In my defense (re: Pics on rides)

I didn't know those pictures would cause such and uproar. I honestly didn't think taking them was a forbidden thing. The only thing they said when I was getting on the rides was "Secure loose articles." The camera was tied to my arm. It was no more loose than my shirt, or my watch. If I thought I was breaking the rules I wouldn't have done it and I certainly wouldn't have come here and shared them.

I think a simple "Hey man that's against the rules", would have been sufficient. Instead I was compared to people who blatantly endanger other people. I don't get the connection. Sorry I've offended so many people with some simple pictures.

I personally agree with you Kryten. I understand that you did'nt mean any harm and that you took the steps necessary to be safe. I'm not sure what the problem is either with the pics but enthusiasts have been really pissy about the rules since the death at HW. So... best bet is not to post them here, even if you just wanna take them for yourself. And yes, people here will jump down your throat sometimes, don't take it personally.

It was a bad year last year, thats why there is the uproar.

Some parks do let you take cameras on their rides, Six Flags is not one of them. If you had your camera clearly visable and the employee didnt say anything to you then he is at fault to some extent too. However in the future read the signs ;).

Dont worry about the uproar its sort of a CB right of passage, (my first was over the driving distance between Chicago and SFGAm of all things) it wont beheld against you as long as you dont consistantly start one.

darn RollrCoastrCrazy beat me! *** Edited 3/9/2004 10:36:33 PM UTC by Touchdown***

Don't worry about it man.....it's just been a bad year for enthusiasts, and a lot of it has had to do with pictures. Parks have really bad feelings about us. No harm done, not let's all move on....

Kryten, this too will be deleted/closed, but suffice it to say that since last May *everything* has changed. The PERCEPTION of safety is about as important as the actual relative safety itself....some may not know that the camera was secured, others might say the strap could break, yadda yadda...

The moral of the story at this point: even *permitted* on-ride photos are now deemed unacceptable, and the enthusiast community is being held to a MUCH higher standard...

Because you're new, no one is going to hold it against you that you were unaware...now you are...

"Hey man, that's against the rules"...or, in basketball terms, "no harm no foul"...:)

If you really didn't wanna cause an 'uproar,' why start another thread?

That's like saying "Sorry I stepped on your toe--so this time I'll place my foot on your toe and gently apply increasing pressure."

Either you really want everyone to calm down--and you'll nuke this thread yourself by deleting your first post--or you might as well go ahead and say you're full of p--- and vinegar. You can't have it both ways.

-CO

I started this thread to explain that I didn't know it was a big deal. I secured the camera and I thought that would be ok. I took lots of effort to insure that the camera would not fly out of my hand. I could have wrapped the strap around my arm and left it at that. I felt that that wouldn't be safe enough because it could unwrap and come off my arm. I bought a watch specifically for the purpose of securing the camera. I insured that the band was all one piece instead of one held in with breakable pins. Even after making sure it was secure I pulled and tugged on it as hard as I could to make sure it wouldn't come off. There was no way that camera was going anywhere. I understand now that that isn't good enough.

As far as I was concerned the camera was not a loose article. There were no signs that said not to take a camera on the ride. They only said no loose articles. I didn't know I was breaking any rules but some people here act as though I'm a horrible person for taking some pictures.

This post was just to explain that I didn't know it was such a horrible thing and that I'm sorry for posting about the pictures here. CoastaPlaya, it looks like everyone else here understands that except you. Sorry. Lock the thread. I'm done here.

For what it's worth, I wasn't trying to compare you to a dead person. I was trying to compare you to all the folks who posted follow-ons to explain to the rest of us that "it's okay, I kept a real tight grip on my camera, so it doesn't matter that it was against the rules."

And, as my second free piece of advice today: don't mess with CPlaya unless you have a lot of time on your hands.

(I would have advised him not to reopen closed threads, but You Know Who did that for me already.)

Kryten, just let the topic die. You didn't know any better then, and now you do. The end.

I'll agree with Brian Noble and say don't muck with CoastaPlaya. He will pick you apart, no matter what you type, so don't go there.

I spend time actually working for a change and all this goes on...

Is it May yet?

I didn't say it was ok because I kept a real tight grip on the camera. At no point did I say it was ok becuase of my technic. I didn't think it was a problem to begin with. I did it the way I did it because I wanted to be safe not because I wanted to safely circumvent the rules.

As for this CoastaPlaya person I didn't mess with him. He's the one getting an attitude with me. I explained that I didn't know it would be a problem and that I was sorry. Most of the people here realized that and seemed to say, "Apology accepted". CoastaPlaya just pounced on me again. I didn't start anything with him. From the posts I read that you showed me in the other thread I can tell that CoastaPlaya likes to start crap with people. Every board has one like him.