The issue is the attitude of some bystanders. I arrived at a beautiful natural scene that I wanted to film with my drone. It was early. A single couple was there ... enjoying the beauty, the peace and the quiet. I waited respectfully for about 20 minutes and they left. Being alone at last, I launched my drone. 3 minutes later another couple parked their car near mine. The male, upon walking past me said "that drone is really noisy". I casually said ... "not to bad". The couple walked to the edge of the mountain trail to admire the beautiful valley before them. The male comes back to say he was trying to be nice, but he felt he should have told me more directly to bring down my drone so as not to disturb his commune with nature. To avoid conflict, and mostly because I felt it was a little too windy to fly, I brought my drone down. I regretted not challenging his ethic of not sharing, not having patience, not respecting others and not taking turns in the same way I honored the couple that preceded me to this view. Fortunately most bystanders are more curious, less intolerant, and less oriented to thinking they are the center of the universal and everything should revolve around them.
Kudos for waiting for a couple to leave and fly when you were alone.
I had a similar situation, it was a Friday and after a stressing week of work I planned to go flying in a spot that usually is calm and nobody is there (it was like 400m x 300m of grass in the middle of the woods), except that on that particular Friday there was a couple, apparently making out.
I thought "****, I came all the way here and because 2 people are already here I should give up? It's a public space and they don't own it, if I want I can also stay here, and about privacy I'll lift the drone and not point it in their direction, so there shouldn't be any problem".
So, after a few minutes the guy came to me he said he doesn't like to be filmed. I told him that I'm not filming him (and I showed him on the screen where I was filming). He said "I don't care, I don't like it and if you don't stop I'll call the cops". I also didn't want trouble and I told him that he was bullshitting me anyway and if he wanted to call them, he could go ahead and do it, but I also told him he can just suck it it for a few more minutes till I'm done and we are all happy".
He was an arrogant piece of **** he also threatened he'd smash my drone. I told him if he does that then I'd call the police on him...
Long story short, he killed my mood and anyway it was a bit windy so instead of making a big drama I really told him that I don't care about spying on him and that for me filming the city is much more interesting.
Some people really think the universe goes around them.
Funny that in 'Murica people dare to film a drone pilot, call the cops and use that as "evidence". In Switzerland, if somebody would dare to film (or take my photo) me without my consent, I can call the cops on them, because if I don't want to be filmed it's an invasion of my privacy and the person filming me without my consent can be in big trouble, also a cop would not even check the video as evidence, that would be valid eventually if there is a violent crime and only in tribunal.
If on the other hand I film somebody with my drone, I have the same privacy problem. That's why when I know I'm not filming any person, but film nature, architecture etc. or film from far away and people can't be recognized in the video, I can basically tell them to f*ck off and if they want to call the police they can do it, but they will just lose their and my time.
If somebody would call the police on me, personally I'd not stay there and wait, if I have other things to do I go on my way. If you like spending time with cops, go ahead, but if you are not doing anything wrong, I don't see why you should waste your time first of all waiting and then explaining everything you did because some idiot ******* called the cops. Then he should explain the cops what he think he saw etc, not the drone pilot. This is not a suggestion, just my personal opinion.
I think that as drone pilot sometimes you need to enforce your rights. Just because a drone makes a bit of noise and is annoying doesn't mean we should always stop when somebody asks us to stop.
Do the smokers stop when they smoke near you, when you ask it?
Do people stop eating junk food near you, if it smells and you don't like it?
Do people stop their music if it's too loud and bothering you?
The list can go on and on...
Yes you can disturb some people. Other people disturb other people too, but sometimes they should live and let live, you can't just ask everybody to stop what they do because it's annoying you.
