On Feb 24, 7:58 pm, "Annika1980" wrote:
I'm bored this afternoon so I go over to the dam to try to get some
pics of the herons flying (they were very uncooperative). I'm also
shooting a few ducks, some cardinals, and the lone falcon that lives
there. The light is terrible, it's about to rain, but hey ... I love
a challenge.
Anyway, I'm minding my own business when I notice there's some rookie
cop standing there beside me asking me what I was shooting. "Birds,"
I told him without even looking up from my 20D and the Forgotten 400 f/
5.6L.

"Show me," he demands. So he makes me scroll through the entire CF
card showing him the photos to make sure I'm not shooting a picture of
little kids or the bridge ... you know, like terrorists always do. So
I'm narrating the pics as I scroll, "Great Blue Heron, duck, falcon,
duck, Presidential Motorcade, me flipping off the Pres, another duck,
me and the old lady doing it ..... "
You know, the usual stuff.

Just kidding about the Presidential pics. Thankfully, I deleted them
from the card before today's shoot. Otherwise, I might be typing this
from Guantanimo.

I was very polite with the flatfoot (since I don't really like jail),
but the more I thought about it after he left the madder I got. At
what point does having a nice camera make one a terrorist suspect?
When did that happen? (I know it must've been in the last 6 years.) I
know Bush (and his gang of crooks) wipes his ass with the
Constitution, but I must've missed it when photography became a crime.

I'm just glad my pal, Kamran, wasnt with me. He's from Pakistan and
he's got a quick tongue. Can you say, "Taser?"

This isn't the first time this has happened to me, either. I think
the next time it happens I will politely ask the officer for a list of
things that I may and may not photograph. If he can't provide such a
list I shall politely ask him to go **** up a rope.

Anyway, here's a crappy pic from today's crappy shoot.http://www.pbase.com/image/74796772

Didn't I tell you that cops, Secret Service agents and even security
guards stop anyone with a bayonet lens camera?! Can you imagine what
happens at the airport? Say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing or
even have the wrong thing in your suitcase and you will have a gun up
every orifice on your body! Remember that James Bond movie A License
To Kill? In that movie he used a medium format camera as a gun. I
think that scared a lot of people.
Too bad you couldn't keep your pics. I can only imagine how good they
were.
I think you're being too critical. This is a great pic. The water in
the background makes the whole photo look like a very detailed
watercolor painting. I like it.
Helen