2010 Southern California Sports Photography Shoot-In
What: 2010 College Swimming State ChampionshipsWhen: Saturday May 1st 2010 - All Day
Where: Mt. San Antonio College - 1100 N. Grand Ave, Walnut, CA 91789 (pool is off Temple Ave)
Photographers from Southern California are invited to attend this public college sporting event to show our support for photographers rights at public events. This is a college sporting event with adult athletes, it is open to the public and photography is permitted at the event.
2010 Southern California Sports Photography Shoot-In
What: 2010 College Swimming State Championships
When: Saturday May 1st 2010 - All Day
Where: Mt. San Antonio College - 1100 N. Grand Ave, Walnut, CA 91789 (pool is off Temple Ave)
Photographers from Southern California are invited to attend this public college sporting event to show our support for photographers rights at public events. This is a college sporting event with adult athletes, it is open to the public and photography is permitted at the event.
Why are we doing this? Here's the short story. I was at a preliminary event this weekend a the same venue (Mt. San Antonio College) and was told that the coaches would "prefer if I not take photographs of their athletes". No mention was made of the dozens of other people at the event with cameras... I suppose this is the price you pay for being serious enough about my hobby to cary "professional" grade equipment, you do tend to get singled out. The security staff was very careful to not violate my rights by telling me that I had to leave or that I could not take photos, they just kept say that the coaches would rather than I not continue taking photos of the athletes.
After a 15 minute discussion with the campus security I was sufficiently satisfied that all parties involved knew that I had every right to be there and every right to shoot photos ... I was also convinced that after 15 minutes of interrogation in front of 100+ spectators I was going to feel very uncomfortable if I chose to stay and continue shooting ... so I chose to leave the venue. I won the battle by standing my ground and knowing my rights, but in the end the coaches and security won the war by embarrassing me publicly and making me feel intimidated after doing nothing wrong.
So, if you are interested in showing your support for photographers rights and want to spend a day in the beautiful Southern California sun shooting college and university athletes competing for the California State Championship come out and join us for a day in the sun shooting this event. Bring all your cameras, still and video, bring your long lenses, monopods, etc. Let's make it obvious that we are serious photographers exercising our rights to take pictures in public.
More details/back story: It seems that two weeks ago there was a similar swimming event at Pasadena City College and there was a photographer there that was standing behind the starting blocks and every time the female swimmers would get up on the blocks and get ready to start this photographer would get up and get his camera right up in the swimmer's backsides and take a few shots. Naturally he was asked to leave the event for his inappropriate behavior. Even as a photographer's rights advocate that believes you can shoot anything, anytime, anywhere I understand that there are lines you do not cross and this guy obviously crossed that line and was dealt with. At the event this weekend at Mt. San Antonio College I was waiting for the event to start and noticed a guy getting in the water with a Canon DSLR in a waterproof camera enclosure, I walked over to talk to him and was stopped short by the Pasadena City College coach. He asked me what I was doing there, if he could see my "credentials" and why I was interested in shooting photos of "his athletes". I told him that I was just a photo hobbyist and I was taking photos just for the pure enjoyment of the hobby and that I did not have or need any credentials to do that. He then said "well, we kicked you out of our event 2 weeks ago and we don't want you here either". I informed him that he had the wrong person and I had no idea what he was talking about and I walked away and sat down. About 5 minutes later the campus security showed up and you know the rest of the story. Lets all show up at the state championships and show these coaches that they are not law enforcement officers, they are not morality police and that their adult athletes do not need to be protected as if they were small children. These coaches need to understand that we are taking photographs, that's all, and there is nothing scary about a photo ... we are not stealing their souls (a belief some primitive cultures still hold to this day). I'd love to see a few hundred telephoto zoom lenses on DSLRs at next weekend's event. However if all you have is a point-n-shoot or a flip video camera, please show up too ... it's not about your hardware, it's about our rights to shoot in public. If you have a "photography is not a crime" type t-shirt or hat, wear it to the event!
Don't forget to you get your copy of "The Photographer's Rights", print out a few and hand them out to anyone that asks you why you are there.
What: 2010 College Swimming State Championships
When: Saturday May 1st 2010 - All Day
Where: Mt. San Antonio College - 1100 N. Grand Ave, Walnut, CA 91789 (pool is off Temple Ave)
Photographers from Southern California are invited to attend this public college sporting event to show our support for photographers rights at public events. This is a college sporting event with adult athletes, it is open to the public and photography is permitted at the event.
Why are we doing this? Here's the short story. I was at a preliminary event this weekend a the same venue (Mt. San Antonio College) and was told that the coaches would "prefer if I not take photographs of their athletes". No mention was made of the dozens of other people at the event with cameras... I suppose this is the price you pay for being serious enough about my hobby to cary "professional" grade equipment, you do tend to get singled out. The security staff was very careful to not violate my rights by telling me that I had to leave or that I could not take photos, they just kept say that the coaches would rather than I not continue taking photos of the athletes.
After a 15 minute discussion with the campus security I was sufficiently satisfied that all parties involved knew that I had every right to be there and every right to shoot photos ... I was also convinced that after 15 minutes of interrogation in front of 100+ spectators I was going to feel very uncomfortable if I chose to stay and continue shooting ... so I chose to leave the venue. I won the battle by standing my ground and knowing my rights, but in the end the coaches and security won the war by embarrassing me publicly and making me feel intimidated after doing nothing wrong.
So, if you are interested in showing your support for photographers rights and want to spend a day in the beautiful Southern California sun shooting college and university athletes competing for the California State Championship come out and join us for a day in the sun shooting this event. Bring all your cameras, still and video, bring your long lenses, monopods, etc. Let's make it obvious that we are serious photographers exercising our rights to take pictures in public.
More details/back story: It seems that two weeks ago there was a similar swimming event at Pasadena City College and there was a photographer there that was standing behind the starting blocks and every time the female swimmers would get up on the blocks and get ready to start this photographer would get up and get his camera right up in the swimmer's backsides and take a few shots. Naturally he was asked to leave the event for his inappropriate behavior. Even as a photographer's rights advocate that believes you can shoot anything, anytime, anywhere I understand that there are lines you do not cross and this guy obviously crossed that line and was dealt with. At the event this weekend at Mt. San Antonio College I was waiting for the event to start and noticed a guy getting in the water with a Canon DSLR in a waterproof camera enclosure, I walked over to talk to him and was stopped short by the Pasadena City College coach. He asked me what I was doing there, if he could see my "credentials" and why I was interested in shooting photos of "his athletes". I told him that I was just a photo hobbyist and I was taking photos just for the pure enjoyment of the hobby and that I did not have or need any credentials to do that. He then said "well, we kicked you out of our event 2 weeks ago and we don't want you here either". I informed him that he had the wrong person and I had no idea what he was talking about and I walked away and sat down. About 5 minutes later the campus security showed up and you know the rest of the story. Lets all show up at the state championships and show these coaches that they are not law enforcement officers, they are not morality police and that their adult athletes do not need to be protected as if they were small children. These coaches need to understand that we are taking photographs, that's all, and there is nothing scary about a photo ... we are not stealing their souls (a belief some primitive cultures still hold to this day). I'd love to see a few hundred telephoto zoom lenses on DSLRs at next weekend's event. However if all you have is a point-n-shoot or a flip video camera, please show up too ... it's not about your hardware, it's about our rights to shoot in public. If you have a "photography is not a crime" type t-shirt or hat, wear it to the event!
Don't forget to you get your copy of "The Photographer's Rights", print out a few and hand them out to anyone that asks you why you are there.
