Thanks to Rob for letting me know that he is unable to sign in to the site – there seems to be a problem with member access that I was unaware of, and it seems to extend beyond his membership. I apparently need to look more deeply into what is going on. This may take a day or two, and I appreciate your patience. (If others are encountering this problem I’d love to hear from you – dan@gdanmitchell.com.)

In the meantime I have set up a discussion forum companion site that you can use to post questions and comments.

I also understand that there is a formatting problem with the menu tabs at the top of the screen for some Firefox users – rather than seeing small tabs you may see very large horizontal bars. The task of resolving that issue is also in my queue.

Thanks,

Dan

From time to time photographers share stories about being harassed by police and security officers for photographing public sites. Some cities have even gotten in on the act, taking very odd action such as outlawing or restricting the use of tripods in public places. In general, these actions completely baffle photographers.

From an article in the Guardian:

Given that real terrorists, and even wannabe terrorists, don’t seem to photograph anything, why is it such pervasive conventional wisdom that terrorists photograph their targets? Why are our fears so great that we have no choice but to be suspicious of any photographer?

Because it’s a movie-plot threat.

The article is an interesting read. The point is that an imaginary threat has been concocted in the public consciousness that it completely unrelated to any real danger. The article goes on:

The 9/11 terrorists didn’t photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid subway bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn’t photograph the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The Unabomber didn’t photograph anything; neither did shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Photographs aren’t being found amongst the papers of Palestinian suicide bombers. The IRA wasn’t known for its photography. Even those manufactured terrorist plots that the US government likes to talk about — the Ft. Dix terrorists, the JFK airport bombers, the Miami 7, the Lackawanna 6 — no photography.

Photographers should know that virtually all public photography is quite legal in the USA. The public should understand that it is also almost always completely innocent.

As a result of my attempt to install a plug-in earlier today, this site was offline for perhaps an hour or so. Things appear to be back to normal now. (Thank you to the people at siteground for their quick and effective response.)

Dario wrote with a question about filters:

Your nature photographs are absolutely amazing. I don’ t have any experience in nature photography (but I want very much to start learning about it). Do you recommend any specific filters for a 24-105L lens? (slim circular polarizer + ND filter / some specific brand?) Thank you very much for your help and congratulations for your highly professional photographs!

First, thanks for writing and thanks for your very kind words about my photography. I decided to answer your question with a post in my forum. I hope you find it useful!