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Thread: "Big" cameras, public lands, oversight & nuisances.

  1. #11

    "Big" cameras, public lands, oversight & nuisances.

    Ditto New Mexico state land. More restrictive than BLM; you need a permit. Often in really really open areas out west, including NM, it's not always easy to know whether you're looking at private (ranching), federal, Native American, or state. A good detailed map/gazetteer is a partial answer; the County Assessor's Offices are the real answer (in N.M. for sure), as are commercial title and "abstract" offices, who generally answer phone inquiries cheerfully. Private land is complex. You just have to get the owner or manager on the phone and ask. BLM -- as explained above, as long as you're not interfering w/ anyone else's use (and this includes ranchers who are grazing such land pursuant to Taylor Grazing Act leases), do as you like. Pueblos/Reservations -- You can pretty much forget it; the only opening I know of is to write the Pueblo Governer and ask permission. It will be denied. -jb

  2. #12

    "Big" cameras, public lands, oversight & nuisances.

    Well, you colonials certainly suffer for your art and I thought that America was the land of the free? My advice is to pack everything up and come over to England where apart from railway stations, supermarkets!! and military installations, you can roam at will with your large format cameras.

    Don't come via France though as these days you cannot even do street photography without suffering a writ for invasion of privacy. H C-B could not operate these days.

  3. #13

    "Big" cameras, public lands, oversight & nuisances.

    Next time, just plug em and leave em there. Probably years before someone would find the carcass!

  4. #14
    wfwhitaker
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    "Big" cameras, public lands, oversight & nuisances.

    What's a rapid rectilinear right-of-way?

  5. #15

    Join Date
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    9,487

    "Big" cameras, public lands, oversight & nuisances.

    If you want to disarm them ask them if they'd like to pose nude for your art project.

  6. #16
    Moderator
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    8,634

    "Big" cameras, public lands, oversight & nuisances.

    What's a rapid rectilinear right-of-way?

    That was Jim's problem. He was trying to use a G-Claron in a Rapid Rectilinear right-of-way.

  7. #17
    wfwhitaker
    Guest

    "Big" cameras, public lands, oversight & nuisances.

    Yeah... No wonder the Bureau of Lens Management got nosy!

  8. #18
    Dave Karp
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
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    Los Angeles, CA
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    "Big" cameras, public lands, oversight & nuisances.

    Unfortunately, it happens everywhere.

    I was in a California state park on a photo outing with my 77 year old Dad. He had his Canon 35mm, I had a Cambo monorail. We were walking out of the park, not even photographing, when we were confronted by a ranger who drove up in a big pickup. He asked for our names, what we were doing, said commercial photography was not allowed without a permit, and threatened to confiscate our equipment. When I told him we had a perfect right to shoot what we wanted, and that we were not commercial photographers, he said "You must be commercial photographers. Nobody else uses equipment like that." We got out with our equipment, but he claimed that our names were kept in a database and if we came back we would lose our equipment. (Later, I had a long conversation with the person responsible for giving photo licenses to commercial enterprises about this, and she claimed that there was no such list and that I should not worry. She also recommended calling the park ahead of time and letting them know I was coming with a big camera on a tripod. She said that some rangers think anyone with a tripod is a pro.)

    Meanwhile, 5 minutes walk from where he stopped us, there was a photographer with a nice expensive Canon digital camera with a big honkin' L lens on it shooting a model wearing some climbing clothes and equipment. I bet he did not have a permit. But he was not using a tripod and he had a pretty small camera compared to mine!

  9. #19
    Kirk Gittings's Avatar
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    Mar 2004
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    Albuquerque, Nuevo Mexico
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    "Big" cameras, public lands, oversight & nuisances.

    A couple of years ago at the Red Cliff petroglyph site by Sedona, I was stopped by a ranger as I was leaving and asked if my photos were for commercial purposes. I was in a feisty mood and said "that depends on whether they sell or not". She had nailed me because of my large format equipment. I had been talking to a travel shooter up at the ruins who was on assignment shooting hand held 35mm. She did not stop him. I brought this to her attention and she said, that it was hard to tell him from the amatuers so they always let those guys go. I pointed out to her that there were many large format amatuers but she didn't believe me "no amatuer would lug all that equipment around". I told her that while I might make money from my images, the 35 guy was for sure making money since he was on assignment. By now she was convinced that I was hustling her and I was convinced that she was an idiot. She suggested to me that I go back to Flagstaff to get a commercial permit. I suggested to her that she actually read the regulations and handed her a copy (I always keep one with me in AZ in particular). She turned around and stomped off. I had a similar experience at Wupatki and my copy of the regs trumped their nonsense.

    These rangers are selectively applying rules that they do not even fully understand. Unfortunately it is our job to educate them.
    Thanks,
    Kirk

    at age 73:
    "The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep"

  10. #20

    Join Date
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    "Big" cameras, public lands, oversight & nuisances.

    Since this was originally posted in August, I suppose the ranger was a seasonal employee. These "temps" wear those badges in the summer that kind of puts undo stress on thier spinal columns which in turn tends to warp the brain stem. That, coupled with those pointy hats which eventually mould the top of the cranium into a pointy shape tends to make these guys and gals a bit wierd and possibly dangerous.

    Humor them---they might be packin' more potent hardware than five cell maglites.
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

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