Photos "the man" doesn't want you to see...

Murdoughnut

Murdoughnut

Well sized member
After hitting my normal spot above the short term parking lot at Tampa International, I decided to try my luck on the perimeter road near 36R. I spent about 40-minutes there snapping shots before packing up and getting ready to leave. As I was sitting in my truck flipping through some shots, I was startled to see three officers surrounding my vehicle.

Long story short, someone called in to report a suspicious person taking photos of airplanes and the airport 5-0 showed up. The whole situation was fine, the officers were polite and very respectful. I explained to them what I was doing and showed them my TSA badge (even though it was expired) and gave them my license. They were looking into my truck, so I told them they could search it if they wanted. They just wanted to see my photos, so I flipped through a few dozen or so for them.

They just recommended I call ahead of time for permission. I hadn't done that because I had heard that TIA rejects such requests. Plus I wasn't too alert during these shots because I was off airport property.

Made for a funny story, but like I said, the officers were quite cool about it and let me go.

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It's an unfortunate fallout from the times we live in and, in many cases, have put ourselves in what with the overdone airport security. Planespotters and/or photographers are now automatically suspected of being "lookouts" for a terrorist action, or are somehow casing the area and the operations for an upcoming operations, or some other thing.

Sad, really.
 
MikeD said:
It's an unfortunate fallout from the times we live in and, in many cases, have put ourselves in what with the overdone airport security. Planespotters and/or photographers are now automatically suspected of being "lookouts" for a terrorist action, or are somehow casing the area and the operations for an upcoming operations, or some other thing.

Sad, really.
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Which is pathetic really, considering they're usually the people that are going to know when something's out of place and are more likely to call if something actually suspicious is going on. Some airports (obviously in other countries) realize this and use them as an asset in this regard. Sadly I think it's a bit much to ask here.

Btw, you've got some nice shots Murdoughnut. What are you shooting with?
 
JordanD said:
Which is pathetic really, considering they're usually the people that are going to know when something's out of place and are more likely to call if something actually suspicious is going on. Some airports (obviously in other countries) realize this and use them as an asset in this regard. Sadly I think it's a bit much to ask here.

Btw, you've got some nice shots Murdoughnut. What are you shooting with?
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Thanks! I have a Pentax K20D. The lens is a underwhelming 50-200mm telephoto that does alright for what I paid for it. Does a lot better with close ups ironically enough, such as this shot ...

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JordanD said:
Which is pathetic really, considering they're usually the people that are going to know when something's out of place and are more likely to call if something actually suspicious is going on. Some airports (obviously in other countries) realize this and use them as an asset in this regard. Sadly I think it's a bit much to ask here.
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That is an excellent point, and it also shows what is perhaps the most gaping systemic flaw in TSA. A lot of people who don't know the first thing about real security, but are unwilling to admit it or get assistance from those who do.
 
Murdoughnut said:
They just recommended I call ahead of time for permission. I hadn't done that because I had heard that TIA rejects such requests. Plus I wasn't too alert during these shots because I was off airport property.

Made for a funny story, but like I said, the officers were quite cool about it and let me go.
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That's pathetic that Americans in a supposedly 'free' society are supposed to request permission to enter a non-secured area, off airport property.
One more step in our descent into a totalitarian regime, where all comrades will be required to present their papers to Party officials at checkpoints. Oh wait.....

Great pics, though. Is the pilot in the FedEx 727 wearing a Green Bay hat?
 
XLR99 said:
That's pathetic that Americans in a supposedly 'free' society are supposed to request permission to enter a non-secured area, off airport property.
One more step in our descent into a totalitarian regime, where all comrades will be required to present their papers to Party officials at checkpoints. Oh wait.....

Great pics, though. Is the pilot in the FedEx 727 wearing a Green Bay hat?
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Yeah I agree with you completely. Just reading his account of what happened got my blood boiling......
 
Great shots.

By the way, you need not consent to a search of your property in that case. Probably best that you don't, actually, in the future. I'm tired of seeing photographers harassed too. At the LAX-Sepulveda Parking Spot at the north complex, on the roof (a great photo spot) there's a sign that the taking of photos is prohibited. "Sure, whatever." Bust me on the surface.

XLR99 said:
That's pathetic that Americans in a supposedly 'free' society are supposed to request permission to enter a non-secured area, off airport property.
One more step in our descent into a totalitarian regime, where all comrades will be required to present their papers to Party officials at checkpoints. Oh wait.....
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On the plus side, we at least have a choice between red papers and blue papers. I agree, though.
 
Autothrust Blue said:
Great shots.

By the way, you need not consent to a search of your property in that case. Probably best that you don't, actually, in the future. I'm tired of seeing photographers harassed too. At the LAX-Sepulveda Parking Spot at the north complex, on the roof (a great photo spot) there's a sign that the taking of photos is prohibited. "Sure, whatever." Bust me on the surface.


On the plus side, we at least have a choice between red papers and blue papers. I agree, though.
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Well from what they told me, it was a passerby that saw me and called it in. So I guess I'm not too upset about this because it's not like big brother was watching me and waiting to strike. More likely that some overzealous civilian or airport employee thought it too far out of the ordinary. Once they got the call, the police were more or less required to check it out.

Plus I wouldn't describe the incident as harassment at all. Like I said, they were very polite and respectful, so I didn't mind showing them my pictures, in fact I even offered to show them to them before they eventually asked. I have heard of other cases going the other way, though.

I was just happy they let me go and the whole incident didn't last longer than 5-minutes. They even recommended I call for permission, so I thought that was at least a bit understanding.
 
I remember parking my car with a buddy of mine near the KDAB tower (to watch some planes land on 7R) and we were told to leave... "Sir, I'm a pilot, and I fly right across the airport (erau), I have a badge to walk down the ramp but I cant be watching airplanes from outside the fence?" "nope". I thought that after being screened in order to get my student visa and TSA clearance was good enough to stand outside an airport but aparently its not.

I cant really complain, because im a foreigner and I've got to play by your rules, but at the time I was pretty pissed.
 
Nice pics - I'm somewhat biased to the F9 one. For those not familiar with F9 - all the animals have names. The Lynx is named Larry.
 
dasleben said:
Nice pictures, but please please don't do what you just posted again! If they want to search, have them get a warrant.
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This.

Also I know that you said someone had called in, but I've gotten harassed while at BDL for watching and snapping some pics of airliners coming in a couple years ago. They really need to find something to do besides bug people. Honestly, what do they think people are doing? Does Al Qaeda not know what an airliner looks like?


Very nice shots though!
 
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