Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/06/05

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Subject: [Leica] Do not photograph fire hydrants
From: banacloj at mac.com (Juan Gea-Banacloche)
Date: Sat Jun 5 13:15:34 2004

This is not completely OT, as I was trying to take my picture with a 
Leicaflex SL and a Summicron I had asked about (and been answered) in 
this forum before.
I was coming out of White Flint Mall in Rockville, MD and a red fire 
hydrant caught my eye. Today is overcast, it has been raining and the 
fire hydrant was very colorful against the green grass and the grey 
road.
I went around it back and forth, trying to "see" the image I wanted. 
When I was about to shoot, a security guard showed up and told me it 
was not allowed to photograph fire hydrants in the premises. I asked 
her her name and the name of the person I should address my concerns 
about this, and she pointed to her supervisor, who was overseeing the 
proceedings. Mr. Zachary Pittman very politely explained to me that any 
photography of areas of the shopping mall (a private property) that 
could be considered a security risk was forbidden.
There have been other comments on the list about episodes similar to 
this. No one harassed me, but it is unpleasant.
And sad.
And somewhat ridiculous.
Anyway, I was trying to get the picture because I would like to get a 
few nice pictures of fire hydrants, which are easier than gothic chicks 
and (I thought), less dangerous to photograph. My first attempt was 
taken with a M3 and the Elmarit-M, and can be seen at
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2419398
Any comment will be welcome

Juan


Replies: Reply from bdcolen at earthlink.net (B. D. Colen) ([Leica] Do not photograph fire hydrants)