illegal

Camera Drone Operator Arrested After Flying Within 50ft of LAPD Chopper

We've heard of quite a few close calls between drones and aircraft over the past few years, but this latest one was an extremely close call that actually resulted in an arrest.

A hobby camera drone operator was arrested in Hollywood late last month after flying his drone within 50 feet of an Los Angeles Police Department helicopter that was searching for a suspect.

Airliner Nearly Collides with a Drone During Landing in Dallas

Some drone operator gave a pilot a scare this past Tuesday after flying the quadcopter way too close to an airport. A Virgin America flight reportedly came within 200 feet of the drone while landing at Dallas Love Field airport. To put that distance in perspective, consider this: the Airbus A319 airplane involved has a wingspan of about 117 feet.

Photographers Arrested and Kicked Out of Indonesia for Illegal Photo Shoots

If you're planning on doing an elaborate photo shoot in a foreign country, make sure you obtain the necessary permits and visas. Otherwise, you may risk arrest and deportation.

That's what happened to a couple of American photographers earlier this month. They, along with 13 others involved in the work, were kicked out of Indonesia for doing illegal photo shoots.

Prolific Graffiti Artist Brags Over Instagram, Earns 23 Counts of Felony Vandalism

If we've said it once, we've said a thousand times: don't post illegal activity to Instagram. Because while the photo sharing service does sometimes seem to be the domain of teenaged girls with a duck face problem and hipsters who would like to share their latte with you, the police also spend time on there.

That's a lesson notorious NYC graffiti artist Peter Podsiadlo, better known as SEMP, learned the hard way this week when his Instagram photos earned him 23 felony counts of vandalism.

No Drone for You! National Park Service Bans Camera Drone Usage in Yosemite

Would you like to photograph the Upper Yosemite Falls by drone? Attach a GoPro to your newly-acquired DJI Phantom 2 and just have at it, capturing views that Ansel Adams would envy? Well, you can't, because it turns out "use of unmanned aircraft systems (drones)" is prohibited in Yosemite National Park.

Lewis Hine’s Photography and The End of Child Labor in the United States

It's hard to imagine it, but in the early 1900s, child labor was still extremely common in the United States. All across the nation children would spend their days slaving away in mines and cotton mills, far away from the school rooms that the National Child Labor Committee wanted them to be in.

The NCLC had been trying to put a stop to child labor since it was founded in 1904, but statistics weren't having the effect they had hoped. So, in 1908, they decided to enlist the help of Lewis Hine and his camera to get their message out.

NYPD Officer Faces Up To 7 Years in Jail for Lying About Photographer’s Arrest

One year ago, in August of 2012, New York Times photographer Robert Stolarik was arrested for allegedly using his camera flash to interfere with police during an arrest. However, after taking a look at the evidence, it's the police officer who is in hot water and may face up to 7 years in prison after being indicted on three felony counts and five misdemeanors.

Girl Rushes the Field at a Baseball Game, Captures a $1,500 Selfie

The fine for rushing the field at the College World Series final is $1,500, but who can put a price on becoming an overnight viral Vine sensation? Well, whatever price Kayleigh, Emily, and Torrie Hill assigned to viral fame, it was more than $1,500, because they rushed the field and captured some expensive selfie footage in the process.

Photog Documents the Illegal Hunting of Songbirds Along the Mediterranean

AP Photographer David Guttenfelder is a conflict photographer. He's spent much of his photographic career capturing war through the lens of his camera. One thing he certainly never considered himself was a bird photographer.

But when he was sent on an assignment to illustrate a National Geographic piece on the illegal hunting of songbirds, he became one. And it slowly dawned on him that he wasn't just doing a documentary, environmental, or conservation piece -- this was simply another form of conflict photography.

Adobe Photoshop CC Has Apparently Been Cracked One Day After Launch

It truly is a cat and mouse game between software developers and software pirates. It's been that way for years. So when a company like Adobe decides to change up their entire business model to subscription-based to curb the piracy of their professional-grade product suite, you would expect it to take a fair amount of time before the pirates managed to find a workaround.

Perhaps not the case, at least according to a torrent link uploaded today to The Pirate Bay (one of the largest torrent-tracking sites on the Internet). Just one day following the official launch of Photoshop CC, the software has apparently been cracked and available for downloading illegally.

Displaced: Pictures of Illegally Imported Animals Being Rehabilitated in NYC

Each year, an estimated 300 million animals are brought into the United States illegally to serve as exotic pets. In New York, many of those animals wind up at the New York City Center for Avian and Exotic Medicine, where the trained practitioners there nurse them back to health.

Animal photographer Linda Kuo's new series Displaced tells these animals stories and seeks to draw attention to this rarely mentioned societal problem.

American Faces Death Penalty in North Korea for Photos He Took

Korean-American Kenneth Bae made headlines back in November when he was arrested while leading a tour group though the Rason Special Economic Zone in North Korea. The reasons behind the arrest have never been properly confirmed, but it seems that his detainment had something to do with photos he was taking while he was spending time in the country.

No headway has been made in the case since he was taken into custody, but a recent report by the Korean Central News Agency claims that Bae has "admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK," and that he will now be tried in North Korean supreme court for those crimes, the maximum punishment for which is the death penalty.

Animated Documentary Explains The UK Terrorism Act and How it Affects Photogs

In response to September 11th and London Bombings, the UK drafted a series of Terrorism Acts, giving their officers certain rights they thought would help fight terrorism. This included a section (58a) added in 2008 that made it illegal to photograph or film a police officer if the footage was likely to be useful to a terrorist. The police's interpretation of that section has since changed, but not before that "if" caused some newsworthy controversy.

This short animated documentary covers that controversy from the point of view of one of the act's victims, Gemma Atkinson, who was assaulted by police in 2009 because she was filming them searching her boyfriend. It tells the story of the subsequent legal battle she went through trying to get the act changed and hold the police officers who were unnecessarily rough with her accountable.

New Vermont Bill Would Make it Illegal to Photograph Anybody Without Consent

A short form bill was recently introduced into the Vermont House of Representatives that ought to have photographers curious, if not worried. That's because this particular bill seeks to "make it illegal to [photograph] a person without his or her consent ... and distribute it," essentially outlawing most forms of public photography.

Russian Photographers Sneak to Top of Great Pyramid and Capture the View

Russian photographer Vitaliy Raskalov recently visited the Great Pyramid of Giza with two of his adventuring photography buddies: Vadim Mahorov and Marat Dupri. Unlike most camera-toting tourists visiting the famous site (the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World), the trio was not content with sticking to visitor-approved areas: they decided to risk prison time by sneaking to the top of the pyramid and photographing that rarely-seen view.

Smuggled Camera Gear Worth Over $60 Million Seized in China

This past Wednesday, customs officers in China announced the bust of a gigantic camera smuggling operation and the arrest of 14 suspects connected with the illegal transportation of $63.5 million worth of camera equipment. The smuggling ring has allegedly smuggled 60,204 cameras, 13,623 lenses, 483 flashes, 1,025 video cameras, and 348 projectors. Since camera equipment is much cheaper to buy in Hong Kong -- 20% to 30% less -- smugglers profit by sneaking the gear into mainland China (avoiding customs taxes in the process) and selling it through the gray market.

Obama Photo Used Illegally on Billboard

We're on a roll with controversial advertisements today. New York garment company Weatherproof has gotten the attention of the White House after illegally using a photograph of President Obama's visit to the Great Wall of China on a billboard in New York City (41st St. and 7th Ave.)