Shooting in Public Can Result in Fines…

Many clients don’t realize this, but it’s a hot button for me. I really have trouble with understanding the thinking behind this. I like to be positive and upbeat, but every once in a while, I guess I deserve a good rant. Doesn’t everyone?

First, read this story in the Los Angeles Times, Fines.

Now that you’ve seen that, what are your thoughts? Here’s mine, UN-FREAKIN’-BELIEVEABLE! So, the public beach is no longer public? I can no longer take a couple out to the beach, and do a short portrait session, without paying fees to the city?

Now, for those that don’t have any understanding about this at all, this applies every where. It’s not just at Laguna Beach, it’s all the beaches, parks, city streets, etc. It’s everywhere. At any time, anywhere, a photographer can be fined for taking photos professionally. But, anyone with a point and shoot camera can shoot all day long all over the place, anywhere, anytime, for any reason they want. The fines are small compared to the fees, so I guess that’s the good thing for us. We just risk it, and pay the fines, if we get caught. Why would I pay in excess of a few hundred dollars per shoot, when a fine is $100, and I’ve never been fined?
Recently, I have been stopped on my shoots in Long Beach, Laguna Beach, and at Yorba Park. Fortuntately, I get away with a small loop hole in the law. If I am not a professional, I can shoot all day long. So, the key is, when we are shooting, and we get stopped, we’re just friends having some fun (wink, wink). Then, it’s hunky-dory.

It’s just plain silly and such a waste of time. My take on it is that I can understand if you are a big production company, and you are doing a model shoot of some sort, and you have a large truck or two, with big props, and huge lighting, and maybe a fan, and generators, and a crew of people helping, and you are blocking city streets and sidewalks, and all this havoc is going on…in that case, sure, you should have to pay for all the mayhem you are creating because you are restricting the public from using public resources. But, for me, and the way I operate, I’m just a guy with a little ‘ol camera, shooting two people in love. I just can’t make the paralell from the big production company to what I am doing. I’m no different than a tourist taking photos of their family in the city somewhere.

Sorry for the rant, but I just think it deserves a little air time. And, I also want to explain that if you want to go shoot at Corona Del Mar, or Laguna, or any beach or park for that matter, there is a very real possibility that we could be stopped and fined. The heat is on right now. I’m not sure if it’s due to the proliferation of digital cameras, or if it’s just a new source of revenue for city budgets. But, what ever it is, it’s muy annoying and unfair to the small business guy.

Jerry