Photography in Orange County Parks and the rights we don’t have
Editorial
This is the story of a guy (me) who has a Monday off and like many other times wants to spend time taking pictures and learning during his time off. Often I look for places that are not too far away but that will provide me with landscapes and subjects that are interesting. In order to find these places I use Google and Flickr to look for pictures of such places. I searched this morning for parks in the Orange County area which is about 50 miles away from my home.
Doing this I stumbled upon this Flickr picture of Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park. Sure looked like a nice place to spend the morning. I drove to the location and up to the park rangers station to pay my park fee. As I often do I asked the ranger where was the best place to take pictures in the park. She said, “Oh are they for professional use?” I wanted to be honest so I said , I put them up on Flickr and I might sell one someday, but I haven’t sold any yet.
She said well if you have professional equipment you will need a permit. She proceeded to give me a brochure with an 866 number for me to call about a permit. By the way the Casper park rules do not mention anything about photography. also twitter follower deverill sent me back a reply saying that “On Casper’s website they say one way to “give back” is to volunteer and1 activity is “Taking photographs”
I called the number and spoke to a “Josh” in the permit department. I explained my situation and asked what kind of camera equipment I had, and if it was professional. I said that it was. He said if it’s a point and shoot then no problem, but if you have professional gear you can obtain a day permit for $150 and you will need to have a copy of your insurance form on file with us. Apparently that has to be $1,000,000 liability insurance . I told him that I was an amateur and would post the pictures on Flickr. He asked if they were for commercial purposes. I also wanted to be honest so I said I have not sold any pictures yet, but it would be great if I ever did. He then said I would need to go to their web site and I could get on on line form fill it out and even pay by credit card. I made a comment that I was a tax payer and I could not believe where this Country has gone that a guy can’t take good pictures of a county park. He said that he was not saying I could not take pictures, but I would need a permit.
Here is a portion of the photography permit which details pricing.
FEES: $150.00/Day $400.00/Day
$150.00/Year
$ 500.00 Deposit – Still Photography $1,000.00 Deposit – Motion/Video Photography Annual Portrait Photography
I hung up and was disappointed to say the least. I felt like being a photographer these days was like being some kind of criminal. God forbid if I actually wanted to make money shooting pictures. I tweeted about this in anger and disappointment, and I also put an audio Posterous post talking about my opinion about all of this.
So if I want to be a law abiding citizen I have to pony up $550 total and provide proof of $1,000,000 insurance liability policy so that I can take pictures ? The answer is Yes. To say that this was a WTF moment for me would be an understatement. Now I’m not saying that the county is not within their rights. However , I grew up in Orange County and paid the county a lot of tax dollars during my life to that county.
I was being honest, I am an amateur, but I’d love to sell a picture if the opportunity comes up. So I suppose in order to be allowed to take these pictures my best bet wold have been to lie. I should just drive up ,pay the park fee, and then take my chances that I will not get caught taking pictures with God forbid a prosumer level camera (I use a Nikon D700). Perhaps I need to ask less questions in the future.
How are we suppose to document in pictures the places and beauty of the nature that is around us? In a time where using a camera, and possibly making money taking a photograph is deemed as a privilege that has to be paid for, I suppose were not . I can see if the site would have made it clear in the front page of the need for such a permit , and if the permit was a reasonable priced (How about $20 and no deposit, and a waiver not to sue?).
To quote another Twitter follower RBoti “I can’t go EVERYWHERE, but pictures can take me there.” Amen brother. I love photography for the time in nature, for my ability to grow and learn from the hobby, and yes for the potential of even someday making a buck or two doing it. As long as our society and government bureaucracy make it more and more difficult for me to be within the law and honest, I suppose the only alternative I have is to lie and sneak around feeling like some criminal. Photography is not a crime and although I know that many times I an within my rights to discuss, argue and show people that am I within my rights, I dont’ go out to take pictures with a law book or desire to argue, that would defeat the whole purpose.
Sure I found an alternative site to take pictures today, but my day would have been much more serene without this reminder that apparently photography is considered illegal in certain places.
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