[LargeFormat] Chicago...tripods and the law

[Joseph O'Neil]

At 09:13 2/19/04 -0500, you wrote:
>Naaa,
>
>Different days, different people.  A lot of your woes come would come from
>misguided and ignorant passerby's that go call 911 because they see someone
>with a camera on a tripod shooting the towns water reservoir.   You must be
>up to no good, if not, why are you hiding under that black hood??


-snip-

         Actually, now that the subject has been broched, I ahve been an 
amatuer astornomer for over 20years now, and our local astornomy club has a 
million and one tales of the police comming to investiage "hodlums, 
terriorts" and more.

         Remember - we are outside at NIGHTTIME with strange intruments on 
a tripods - and if you guys think you have it bad, I can tell you - God's 
honest truth - long before 9-11, we have had it worse.   My favourite local 
story is a group of my friends who had the provincial police decend on them 
en masse one night, because a passing motorist phoned in on thier cell a 
report of a "bunch fo holdums witha stolen hot water heater in the middle 
of a corn feild"    Don't ask, I dunno either.

         Then there was the guy from nothern Ontario  who setup in a feild, 
apparently too close to a military base here in Canada late one night.   As 
bad as some of you have had it with police, how many of you have had 
soldiers level a machine gun at you, demanding to know what you are doing?

         there's a thousand more such stories in amatuer astronomy, so 
don't feel that you are alone ro singled out.  For what it is worth, 
amatuer astornomers have been putting up with such attitudes since before 
WW2,a nd some reports i have read, even before WW1 - after all, you ahve to 
be some sort of "weirdo" to setup an optical instrument ona  tripod late at 
night, by yourself, ina  dark feild with no lights around.   Can we assume 
Ansel Adams had a bit freer reign at the same time period?

         so, count yourselves lucky, there are those who have it worse.

:)
joe



http://www.oneilphoto.on.ca
http://www.multiboard.com/~joneil
Una salus victis, nullam sperare salutem