Being told you can't take photos...

[marchael]

I was just wondering whether any other people have run into similar situations. But if not, I'd like your views or opinions on the matter.

Yesterday we were at a local Long Island airport, Republic Airport, a place that we've gone to many, many times over the years. While there we usually watch planes (mostly those with prop engines or even some corporate jets) arrive and depart, and if we can get a clear enough shot we'll even take photos of them. It's a public airport, owned by the New York State Department of Transportation, and we were parked in their parking lot alongside a fence where a few hangars are located. A Cessna 750 Citation X had just landed, and being that it's a nice-looking plane we thought we'd take a few photos of it. Michael took a few photos through the fence that was directly in front of us, then returned to the car.

About a minute later an airport employee came over to us and told us that we're not allowed to take photos of the planes, so I asked him why. He said that there are private planes there and we're not allowed to take photos of them because we might get their tail numbers in the photos, though he didn't say we can't photograph the tail numbers but rather can't photograph them at all. That didn't really explain anything but with today's heightened paranoia I didn't want to push things and end up in jail, or worse.

So, is this what airport security has come to - we're not even allowed to take photos of planes from the parking lot? Any thoughts or stories of similar experiences would be nice to hear.

Oh, and here's one of the photos taken:


http://www.pbase.com/marchael/image/47942368

[halesr]

It is my understanding that in the USA there are not being enacted restrictions on photographs of any public trasportation facilities.

Here is one article that might shed some light. Sorry it is a little old.

http://www.rcfp.org/news/mag/28-3/new-exposing.html

I don't have a full answer on where photographers stand legally, but I think there is definitely a heightened awareness and possibly overreaction to any photography at airports.--Rene

[jcboyd]

While in San Diego recently we were asked to not photograph in Horton Plaza shopping center. We were told since 911 this was not allowed. Both my wife and I use the very small spy camera, a Nikon D70. Our feelings are that anyone wanting to blow up a shopping center, taking photos before hand would use a camera phone or something less obvious than a large DSLR. We also noticed several people using small camera with nothing being said to them.

[bobt54]

I often photograph in Washington, DC, but I am very aware of what I point my camera at and when I do it. A friend of mine decided to go downtown during the last lunar eclipse and use the US Capital as the foreground for his shots. With his camera mounted on a tripod at night he prepared for some spectacular shots. Unfortunately he was informed by a police officer that a Capital police sharpshooter had him in his sites and "recommended" that he move on. Needless to say he did so without argument.

Did he have a right to be there. Yes, but do you really want to take the chance of being mistaken for a terrorist. One has to wonder what a photographer, with a long range lens mounted on a tripod must look like from hundreds of yards away at night. These guys have to make split second decisions some times.

As a general rule, I respect the right of an authority or individual to not be photographed. If I were a journalistic photographer I would feel differently, but I am not. As a amateur photographer it is just not worth the hassle or the risk.

[johnwaine]

I did get asked not to photograph the President of Italy when I was in Rome when they were preparing for the Pope's funeral!

But why Americans can't photograph bridges or why some British Guys were jailed for photographing civilian planes in Greece I don't know.
Looks like we're letting the terrorists win once we have these sort of restrictions.

Although I do agree about long lenses - an understandable restriction could be tolerated here.

[floradoragirl]

I was once told in a shopping mall when being asked not to shoot, that the shop signs were copyright. Which I thought was pretty funny. He did tell me I could take pictures of the public art in the place, but not the building itself. (I think he was really more concerned that I was photographing the CCTV cameras etc in case I was planning a heist).

Still I managed to get him in this picture - http://www.pbase.com/floradoragirl/image/25996540 - before he nabbed me! You can just see him approaching from the back at the right of the picture.

[apathetic]

I was waiting in the Target parking lot for my girlfriend to finish up her shopping when we were visiting near Chicago. We were right next to the airport, and the planes were flying about 50 feet over the parking lot. I pulled out my camera and started taking some photos for fun). Within about three minutes a few police cars rolled up and the surly officer asked me if I could think of why taking pictures of airplanes was a bad idea? Of course he couldn't tell me exactly why or quote any laws, but I agreed that it was a good time to stop taking pictures.

So, as photo enthusiasts we found ourselves victims of overly strict laws. Some might consider them totalitarian and perhaps approaching facist, but until they start exporting photogs to Gitmo I guess we can't complain.

[camera0bug]

Whatever you do...
Never take a photo of undercover policemen:


http://www.pbase.com/camera0bug/image/15609239

[clickaway]

I have been taking photos of aircraft since I was in short trousers and so maybe fit into the 'planespotter' category to some, although I don't 'collect' tail numbers and now only visit airports very ocassionally now.

So tell me, how can a photograph showing a tail number of a private jet be a security risk? Look on the aircraft photo database http://www.airliners.net/ - it contains a library of over 900,000 aviation images, a great many taken in the U.S. since 9/11.

These are just jobsworths latching on to a 'safe' excuse to spoil your day.

Ray

[donna_lear]

The only time I've ever been told to stop taking photographs was during a raid on a drug house. I happened on it completely by accident; a local house, surrounded by police cars and running officers, including a number of, apparently, undercover cops. When they saw me shooting, two started to run over. I was on public property, well out of the way and there were other people there observing, though no one else had an obvious camera. I tossed my camera through the car window, told the person I was with to roll up the windows and lock the doors.
They asked for my camera and/or film. I refused and said I was within legal rights to be doing what I was doing, where I was doing it and asked them to provide me with the law that said I couldn't. I was polite, very low key, in fact. I was also firm.
The one told me there were a number of undercover guys there and they were worried about being ID'd in a newspaper. I told them I would be careful with that, but no, I wasn't turning over the camera or the film (my pre-digital days). They didn't like it. They also left me alone.

[khtaylor]

Lately I've been experiencing the phenomena of what I call "light real estate laws." After all, photography is stealing nothing but reflection, right? Even if you focus on a piece of actual art, the photo will only represent the light reflected off of it, and in no way take away any part of it that doesn't inherently belong to the public and nature anyway.

My worst experiences to date have been with people, seconded by the sellers at our local Farmer's Markets. Ok, people - I can understand not wanting to have my picture taken by some creepy stranger with a big camera (not that I'm all that creepy..I'm a young woman who's totally normal looking in every way). Generally, I try to respect when someone is aware as I'm training the lens on them and if they look uncomfortable I give up immediately, though this often makes me long for one of those huge lenses so that I can be more stealth.

What really bugs me is the Farmer's Markets. I live in New England where every inch is picturesque even in decay, so I rarely leave my house without my camera just in case. My favorite places to go deliberately (that is until lately) are the Farmer's Markets but you should see the scowls of the sellers there. I finally had a dialogue with one of them this weekend and he tried to explain his feelings on the matter: He said that as a seller, he goes to great trouble to grow his flowers and to haul them to the site and arrange them each week and then people show up with cameras and act like they're entitled to images of his intellectual/artistic property. He said he didn't mind so much if the images were purely for personal use (I wanted to press him to define this, as I for one do not make money but post for the public, but what's the difference between that and sharing with family and friends?). His real dilemma was about the possibility that someone would use the images to make some money and not give him either a cut or credit.

Generally I try to respect people's feelings on the topic and it's not difficult to get me to give up and go away - even a simple grimace will do it. But I wonder why so many are so pissy. I consider it an homage when I train my lens on something I feel is beautiful or interesting. I'm not trying to take anything away from anybody, but rather to celebrate beauty in all of it's minutae.

People should lighten up before it's too late and art no longer exists. Corporations are busy copyrighting genes so soon nothing, no matter how small - down to the tiniest partical - will be left that isn't owned and regulated. Humans baffle me.

I'm very interested to hear people's comments on this matter.
Kimberley in Vermont
http://www.pbase.com/khtaylor

[press1]

Not sure why the airport guy said you shouldn't be taking pics of the aircraft number. The FAA has an online database where you can look up the owner of any aircraft by typing in the tail number. As an aircraft owner, I hate this, as it provides lots of spammers with my address. As a photographer, I really don't understand how the airport guy's restriction is supposed to help - you could write down the tail number and look it up that way. Hmmmmm - maybe he'd try to confiscate your pen if you were doing that.....

I'm afraid of the terrorists, too, but there are some things that just don't make any sense!

[emily]

Slug and I were shopping and taking photos in Harris Teeter (a grocery store) one day and had a fun experience... check out http://www.pbase.com/slug/harris_teeter

-Emily

[htcdude]

When i was in Kenya a couple of months back i was told off by a drunk guard that i couldn't take a photo of the memorial of their first President. He showed me his gun and tried to confiscate my camera, but the sober guard told him off

Stupid thing is you can take pictures of any other building/memorial of the guy, and if you really wanted a photo of this particular memorial you could easily get one from the building window opposite

[santa]

If you are on private property you have no specific right to take photos. You can't be arrested for doing so (other than in one single community in California) as far as I know but you can be escorted off the premises. I know in D.C. there are some prohibitions against the use of tripods and photos in the National Parks monuments to become aware of. On airports and other places you may find yourself on public land that is leased or operated by a contractor and things can be somewhat sticky so be careful to know if you are truly on public property. Some subways and such have instituted restrictions even though you would expect they were public property. If, however, you are walking down a street on a public sidewalk, you can be assured you can shoot anything or anyone you want. It doesn't mean somebody won't call the police or if you are shooting police you won't be hassled or arrested for something trumped up, but in general you are legally clear if you are on public property. This is NOT legal advice, merely what I have gleaned from reading many comments and posting.