Stopped by a cop while night shooting...

I work 3rd shift and have Friday/Saturday nights off, so naturally I am interested in messing around with "night photography".

Well EARLY this morning I was out shooting around my city (Rochester, MN...a city of about 100,000...home to the Mayo Clinic), there was literally NO ONE on the streets, no cars and no people.

A policeman (who was handing out tickets to cars parked in no parking zones) rolls up to me and says "what are you doing?", I said "taking pictures"...he said "for who?" I said "for myself".

He then got out of his car and said "yeah but at 3 o'clock in the morning?" I told him I worked 3rd shift at the Mayo Clinic (which I do) and on the weekends I'm up all night anyway so why not?

He wanted to see my ID, and of course he had to run my name and all that jazz. It was like he couldn't believe I was just out taking pictures at 3 o'clock in 14 degree weather. Heck I was standing there with my tripod (camera attached to it) why would I lug that around in the cold if I were up to no good?

Anyway, he came back and said "Here you go Gregg, I had to check it out, you know with the terrorists and everything." I don't blame him, I guess ya can't take chances these days.

Does anyone else have any stories like this?

I had the 800mm f5.6 IF-ED Nikkor pointed out the van window in

Mahone Bay, NS shooting ducks. Broad daylight . . . folks all over the place. Cop stops and just wants to see what it is and what I am doing with it.

--
Terry Danks
Nature & Wildlife (Hummingbirds!) Photography
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/n1dcmc78/home.htm

I have not been stopped by anyone yet, but there are many locations around Arkansas that are no longer accessible to the public. (1) visitor's observation decks at the locks on the Arkansas River, (2) areas near the dams that create our many lakes, (3) visitor's area near the Little Rock water treatment facility. I'm sure there are more.......

Each time I cannot go somewhere that was previously accessible I think, "We've been "9-11ed" again!" We are no safer.....just under more control by big brother.

--
Bill Branham
http://members.aol.com/Wsbranham/Page1.html

Bill Branham said:

Each time I cannot go somewhere that was previously accessible I
think, "We've been "9-11ed" again!" We are no safer.....just under
more control by big brother.

Click to expand...

Bill I'm against the big brother stuff, but do you really beleive we'd have made it since 9-11 with no further attacks without the increased security? It's the one lone cop checking on something, or the curious neighbor catching some T's glassing a potential target that will prevent an attack. Sounds like the cop was thorough, without harrasing. btw, I'd love to see your black helicopter gallery.......

--
http://www.pbase.com/wray

If shaite like that happens to y'all, well... then the terrorists have won.

Mind you ... I was photographing some stuff late at night (23:00+) in my village (in Sweden) when these cops stopped nearby and asked me what I was photographing.

I told them I was just out photograping stuff.

"There aren't any birds out right now", they said.

Why do people think that the only things people can photograph are birds?

n/t

Try living in NYC. It's getting to where you can't take a picture of a fire hydrant.

BUT: if you manage to get a picture of NY cops throwing press photographers to the ground and breaking their cameras during protests, you stand to make a name for yourself and secure the big break that will catapult you into the coveted ranks of paid photojournalists. (This actually happened to a photographer I knew from a class at ICP last summer.)

--
Sandy Santra
http://www.pbase.com/santra

strike said:

He wanted to see my ID, and of course he had to run my name and all
that jazz. It was like he couldn't believe I was just out taking
pictures at 3 o'clock in 14 degree weather. Heck I was standing
there with my tripod (camera attached to it) why would I lug that
around in the cold if I were up to no good?

Click to expand...

What was his probable cause? The police just cannot ask you for that information much less run a check on you unless they have reason to believe that you have or will commit a crime.

Quadrajet said:

Anyway, he came back and said "Here you go Gregg, I had to check it
out, you know with the terrorists and everything." I don't blame
him, I guess ya can't take chances these days.

Click to expand...

I hope all of these laws passed in the wake of 9-11 have not caused us to lose site of the rights guarenteed us under the Constitution!

Quadrajet said:

Does anyone else have any stories like this?

Click to expand...

I was shooting video (when I worked in TV) with a photographer on a public street and had an airport cop to stop and tell us we could not take the photos. I told him we had a right to photograph anything we could from a public place. He said he was going to go tell on us, but no other police showed up and we got the shots we needed and left.

--
CDL
D60/BG-ED3/24-85mm Canon
50mm f1.4 Canon/75-300mm IS Canon/550EX
EPSON 2200P

I have been stopped by:
1. Security guards
2. City Police
3. County Sheriff
4. State Trooper
5. Community Patrol

The last was 90 miles from no where while I was shooting the moonrise at sunset on a lonely road running along a ridge of hills.

Before that was along a country road while trying to capture lightening strikes from a storm.

I have been shooting for 20+ yrs and shot in places like Korea, Italy, Germany and most of the USA...was never stopped before this past year.

One shoot in Korea was along the perimeter of the base where I was stationed. The Korean guards did come up to me wanting to be in the photo!!

We live in some very "weird" times where on the one hand we are on the brink of war with a constant threat of terrorism and on the other hand searching the Internet for the next cruise or pricelining a package to Las Vegas.

--
RichO
San Antonio, TX
http://www.equipu.com
http://www.pbase.com/richo/
'Life is a dance, Love is the music.'

Dennis Lathem said:

strike said:

He wanted to see my ID, and of course he had to run my name and all
that jazz. It was like he couldn't believe I was just out taking
pictures at 3 o'clock in 14 degree weather. Heck I was standing
there with my tripod (camera attached to it) why would I lug that
around in the cold if I were up to no good?

Click to expand...

What was his probable cause? The police just cannot ask you for
that information much less run a check on you unless they have
reason to believe that you have or will commit a crime.

Click to expand...

They most certainly can.. The "new law" that has been enacted gives police the power to arrest you for no "real" reason at all.. This doesnt mean they can charge you, or prossecute, but they have the "right" to arrest you and take you to jail at any time for any reason.

Dennis Lathem said:

Dennis Lathem said:

Anyway, he came back and said "Here you go Gregg, I had to check it
out, you know with the terrorists and everything." I don't blame
him, I guess ya can't take chances these days.

Click to expand...

I hope all of these laws passed in the wake of 9-11 have not caused
us to lose site of the rights guarenteed us under the Constitution!

Click to expand...

Get this straight... YOU HAVE NO MORE RIGHTS... You have only privileges now. Believe it... Your rights are gone. Its only a matter of time before the sh!t hits the fan and they arrest the wrong person. That person will fight back in the only way they can and will most likely be labed a phsyco because of it. Its just a matter of time.. The constitution is a joke now days and your "constitutional rights" are now based directly on your financial situation. I have a personal story about this I could share but I doubt your interested.

Dennis Lathem said:

Dennis Lathem said:

Does anyone else have any stories like this?

Click to expand...

I was shooting video (when I worked in TV) with a photographer on a
public street and had an airport cop to stop and tell us we could
not take the photos. I told him we had a right to photograph
anything we could from a public place. He said he was going to go
tell on us, but no other police showed up and we got the shots we
needed and left.

Click to expand...

Your best bet in a case of airport security gaurds is to make them believe your doing something that will benifit them. (Like a documentary on the difficult job they have or some other BS like that)

Murphy

Murphy The "new law" that has been enacted

murphy said:

gives police the power to arrest you for no "real" reason at all..
This doesnt mean they can charge you, or prossecute, but they have
the "right" to arrest you and take you to jail at any time for any
reason.

Click to expand...

And the worst part is that they can jail you forever without charging you with a crime because there is no crime to charge you. Forget the constitutional joke.

Chunin Martinez

With the gigantic amount of terrorists wandering our streets every day (sarcasm), police have to be EXTREMELY careful of those especially dangerous ones walking around with large camera outfits taking artistic pictures for themselves, seriously endangering our safety (GIGANTIC amount of sarcasm).

The stupid ininformed ignorant fool...

I agree with both of you and am sick of this blind facism, myself.

Look, if the cop harrassed him or arrested him, I'd have a hard time with it. But he just asked some questions. You have to admit, it is a little strange to see someone taking pictures of city buildings at 3am. Maybe those flight instructors down in Florida should have asked some more questions too.

Nathan Dandar said:

With the gigantic amount of terrorists wandering our streets every
day (sarcasm), police have to be EXTREMELY careful of those
especially dangerous ones walking around with large camera outfits
taking artistic pictures for themselves, seriously endangering our
safety (GIGANTIC amount of sarcasm).

The stupid ininformed ignorant fool...

Click to expand...

Strike,

Yes, I have a similar story. I work for a motorcycle manufacturer and am manager on an initiative to improve our dealer's store environments. That includes positioning some large "life-style" graphics to help customers visualize their use of our products beyond just seeing a motorcycle, all-terrain vehicle, scooter, or watercraft just sitting there.

One of our recent needs was for a partial palm tree against a sky background. I went out to catch early to mid-morning light, stopped at Starbucks for a to-go cup, and started driving around looking for a well lit appropriate shot.

I found it towering above an Old Navy store that is in an upscale retail strip center. It was 8:45 am. I set up my tripod, then mounted the D60 and a 28-70. My tripod is a Manfrotto BP3001. This all makes a significant looking package.

I shot for around 15 minutes, bracketing exposures and changing position to gain different perspectives. Soon a mall security guard drives up, emergency beacons whirring around, et al.
Wants to know what I am doing, then what I am taking photos of.

"Palm tree...."

Looks at me Incredulously. Yeh, right.

"Come look..."

No! And you can't photograph here.

"WHAT?"

You can't photograph here...

"Why? Two weeks ago I was right over there in front of Dairy Queen, facing the building, taking photos of my daughter and her friends on her birthday."

9-11, terrorists, etc..... was his next answer...

"Come over here and review my shots, it's easy, this is a digital camera..."

He then advises me to finish up quickly, like real quick, and move on.

Now, I guess someone with a want-to-be-a-hero fantasy could stretch a BP3001PRO (black, fully extended) with something significant in size on it into a rocket launcher. But! I live in So. Calif. and am originally a common mid-westerner (Indiana), NOT mid-easterner! Here in this region I stick out like a sore thumb (my neighbors in my upscale neighborhood are Indonesian, Brazilian, Chinese, Mexican, and one other is also a common mid-westerner). Sorry, but my image is low on the profile list for terrorists.

Photo, by the way, is in production as a transparancy graphic for an 8' by 3' vertical lightbox.

-FP

strike said:

I work 3rd shift and have Friday/Saturday nights off, so naturally
I am interested in messing around with "night photography".

Well EARLY this morning I was out shooting around my city
(Rochester, MN...a city of about 100,000...home to the Mayo
Clinic), there was literally NO ONE on the streets, no cars and no
people.

A policeman (who was handing out tickets to cars parked in no
parking zones) rolls up to me and says "what are you doing?", I
said "taking pictures"...he said "for who?" I said "for myself".

He then got out of his car and said "yeah but at 3 o'clock in the
morning?" I told him I worked 3rd shift at the Mayo Clinic (which
I do) and on the weekends I'm up all night anyway so why not?

He wanted to see my ID, and of course he had to run my name and all
that jazz. It was like he couldn't believe I was just out taking
pictures at 3 o'clock in 14 degree weather. Heck I was standing
there with my tripod (camera attached to it) why would I lug that
around in the cold if I were up to no good?

Anyway, he came back and said "Here you go Gregg, I had to check it
out, you know with the terrorists and everything." I don't blame
him, I guess ya can't take chances these days.

Does anyone else have any stories like this?

Click to expand...

Well, you can be sarcastic, you can be abset but that's the reality, unfortunate, but it is. I came from USSR to Canada 9 years ago. Not a very good example maybe, but level of security always was at code red in USSR, specially in big cities. No pictures at the airport, no picture of bridges, factories and some other objects. It was too much for that time taking in account all those restrictions people had when travel to USSR and presence of iron curtain. It was very well policed country with a lot of restrictions in many fields, but I have to admit - none wa worrying about terrorists blowing up the bridge or a building. On the other side, even with this tight security many aiplane hijacking had occured. in 1970s and 80s. Really, I don't know what my point is I think that in current situation I can deal with police wandering why and what am I doing in the middle of the night with this gear.

strike

Just kidding. I live in Minnesota too over in the Mankato area. I guess I must admit to being seen in 14 degree weather taking photos. Just never let any cops see me do it.

Actually folks I recall back when I was a young man of about 16-17. I used to go for walks in the evenings for no other reason than to go for a walk. Nope, no window peeping, usually had a camera with me. I got stopped quite a number of times by policemen wanting to know who I was, why was I just walking around near of after first dark. Show ID et al. That was way way back in the late 60's.

Things really aren't that much different.

I have flown twice now since 9/11 both times with a lot of camera gear and my laptop. I was searched pretty completely but it didn't really bother me. I am happy they are looking closer. I for one don't want to be a poor unfortunate that bonds with some skyscraper.

The ACLU is still out there looking out for us. If you are concerned contact them.

Regards

George Smith
http://www.ksscinc.com

The tip-off was you were using the 28-70 when everyone knows you should have been using the 70-200. No wonder the security guy was suspicious.

Frank Patton said:

"Palm tree...."

Looks at me Incredulously. Yeh, right.

"Come look..."

No! And you can't photograph here.

"WHAT?"

You can't photograph here...

"Why? Two weeks ago I was right over there in front of Dairy
Queen, facing the building, taking photos of my daughter and her
friends on her birthday."

9-11, terrorists, etc..... was his next answer...

"Come over here and review my shots, it's easy, this is a digital
camera..."

He then advises me to finish up quickly, like real quick, and move on.

Now, I guess someone with a want-to-be-a-hero fantasy could stretch
a BP3001PRO (black, fully extended) with something significant in
size on it into a rocket launcher. But! I live in So. Calif. and
am originally a common mid-westerner (Indiana), NOT mid-easterner!
Here in this region I stick out like a sore thumb (my neighbors in
my upscale neighborhood are Indonesian, Brazilian, Chinese,
Mexican, and one other is also a common mid-westerner). Sorry, but
my image is low on the profile list for terrorists.

Photo, by the way, is in production as a transparancy graphic for
an 8' by 3' vertical lightbox.

-FP

strike said:

I work 3rd shift and have Friday/Saturday nights off, so naturally
I am interested in messing around with "night photography".

Well EARLY this morning I was out shooting around my city
(Rochester, MN...a city of about 100,000...home to the Mayo
Clinic), there was literally NO ONE on the streets, no cars and no
people.

A policeman (who was handing out tickets to cars parked in no
parking zones) rolls up to me and says "what are you doing?", I
said "taking pictures"...he said "for who?" I said "for myself".

He then got out of his car and said "yeah but at 3 o'clock in the
morning?" I told him I worked 3rd shift at the Mayo Clinic (which
I do) and on the weekends I'm up all night anyway so why not?

He wanted to see my ID, and of course he had to run my name and all
that jazz. It was like he couldn't believe I was just out taking
pictures at 3 o'clock in 14 degree weather. Heck I was standing
there with my tripod (camera attached to it) why would I lug that
around in the cold if I were up to no good?

Anyway, he came back and said "Here you go Gregg, I had to check it
out, you know with the terrorists and everything." I don't blame
him, I guess ya can't take chances these days.

Does anyone else have any stories like this?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
[email protected]

There was a thread very similar to this one about 5 months ago. I read all of the posts and felt like a minority when I commented about how our "hard fought and died for freedoms" are being taken away by right wing politicians in order to protect us from terrorists. In this thread there are many more posts from disgruntled photographers....... good. Keep it up.

The relatvely benign restrictions I mentioned in my earlier post have been put into place to convince us that we ARE being protected by our leaders. In reality, any of the restrictions that I have witnessed could be easily circumvented by a child with an average IQ. The terrorists have not attacked again not because of our vigilence but because they are not as potent as we thought immediately after 9-11.

I do think we will be hit again, there are just so many opportunities. It is the price we pay for what freedoms we still have. But giving up our freedoms will be a victory for tyrants no matter which side of the world they are on.

By the way, this transmission is being monitored...... as are all transmissiions passing through the air (non land line).

OK, that's enough. Time to get my D60 and my dog and go have some fun.
--
Bill Branham
http://members.aol.com/Wsbranham/Page1.html