This morning I was spotting at Cypress Point Park as I have spotted there for nearly 3 years without any issues other than a Rent a Cop and a park maintenance guy asking me questions about what I was doing.

I was sitting amongst the palm trees and the open field east of the approach so I could get good light in the morning (despite there being a little bit of cloud cover at first). I saw a couple guys walking towards me that looked like a couple regular people. I figured they were coming to talk to me but I left my MP3 player and headphones on. They walked up to me so I took my headphones off. I thought at first they were a couple of "Captain Americas" or "freedom isn't free" types

One guy was wearing a black West Coast Choppers shirt and jeans and had a mullet and scruffy beard, the other guy was wearing a T shirt and jeans. The guy with the mullet pulls out an ID from his pocket and shows that it is from Department of Homeland Security. I saw Dept of Homeland Security on the ID, but I didn't see what else it said. By the way they were dressed they could have just been toilet cleaners at the DHS office there - no idea who they were.

They started getting really nosy, the guy with the mullet had a note pad and started writing stuff down

DHS: What are you taking pictures of?

Me: planes

DHS: Why?

Me: Its a hobby of mine

DHS: What do you do with the pictures?

Me. post them on websites

DHS: Your own?

Me: No, places like airport-data.com, myavation.net

DHS: Got an ID

I give him my ID

DHS: What is your date of birth?

Me: 1-5-75

DHS: You live in Orlando?

Me: Yes

DHS: You have been watching the news lately right?

Me: Yeah

DHS: You understand why we are talking to you right?

Me: No, I don't see how me taking pictures on the ground has anything to do with a guy lighting his pants on fire on a plane.

DHS: Well we are concerned about the pictures.

Me: I don't understand what that has to do with security.

DHS: You could be studying aircraft traffic patterns.

Me: I could find out all that online from my house. Also I work at Orlando Airport and have ramp access and customs access so I think I am safe.

DHS: Do you have your airport ID?

Me: Its in my car.

DHS: Where's your car?

Me: Parked in the lot over there.

(they never asked me to get the badge and in the meantime I am still snapping pictures of approaching aircraft)

DHS: If you live in Orlando, why are you out here?

Me: My girlfriend lives in Clearwater, and she is at work, it is my day off and I am hanging out here till she gets off work.

DHS: What is your girlfriend's name?

(now at this point I am getting pissed off and I am not going to get my girlfriend involved in this as this is irrelevent and only is between me and DHS - so I gave them a fake name - I figure I can lie since I am not under oath at this point.)

DHS: What is your girlfriend's date of birth?

Me: Sept 25, 1971

DHS: What is your girlfriend's address?

Me (lying again): I don't know the number, she lives in an Apartment in Dunedin.

DHS: How long have you been with her?

Me: 7 months

DHS: Where does she work?

Me: Sun Trust

DHS: Which one? In Dunedin (really she works in Clearwater)

DHS: (ask again) Are you familiar what has been happening in the news?

Me: (really annoyed but stayed calm, but got smart ass a bit) Yes, Someone in the Department of Homeland Security didn't put a suspected terrorist on a no fly list and we almost had 300 dead in Detroit if it wasn't for a heroic Dutch guy that stopped him.

Some how instead of pissing them off, they said "have a nice day" and left. Now these guys never told me I couldn't spot there and they were never rude. However they were a way too nosey. I can understand asking what I do, but asking about my girlfriend was none of their business and they don't need to be calling her and putting her under more stress as she has been stressed out lately.

Since the guys walked off without anything else. I got suspicious I might see cops or more official looking DHS agents coming so I felt it best to leave right then and there and went to get a bite to eat. After I left I thought that it made me look guilty that I left right after then. After I ate, I went back to the park and no one bothered me the rest of the day out there.