Narrative:

I was hired by the lighting company who had installed the lighting system at the racetrack to shoot the automobile race held later in the week. Two or three days prior to the flight I called both TRACON and 1 800 WX-brief and asked if there were any NOTAMS or tfr's that would prevent me from flying this event and they said 'no'. I then contacted TRACON shortly after takeoff and asked for flight following; telling them where I was going. After transferring me to the next sector's frequency; they asked; 'did you talk to anyone about this?'; and I told them I had called TRACON a couple of days before; after which they provided me with flight following. I stayed above 3;000 ft AGL for part of the event; then got a bit closer at the end to take a few shots of the grandstands with a telephoto lens (always keeping at least 500 ft above or 1 mile distant from the blimp operation over the stadium). After getting the sunset & lighting shots requested by my clients; I departed the airspace back to the airport and landed. I was then contacted by a representative of the local FSDO and was told that I had violated an fdc NOTAM for sporting events that ATC was not required to tell me about; even though I had asked them. This was entirely inadvertent in that I was led to believe by ATC that there were no tfr's; since I had asked. I am now filing this report within 2 hours of that contact. This is at best confusing - what use is calling for a briefing if the information is withheld?

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A pilot hired to take pictures of an auto race was cited for violating a special event TFR.

Narrative: I was hired by the lighting company who had installed the lighting system at the racetrack to shoot the automobile race held later in the week. Two or three days prior to the flight I called both TRACON and 1 800 WX-Brief and asked if there were any NOTAMS or TFR's that would prevent me from flying this event and they said 'No'. I then contacted TRACON shortly after takeoff and asked for flight following; telling them where I was going. After transferring me to the next sector's frequency; they asked; 'Did you talk to anyone about this?'; and I told them I had called TRACON a couple of days before; after which they provided me with flight following. I stayed above 3;000 FT AGL for part of the event; then got a bit closer at the end to take a few shots of the grandstands with a telephoto lens (always keeping at least 500 FT above or 1 mile distant from the Blimp operation over the stadium). After getting the sunset & lighting shots requested by my clients; I departed the airspace back to the airport and landed. I was then contacted by a representative of the local FSDO and was told that I had violated an FDC NOTAM for sporting events that ATC was not required to tell me about; even though I had asked them. This was entirely inadvertent in that I was led to believe by ATC that there were no TFR's; SINCE I HAD ASKED. I am now filing this report within 2 hours of that contact. This is at best confusing - what use is calling for a briefing if the information is withheld?

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.