SpiderMonkey wrote in post #19305887
It’s probably because, while in the military we are constantly being told not to take pictures of certain things which in this case would include the SR-71.
About eighteen years ago, I was stopped by Military Police when I was gonna take some pictures of aircraft taking off while standing on the ramp. This is on an airfield that is shared with both military and civilian aviation and by this time I had been out of the military for about seventeen years.
Civilians are always coming to the fence taking pictures, this time the MP was just harassing me, he said I couldn’t be there taking pictures even though I do it all the time, I asked him what the difference was whether I was on the ramp or on the other side of the fence fifty feet behind me, he said that he had the power to arrest me on the ramp but couldn’t touch me on the other side of the fence. Things got heated between us because I was standing on a civilian ramp and I informed him that his jurisdiction stopped at the red line he had crossed a hundred and fifty yards away. There’s a bit more to this story but I’ll save it.
Had he approached me differently and asked that I take precautions to not take pictures in the direction of the military side, I would have gladly accommodated his request.
By-tor wrote in post #19305895The day prior my assistant (the person standing by the taxi way) was stopped by one of the black Chevy suburbans that travel in front of the aircraft and told no pictures were allowed on the ramp.
Cygnus wrote in post #19305904I think it's the perception of how much more detail you can see from a ramp position as you nearer than say a crown or fence line.
An example which I have experienced is photographing a Super Hornet head on, which was a no-no on the ramp. The request was no doubt related to the radar signature reducing interior design of the inlet which is normally covered at an airshow but could be seen (briefly) on the ramp when one taxied by.
I do have pictures of Super Hornets head-on subsequently when deployed but I can't see the detail I saw on the ramp. However that might be down to my photographic prowess....
Thanks for the insights guys, interesting perspective, thinking about it, of course it makes sense that despite you having such good access, on base policing would come into play.
Kev
From the inside surface to the outside it was about 4" so it was quite accurate. 
