[Leica] Persecuted for using tripod in public

["Oliver Bryk" <oliverbryk@home.com>]

Frank Filippone wrote:
"I was thrown out of Santa Barbara about  ayear ago for using a tripod in
the
streets of the city ( So I went to the COUNTY Courthouse where the law does
not apply), and again more recently I needed Special permission to take
pictures at TravelLand in Los Angeles....again that... " ... You need
permission from the LA City Council to take pictures here" nonsense.....

"Sometimes it just is not worth hauling out the 4x5 with tripod.....and
dealing with the idiots!

"Frank Filippone

A couple of years ago I had similar encounters with rangers at several
California State parks when I set up a Hasselblad on a tripod. In each case,
the ranger demanded to see a permit for commercial photography. In each
case, I stated that I was not a commercial photographer. That did not
satisfy the ranger who invariably brought an invisible camera to his or her
eyes, clicked an imaginary shutter button, pointed to my tripod, and said,
"but you must be a commercial photographer". When asked to show me the
applicable regulation and its definition of commercial photography, none of
the rangers was able to satisfy my request. When I asked where I was
supposed to have obtained this permit, the answer was, "from Sacramento"
(the state capital).
Making the taxpayer prove a negative (no pun intended) seems to be an
ingrained habit of mindless bureaucrats.
Oliver Bryk