I had someone to call cops on me

[samal]

I just got my Tamron 17-50 at the post office and naturally had to go out and take some test photos with it. I was babysitting tonight so I took my 3 year old daughter with me for a walk down the block

2 house from mine, there was some kind of bush that interested me. So, I decided to take a picture, while my daughter was playing with something on the lawn next to me and tried different angles, naturally standing close to the bush and moving around.

Finally I took a picture and turned around to see some people across the street, looking very suspiciously at me. I didn't think much about it, but 2-3 minutes later, a motorcop came over and rode his bike right over the sidewalk to intercept me. He demanded to know where i lived, who was the girl with me, what did I take a picture off. After I showed him the picture on the camera and the bush, my ID and walked with him to my house, he was satisfied and left. Those people were very disappointed and finally walked away as well.

that made me think, how boring must be life for some people and how intrusive and nosy can people be! On the other hand, should I be happy that we have those people around as next time they could prevent real crime from happening?

Oh, the bush in question:

 

[supraman215]

Wow. That's crazy. It's amazing the havoc cameras cause these days. I can understand their concern but the fact that their your neighbors and did that is strange.

 

[ghpham]

What is so crazy about a person watching out for their neighbors? You were close to trespassing on someone else's property looking suspicious.

The only sad thing is these days, people don't even know who their neighbors are.

 

[TheSolicitor]

Cameras are the new guns.

They make EVERYONE nervous...neighbors, cops, friends, family...it sucks. I hate you had the five-oh called on you, but I'm glad it seemed to work out!

Good shot, though!

 

[manaheim]

You showed him your ID?

Hell, I don't think I would have even showed him the pictures I took. Too funny.

(and yes, you might have spent a night in jail for that because he'd probably bust you just to make your life difficult, so no, I wouldn't really recommend that)

 

[samal]

You showed him your ID?

Hell, I don't think I would have even showed him the pictures I took. Too funny.

(and yes, you might have spent a night in jail for that because he'd probably bust you just to make your life difficult, so no, I wouldn't really recommend that)

I had a 3-year-old with me, last thing I wanted is confrontation. The cop was somewhat an asshole. After I showed him the pic, he asked me with a smirk "So, you like bushes?" I told him "I like pictures". I guess he had hard time believing that I was spending time to take a picture of a bush :lmao:

 

[TheSolicitor]

You may find the site www.carlosmiller.com to be of some interest after this interaction...it's more commonly known as PINAC or Photography Is Not A Crime. I spend a fair amount of time there.

 

[Sam6644]

Haha, as long as you're on the sidewalk you can take pictures of whatever you want.

 

[tirediron]

Haha, as long as you're on the sidewalk you can take pictures of whatever you want.

I think that might be a bit of an exageration, but you can definitely shoot most of what you want.

 

[manaheim]

Yeah totally understand the three year old thing.

btw, the "you can take pics of whatever you want" isn't EXACTLY correct.

You can't break out the zoom lens and shoot into someone's window. Essentially, you can take pictures of pretty much anything visible from public spaces as long as you don't violate anyone's reasonable expectation of privacy.

(and no, I'm not an atty nor do I play one on tv)

 

[Live_free]

You showed him your ID?

Hell, I don't think I would have even showed him the pictures I took. Too funny.

(and yes, you might have spent a night in jail for that because he'd probably bust you just to make your life difficult, so no, I wouldn't really recommend that)

I had a 3-year-old with me, last thing I wanted is confrontation. The cop was somewhat an asshole. After I showed him the pic, he asked me with a smirk "So, you like bushes?" I told him "I like pictures". I guess he had hard time believing that I was spending time to take a picture of a bush :lmao:

If he would have approached me I would I would've said "Anything I can do for you officer?" He probably would ask to see my ID and for me to stay there. To that I would say "Do you have any grounds on which to hold me?" If he said to stay there with him he would be breaking the law, without giving me a reason that is. I would then ask for his badge number and call his superiors. But if he said he had no ground I would ask if he was holding me and if not I would walk away, if he was, again he is breaking the law.

 

[bentcountershaft]

Had the child not been there I would have had a hard time not taking a picture of the nosy people, but I certainly understand your not doing so in that situation. I've had a couple interactions with the police while out shooting but it's always at night. They just don't realize it's possible to take long exposures until you explain it to them. Luckily I haven't had to deal with any real pricks for a while. The last guy seemed genuinely curious about how to do what I was doing, so it was actually kind of cool. I came off sounding like I knew what I was talking about.

 

[Mendoza]

Maybe if people weren't so fearful and reactionary they would be less apt to interpret a man taking a picture of a (purple smoke bush) as some sort of crime. I wonder what they reported to the police, exactly?

 

[ghpham]

Maybe if people weren't so fearful and reactionary they would be less apt to interpret a man taking a picture of a (purple smoke bush) as some sort of crime. I wonder what they reported to the police, exactly?

suspicious character snooping around a neighbor's yard.

 

[Village Idiot]

You may find the site www.carlosmiller.com to be of some interest after this interaction...it's more commonly known as PINAC or Photography Is Not A Crime. I spend a fair amount of time there.

PINAC sounds like something a person who speaks like a dyslexic person writes would say.