Asian Weaver Ant Nest

When I first saw the ant nest, there seemed to be a lot of activity on and around it. So, I asked my niece "What do you think is going on there? Could it be a territorial dispute between rival colonies?" and I was astonished by her answer. She said, with great confidence (and in a very matter-of-fact way), "They are angry at you". I didn't want to be rude and say that she was talking nonsense and just made it clear that I thought she was joking, but she was not. She said "Watch this" and stepped a little closer to the nest and reached out her hand to within 10 or 12 inches of the nest, waiving it from side to side. I exclaimed that I didn't see any difference in the wild running around of the ants. She replied "Now you do it" and quickly added "But don't go as close as I did". I stuck out my hand and, foolishly, against her advice, went just as close as she had gone. The ants seemed to go crazy, running around at great speed. A few, which were perched on the tips of the leaves nearest to me, immediately leapt onto my hand and gave me several rather painful bites. It seems that they were indeed angry at me ..... for clicking and flashing my camera, so many times, when photographing the spider web, a few feet away from the ant nest. Of course, I apologised to my niece for doubting her knowledge, but I still can't quite understand how the ants could differentiate between us. I can accept that they might think the camera was a threat, but how could they possibly know that I operated the camera and my niece did not? I think it would be wise to concentrate on my spiders and a few other sundry bugs that I call my "favourites" and leave the ants to get on with "whatever ants get on with".