I recently went with my family for a trip to the Wetland and Wildfowl Trust at Arundel. It's a favourite of ours, and especially at this time of year there's enough to see and do that my wife and daughter can wander round looking at all the wonderful wildlife whilst my son and I indulge ourselves photographing it.

At one point, my son and I found ourselves in a hide outside which a kingfisher had recently been spotted. The hide was pretty busy, and many of the occupants were sporting considerable amounts of exotic photographic kit. High end full frame cameras were de rigeur, it seems, and the lenses attached to them were huge. Poking out of the window, the hide must have looked from the outside like an 18th Century ship of the line about to fire a broadside. It was pretty obvious, therefore, that the company I was keeping was pretty experienced in photographing wild birds, and I was quite happy that I might be able to pick up a pointer or two.

Imagine my disappointment, then, when the other photographers started up a continual inane chatter. It seemed the kingfisher was what they wanted to capture, and whilst it was somewhere else they weren't interested in the other inhabitants of the lake. Instead, whilst they waited, they preferred to fill their time nattering with each other as if they were down the pub. No matter that other hide users might want to maintain the quiet in the hope that other birds might make an appearance.

Apart from their rather self-centred behaviour, it struck me that these self-styled wildlife photographers were missing out in so many ways. Fixated as they were in capturing a few shots of just one bird, they were blind to all the other beauty that was around them. They were truly looking without seeing and I felt sorry for them.

I recently came across a story that made me despair. Not just for the selfishness and lack of tolerance shown, but for the petty nature, the futility, the lack of regard.

The story is here. It is the latest in a series of news articles that have centred around one man, so I will recap. There is a village in England called Bibury, and it is in Gloucestershire. There is one particularly beautiful row of houses called Arlington Row, and for better or worse it is one of the most photographed sets of dwellings in the UK, being real picture postcard stuff. One of the houses is home to an 84 year old man - Mr Peter Maddox - who has a small car for getting around, and who parks his car outside his house. It's a bright yellow Vauxhall Corsa.

For some time now, various visitors to Bibury have bemoaned this fact, feeling that Mr Maddox's car somewhat spoils an otherwise delightful view and, particularly, perfect photographic shot. Thus far, I cannot disagree; the car definitely looks anachronistic, and a photo with it in will need work before it is released for public viewing. What astounds and saddens me, however, is that visiting photographers and/or visitors (hard to tell which, so I won't assume) have made their feelings known to Mr Maddox, and this has culminated in his car being vandalised, with "MOVE" scratched into the paintwork on the car's bonnet and several car windows being smashed.

Mr Maddox is a resident. Bibury is his home. I cannot see how anyone could chastise someone for owning a car and parking it legally outside their house just because they don't like the person's choice of colour. And this even ignoring the fact that a bright yellow car is easier to see on the road, and therefore slightly safer.

Whether the perpetrators are true photographers or snappers, the fact is plain that the row is about the spoiling of photographic opportunities. I know plenty of photographers who will wait for hours for a fleeting opportunity to capture a rare bird or the brief blooming of an unusual flower. And yet photographers visiting Bibury are not prepared to show the same patience and wait until Mr Maddox pops out in order to capture the shot they want.

On the flip side, I have known photographers who will trample all sorts of endangered flowers on protected heathland just to get into the right place for the shot they want. They don't care if they do irreparable damage as long as they get their intended capture first. This is just the kind of person I link in my mind with the abuse of Mr Maddox.

So I leave you with a plea. Whatever photography is your bag, wherever you go, whatever you choose to capture, please please please don't be a selfish photographer and leave the place as you would wish to find it, including happy residents both human and otherwise.