I used to live near an industrial gas supply company, you know, the kind of place you take your gas grill propane tank to be refilled. Well, one hot summer day I was waiting in traffic and happened to be in front of this place. This company has a giant propane holding tank in front, painted to look like an enormous hot dog, complete with bun and mustard. I was in my convertible with my DSLR on the seat next to me. I don’t know about you, but as a photographer, I can’t avoid taking pictures of goofy thing, so I snapped a few. Without me realizing I was arousing anyone’s suspicion, an alert citizen took my license number and reported me to the Department of Homeland Security!

A couple days later and blissfully unaware that I’d been reported, I get home from work and grab mail out of the box. There’s a business card in there from an FBI agent, with a message scrawled on the back, “Please call me.” Not bad for a practical joke, I think, as I promptly forget the card. Next day, I get home from work and ask my son how school was. “Okay,” he says, then adds, “Two guys from the FBI were here looking for you.” Hmmm. Maybe I should call that number.

Now realize that I had no idea why the FBI would want to talk to me. I always try to cut the mustard legally, so I thought maybe this might be about the recent drug raid on the house next door. (Though I didn’t know the neighbors very well, it gave me an odd feeling to come home and see the head of household being led to a police car in handcuffs. As he sheepishly nodded to me and gave me a little wave with a cuffed hand, I felt like yelling, “I do not know this man!”)

But it wasn’t about drugs, it was about dogs—hot dogs, to be precise. I called the locally-based FBI agent and introduced myself. To the best of my recollection, here’s how the conversation went:

FBI: “Mr. Snyder, you were observed photographing something over the weekend.”
PHOTOGRAPHER: “Uh…. photographing what? I take a lot of pictures.”
FBI: “It was an industrial site.”

Normally I take a lot of pictures, so I really had no idea what he was talking about.

PHOTOGRAPHER: “Could you be more specific? I take a lot of pictures.”
FBI: “Do you” (he replies, in what appears to be the character of Mr. Bookman, the Seinfeld library detective).
PHOTOGRAPHER: (Pause while thinking) ”Where was this?”
FBI: “Near where you live.”

Hmmm, knows where I live…or he’s bluffing…then it hits me and I exclaim:

PHOTOGRAPHER: “Oh! You’re talking about that giant hot dog…?”
FBI: (Silence)
PHOTOGRAPHER: “At the propane place?”
FBI: “Go on…” (he said, in the manner of Sgt. Joe Friday from the old Dragnet TV series).At this point I rattle off my explanation that as an amateur photographer being stuck in traffic, I was unable to resist photographing this silly hot dog which was obviously put there for people to notice and be amused by…I start laughing and realize by his profound lack of emotion that I was just digging myself in deeper. Assuming I was either a lunatic, a terrorist, or both, he continues:

FBI: “The fact that you work for a hospital makes this even more suspicious.”
PHOTOGRAPHER: “Um…what? Why?” (I stammer, as I realized they’ve investigated me!)

Once you know what “it” is, you can commence to talk your way out of it—its just so much easier to get forgiveness than permission. This guy got the report of someone not-so-covertly photographing an industrial complex, but never actually went there himself! Not having seen the giant wiener, I guess he didn’t realize how silly this all sounded. So I offer:

PHOTOGRAPHER: “Look, its just that there’s this giant hot dog there smiling for all the world to see and…”
FBI: (Humorless, he says)”What do you plan to do with the pictures? Have you printed them?”

I didn’t want to broach the subject of digital cameras or JPEGS so I just said:

PHOTOGRAPHER: “I rarely print what I shoot because, well, I just shoot on impulse (perhaps a poor choice of words) and I have thousands of images—“
FBI: “If your story checks out, you won’t be hearing from us again. You will, however, be getting some calls from other agencies. Keep my card and when they contact you, just give them my name and tell them you’ve spoken to me.” (Hangs up—no fanfare, no twenty-one bun salute)

Conclusion

I guess my “story” checked out, as I was never questioned again. They must have verified the existence of the giant hot dog and determined that I wasn’t much of a threat to society. So the FBI has a file on me, due mainly to the paranoia paradigm shift of our post-9/11 world. At some point, I may have promised Sgt. Friday that I would not do anything with the pictures I took, and I’ve been true to my word. They are lost among the thousands of other nonsensical images I’ve captured over the years. So for your benefit, I went back and took other pictures for this article.

Since this all happened, I’ve been chased from other random sites by police and other defenders of our homeland—from refineries, power plants, even the Lincoln Tunnel! It seems I never learn from my mistakes—always crashing in the same car, to quote David Bowie. Last winter, I was clawing my way through traffic trying to leave Manhattan, when I got stuck at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel. Camera at the ready, I start snapping pictures of this great landmark when a police officer yells at me, comes over to the car and says, “Can’t take photographs of bridges or tunnels in New York City.” What’s this world coming to? Seemingly innocent actions at one time appear doubtful at another, like photographing children. Want to grab that photo op? Take a bite out of that hot dog with your name on it? Be careful my photographer friend, as it may bite back!

Paranoia Epilogue

As an aside, a few weeks after my run-in with the “Bureau,” I found this little squeak toy between the seats in my car. Now, here’s the deal: I only told the FBI story to a handful of people. A few of them know where I park my car in South Philly (I walk the rest of the way to work). Even fewer know that I leave my car unlocked (due to a break-in a few years ago which left my ragtop slashed). So, it follows that one of these people planted the item in question. Who was the perp? To this day, no one has fessed up to the deed, but it taught me something—it doesn’t take much to make you paranoid.

What are the compositional elements of this photograph?

I made this image out the side window of my car while waiting for a light to change. The horizontal legs are part of a stationary statue, and these occupy the upper third of the frame. This helps us meet our compositional goal of the “Rule of Thirds.” The ladder truck and pedestrians helped balance the composition by placing themselves in the lower two-thirds of the frame! I happen to like the way the more distant pedestrian is slightly blurred—this gives a bit of depth to the image. Was there luck involved here? Of course. But you have to be well-practiced in the art of drive-by photography in order to take advantage of such situations.

What kind of camera do I need?

A fast one. Digitally, this means a DSLR rather than a point-and-shoot. The latter has too slow of a start-up and its shutter lag will cause you to miss many a shot. DSLRs are for the most part instant-on and have imperceptible shutter lag. I used a Canon Rebel XT DSLR with a Canon 28-135mm lens.

How about a long lens?

Well, yes, you’re doing candid photography so you want to be able to zoom in a bit. But be respectful of people. Privacy is not something that should be abused. See how the image above appears to be compressed? As if the objects in the scene are sandwiched on top of one another with little space between? This effect becomes more pronounced the longer the zoom. For drive-by shooting, you probably want something like a 80-200mm lens.

Shooting through glass

Auto focus is great when you need to shoot in a hurry (continuous auto focus is potentially better as it tracks the subject to keep it in focus as the camera or subject moves). However, auto focus systems will generally lock on to the object that’s closest to the camera. If you catch your car’s door frame in the viewfinder, that’s what will be in focus. If your windshield is dirty, it’ll focus on the dirt! One solution is to shoot out an open window. Another is to place your camera into “Mountain” mode, which is the sort of permanent landscape mode. This keeps the most distant objects in focus.

Safety First!

Don’t jeopardize the safety of your passenger(s), yourself, or anyone outside your vehicle. That said, you can always just shoot while waiting for a light or while pulled over to the side of the road.

What camera settings should I use?

Few cameras have a “Drive-By” choice as one of their automatic exposure settings. So what to use? I’ll typically use the highest ISO I can (given the amount of ambient light) so I can use a relatively fast shutter speed. If you shoot while driving, you probably want a shutter speed of at least 1/250 second. Subjects ahead of or behind you (moving in your direction) are easier to capture than subjects crossing in front of your camera. Note in the image above that the pedestrian moving away from the camera is more in focus than the one moving across my path. They may have been moving at the same speed, but their direction is key to freezing the action. I was shooting at a relatively slow shutter speed, as it wasn’t very bright out. My ISO was 1600, with the image-stabilized 28-135mm zoom fully extended.

Composing a Scene

They come at you fast and furious. Not only do you have to keep your camera set for the shot and within reach, but you have to be on the lookout for interesting subjects to photograph. Honestly, I shoot while I’m driving. Yeah, I know it’s unsafe, but great art comes from great pain, you know? I shot this at about 30 mph out a closed side window of my car, as I was driving over a bridge.

Practice!

You’ll shoot hundreds of images before you become adept at drive-by shooting. But you must practice with a familiar camera so that when a photo opportunity presents itself, you’re able to capture it!

That said, the article mentions a few no-nos. If you find a couple of underage teens having sex in public, don’t shoot – you’d be a child pornographer. In other cases, they mention that taking a picture of public art may be a copyright violation (I’m curious to learn more about this…) as well as taking pictures of nuclear plants and military installments.

Also, rules vary from state to state, and some have “really goofy laws,” notes Bert Krages, an Oregon lawyer who specializes in photography issues. In Texas, for example, it’s illegal to take someone’s picture if it’s “for the purpose of another’s sexual gratification” – which could include, say, a candid shot at a nude beach. Outside the US, it’s best to ask permission. In Qu?bec, a teenage girl successfully sued a photographer for $8,000 after he took her picture without her knowledge, even though she was sitting on the front steps of a public building.

If you post pictures of strangers on your blog, watch for other legal traps. Don’t write a caption that misidentifies someone or is unduly mocking – your subject could sue you for placing him in a “false light.” Or let’s say you’ve started a blog, and you take a snapshot of someone at a bus stop, then Photoshop it into a banner ad promoting your site. This implies the subject endorses your work, and she could file suit for publicity rights – a cut of the enormous revenues from your vast blog empire. That’s unlikely, though. In general, only big celebs with bankable images are rich and self-important enough to hire a lawyer to sue your ass. So don’t worry about the man on the street. But think twice before using that shot of Madonna. She is the Material Girl.

Source: Wired Magazine