I grabbed a quick photo as the Hawaii delegation gathered for a group photo after breakfast this morning.

Not a great photo, but it gives you an idea. The pro photographer hired to do take the group photo was trying to block others pictures from being taken. I managed to disobey just long enough to catch the group as they got set up.

Note: I’ve taken some flack as a result of this photo in an email message from a reader, also a photographer. He writes:

Ian, you should be ashamed of yourself. A professional, who was hired to do a job, is trying to make a living, asking others not to take pictures, and you go around him! The photographer is trying to make a living and you are stealing from him!

My brief response, written on the move:

well, I beg to disagree.

I’m very obviously not in competition with the pro. Different purpose, different type of photo, far inferior in all ualities.

There’s no comparison in any technical sense between a pro version and a blurry, rushed, maybe you can guess who’s in the photo product.

No one would accept this as a souvenir in place of a reasonably priced pro photo (and in this case they were reasonably priced).

If I were taking a comparable quality photo and peddling it to delegates, you would have a case. At least that’s how I see it.