(no subject)
This picture may be illegal.
CTA Red Line Interior
Copyright Stormdog 2013
I shot this on the red line between Jarvis and Howard when I happened to have the car to myself. As I sat at Howard waiting for a purple train, a CTA employee approached me. He warned me that I can't take photos, and that he saw me aiming down the tracks and taking photos. (He made some imitative gestures.) I told him that I hadn't been doing that that evening. Maybe this morning when I was photographing some track construction. In hindsight though, maybe he was talking about these interior photos?
Anyway, I told him that my understanding is that he's mistaken. He told me I needed a permit, and I told him that I thought that was only for commercial photography (which is a problematic restriction in itself, but anyway...). He expressed annoyance at me telling him that he didn't know his job and left, noting "Don't say I didn't warn you."
I'm going to dig into getting an official statement of policy from the CTA. I've been aware of their occasional harassment of photographers in the past, but having been personally bothered by them, now I'm personally motivated.
---
Anyway, the underground tour of Chicago was...ok. It wasn't actually very underground. It was primarily an architectural tour of downtown Chicago, with a couple of spans of the pedway and the lower level of the Michigan Avenue bridge. The tour guide was good; I have no complains there. She was fun and knew the architecture pretty well. Before the tour started, I chatted with her a little; she's a self-described architecture geek. Yay! But most of what she talked about were things that Lisa and I already knew, and I'd really been hoping to see more of the corners of the Pedway, the lower set of streets, and...I don't know. Other underground stuff? But I was disappointed. Regardless, it was a fun walk around the Loop with Lisa, though by the end we were both getting pretty worn out. For my part, I usually manage pretty well with lots of walking, but I was wearing new, heavier boots and carrying a lot of camera gear.
When the tour ended, we walked north to Watertower Place and had food. On the way there, an ambulance went northward by us on Michigan, and got jammed behind a convertible that sat placidly in place, top down, ignoring the ambulance trying to get around it. After the ambulance made it through, the convertible was still stuck at a red light. I took a few steps into the street toward it and yelled "That's a terrible way to drive!" Not the most coherent complaint I could have made about the driver's actions, but I was a bit upset at the blatant disregard for the emergency vehicle.
Anyway, the time went by very quickly over food with such pleasant company, and I had no idea we'd been there for over two hours until we left. *smiles* I got on the Red Line back toward Danae's place, and that's when I had the encounter on the CTA.
So there were a couple of moments of excitement and adrenaline. And there was a nice happy day. And now I'm back home with my kitty, and with school work to do. 'Till next time!
CTA Red Line Interior
Copyright Stormdog 2013
I shot this on the red line between Jarvis and Howard when I happened to have the car to myself. As I sat at Howard waiting for a purple train, a CTA employee approached me. He warned me that I can't take photos, and that he saw me aiming down the tracks and taking photos. (He made some imitative gestures.) I told him that I hadn't been doing that that evening. Maybe this morning when I was photographing some track construction. In hindsight though, maybe he was talking about these interior photos?
Anyway, I told him that my understanding is that he's mistaken. He told me I needed a permit, and I told him that I thought that was only for commercial photography (which is a problematic restriction in itself, but anyway...). He expressed annoyance at me telling him that he didn't know his job and left, noting "Don't say I didn't warn you."
I'm going to dig into getting an official statement of policy from the CTA. I've been aware of their occasional harassment of photographers in the past, but having been personally bothered by them, now I'm personally motivated.
---
Anyway, the underground tour of Chicago was...ok. It wasn't actually very underground. It was primarily an architectural tour of downtown Chicago, with a couple of spans of the pedway and the lower level of the Michigan Avenue bridge. The tour guide was good; I have no complains there. She was fun and knew the architecture pretty well. Before the tour started, I chatted with her a little; she's a self-described architecture geek. Yay! But most of what she talked about were things that Lisa and I already knew, and I'd really been hoping to see more of the corners of the Pedway, the lower set of streets, and...I don't know. Other underground stuff? But I was disappointed. Regardless, it was a fun walk around the Loop with Lisa, though by the end we were both getting pretty worn out. For my part, I usually manage pretty well with lots of walking, but I was wearing new, heavier boots and carrying a lot of camera gear.
When the tour ended, we walked north to Watertower Place and had food. On the way there, an ambulance went northward by us on Michigan, and got jammed behind a convertible that sat placidly in place, top down, ignoring the ambulance trying to get around it. After the ambulance made it through, the convertible was still stuck at a red light. I took a few steps into the street toward it and yelled "That's a terrible way to drive!" Not the most coherent complaint I could have made about the driver's actions, but I was a bit upset at the blatant disregard for the emergency vehicle.
Anyway, the time went by very quickly over food with such pleasant company, and I had no idea we'd been there for over two hours until we left. *smiles* I got on the Red Line back toward Danae's place, and that's when I had the encounter on the CTA.
So there were a couple of moments of excitement and adrenaline. And there was a nice happy day. And now I'm back home with my kitty, and with school work to do. 'Till next time!