Has anyone ever been pulled up/questioned over photo taking?

[Station]

Just wondering, I always feel like I'm breaking a law whenever I snap an old motor, like I'm doing it to 'steal for order' or something. I've noticed a huge heap of 'not bothered' photography on here.

[Mr Lobster]

No but I always try and be reasonably discreet about it! People could very easily get the wrong idea and it's easier just to not get hassled rather than explain why you want a picture of something that most people would consider not worthy of photographing.

[Father Ted]

I did get chased off for photographing a Vauxhall, but then I was trespassing (though the nice thing about trespass is its a civil offence not criminal so rarely gets prosecuted).Mostly though I tend to think " Meh! " and just photograph and be dammed.

[VWPowered]

I did get chased off for photographing a Vauxhall, but then I was trespassing (though the nice thing about trespass is its a civil offence not criminal so rarely gets prosecuted).Mostly though I tend to think " Meh! " and just photograph and be dammed.

same here, only been collared once, was outside a car garage taking some scrap photos when a chap came told me off for not asking permission, so i asked permission for what, he said photographs, i said but i havent took none, he had a quick look at my camera, realised actually i havent tokk any and fucked off saying he was going to call the ol' bill, i told him fire away which kinda made him more angry, came out with pen and paper coping the passats number plate, never heard anything...but yep i'm with FT and normally just think sod it and take them anyway

[Rod/b]

I've only ever been stopped once, but that was for taking a picture of a State Trooper on the New Jersey turnpike. Apparently I was potentially AIDING TERRORISM.

[HillmanImp]

I've only ever been stopped once, but that was for taking a picture of a State Trooper on the New Jersey turnpike. Apparently I was potentially AIDING TERRORISM.

I was in Brixton at the end of June 2007 and got into trouble when taking some pictures of the armed police who had turned up after a shooting outside KFC. My argument was that 'You dont get armed police in Leeds'....a week later there were the London bombings and you could not move for armed police in Leeds.As far as for taking photos of cars, have had a lot of funny looks but no actual challenges.And if anyone comes up to you and says 'Do you know you are on private property?', replying 'No, but you sing along and i will try joining in on the chorus.' is still funny in my books.

[Spottedlaurel]

Local ‘shiter Baz (currently MIA it seems) did once have a visit from the Police after someone saw him taking photos. I think they were actually waiting from him when he returned home.If the person is with their car in a public place then I might start by having a bit of a chat with them, then asking if I can take the photo, if I have time and they look sane. Otherwise I just try and be discreet and make sure that, as far as possible, I take the picture in a public place. A compliment or two about the car, and driving something obviously not new, might also help.I sort of got in trouble years ago, when I took pictures in a scrapyard that then got printed in the Datsun OC magazine. Someone took that magazine to the yard and left it in a car, so the owner found out. I never had to cross swords with her, and the more friendly old chap who worked there just said make sure she never knew it was me and so I took a load more...Edit: I think it’s important when showing the photos not to be too precise about locations, for obvious reasons.

[Mr H Sceptre]

Many many moons ago, myself & m'colleague Mr Leyland went out in his (then) girlfriend's car snapping old motors. Then, later on that evening, she got a visit from the Old Bill saying that she had been seen acting suspiciously in an estate (as in housing, not 'shooting break') in Leicester. When she ascertained roughly what time this alleged incident took place, she realised who had the car at the time.The Copper's advice to us was to 'take photos of a more scenic nature in future'.Hasn't detered us though.

[brammy777]

I have never been asked why im taking pictures, and ive only once been seen.I have figured out an excuse though, 'im taking pictures to prove that old cars still do exist on our roads, despite the scrappage scheme, im doing an assignment for college as an anti scrappage piece of work'

[pogweasel]

I have never been asked why im taking pictures, and ive only once been seen.I have figured out an excuse though, 'im taking pictures to prove that old cars still do exist on our roads, despite the scrappage scheme, im doing an assignment for college as an anti scrappage piece of work'

A bit convaluted. Just be honest "I am an old car nerd. I find them exciting" All you need say.

[brammy777]

I know haha, and to be fair on myself, id probably just say 'er i like your car?'.But people who have been with me when i do it, have said it looks like i want to steal it.I havent ever trespassed, i have gone into car parks to get a few, but most have been on drives or parked in the road.

[CIH]

I'm always weary of being gripped while taking piccys. I was going to grab a 4-door Concerto but I imagined they'd assume I was a parking enforcer incongnito or something. Having said all that, I should have grabbed a two tone FWD Celica I always see in Tesco but the S12 is off the road now and the picture wouldn't be as good with the Bluey

[Mr H Sceptre]

I find if you take the honest approach, & let the owner know you just like his old car, then they are more than happy to let you snap away.

[retrogeezer]

It never worries me, I just snap away whenever I see something. No-one has ever asked what am doing.I do ask if the owner is around and just say 'nice car, mind if I take a photo' As far as I am aware, there is no law against taking a photo of anything in a public place.

[mnde]

I once spotted a tasty gold Cortina Mk3 parked out the back of a restorer's place, so I parked my BX with two wheels on the pavement and crossed the road to take a closer look. I'd just poked my camera through the wire fence when a chap came out of the workshop saying something like "Oi, this is private property, what are you doing." I explained I was an old car enthusiast. He said "this is a customer's car, blah blah..." I think he thought I was photographing the numberplate for malicious porpoises. He then asked me to delete the picture from my camera... I pointed out I hadn't managed to take one.Kind of put me off. There's all kinds of nice tat in my local neighbourhood, but I'd need to get a cameraphone so I can take photos while looking like I'm texting someone... but I'm kind of happy with my Nokia 3410.Mark.

[AXrescuer]

I was once challenged by my neighbour. Mind you, if it hadn't been for that dodgy ladder she'd have been none the wiser.

[FredTransit]

I haven't taken that many pics in public, but did hare out when some bloke was taking pics of some of ours. Turned out he was from the council!! BUT, after a nice chat he turned out to be a good bloke, had once had a 1600E that got wrote off by a drunk driver and he missed it. So we parted on good terms.

[reallyloud]

I've run into trouble a few times, but its the kind of the thing the police won't generally chase up - my worry is if it leads to a prosecution for taking a photo of an expired Hillman parked on public property, then there is something very wrong with the civil liberties in this country. On private property however, its a different matter altogether - airports have become very sensitive, scrapyards, garages and anything on private land needs some sort of permission - usually something to do with health and safety or something daft. The Army and Police generally do not take kindly of snaps of their vehicles on the roads. The main issue is the public broadcast on public forums, doesn't take much for someone to recognise the location. Like SpottedLaurel, I genuninely try and keep the location details non descript and keep it as discreet as possible. I also have a 'special file' of about 30 or so cars, in which people have explicitly asked me not to show the images online, the cars themselves are nothing extraordinarily unusual, but you have to respect that trust.

[Milford Cubicle]

I feel a bit iffy about taking photos of cars in driveways, so I generally don't.I'd make an exception for something spectacular though.I try to be as sneaky as possible, especially at the pikey local scrapyard.

[TheScrapman]

I sort of got in trouble years ago, when I took pictures in a scrapyard that then got printed in the Datsun OC magazine. Someone took that magazine to the yard and left it in a car, so the owner found out. I never had to cross swords with her, and the more friendly old chap who worked there just said make sure she never knew it was me and so I took a load more...

Yeah, but it was the best scrapyard in the world! Got returned to grazing fields years ago (

[VWPowered]

The Army and Police generally do not take kindly of snaps of their vehicles on the roads.

if they don't leave them like this i wont take a picture of it

 

[MrRegieRitmo]

The Copper's advice to us was to 'take photos of a more scenic nature in future'.

He must have had a bit of a Renner fetish then!I got collared last year in Malta by some kid who spotted me snapping some vehicles around the back lot of his / her apartment block. I saw an interesting Bedford TK & then I saw a MkII Astravan & then a Renault 11....above & beyond my enthusiasm for these spots I heard the voice of an obnoxious child call out "You can't take a picture of that truck!", followed by "stop taking a picture of that car!", "if you don't stop taking pictures of these cars I'm going to tell my dad who is a policeman!", "right that's it, I'm going to call the police!". I meanwhile didn't acknowledge the little nuisance, didn't even so much as look round to see where the voice was coming from, pretended nobody was talking to me, calmly carried on taking my pictures & then trudged off once I had finished. So I don't even know if the little oik was a boy or a girl or what they looked like, how old they were etc. From the voice I would have guessed somewhere between 5 - 10yr old, but at that age no clue whether boy or girl. Not that I care, the whole time I was just thinking to myself 'go ahead, make my day, call the police, tell them what a bad man I've been, tell them.......well tell them what exactly?! That I've been taking some pictures of some old vehicles, yes like that's gonna happen, now STFU you little shit, go back to your toys & stop bothering me!'Another time, in a different part of the island I was in a quiet side street, after nightfall preparing to take a picture of some old K10 Micra, when a voice called out from above, "Hey you, Mister, do you want something?!" it was a female voice, I was half tempted to reply with something smutty like 'well, depends on what you're offering really!?' but instead I said nothing, let my mediocre spot go wanting & just sloped off into the night.....it wasn't worth it.PS: Happy Birthday Mr H!

[Father Ted]

Another time, in a different part of the island I was in a quiet side street, after nightfall preparing to take a picture of some old K10 Micra, when a voice called out from above, "Hey you, Mister, do you want something?!" it was a female voice, I was half tempted to reply with something smutty like 'well, depends on what you're offering really!?'

Ahh, yes had that a few times - when I used to engage in my hobby of phonecard collecting I used to trawl the streets of Manchester late at night and collect the used phonecards from within the boxes - Chorlton St Bus station phones were always very productive for used cards, however I also got propositioned a LOT by ladies of the night. The answer was always a polite but firm "No Thanks" to which I usually got called a queer - I mean does that ever really work ladies? Call a bloke a poof and he says "oh all right then I will sh4g you just to proove Im not".

[Guest]

I once spotted an old 3-litre at the back of a garage compound. I asked the owner if i could look at it as I was an enthusiast of BMC shite. He was no bother and stated the car belonged to a customer - who had another. Many moons later, the owner of the 3-litre appeared on aronline and was over the moon at my pictures. Generally, I try to avoid be caught taking a picture. Unless its a badly parked BMW.

[Richard]

My companions and I got a major bollocking and a Breach charge from the rozzers for taking pictures in this shitehole. They made us delete our pictures too, I'm told they can't actually do that but it seemed easier to undelete them later than to argue.

 

[brammy777]

I got some suspicious looks as i took a picture of a MG 1300 today, but i think they possibly thought i was following them.Im lucky to have never been seen doing it in a supermarket car park, people could think you were genuinely stalking the car then.

[Father Ted]

.... it seemed easier to undelete them later than to argue.

How do you manage that then? I thought if the card was formatted then that was it? Got to say I have been very lucky with my UrbEx activities and not been bollocked yet - the old Blackburn Royal was bloody excellent, especially the attics.

[M'coli]

.... it seemed easier to undelete them later than to argue.

How do you manage that then? I thought if the card was formatted then that was it?

Delete the images individually, and then use specialist software to recover them - FTK Imager version 2.5.1 is available as a free download. Formatted cards aren't easy to recover data from, even with FTK.If the police ask you to delete the images and are insistent, ask them if their request "is within the ACPO guidelines for seizure and preservation of digital evidence."...that should worry them if they decide to take further action.

[Richard]

.... it seemed easier to undelete them later than to argue.

How do you manage that then? I thought if the card was formatted then that was it? Got to say I have been very lucky with my UrbEx activities and not been bollocked yet - the old Blackburn Royal was bloody excellent, especially the attics.

There are various free utilities you can download to do it, I have one called Zero Assumption Recovery. I paid for the Pro version because I wanted to recover a hard drive but the free version is just fine for memory cards. I think four or five of us deleted our pictures that day and we all got them all back. I've recovered pictures from a hard drive that go back two owners and several re-formats.We could have argued but there didn't seem to be much point. They didn't report us to the PF but they might have if we'd given them a hard time.

[Mr Lobster]

This might be of interest in relation to Police objections >

 

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/p ... /012-2009/

 

and also

 

http://www.sirimo.co.uk/2009/05/14/uk-p ... rights-v2/