personal safety / security while photographing

[Drew Wiley]

John ... for personal safety I would have thought you'd bring along your trusted Aremenian
hound, Poochinian.

[jackies]

I always dress as a male. No frills, heels, ruffles, skirts, makeup, and hair tucked up into a watch cap. Walk outside of your car/room with your keys jutting out between your fingers - the better to scrape their face with if needed.

Get some wasp spray - It sprays @ 20 feet or so. Good to aim at the face and eyes. This keeps the bugger away from you.

Several years ago, I wanted to go out in Canyon de Chelly at daybreak alone to photograph and asked the hotel operator if it was safe. They advised against it due to drunken Indians who would attack and rob you. Later that week, I found out that a woman had been killed at Spider Point by her fiance. . .still it was scarey to know that he may be at large. . . they found him 2 days later. He had jumped off the cliff to the base area of Spider Rock. We were camping 1/4 mile away from where he was found.

Good luck and have alot of fun.

Jackie

[Drew Wiley]

I've never felt unsafe at Can deChelley, but just like everywhere else keep an eye out for
potential trouble. I'm all too familiar with Indians, and have known some who were the
most gentle of people and others who were axe murderers, and still others for whom
alchohol would do a sudden Jekyll-Hyde transformation. I do understand the resentment
some Navajo feel to being treated as museum pieces, or being made into certain photographic stereotypes.

[jackies]

I've never felt unsafe at Can deChelley, but just like everywhere else keep an eye out for
potential trouble. I'm all too familiar with Indians, and have known some who were the
most gentle of people and others who were axe murderers, and still others for whom
alchohol would do a sudden Jekyll-Hyde transformation. I do understand the resentment
some Navajo feel to being treated as museum pieces, or being made into certain photographic stereotypes.

I agree. Being a woman, though, we are a bit more vulnerable than men. I am much more wary than I was 10 years ago.

[John Kasaian]

john ... For personal safety i would have thought you'd bring along your trusted aremenian
hound, poochinian.

roflmao!

[Kuzano]

Always check in with Ranger stations and Law Enforcement on tribal lands. In fact, if you are going to be spending time in remote areas on tribal land, be sure to check in with Reservation Police forces. I don't know if you've read recent statistics on violent and rape crimes, but the figures are higher on reservations than big cities in the country. Know the stats on areas you are going to be roaming through. MAN OR WOMAN!!

Don't spend a lot of time in areas where park rangers and law enforcement are wearing body armor... kevlar vests. A few years ago, when I was in the East part of the country, I wanted to hike and photograph in the Appalachian Trail area. Many sections of the trail were closed to tourists, and the rangers WERE wearing bullet proof vests. Violence on the trail was very high and forest drug grows were a huge problem. Check the areas before you go.

Now, I am back in Oregon and in the last three years some very huge marijuana grows, thousands of acres, have been uncovered. The drug cartels have found that it's easier to grow product near the consumer market, rather than smuggle it across the border. One grow in remote NE Oregon was so big and changed the canyon it was located in, some think the canyon may never be restored to it's original state. I ran into this problem as well in the jungle growth on the big Island of Hawaii.

I'm just reminding you to beware and stay informed. Check in with the law or agencies that serve the areas you plan to visit.

As some have said, I have spent many years in the wilderness, and I am less concerned about animals in the wild where they can easily hide from you, and more about the one's encroaching on cities and populated areas. Regarding people, I am more concerned about criminals or addicts in the woods or desert than the animals.

[Kuzano]

I haven't seen it much here in AZ, but when in NM I saw cars broken into at trailheads a lot. Actually, they were often just broken, vandalized by smashing large rocks through the windshields. And it was often the really nice, new Range Rovers and Lexus SUVs. I even saw cars parked on the shoulder of interstates, sometimes with a flat tire or other breakdown indications, the owner off to get help, only to return to find the windshield smashed out. This was 10 years ago, but there was a really ruthless population that resented intruders and rich people.

Once, near Taos, I parked at an official dirt parking spot near a popular hot spring in the Rio Grande. The trail dropped down the canyon to the springs, only a half a mile or less. The area was desolate, 2-3 miles off the paved roads. When I parked there were two other cars there. I walked halfway down the trail, thought of something I'd forgotten in my car, and walked back up to get it. In the 15 minutes I'd been gone, someone had appeared out of the rocks, broken the window of the car parked beside me, and left (or ran when their lookout saw me coming).

When I parked I always tried to hide my 4WD in a wash, behind some mesquites, etc. I figured if they didn't see a vehicle there, they'd cruise to the next location.

Car Breakin and Theft has become a massive problem at the waysides all up and down the Western coastal highways. Almost all parking lots are posted very obviously about NOT leaving items where they can be seen in your locked or unlocked vehicle. Huge problem!

My favorite travel vehicle for photo and other project trips is a reliable but crappy looking 4WD Chevy Suburban. I don't have the back seat (third seat) in the rig, and have a cover rigged from the second seat to the tailgate doors. Under the cover on one side, I have a sturdy gun safe, welded to the floor of the vehicle. All camera's and guns are packed in the locked safe, except for one revolver.

[StoneNYC]

The thing I think about most is this...

You have a massive, blunt force object in your hands, don't be afraid to use it, your life is more important than the camera, but a rail "pipe" and the corner of the camera can do wonders against a would be assailant.

[Michael E]

This thread is really getting creepy.

[CP Goerz]

Expect to be robbed in CA gas stations, the price of a gallon only dropped to less than $4 a week ago.