It's Walthamstow, there is no Routemaster running up there. It can't be that "ironic"~
Anyway, this issue has been hotly debated in this country over the last few years, as photographers in general are being hussled by the police and general public much more often than before, much to do with their paranoia over terrorism and privacy.
The bottom line is though, by law in the UK, there is no restriction on taking pictures of any subject in public locations. Also, copyright of the photographs (and video for the matter) belongs to the people who took it. Therefore, there is no legal right for any person, police included, to request pictures to be deleted. Details can be found below:
If you are challenged by a police officier or security personnel, the only thing you need to do is express your rights whilst behaving resonably co-operative and respectful. If you become even slightly confrontational, it will only make the situation worse for you. This happened to me in a couple of occasions (Ironically I just have one today, when a security guard try to ask me to not to take pictures, but I explained to him my rights and what I am doing and eventually he let me continue), and I found that as long as I'm being respectful to them, it tends to defuse the situation very quickly. However, if you believe you are abused by a police officer, this is the place to report it:
If you are challenged by someone in the general public, you just need to express your rights and carry on, don't really have to do anything else. Be careful that some people who thinks you infringe their privacy may behave more aggressively. If things are getting out of hand, call the police and get them resolve the situation (and express your rights to them is absolutely key).
I had the same experience last year in London, Whitehall in fact. Ironically I was talking about this with friends only the day before, but for that I have been warned, so I knew what to do to deal with the situation. In any case, I have hundreds of pictures of buses in the camera at that time, and I'm comgy that I can prove myself a genuine photographer (or bus-spotter). Funny one of them looked at the pictures and said "I've never knew these are buses like these in London!".
One thing I found it funny is that people think anyone taking pictures for extended period of time would/could be a terrorist. If one has to bomb the place, he/she would have done it first thing, rather than wasting up to an hour taking pictures before blowing themselves up, surely. I can't help thinking anyone with that kind of idea in mind is completely daft.
I had the same experience last year in London, Whitehall in fact. Ironically I was talking about this with friends only the day before, but for that I have been warned, so I knew what to do to deal ...
same situation on myself before and was in Heathrow, i think if you are gentle and co-operate enough, that's won't be a matter
same situation on myself before and was in Heathrow, i think if you are gentle and co-operate enough, that's won't be a matter
Correct. Heathrow is a sensitive place (understandably), I had a BAA staff asking me not to take pictures of T5's check-in area last year as well, but I got my pictures, and I was in a rush anyway, so I did not bother debating with her. (Although it got me thinking, surely there are other people interested with the excellent T5 anyway, and that is not very welcoming).
But yes, being sensible and respectful is key, but without giving up the rights that we are supposed to have in Britain.
Read what I said. If it is such a problem for you, there is always another alternative - stop taking pictures altogether, or the ostrich approach as I call it.
You can give up your rights so easily, but whether that is the right thing for you to do, is up to you to decided.
