What would you do?

[SenorNikonMan]

I came across this video of a photographer who first barely escaped being hit by a car at a rally race and then reacting to a crash. It shows him taking a few quick shots with his camera before he goes to see if anybody needs help. That made me wonder if I would've done the same thing. To be perfectly honest, I probably would've. That's not something that I'm sure I should admit to, but I think it would be me more of a reflex action to take pictures first and then go see if I could be of any help.

How about you? Would you have done the same thing?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFdGKeQph-Q

[livin4lax09]

i guess it depends on your allegiance to your work. If you're a pro photographer who is hired to get the shot, you shoot first then ask questions, if you will. If you're an amateur, you should help. IMO.

[jorgemonkey]

I was shooting a bike race a couple months ago & was in a section that was seeing lots of crashes. I was getting paid to cover the race, but while I was shooting I would see if the rider was ok. One guy was pretty twisted up in his bike and right in the line of other riders. After realizing he was injured I went over to help him out. It must be from having grown up in Scouts & helping everyone

I figure once they're done crashing, there isnt much to take pictures of. Once other help arrives, I then go back to shooting.

[SmartWombat]

Yes, probably the same thing.
If I wasn't already shooting wide angle and aiming the camera at the car as I jumped out of the way ! With a wide enough lens if you're that close to the accident you just need to point and squirt while you dodge the pieces.
A time when buffer speed in fps isn't as important as buffer length

[bleidner]

That's an interesting question you pose. I'm not sure what I would do in that situation. Also, it's hard to say exactly what the photographer saw as he was snapping those 2-3 (or more) shots. Perhaps he could see that the driver was OK since he was exiting the automobile in the final frames of the video. A couple of other thoughts: Too bad he wasn't shooting as the car was approaching him. That could have been some dramatic shots. Also, I don't think those few shots would make that much difference in the amount of help he could give. Other "helpers" were arriving at about the same time. I think the question should be about the guy shooting the video, not the film (in 1995) photographer. The video camera operator stood around and filmed everything without helping at all from what we can see. But to answer your original question, I would have probably done as the photographer did, especially if I knew the guy was alright.