[LargeFormat] RE: Chicago...tripods and the law

[Diane Maher]

On a recent trip to Seattle, I had a backpack with my metal Toyo 45AII,
a couple of lenses, Grafmatic holder, light meter, you get the idea.  I
never had to open that back pack for security once.  The only camera
that they had to hold up for the world to see was my Leica M6 that I had
put in my personal item bag.  They did open up my tripod bag and leave
their little note saying that they had opened my bag.

Of course, as I walked through the metal detector and my watch set off
the thing, I thought that I was going to be strip searched over a
blasted watch! :(

When I flew to England in 2002, my luggage was held up in Boston because
I had my tripod in with my clothes and they just had to break in to my
bag to see what it was.  What are the x-ray machines for? Needless to
say, I was not happy when I found out the next morning in London.  It
took two days to get my luggage to me as I wasn't staying in London.  I
borrowed a tripod from the place where I was.

I agree with Brock about security.  I don't feel any more secure than I
did before all of this "homeland security" BS.

As for professionals using a tripod, maybe I'll try handholding my 8x10
the next time I want to take any pictures.

Diane

A serene state of mind is a clear heart without ill feelings or a guilty
conscience.  It gives one the ability to surpass his own skills.
Schwarz Bruder - Mobile Fighter G-Gundam

-----Original Message-----
Message: 5
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 09:11:21 -0800 (PST)
From: Brock Nanson <brock@nanson.org>
To: largeformat@f32.net
Subject: RE: [LargeFormat] Chicago...tripods and the law
Reply-To: largeformat@f32.net

What national parks in Canada have the US-ish Draconian laws about 
professional photographers?  I've never heard of such a thing here 'out 
west', but then we tend to be outlaws, laughing regularly in the face of

authority...

It never fails to amuse me that the 'security' people make such a big
deal 
about photography in plain view.  With the advent of cell phones with 
integral cameras, small digital cameras etc, who but a freakin' idiot 
would try to gather 'intelligence' with a big camera???  Certainly no
one 
with the wherewithall to build an explosive device or hijack and crash a

plane.  Security in airports is always good for a laugh.  One week you 
need to boot your laptop, the next the explosive swab is all that's 
needed.  Same thing with cameras.  New procedures, each as inane as the 
previous one.  Should someone tell them that you could put explosive in 
the film cartidge area of a 35mm camera and still see through the lens?

That you can boot a laptop with a USB or Compact Flash device and fill
the 
drive bay with something nasty?  When I travel by air, the only feeling
of 
security I have is knowing that there are a whole bunch of planes in the

air at any given time, and the odds that mine is the one with the bad
guy 
aboard is fairly low.  The poorly educated staff at the security 
checkpoints don't exactly leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling.

Just to bring this back on topic, has anyone every had security question
a 
view camera?  It's fairly time consuming to set it up with a lense to 
prove its actual purpose.  Not exactly as simple as taking the lens cap
of 
your Nikon and letting them play with the AF... 

-- 
Brock Nanson
Kamloops BC Canada