Gary Crutchley took his kids to the park. They were sliding down an inflatable slide and he decided to take a few pictures as reminders of a fun family outing. But a woman standing in line demanded that he stop taking pictures because her children were on the slide. Another adult accused him of taking pictures of children to post to the internet.
Crutchley had only taken pictures of his own children. He found two policemen that confirmed to the crowd he had done nothing wrong.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Crutchley asked: “What is the world coming to when anybody seen with a camera is assumed to be doing things that they should not?”
Yep, that is the way it is now… reminds me of the time that the FBI accused me of being a terrorist because I was photographing a FedEx plane taking off, in the same place all the other onlookers were watching (in a public known viewing area).
Course, I had been doing aviation photography for a few years, had a few images of mine published in magazines that were IN MY CAR but that didn’t matter, someone in an adjacent car called the cops, they tried to “confiscate” my (then new) D100 and all my compact flash cards.
After several hours and a long talk with local FBI agents I was told I should have contacted the MAYOR of Memphis before doing any photography anywhere near the airport.
One of my favorite types of photography, but since that day, I haven’t taken another aviation image.