Last weekend I was taking prewedding shots of a couple at a popular location where there were 3-4 other photogs and their wedding groups working at the same time. (We don't need permits in Sweden). Nobody asked anyone to move and there was room for everyone. A park must be larger. Why would people need to fight over the exact same spot
If you're referring to my post, I didn't mean anything political at all. I just thought that it wouldn't be so difficult to shoot (with the CAMERA) around the other people.
This whole thing is going over the heads of many of you.
The reason you might pay to use a park is to keep the influx of people down. It's not necessarily a tax of any kind (although it's treated the same). It is a deterrent to cut down on the Uncle Bob's of the park.
With digital everyone has become a photographer. The governing bodies running these parks has to do something to keep the peace for families who want to go to the park and not get run over by rude dudes.
annayu wrote:
If you're referring to my post, I didn't mean anything political at all. I just thought that it wouldn't be so difficult to shoot (with the CAMERA) around the other people.
Good grief.
No worries, nobody was taking a shot at you
There is an extremely popular spot for bridal parties here in Portland OR. Permits are not required (yet), but I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't soon.
On 7-7-7, my couple informed me they wanted to go up there to take some "informals", and I warned them it was bound to be a zoo that day. They still insisted.
Sure enough, I counted 12 different wedding parties and I know there must have been many more in areas I couldn't see. We ended up in an adjacent park and had a good time. So far, I have not had an unpleasant encounter with other photogs. People are ppretty low key and helpful here.
I think you are handling your situation well, Yvette.
In a popular area, there are often a lot more potential users than appropriate spaces. Even if there is no fee, a reservation system could be in place. The picnic gazebos/shelters are on a reservation basis, the ball fields are on reservations or scheduled out in many cases, or you have hordes of people trying to use the same facilities.
Our parks also require that commercial enterprises have the appropriate business licenses, permits, etc., Doesn't really matter if they are supplying an inflatable bouncer, pushing an ice cream cart, whatever.
The agency that "requires" a reservation or permit and doesn't back it up for those following the rules is asking for chaos. And a professional "business" ought to be professional and follow the rules.
Calling the city and finding out how to get your "space" shouldn't be necessary but by all means call them before the next shoot to find out what they will do to support you.
Here in St. Louis, Forest Park (the largest urban park in the US - http://www.edwardcrim.com/forest_park/ ) is a favorite of photographers. I routinely see other pros there (I know many of them by name) and greet them. If there is a wait for a favorite spot, it is never very long. For the last 5 years (roughly the time since the Missouri Botanical Garden started charging pros $125 each time they enter) Forest Park has been crowded on Saturdays, but there are no fees there and people seem to like to see the wedding parties (sort of like monarch butterflies in Mexico http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/06/0610_030610_monarchs.html ).
But don't forget that South Carolina is the place that started the war
Shooting photos where there are several other weddings taking place is very very tacky.
$125 is very cheap. Those who pay must be glad the budget shooters have gone elsewhere.
Here in So Cal, the Claremont Colleges is a beautiful location for portraits and wedding parties. Beautiful buildings and grounds.
Photography was banned about 5 years ago due to bridal parties showing up, making a mockery of the grounds by leaving beer cans and trash on the grounds.
Now if someone tries to shoot on the grounds security will remove you......they have video cams everywhere now.
So sometimes it's not the photographers who ruin it.............
> If you're referring to my post, I didn't mean anything political at all. I just thought that it wouldn't be so difficult to shoot (with the CAMERA) around the other people.
sorry - it's a bounce back joke to some innocent threads that got deleted by FM a couple of weeks ago - he got snippy - said it was a wedding photography forum and leave the politics out - 2 of my posts got deleted (I don't remember what I said, something about looking for communist Chinese to shoot my weddings so I could be like WalMart and get the prices down and serve millions).
Now if any post talks about governments or lifestyle or anything that's not holding a camera at a wedding - it's too political
Lord Fluff wrote:
The permits mainly - and the mental picture of lots of WP's vying for the same spots in a park....just hard to imagine here. And also, we all pay so much in taxes that the idea of paying to use a park (for whatever reason) seems laughable - I'm payin' for them flower beds anyway, whether they are a fuzzy blob of bokeh in one of my shots or not....
Funny....I was once asked to show my permit in a park in London for trying to film a "stand-up" with London bridge in the background. I didn't have a permit so I was asked to leave.
tomKphoto wrote:
> If you're referring to my post, I didn't mean anything political at all. I just thought that it wouldn't be so difficult to shoot (with the CAMERA) around the other people.
sorry - it's a bounce back joke to some innocent threads that got deleted by FM a couple of weeks ago - he got snippy - said it was a wedding photography forum and leave the politics out - 2 of my posts got deleted (I don't remember what I said, something about looking for communist Chinese to shoot my weddings so I could be like WalMart and get the prices down and serve millions).
Now if any post talks about governments or lifestyle or anything that's not holding a camera at a wedding - it's too political...Show more →
Perhaps a better delivery method would help your cause.
A permit policy for any commercial shooting in public parks and beaches, etc. has been in effect here in So. CA since the 1930's. Until the last few years it has been aimed primarily at the movie studios and commercial advertising shoots and wedding/portrait shoots flew under the radar. Then we had a huge influx of new wedding photographers who were not always considerate. One favorite beach is Little Corona in Corona del Mar, just south of Newport Beach. Historically it was not unusual to see one or two portrait shoots there in the evening pretty much any day of the week. That wasn't a problem until the hordes of jerk wedding photographers started showing up. It got to the point that any night of the week it was not unusual to see 10-20 photographers down there shooting on a beach that is about 1/4 mile long. They would yell at the moms to "get your f-ing kid out of my shot!" type stuff and when it got really jammed some of these jerks would start shooting on the steps and porches of private homes. It was a madhouse. The city was unaware of the problems because the lifeguard and rangers were off-duty at 5pm and the photographers didn't show up until 6-7pm to take advantage of the sunset. The residents complained, the city installed hidden video surveillance for a month to watch the activity and were astounded on what they saw.
Not only was the beach jammed with unruly and aggressive photographers but they were also walking through the tide pools and protected foliage in this nature preserve. Permit signs went up and most of the photographers ignored the signs and shot anyway. One guy told me that the permit was more expensive than the $100 ticket he risked getting so he'd take his chances. The situation got worse and some photographers actually got arrested and thrown in jail overnight to see the judge in the morning. It seemed to slow it down quite a bit.
As is always the case, the jerk "professional" photographers are the ones that ruin the situation for the rest of us. They are now walking around on city streets in the beach cities, even shooting in the middle of the street. There is still a population of "self-entitled" wedding photographers that seem to feel that they have a right to interfere with the public at large and shoot anywhere they want. I often hear on forums the statement that it is better to apologize later and plead ignorance than it is to actually ask permission first. One recent post said that he usually can shoot for 5-10 minutes before the police come over so he does that and he recommended that all photographers just learn to use the "shoot fast and ask questions later" approach.
As for the opinion that this is public land and as such we photographers are free to use it as we see fit. Public land of any kind can be used by the public until you want to run any form of commercial venture on it. You can't set up a hot dog stand on the beach or a city sidewalk nor can you shoot commercially without the necessary permits.
Rick Rosen wrote:
They would yell at the moms to "get your f-ing kid out of my shot!" type stuff and when it got really jammed some of these jerks would start shooting on the steps and porches of private homes. It was a madhouse.
Rick
It has been a few weeks since I yelled at a mom - works like a charm every single time.
Our local council as useless as they are at most things, have a great system of booking out locations for couples to get married at. For free!!!
You just call the council, talk to the appropriate person and book in that date and a certain block of time. You get a email/fax/letter saying you officially have that location for your wedding and no one else can be there
Works like a charm each and every time! You can be fined if you dont move from a booked location when asked.
Reading all of this I had my opinion develop into one clear statement--
Why are you so worried about other people? You have the permit, they walked away when they asked to shoot illegally. You got your shot.
The illegal photographers shouldn't do what they are doing. You let the lady know about the problem. You should be done with the matter. It is not your park, you do not write the tickets, you are not the police: worry about what YOU need to do.
I don't say this because I condone their behavior, but why get high blood pressure because of someone else. How important is this to you really?
