Ship Spotting/Photography and Security?

[Thomas Millard]

As a plane spotter/photographer who has begun an interest in photographing ocean going vessels, we are all too familiar with having to hassle with local security officials, be it local police, airport security, ect...Some airports, are friendlier than others, so is it the same with ship spotting? My local ports, the Port Of Houston and Port Of Galveston, while strictly off limits to photographers, offer plenty of "off port" venues around these facilities that afford some great spotting and photo ops and from my experience, no hassles from security. The same can not be said of many airports around the US, even off airport locales, spotters are routinely chased off (ask anyone who attempts to photograph at EWR Newark).

That said, it seems that at least here in Houston, the winds might be changing and not for the positive. One local and popular spot for photographing ships at the entrance to Galveston Bay from the Houston Ship Channel at Morgan's Point, is being fenced off (though a small sliver will be left open, though little room for more than 4-5 cars). Sadly, shots like this are soon to become a thing of the past, which offers an interesting backdrop to shoot a ship against.

http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo-1047224-Andermatt.

So, again, are there any other stories out there where local of federal authorities are cracking down on ship spotting and photography?

Thomas

[Glenn Towler]

Hi Thomas I certanly understand how you feel, like you I am a multiple transport photogrpaher, mostley ships and trains by occasionaly planes.  For Shipspotting in here in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia we still have some wharfs that we can get on with out too many hassles as these wharfs are very very infrquently used (apart from the summer, the port in general is infrequently used buts thats another story) these wharfs we can get on offer us vantage points of one of the deep water berths in Hobart that is used for the large cruise ships and Antarctic Support Vessels.  The port of Hobart is luck to have many public open spaces all around it that offer good vantage points for photos.  Yeah we do have the odd run in with the security guards (Rent a cops) who think they are all very important.  But most of them mind their business, I just flash my work ID (I work for the social security office) and they normaly leave me alone as they are all casula employees and the panic i will dob them in for not reporting their earnings!

As for Hobart Airport, I haven't done any plane spotting for a long time as I only photo planes when I know their is something special coming 737's and A320's get a bit borng after a while, I have only had one run in at Hobart Airport and that was on the Tarmack when I was trying to take a photo of my sone going out to the plane as it was his first time on a plane.

But even the trains are getting hard to photo in Tassie now as they are having a security person following the trains by road and they pounce as soon as you step on to railway property and as soon as you get a camera out threaten to call the police, but us train spotters just ingnore them as most of the line in Southern Tasmania is out of Mobile Phone Range anyway.

But I guess Thomas we just have to live with these security conditions, the day will come where the Transport operators, will just turn round and say to Government to shove the securty as they can't afford to put the prices up to cover ohter wise they will start loosing business and I understand there are already some smaller ports in the US and Europe that have scaled back the ISPS stuff.

[Joy Loughnan]

I'm not aware of anyone cracking down on ship spotting or photography in Portland, I wander around most public places at the port and rail depot and no one bothers me.  It's not illegal here to photograph most things from public land.

Joy

[Thomas Millard]

Hi Glenn,

Indeed, it seems every sector of the transport infrastructure is being eyed far more closely that it was in the days prior to 9/11.

While I still enjoying shooting planes from time-to-time, as you said shooting the same A/C type(s) and carriers can get tiresome. While my local airports (IAH and HOU) see a diverse number of carriers both domestic an int'l, still it gets old. Being from land locked Minnesota, sea going vessels were common place on Lake Superior and the Port Of Duluth (people are often surprised by this). However, it never dawned to me how photogenic these giants were, until a trip to Galveston some 2 years ago.

I see that you are from Tassie. I have family in Newcastle (NSW) and I even lived in Aussie ( Brissie) for some 4 years. I try to make it down there every two years or so, so I am overdue. I  have been to Hobart and Launceston on several occasions as well as other areas on the island, fascinating place.

Thanks for the feedback,

Thomas

[Michael Martin]

I'm sorry to hear about the fencing off of the Morgan's Point...it is actually a more popular spot for fisherman than a advantageous spot for potential terrorists from seeing a vessel sail past. I suppose they'll close down the Battleship Texas site as well, which provides a great view of the Houston Ship Channel near Carpenter's Bayou. I've only been in Houston for two years now and when I can get out, not often enough, Morgan's Point is a naturally comfortable spot for shipspotting. You just park your vehicle along the water's edge and comfortably just sit in your car and wait for vessels to sail by. I wonder if it's less of a federal restriction and more of a Texas prime water front property no trespassing deal. I'll do some calling around.

[Gerolf Drebes]

I can tell you from Europe, the problem in the ports ist the same. I am spotting in the Antwerp port since 1988. At that time almost all berth were open except the container berth. Now about 50% of the places I could go at that time are closed.
Hamburg is a bit better as you can spot lots of ships from public areas. But as well the port areas are closed for the public.
Kind regards
Gerolf

[Thomas Millard]

Yep, I was stunned to see the fencing going up at Morgan's Point last Monday. BTW, it was there that I met Gabriel Bedo for the first time, who told me about Shipspotting.com. He actually spoke to someone about the fencing off of Morgan's Point and was told that it was for "security reasons" :roll: Of course as a plane spotter, this is what we have been hearing since 9/12, along with ""It's against the law to photograph aircraft" or "There is an FAA rule against photographing aircraft" , usually mouthed by a bunch of "rent-a-cops".

I doubt seriously that the PHA will try to close the Battlground, the TPW might give them a fight. Indeed, this venue offers some great photo ops, just check out my photos here.

Thomas

[Guest]

Well here on the Tyne, all of the Port handling areas are off limits to Joe Public which given the Health and Safety implications is fair enough. However we still have plenty of public area's, especially down towards the mouth of the river, North and South Shields.

If anyone wants to see where to take photographs on the Tyne, check out the links below:

http://www.trawlerpictures.net/index.php/topic,1839.0.html

http://www.trawlerpictures.net/index.php/topic,1802.0.html

http://www.trawlerpictures.net/index.php/topic,1803.0.html

http://www.trawlerpictures.net/index.php/topic,1824.0.html

On the general matter of security matters appertaining to photography in public places, we in the UK continue to contend with the Police using the Anti Terrorism Laws to stop and question photographers about the shots they are taking. Under that legislation the Police can now 'arrest' the camera and or memory card if they are unhappy with the reason for the photography. Personally I have never been stopped.

Regards

[CedricH]

Hi,

it's the same here near where I live in Zeebrugge. It used to be quite easy to go into the port and take pictures of ships. You weren't supposed to be there but no one really cared and it wasn't fenced of anyway. Now since 2005 there are fences, security partrols, ... There are only a few places left which aren't always ideal!

Regards
Cedric