Posted by Marsden107 True. I have only gotten stopped a couple of times. I try to go as low risk as possible. But, telling people I'm taking pictures for a school project can never really go wrong.

Not totally true. People have had their photos used against them as evidence. In my opinion once you get to stealthier locations - especially infiltrations - cameras are a liability if you get caught. Others that didn't get caught can be placed at the scene if they are in your photos.

Having the excuse of being there for photography definitely works against passerbys and low level exploring & also works better if it goes to court (photography versus a vandal should always work in your favour).

I guess what I'm saying is the best thing is to not get caught. Don't walk towards the security or police waving your camera saying, "photographer immunity"

Posted by Doug Not totally true. People have had their photos used against them as evidence. In my opinion once you get to stealthier locations - especially infiltrations - cameras are a liability if you get caught. Others that didn't get caught can be placed at the scene if they are in your photos. Having the excuse of being there for photography definitely works against passerbys and low level exploring & also works better if it goes to court (photography versus a vandal should always work in your favour). I guess what I'm saying is the best thing is to not get caught. Don't walk towards the security or police waving your camera saying, "photographer immunity"

I guess my plan for getting caught hiding was to act like I was trying to get a really close in pic of something small and trivial, and pretend I didn't se whoever it was.

If I go, the camera goes too. Sometimes I slack and don't bring a tripod...and by sometimes, I mean 10% of the time. I agree with what's been said about it looking much less sketchy if I have a camera. The photography speaks the words that I cannot, and tells the story of a moment that may never otherwise be told.

Posted by Katharsys If I go, the camera goes too. Sometimes I slack and don't bring a tripod...and by sometimes, I mean 10% of the time. I agree with what's been said about it looking much less sketchy if I have a camera. The photography speaks the words that I cannot, and tells the story of a moment that may never otherwise be told.

That being said, there are times when I wait long periods of time before sharing photos from certain locations. It's not always safe. Case by case basis. It try to make it so that it's not entirely obvious and I almost never publicly give names.

Well this has been a conflict for me but not until I joined UER. Prior to that all of my exploring (99. something % anyway) was done without a camera, my first real camera was an Argus C3. Going on photo safaris around town was a lot like urban exploring. In fact Im not really sure what the difference is except in degrees of risk and more focus on the buildings. We played in drains as kids, it never would have occurred to me to bring a camera to that.

When I joined UER I sat for hours browsing all the beautiful photography work and went out an bought a DSLR. Now that I had a place to share my experiences I hardly left home without it. Then at some point taking pictures started to become more of a chore than a joy. I wanted to go more spontaneous and that suited me better. So it depends if Im going someplace photo worthy or just bustin around in the Texas brush country. 1.

I used to explore without a camera, but I developed a passion for taking pictures and since, I cant go exploring without taking some flics.