Re: Railfanning in Fullerton-LAUPT
Author: Steven D. Johnson
Date: 11-22-2009 - 11:55
The release form is not necessarily an absolute requirement as near as I can tell, merely a suggestion I'm passing along based on my first inquiry a few years ago (1998) about setting up a tripod and doing night time exposures in several locations. I hadn't actually intended to ask permission to do the photography. After setting up in the old ticket concourse area (which is generally closed off to some extent) late that evening, I was approached by a security guard who asked me to please sign in.
Their office is quite small, really a broom closet off to the immediate left of the main entrance as you walk in. It was explained that the LAUPT building was privately owned, and while photography (except commercial work) was allowed with few, if any, restrictions, the ownership required a release of liability to be signed, a copy of which I was not given. It was a very casual affair. The last time I did any more work there was 2005, and I did that first thing simply as a matter of course. It helped to some extent as I was later interrupted by LA County Sherriff's deputies on the platform. They begrudgingly checked into it, and I was able to wiggle around the problem and continue shooting.
I haven't been there since, and I don't know what the situation is now. I offer this suggestion based on my experience, and I doubt that anyone taking pictures with a handheld camera would be seen as cause for ejection. I usually have a little bit more toys with me than the average casual photographer, and often push the envelope a little on locations and time of day. Because of that, sometimes people look a little harder at me, and I ususally try to diffuse the situation beforehand to help keep the interruptions to a minimum.
However, that didn't work at the Amtrak coach yard nor on the Santa Monica pier!