Police State

There is a lot of story to this photo, and while I am quite please at how it turned out, getting to this point has taken me over 5 hours.

I took this shot at Tempe Town Lake in Tempe, Arizona. The bridge above my head here is the newly finished (though not yet running) light-rail system that connects the east to the west of the greater Phoenix area. I like this shot because it captures many of Tempe's iconic sites the lake, Arizona State University, US Airways, Mill Avenue, the light-rail and the new lakeside (controversial) high-rise buildings.

I just got a new Canon 40D and a Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens, and this is my inaugural shot. Ive got night HDR panorama galore so this was a good way to test out my new setup in a really challenging fashion. This is composite of 36 individual frames, my largest stitch yet. It took me a while just to acquire the images when taking long exposures and manually focusing with live-view.

Anyway, the abbreviated story here is that I was harassed by the Tempe Police for some time about photographing the bridge. I was never told I couldn't take the shots, but I was questioned heavily, checked for warrants, and the officer filled out a form with my personal information.

I have no doubt that I am now in some kind of terrorist watch list for this simple piece of art. All in the name of the war on terror, the doublespeak name for the war on our freedoms. Thanks to our fear mongering and the lovely patriot act we photographers have to watch our asses because the police are encouraged to screw with us in the name of safety. Clearly by photographing this location I was planning something and I need to be monitored. I offered to show the officer my photos to which he quickly declined and continued his line of ridiculous questioning. If you cant tell, my blood is boiling. People call China a police state I see no difference here in the US.

Anyway about this photo. I shot at f/2 in +2,0,-2 EV brackets, ISO 150 in aperture priority mode. I used live view to focus on the buildings, my trusty tripod, and some patience to get this one done. The final image is just over 650Mb as a 16-bit TIFF and approx 10,000x6,000 pixels. Its HUGE.

Let me know your thoughts - be they about my rant or about the photo.

I wonder what is moving in those pipes?

Being there for a while taking lots of pictures is most likely why they got suspicious. The LR has, for whatever reason, been noted as a terrorist target. All mass transit is. If you went there and took a few pics I bet they wouldn't of said anything.

stratgraph- those pipes are most likely support posts for the bridge itself.