This Little Pride of Mine
It was mid-semester break this weekend and some friends and I were able to roam the streets of Portland causing trouble. Not really, although, behind this shot lies a story that involves both myself and a certain police officer.
I had set up my tripod (as I usually do before I take several exposures for HDRs) in Pioneer Square and proceeded to take pictures of this building. After I had taken a sufficient amount from this particular spot I began to take my camera off the tripod. While I did so I noticed a police officer walking towards me. I've heard enough stories of disconcerted security guards exploding in the faces of the most well intentioned photographers, so I smiled, if only in my mind. As he approached I was thinking of what I would say, how I actually did have the right to take pictures of anything I pleased from where I was then standing, thank-you-very-much, or how I did plan on staying there taking even more pictures of whatever I pleased, have-a-nice-day; I was quite ready to have a royal power trip.
But, he simply asked if I had a permit to place my tripod on the square. I was a little confused... That wasn't what he was supposed to say. He noticed my puzzled look and and smiled, "I'm guessing from the look on your face that you have no idea what I'm talking about." "No, I don't," was my simple reply; I couldn't help but to smile back (he wasn't freakishly overbearing as I thought he was going to be). The officer went on to explain that a permit was required to set a tripod on the square grounds. He also shared with me a little secret, "If you really need to stabilize your camera, you can balance the tripod on your foot." I thanked him and we parted, no small crisis averted I'm sure.
I guess I write all this just to say (and maybe convince myself) that not everything is pure evil, that not everyone is out to make life miserable, that not all motives are simply and unavoidably wrong, and that maybe there's the slightest chance I shouldn't be so quick to judge them as such.
This Little Pride of Mine
It was mid-semester break this weekend and some friends and I were able to roam the streets of Portland causing trouble. Not really, although, behind this shot lies a story that involves both myself and a certain police officer.
I had set up my tripod (as I usually do before I take several exposures for HDRs) in Pioneer Square and proceeded to take pictures of this building. After I had taken a sufficient amount from this particular spot I began to take my camera off the tripod. While I did so I noticed a police officer walking towards me. I've heard enough stories of disconcerted security guards exploding in the faces of the most well intentioned photographers, so I smiled, if only in my mind. As he approached I was thinking of what I would say, how I actually did have the right to take pictures of anything I pleased from where I was then standing, thank-you-very-much, or how I did plan on staying there taking even more pictures of whatever I pleased, have-a-nice-day; I was quite ready to have a royal power trip.
But, he simply asked if I had a permit to place my tripod on the square. I was a little confused... That wasn't what he was supposed to say. He noticed my puzzled look and and smiled, "I'm guessing from the look on your face that you have no idea what I'm talking about." "No, I don't," was my simple reply; I couldn't help but to smile back (he wasn't freakishly overbearing as I thought he was going to be). The officer went on to explain that a permit was required to set a tripod on the square grounds. He also shared with me a little secret, "If you really need to stabilize your camera, you can balance the tripod on your foot." I thanked him and we parted, no small crisis averted I'm sure.
I guess I write all this just to say (and maybe convince myself) that not everything is pure evil, that not everyone is out to make life miserable, that not all motives are simply and unavoidably wrong, and that maybe there's the slightest chance I shouldn't be so quick to judge them as such.