Know Your Rights As A Photographer

A few months back, I had a run-in with a security patrol. I was in a business park, walking around various buildings, tripod in hand, taking photos of various concrete walls for my texture library. On the front of one building, I saw a "no photography" sign, which I honored.

I had no idea some of the buildings in the area are government.

Two minutes after passing in front of that "no photo" building, a security patrolman pulled up to ask me questions. "What's with the camera? What are you taking photos of? What are you using them for?" I was so glad I'd watched the video below. I explained what I was doing, and immediately offered to show my photos. I was courteous, polite, respectful. I did not provide my full name or present my identification as I'm not required to by law. All was resolved within a few minutes.

My encounter was nowhere near as harrowing as Andrew's, as you'll see in his video. Even if you're not a street photographer, take the 11 minutes and watch this video. 

This is an interaction with the Gray County Sheriff's Deputies and Pampa Police Officers in Pampa, Texas on 4/6/14. Pampa is the County seat of Gray County, roughly 60 miles ENE of Amarillo, Texas. The rights violated, or attempted to be violate, can be found in the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, and Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution.