 Jessica L. Blackburn |
Allowed or NOT Allowed? Help!!! I'm still pretty new to the Photography thing and I need some help knowing what I am, and am NOT allowed to do. I have Family who own a small Waterpark in South Georgia - I was thinking it would be nice to be able to drop by there on the weekends and shoot photos of the children and parents going down the waterslide (kinda like what they do when you ride a Roller coaster at a theme park.. except it would be me taking the pictures instead of a machine) I was thinking I could shoot for maybe an hour and then load up the photos on a screen for the parents to view and order if they would like. My question is.... Do I have to have permission to shoot photos like this from the parents before taking the pictures? The family are paying admission to the park and it is a PUBLIC place so I'm not sure what the "rules" are. It would be VERY nice to be able to bring in a little profit on the weekends from this. Any information or suggestions you have are GREATLY appreciated. Jessica
|
|
|
|
||
|
Sarah G |
It does sound like a nice idea. Whether there would be a demand for the services, I don't know. Since you'd be doing it at someone else's business I suspect that they would be ultimately responsible for making sure you/they do everything legally. That is what lawyers are for. At the amusement park we go to there are signs posted at the rides with photos being taken letting you know that if you ride this ride your photo will be taken. With the information posted that means that by going on the ride you're giving consent to have your photo taken. Another thing that happens is that the park photographers ask if you want them to take your photo and have you pose for it. That in itself is again giving some form of consent. Perhaps what you really need to do is talk to the owners of the waterpark and get them to look into it if they are interested in that as part of their business (even if you get all or most of the money earned from the photo purchases).
|
|
|
|
||
|
Alan N. Marcus |
Hi Hessica, I am sure you will receive dire warning but I say go to it. The major theme parks all use automated cameras to capture thrill ride pictures. Now-a-days its digital and the images are displayed and offered for sale before the ride ends. First I don’t think there is much danger, as you said, it’s a public place thus the patrons should not have an expiation of privacy. If you are worried, consult a lawyer and your insurance company. Likely all you need do is post, near the entrance, a notice that pictures are taken for commercial and security purposes. Additionally, I think that you should establish an internal policy via a memo stating your intention to take pictures and establishing an exertion date i.e. unclaimed images to be deleted after say 10 days, claimed images after say 1 year (opportunity to sell reprints). Alan Marcus
|
|
|
|
||
|
Debby A. Tabb |
Mark will be all over this. But I know here in Calfornia in the theam Parks (most Photographers are employees) and they Most ask first if they can photograph you. Even for the candid moments in the Dolphin Encounters at Sea World,your asked before you partisipate. But as I said, you should get some other thoughts and help posted here soon. http://www.photoattorney.com/ I hope this helps,
|
|
|
|
||
|
Mark Feldstein |
BTW, Jessica, insofar as I'm aware, photoattorney is only a member of the Georgia bar association. So, unless you're in Georgia and get a written opinion letter from her, you should be relying on the opinion of a lawyer in your neighborhood since state privacy laws cover this particular issue. Take it light. Mark
|
|
|
|
||
|
Mark Feldstein |
Who, Moi' Deb? Ok here's my spin on it: First, Jess isn't describing a public park in the sense of it being owned by a public entity like federal, state or local government like Yellowstone or Pismo Beach. It's owned by private entities and simply open to the public like any other private store front. In terms of rights and liabilities, there's a big distinction between public and privately owned property and businesses. As to what Alan said re. automatic cameras photographing rides, I would think that those images are used for either security purposes OR to defend the park against liability actions if someone gets hurt, say standing up on a slide where they were acting against safety instructions. What Jess is proposing is for neither of those purposes but rather for her own profit. And as Debby said, rather than allowing freelancers to roam throughout their parks snapping away at visitors and offering them prints for sale, I'd say park operators control that pretty strictly and for many reasons just like any other park vendors. For example, the park owners have a right to control who is permitted to actually work on their property or isn't. That's chiefly a liability issue, but also it involves the owners right to share in the profits made by their approved vendors, who they cover under their liability insurance policies; who has workers compensation or at least have independent contractors carry their own insurance and proof of it; the wherewithall to run background checks on park employees, and a right to control how one approaches park guests and offers collaterally approved services in the park, etc., etc. In addition, if a rambling roaming photographer runs amok, the victims won't just sue the photographers (who traditionally have no money in the first place) but the park for allowing the guy / gal to operate there in the first instance. We refer to that as the "deep(er) pocket" theory of tort litigation. But for purposes of this discussion, let's not take it much further beyond that.
|
|
|
|
||
|
Raymond H. Kemp |
When’s the last time you’ve been to Disneyland or Universal Studios Mark? Several of their thrill rides have automatic cameras to catch you and your companion’s thrilled expressions. As you leave the ride there are monitors, which display everyone on the ride moments earlier. Each display has a unique number, which you give the attendant at the counter. Fork over some dough and you have some instant prints of you and your family on the ride to take home with you. Before digital, Polaroid cameras were used. This automatic form of event photography has been around over 30 years.
|
|
|
|
||
|
BetterPhoto Member |
Wazzup there Mark? At most amusement parks, there are cameras on the thrill rides to show ya how dumb you look as you're screaming your head off going down a 210 foot, 88 degree drop. This seems to have become a custom in the industry. The problem is, when is it okay to superceed the park or company who is contracted to shoot these captured moments of sheer terror? I would check with the park owners or management before I go ahead and start shooting. I heard once of a person who shot some photographs at a Nascar race, then got sued by Nascar for copywrite infringement. Be very careful. Have fun and keep shooting,
|
|
|
|
||
|
Tom Leckwart |
Jessica, Great question. We have a local waterpark that has a photographer shooting pics all over the park here in Jacksonville. No asking for permission, they just fire away and hand the kids or parents a wrist band with a bar code on it. Scan it later and you see all of your pics for the day. YES, people but it. At the Disney water parks in Orlando, they have staff photographers snapping shots everywhere, and they issue a more modern wrist tag. I don't remember seeing any signs, and I've never seen anyone at any of the water parks with issues over the photography. Go for it if you have the park owner's consent, just tread lightly and use good judgement. Be respectful and I think you will be fine. My wife once bought two shots at Blizzard Beach cause I was afraid to take the DSLR in there, how it pained me to pay for that. Twenty something dollars for two 5 x 7's. BOHICA! Best of luck to you-Tom
|
|
|
|
||
|
This old forum is now archived. Use improved Forum here
Report this Thread |
||