Because the Internet is designed for people like me with attention deficit disorder, I somehow found myself on the ACLU website reading about the rights of photographers. Having been detained and my information taken by the good folks at the Department of Homeland Security last year for photographing the exterior of a building in the Houston Ship Channel, I found this site particularly interesting.

Below is a link to the main page, and as usual, you can find yourself God knows where with the "learn more" links. Hope you find this interesting too.

https://www.aclu.o...ghts-photographers

I'll counterpoint that arguing with the cops about what is and is not legal, is not worth the hassle. That is a very way to end up held or at least cuffed n stuffed.

Yes, you'll probably get released unless you really screwed up or are getting charged with something else, but it's not worth a pissing contest with the police either.

Arguing with the cops like that is the photography equivalent of being those retards that open carried rifles into Arby's (or whatever fast food place it was) Yes, it is legal. No, it isn't a good idea.

Be calm and respectful with the police and it'll go a lot easier. Your regular beat cop isn't a legal scholar and is just trying to do his job. IF you do want to argue the point, just remember the polite and calm bit. Getting tagged with a disorderly for yelling at a cop is a bad idea.

Edit:

As for secured buildings/facilities, there is an allowance for letting them say no photography. The air force base in town is well known for grabbing people taking photos from the nearby highway because it runs through .gov property. Make sure you know exactly where you are when snapping photos like that and potentially expect a response anyhow.

Personally, I don't appreciate looking down the barrel of firearms, so I abstain or get passes from Public Affairs before taking photos of .gov property. Sometimes if you ask nicely, they'll even surprise you. I got almost "hands on" with the F-22 last year because of asking nicely. (I had to keep 5' away at all times)

These rights are good to know. I have had people tell me that I need to remove stuff from my SD card before. Nope, sorry I know (some of) my rights. I've learned a bit more from this link. Thanks for the share.

A quick Google search of "photographers rights" turns up a ton of results. I've read about a half dozen since the original post and just about every one has made allowance for military bases BUT anything viewable from a public space is fair game. I guess that's why the Feds were after the one mountaintop you could see into Area 51...

I'm always compliant with law enforcement but my encounter with DHS last year REALLY stuck in my craw. I encourage everyone to do their own research and check out local laws but hey let's face it, most of us here want to see what's INSIDE those buildings and we all know the legal risks that entails!

Posted by DarkAngel I'll counterpoint that arguing with the cops about what is and is not legal, is not worth the hassle. That is a very way to end up held or at least cuffed n stuffed. Yes, you'll probably get released unless you really screwed up or are getting charged with something else, but it's not worth a pissing contest with the police either. Arguing with the cops like that is the photography equivalent of being those retards that open carried rifles into Arby's (or whatever fast food place it was) Yes, it is legal. No, it isn't a good idea. Be calm and respectful with the police and it'll go a lot easier. Your regular beat cop isn't a legal scholar and is just trying to do his job. IF you do want to argue the point, just remember the polite and calm bit. Getting tagged with a disorderly for yelling at a cop is a bad idea. Edit: As for secured buildings/facilities, there is an allowance for letting them say no photography. The air force base in town is well known for grabbing people taking photos from the nearby highway because it runs through .gov property. Make sure you know exactly where you are when snapping photos like that and potentially expect a response anyhow. Personally, I don't appreciate looking down the barrel of firearms, so I abstain or get passes from Public Affairs before taking photos of .gov property. Sometimes if you ask nicely, they'll even surprise you. I got almost "hands on" with the F-22 last year because of asking nicely. (I had to keep 5' away at all times)

Worse than cops is a surprise visit by the FBI. Been there, done that. The FBI is a completely different critter than police or Homeland, they are excellent at interrogating and investigating. Military police will refer cases to specially assign FBI agents. This is what you will face if you trespass on an active military site.

Or in my case accidently shoot where they have a task force operating. They are polite, professional, extremely well trained with a broad array of resources and leeway to operate. I suggest if you deal with them to tell them the truth. They'll give you one shot at it. Most likely they won't be interested further with you unless you did something really stupid and illegal. In my case the lead agent gave me his card and said to call him if I wanted to shoot there again. He apologized for the inconvenience and they left.

https://youtu.be/95qZtwJNjxk


I can't help it... Every time I hear or read 'know my rights'...

Of course it's good to know your rights but DarkAngel has a good point. In 99% of the cases being polite and reasonable will have you walk away with a warning (In my European experiences, US might be different?). I'm even pretty sure that smiling and laughing triggers them to loosen up and gain trust. Of course there are also dickhead cops, but in that case, why argue if you know that you will lose anyway?

YotaMan20, here it's pretty common that they ask you to remove your photos from the camera. Most of us carry multiple SD cards, we empty the one they ask us to and recover the photos at home with recovery software. Have to use a new card after emptying the used one, because if you overwrite it with new photos the chance of being able to recover the old ones is reduced. The cops/guards are happy, we are happy, win-win.

YotaMan20, here it's pretty common that they ask you to remove your photos from the camera. Most of us carry multiple SD cards, we empty the one they ask us to and recover the photos at home with recovery software. Have to use a new card after emptying the used one, because if you overwrite it with new photos the chance of being able to recover the old ones is reduced. The cops/guards are happy, we are happy, win-win.

That works too. I didn't know it was that "easy" to recover deleted files off of an SD card.

I wish I could have afforded the Canon 5d Mark III which has the multi card slot as opposed to the 6D with only one.

Posted by sirpsychosexy YotaMan20, here it's pretty common that they ask you to remove your photos from the camera. Most of us carry multiple SD cards, we empty the one they ask us to and recover the photos at home with recovery software. Have to use a new card after emptying the used one, because if you overwrite it with new photos the chance of being able to recover the old ones is reduced. The cops/guards are happy, we are happy, win-win.

This rarely happens in the US because it would open a person or police to a potentially huge lawsuit. Police twice, FBI once have with my permission viewed my images. Neither suggested even slightly that I erase them.
Might work with guards but in the US erasing images wouldn't help your cause if arrested.

I've twice had issues, one slightly more than minor, one no more than a slight blip.

The first was in August 2012. I'd been hired to shoot a bonfire party. This was the third in a series of these parties. The police ended up shutting it down over an hour early due to busting an underage drinker sneaking back in. I took a couple shots of the officers right after they entered and were ushering out partygoers. I stuck around for a bit longer, and took one more shot of them on my way out. They took exception to this and threatened to confiscate my equipment. I politely but firmly told them that they had no grounds for doing so, and wished them a good night.

On my way out of a nearby parking lot, I noticed a police cruiser immediately peel off from in front of the house where the party had taken place and begin following me. Long story short, after pulling me over a few minutes later, the officer was somewhat unprofessional, trying to nail me for everything from DUI to using a cell phone while driving, and when he knew that he couldn't, he gave me a ticket for "moved from lane unsafely", then mocked my custom license plate over his bullhorn as I pulled away.

As I didn't have any video to back up my side of the story, the best that I was able to do was get my ticket "reduced" to a parking ticket. I put it between quotation marks because the parking ticket to which it was reduced exists only as a reduction from a moving violation, and still cost me $145! Mind you, this was in a traffic court where the judge bragged about how many tickets the municipality gives out and how much revenue they take in from them, and there were so many people that the judge just had them stand up in their seats as their names were called, with no one approaching the podium and addressing the judge unless they had further business. The court also insisted that the tickets be paid on that day, with no leeway given except under very, very limited circumstances.

Anyway, here's the "offending" photo.

_DSC2432a by Shawn Wright, on Flickr

The second incident happened while I was shooting a model during a cosplay shoot. We were briefly approached by security, but they kept their distance after I explained the situation. I wasn't surprised, because we were shooting right next to an active and well-known hydroelectric power plant. Security didn't bother us again until probably about 20 minutes later, when we were asked not to stand on top of this one particular sign, but it didn't matter as we were already done there.