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We found this email making its way around the web. It was reported to have been written by a Locomotive Engineer. Considering the number of avoidable railroad crossing accidents that happen each year, we thought we would share it. And there is a photography component as well:

Let’s start with some DON’Ts:
1) A train is really, really big. Can we all accept that? Not even
your Ram/F-350/Hummer/douche-mobile is a match for the smallest
locomotive. You say you have a Cummins diesel? Caterpillar? Detroit?
*/Oooooooh/*. Well I have an “EMD 567″ on a */bad/* day, and even its
pathetic 2,000 horsepower will pound you and your gleaming pickup into
the fourth dimension, so please, stay behind the white line!
2) I hate blocking crossings. Seriously, I feel like a complete
asshole when I stop a train in the middle of the road and leave two
dozen motorists to ponder their lattes and ask what the hell I’m
doing. The truth is, sometimes it has to be done, so don’t honk at me,
flip me off, or scream at me from the window of your Dodge Caravan as
you’re shooting a U. Instead, be patient and try to believe that
there’s a point to what I’m doing. It’s called “switching”, and my
conductor is depending on me to work slowly and not run his ass over.
If you don’t believe me, Wiki that shit.
3) Don’t climb on the equipment. I hate to sound like your mother, but
you’re saving me a lot of paperwork and horrifying flashbacks by
staying off the equipment. To you it might look like an abandoned
train or a free ride, but when that bastard starts to move with you on
it, there’s a damn good chance you won’t be able to hold on. As long
as you’re on Wikipedia, punch in “slack action” and see what comes up.
Also, the romance of riding freight trains is total bullshit. They’re
really dark, really cold, really windy, and hobos are f*ing SCARY.
4) Don’t put shit on the tracks. It’s dangerous to me and my
conductor, and it’s ten times more dangerous for you and everyone else
on the ground. If you’re wondering “can a train go over a rock?” the
answer is YES. There’s only one problem. You probably haven’t wondered
where the million shards of rock are going to go at four times the
speed of sound, have you?
5) Stop whining about the horn. Countless accidents have been avoided
because drivers missed the flashing lights but heard the horn. You’d
have to blast Miley Cyrus and Lil’ Bow Wow pretty f*ing loud to
drown out a five-chime, and often that’s the only thing that saves
people. Still, that’s no reason to keep your stereo at 80 decibels as
you’re rolling through a crossing at sixty without looking both ways.
6) By and large, railroad cops are major douche-bags, so when you’re
trespassing on railroad property, keep your head out of your ass.
These guys didn’t make the cut into the real police force, and they
will ream your ass inside and out to make up for their resulting
inferiority complex. Also, walking on bridges and in tunnels is
extremely dangerous. Ask yourself: If a train comes, where will I go?
Trains are much wider than the rails they run on, so don’t be fooled.
Now for some of the DO’s:
1) If you see a large object (like a garbage can, or an F-350) that’s
about to get love-tapped by a hotshot freight train, get in the clear.
If the shit’s about to fly at a railroad crossing, run to the side of
the street that the train is coming from. That way you’ll be behind
the point of impact and you won’t have to worry about catching that
beautiful pickup and its over-confident driver square on your f*ing
shoulders. If you run away from the train you’re just putting yourself
in the line of fire, and the death toll could very possibly be two.
2) If the gates stay down and the lights stay flashing, stay where you
are. I guaran-damn-tee there’s another train coming, and speeding onto
the tracks the moment the first train clears is a lot like celebrating
a touchdown too early. WHAM.
3) When you’re waiting for a train to pass, it’s a good idea to stay
back thirty or forty feet. Trains are operated by professionals, but
often they’re /*loaded*/ by total assclowns. I’ve heard some real
nasty stories about payloads falling off flatcars and crushing people
in their vehicles, or doors sliding off boxcars and ripping through
everything in their path. It’s rare, but shit happens!
4) Always report problems or suspicious activity. If you see a
photographer with a radio scanner and a big-ass notebook, ignore him.
We know those guys.* But if there’s a dude in street clothes working
a crowbar through a signal box, hit us up and tell us what the deal
is. Railroad crossings usually have signs with emergency numbers, or
you can call the non-emergency number for your local fuzz. If an
accident has already occurred or a life is at risk, call 911 instead.
Pretty sure they have our number.
5) Last but not least, when you’re inconvenienced by a train, remember
that we’re pulling for you! Trains are a great way to conserve fuel,
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and keep American jobs alive and
green. Rail technology is the best solution to our energy crisis, and
as the rail network grows in the years to come, it’s important for
everyone to stay safe. Look, listen, LIVE.

To all who read this blog, whether you agree or disagree with the position that I have taken, I wish you a Very Happy Thanksgiving.

No stories or drama today – just spending time with family and Turkey dinner

When this site first started operating we also included a forum. Unfortunately the database crashed and there was not enough support to try to bring it back at the time. Since then we have more readers and perhaps we can entice some of you to post on our NEW FORUM Feel free to post on any photography related or photo rights related issue whether or not I specifically mention it in the main site. Sound off and enjoy!

I just changed hosts and restored this blog from a backup. Unfortunately not everything carried over so please bear with the appearance while the full appearance and images are restored.

He was not even at a border crossing – and the police try to tell you that these searches are “voluntary”. And yes – I consider the gratuitous use of a taser and smashing someone’s face into broken glass to constitute torture. Watch the video:

While this issue is not directly related to photographer’s rights we felt the need to post it here because it shows what happens to people who assert their constitutional rights. Is the Constitution of the United States not worth the paper it is printed on? Have we become a police state? What is next at every county line – an officer stopping us with the command “papieren bitte”. We are NOT as free as we would like to think we are.

The Border Patrol issued a press release which was posted on carlosmiller.com:

The U.S. Border Patrol asked the Arizona Department of Public Safety to assist their Officers with a combative motorist who refused to cooperate at a checkpoint in the westbound lanes of Interstate 8. Steven L. Anderson, the combative motorist, was arrested by a DPS Officer for resisting a lawful order during the incident and booked into the Yuma County Jail.

Mr. Anderson never filed a complaint with DPS concerning his arrest but instead made a You-Tube video that featured his version of the events of that day.

An investigation by the Arizona Department of Public Safety’s Professional Standards Bureau is underway. DPS is looking at current agency policies and procedures that officers must comply with when requested by any agency to respond to checkpoints.

In this particular instance DPS will look at our Officer’s response and actions. We will offer no further comment on this incident until the investigation has been concluded.

*It should be noted that in 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Federal checkpoints near border areas to enforce laws prohibiting illegal immigration. This U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint along Interstate 8 is in compliance with federal law.

Forcing someone to open their trunk for inspection without a search warrant is NOT a lawful order, therefore there was no basis for requesting the assistance of the local constabulary. Or did they do it in order to keep their hands clean, knowing that the local cops would brutalize the man?

I know – most photographers will probably say – What is film? But for those who still use it this information may be useful.

TSA is in the process of installing new X-Ray machines at airports. According to the TSA:

AT is a catch phrase for a group of advanced X-ray technologies that will improve carry-on bag screening and enhance airline passenger security. ATs provide clear, high-definition X-ray images that improve TSA security officers’ ability to detect potential threat items. Some AT units also employ multiple X-ray angles (views), provide high-definition zoom and/or have automated detection capabilities that will further enhance the TSOs’ effectiveness. By comparison, currently deployed technology depends on a single, top-down X-ray view.

According to information that we have received these machines expose the bag to much more radiation. The previous guidelines stated that 400 speed film or below was safe to send through the machine. However, the new machines are raising some doubts if this limit still applies because essentially one trip through these new X-Rays is the same as 4 trips on the old models where 400 was considered safe.

The question has occasionally been asked where do we draw the line on photographic freedom. Anyone who has been reading this blog knows that we believe that as long as something can be seen from public space then it is fair game to be photographed. We believe that any interference, detention, harassment, infringement, no matter how minor is unacceptable as long as the photographer was standing on public property or publicly accessible property.

We do defer to true private property owners (not government agencies who want to be considered “private” like the Port Authority of NYNJ) who restrict photography while one is ON their property, and to any entity who restricts access to certain areas (i.e. railroad tracks). In other words we do not condone trespassing to get a picture. And THIS is a perfect example why:

The photographer trespassed onto railroad property putting himself and his friends’ lives in danger. In thier own words…

me and my buddies went out on a train bridge in albany the other day over the flint river. while out there i was walking out to the middle of the tracks to get some pictures of the river. my buddy sean warned me not to go out that far just in case a train did come. … i saw the train turn the corner about 20 feet ahead of me. panicking i started to run faster and i barely made it by jumping of the side of the tracks into an embankment about 6 feet away from the train. my two friends on the other hand couldnt make it that fast and had to crawl under the tracks onto a pillar supporting the bridge and they had to wait for the train to pass. to say the least it was one of the scariest moments of my life. but it all worked out because i got a couple of good pictures in the process this being one of them

Sorry but no picture is worth risking one’s life over.

This was the installation from HELL. For a moment we thought we lost everything. We tried using an upgrade plugin and it failed leaving only a corrupted database. We then deleted everything and started over – installing from scratch. Fortunately we had exported the XML file, but on trying to import it to the new installation we found out that Wordpress does not like large XML files. Just when we thought all was lost Google was our friend and located a free utility that splits XML files… Hopefully we won’t have to go through that again since the new Wordpress handles upgrades much better!!

Next Weekend we will be taking the plunge and upgrading to Wordpress 2.7.1. We are already testing it on another site that we operate but that was a new installation on a new site.

Over the almost two years that we have been operating this site we have added various plugins and widgets and we can only hope that we can restore everything after the update. Wish us luck….

Carlos Miller reports on a story originally posted on the Photo Forum whereby a student photographer was ordered to delete pictures he took of police making an arrest.

According to the student:

One of the police officers walked over and told, “you can keep taking pictures but these guys don’t seem to like that your taking pictures of them”. So I walk down the sidewalk a bit and take some shots of the squad cars and proceed down the block.

I then come across a girl in the back of a squad car parked on the side of the road with the female officer doing something or other on her laptop. I walk by, stop and take two shots of the squad car, showing the person in back. … The officer asks me what I am doing. I respond, “taking pictures of night life in Whitewater”. She then tells me that I have to delete the pictures of the girl she arrested. I said ok. Then she asked to see that I deleted it. At this point she didnt give me time to delete them so i was like, “Ya I will delete them in front of you” and i reached my head and camera into the car(neck strap around my head) and deleted the first one. Then she said “give me your camera” I replied, “are you confiscating it?” she said no I said i’ll show they are deleted, then she was obviously getting irritated, she said “I’ll give it right back”. Not wanting further trouble and not knowing my photographer rights I gave in. She scrolled through my photo’s and deleted a handful of photo’s including some from the first “crime scene”.

Then I started asking questions. She said I can take pictures of people being arrested unless they say they(victim being arrested) do not want a picture taken, in witch case the officer may or may not come delete my photo.

The officers counted on the student’s ignorance of his rights and illegally intimidated and coerced him into giving up those rights by the forcible seizure of his property. The actions of the police were inexcusable and we hope the student files a lawsuit.