Photographers Face Ejection Over Lenses 743
destinyland writes "Zooomr CEO Thomas Hawk was ejected from a San Francisco art museum because the security guard apparently thought his expensive camera could be used to spy on female employees. Another photographer notes that 'many people consider a professional-looking camera a threat,' and the state of California has even passed a law against telephoto lenses being used to intrude on celebrities' private lives. Hawk is routinely confronting security guards who argue that photographing their buildings represents a 'security threat.' Ironically, four weeks ago while attending Microsoft's Pro Photo Summit, he was told he couldn't even photograph the lobby of a Hyatt Hotel."
Re:Freedom to take pictures in public spaces (Score:1, Funny)
> they can't stop me from taking pictures in what is considered a ... For the record, I know shopping malls are
> public place
> privately owned...
One of these things is not like the other.
*Businesses* allow *customers* access to *their* property on *their* terms. Don't agree? Try pitching a tent in the food court.
Re:America's really getting stupid (Score:5, Funny)
I think he's running for president?
*waves bye to karma*
Re:America's really getting stupid (Score:1, Funny)
"Our Beloved Leader"
Re:Freedom to take pictures in public spaces (Score:5, Funny)
Re:America's really getting stupid (Score:5, Funny)
If you're a criminal in the first place, there are other ways to get an SLR than spending a fortune.
Re:like they can't get the info (Score:1, Funny)
taking pictures of my girlfriend in
Must be a fake post. A slashdotter has a girlfriend?
Re:Freedom to take pictures in public spaces (Score:5, Funny)
*shrug*
Maybe they are Swedish?
Re:like they can't get the info (Score:5, Funny)
I hit the same wall in Oakbrook Mall in the spring. I was taking a picture of the fountain through the mist being sprayed in the breeze. The security guard, very politely, asked me to desist for security purposes. WTF?
Do you not realize what could happen if control of that fountain fell into the wrong hands?
Re:Freedom to take pictures in public spaces (Score:4, Funny)
Man, the same thing happened to me the other day.
I was on a public beach in South Florida, just looking around after attending a showing of "Pineapple Express" at Aventura Mall. I saw a girl that I knew I would love to have a picture of and took a picture of her with my Canon 40D DSLR. Her boyfriend came over and told me to bugger off. At first I thought he was wrong, but decided to challenge him since I'd already taken the picture and I didn't want to get my ass kicked. So I ran away with my Boots of Escaping. Later that day I checked my computer and found other pictures so it didn't matter.
(I kid, I kid)
It's against the law. (Score:5, Funny)
Just ask the rent-a-cop. It is against the law. Just don't ask them what law, because they don't know. Then when pushed, it is "against the company's law."
I knew companies bought laws, but I didn't know they passed laws.
Re:Freedom to take pictures in public spaces (Score:4, Funny)
*Businesses* allow *customers* access to *their* property on *their* terms. Don't agree? Try pitching a tent in the food court.
Funny, I was just at my local food court,and I don't recall having any problem pitching a tent in front of the Hooters.
Re:Freedom to take pictures in public spaces (Score:5, Funny)
Personally, I wonder how exactly people think photography was used by terrorists in the 9/11 incident. Did one of them photograph the World Trade Center so that they could find it from a plane?
Re:like they can't get the info (Score:5, Funny)
I took a photo of an outside Christmas display once and a security guard asked me to hand over the camera so he could delete the images. I dropped the camera into my pants and said, go and get it. He told me to "get the fuck out" of their property but I was on the sidewalk outside his boundary, which I pointed out to him. At that point, he walked away cursing at me. I took a photo of him walking away, and then I ran the heck away from there.
I'm kind of an asshole.
Re:Freedom to take pictures in public spaces (Score:2, Funny)
Also the terrorist to tourist ratio are probably quite low ..
Wouldn't that depend on if you are vacationing in Orlando vs Kabul or Baghdad? ;)
Wrong choice of lens? (Score:3, Funny)
http://www.binocularsmart.com/cameras/photosniper.shtml [binocularsmart.com]
A friend gave me one of those a few years ago because it fitted on my night vision monocular, the apature wasn't large enough to give a very bright picture, but you could see pretty far.
Re:MOMA (Score:2, Funny)
I think you were in the bathroom.
Cameras steal souls, remember?? (Score:3, Funny)
They are afraid you are stealing their soul with the camera.
Look at what happened with all the primitive tribes after the anthropologists found and photographed them!
The museums are full of photographs.
The tribes have mostly disappeared.
The implications for terrorist use of cameras should be obvious.
Check the pirate trading sites, there's probably a market for photographers to sell these captured souls, particularly of security guards, comparable to that for stolen credit card numbers
Re:Freedom to take pictures in public spaces (Score:3, Funny)
As a Swede myself I have to say: bork bork bork!!
Fixed that for you.
Re:Freedom to take pictures in public spaces (Score:5, Funny)
But it's so simple! All I have to do is divine from what I know of you. Are you the sort of man who would draw attention to himself, or appear to look inconspicuous? Now, a clever man would draw attention to himself, because he would know that only a great fool would want to be noticed. I'm not a great fool, so I can clearly not draw attention to myself. But you must have known I was not a great fool; you would have counted on it, so I can clearly draw attention to myself.
You've made your decision then?
Not remotely. Because this camera comes from Australia, as everyone knows. And Australia is entirely peopled with criminals. And criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me. So I can clearly not draw attention to myself.
Truly you have a dizzying intellect.