BRICKBURN]

To each his own.
As Hank stated, some folks won't care less and others work in an environment that is not conducive to hunting, let alone seeing pictures with dead stuff in it.
I have a buddy who was taken to task in a meeting for saying: "we can kill two birds with one stone!"
Imagine a trophy picture up in that welcoming workplace!

 

[enysse]

I think a blurred face is appropriate. I know at my current job and future jobs, it's really not appropriate to talk about hunting unless someone mentions the topic first. There are a lot tree huggers and anti-hunters out there. I will post pictures on here but will probably not anywhere else. My co-workers know I hunt, it is a touchy subject.

 

[Royal27]

OK, this settles it. The next time that I have any photos taken with me and my trophies I am going to pull out a clown mask and put it on.

Don't forget to have the face of the animal blurred so that it isn't seen with a clown. Some people don't like clowns.... no sense in causing the animal any ,ore grief.

It's a sad day when we cower to the anti-hunting establishment.

This!

However some of us have faced too much backlash for it to be worth it

Definitely a personal decision that has to be made either way. If someone asks me why I go to Africa I tell them. I won't hide who I am. I don't however; begrudge any individual who doesn't want to share publicly.

Regardless, I don't like the blurred pics, especially by an outfitter. To me it screams, "hey, I'm embarrassed of what I do and so are my clients." Either post pics of clients who won't mind, or of the animal without the client.

In a specific situation such as Hank's I totally get it, but not for an outfitter who has options.

 

[Spooksar]

I wouldn't want my face blurred anyone that matters to me knows I hunt. I have a lot of anti hunting and anti gun relatives and they know better then to dump on me about it, they won't win. As for this rest of the world I could care less. If they want to threaten me bring it on. They won't win.

 

[PeteG]

Regardless, I don't like the blurred pics, especially by an outfitter. To me it screams, "hey, I'm embarrassed of what I do and so are my clients." Either post pics of clients who won't mind, or of the animal without the client.

I agree with this.
If the client does not want to be in the picture, don't use it, simple as that. If you as the PH or host like the trophy and want a pic for the website, I'm fairly certain you could take the picture without a person in it.
If the hunter doesn't mind being in the pic, go for it. but don't blur his face though.

Possible a little question on the contract form and either a "Yes" or "No" box to tick whether he/she is happy to have their face clear on the photo on the www

 

[adriw]

I personally do not like to see trophy photos with blurred faces of hunters.

I personally don't like it either, but at least I know I can post a picture of a great trophy with the identity of my clients without it just being the animal in the photo.

take some pictures of the trophy without the hunter in the picture.

Not against it, just very easy for others in the industry to reuse your photos as their own. I suppose a watermark would mitigate that as an issue.

Do any of you guys own a business that your family depends on? Maybe some of your biggest clients are anti.... It's reduculous that the anti's have been able to put so much pressure on our life but that's the way it is. I'm sure every hunter on here would love nothing more than having some awesome pictures in public view of their recent hunt. The pride and joy it brings is fantastic to share! However some of us have faced too much backlash for it to be worth it

Very valid point - take a look at the whole Cecil incident...

 

[CAustin]

JWK I see you point with respect to a water mark!

 

[Royal27]

Not against it, just very easy for others in the industry to reuse your photos as their own

It is very easy for pic WITH the hunter to be reused by other outfits, and it happens fairly frequently. Besides, if concerned about that include the PH in the picture. Heck, that will get the company logo in as well.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

I searched this image and found every place it is presented on the web.
View attachment 150719

However,
These were my three favourite guesses from Google.
You will note the incredible likeness of all three.

View attachment 150720 View attachment 150722 View attachment 150723

Ha ha ha! Those guys don't look anything like me… they all have hair. I tried to look for BRICKBURN and all I found was railroad cars, burned bricks and some nice photos of your dogs.
You can really mine the internet. I forgot about that interview it seems like it was a really long time ago when I was trying hard to build traffic on AH. It was nice to read that it has become what I had envisioned.

 

[Ridge Top Ranch]

If the client Okays using the pic show the face. I post mine on face book with my ugly face showing. If antis don't like it I can harass them same as they can harass me. They have big words and big mouths. ... till I show up on their lawn at 3:00 in the morning and start staring at their house.

 

[flatwater bill]

What a great topic. Antis have ruined the careers of models, acters( they were actresses in my day) and athletes. But if I ever score with a Marco Polo (or a beauty queen) plaster it on the cover... F'em.........FWB

 

[Dragan N.]

I think a blurred face is appropriate. I know at my current job and future jobs, it's really not appropriate to talk about hunting unless someone mentions the topic first. There are a lot tree huggers and anti-hunters out there. I will post pictures on here but will probably not anywhere else. My co-workers know I hunt, it is a touchy subject.

I think a big part of it, possible negative backlashes aside, is keeping your professional and private life separate. I see no reason to mix the two, as it typically leads to unnecessary "drama". And I am not just talking about hunting here but about lots of other issues/things as well.

 

[Hank2211]

I think we can say we have a consensus on the following:

1. Outfitters should ask for the client's permission before posing pictures of the client for any purpose.

2. Many of us don't give a damn what the anti's have to say, and we say, bring it on.

2. Good for those who don't give a damn, but we need to recognize that not everyone is in a similar position, and those with family or other responsibilities could take a different, less confrontational, perspective, and that's all right with us don't give a damn types. We understand your perspective, and we are with you. We look forward to the day when none of us has to worry about our pictures appearing on the internet.

Does that about sum it up?

 

[Lrntolive]

Hi All

I would like to find out from you what your thoughts on blurring hunters faces on trophy photos.

We have decided that any new trophy photo we load going forward is not going to show the clients face. We have multiple reasons like client privacy, safe keeping identity from the anties etc.

This is more on what we post vs what a client chooses to post.

What are your views on the matter?


Regards,
Adriaan

Adriaan,

That's take a bit of effort and time. We hunters appreciate it, but I think you can simplify your life by asking the hunters in advance when they book a hunt and having them sign an agreement that all photos taken by you are property of JWK Safaris. If they don't want their face shown, they can check the appropriate box and sign at the bottom. If they don't care, they sign at the bottom, and you don't waste time blurring photos you don't have to.

I always prefer to choose for myself. This way, the repercussions of my actions are my own and not decided by someone else.

Thanks for asking!