One Hundred and Eighty Degrees

Julian Frost · September 14th, 2008, 01:49 PM

During the summer months at Huntington Beach, CA, they close down Main Street and have a street market in the evening. I went there two weeks ago with my Canon XH-A1, and all I got was, "Why are you filming this?" or "Why are you filming that?" or "Who are you filming for?" or "Do you have a permit to film?" None of the people asking these questions were law-enforcement or "officals" of any kind. Some we just nosey, but others were just officious and obnoxious. One woman tried to confront me about my filming because I was shooting a closeup of a artist's hands. The artist was in the very early stages of making a *clay sculpture* of her young daughter's face!

I deal with the public every day, and I'm used to being stared at constantly, due to wearing a uniform 10 hours a day, and I have no problem talking with people who are genuinely interested in what I'm doing. But this near constant interruption and harassment got me quite annoyed. So that night, I created a small flyer to hand out to the few, really obnoxious individuals, who believe they know the law and their "rights" and insist on telling me about them (FYI, normally, if someone politely asks me not to film them, their group, or activity, I'll comply). The flyer politely explains that people in public have no expectation of privacy, that it's perfectly legal for someone to video or photograph anyone who is in a public place (for non-commercial purposes), and goes on to explain why I am filming. The flyer talks about the camera and equipment, and finally it politely asks them to stop bugging me. The last sentence tells them that if their questions haven't been answered by my flyer, they can request, from me, a copy of the Photographer's Bill of Rights, but only AFTER I've completed filming! :-)

That was "then." I went there again this past Tuesday, this time with my Steadicam Pilot and Canon XH-A1. The response from the public was 180-degrees different. I had one person come up to me asking me to shoot footage inside their store, another asked me to shoot their act (street performers), and one wanted to know if I was available to shoot a demo DVD (for money) for their soccer team. Mothers proudly paraded their kids in front of me, asking me to film their kids (as opposed to whisking them away, or being scared that a piece of clay possibly-resembling-their-kid's-face might appear on a web site somewhere!), and people were just friendlier. Others just asked about the technology... I heard passers by, usually guys explaining to their girlfriends, talk about the "gyro" in the steadicam which keeps the camera stable. :-)

I went there prepared to have to hand out my new flyer and the PBOR, but didn't need to give any away. I was dressed the same way both times -- nice jeans and a clean T-shirt. I guess it has something to do with the big "Steadicam" logo on the back of the vest! Anyway, it was a very nice change.

September 14th, 2008, 01:49 PM	#1
Julian Frost Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: California USA Posts: 576	One Hundred and Eighty Degrees - An Interesting Story During the summer months at Huntington Beach, CA, they close down Main Street and have a street market in the evening. I went there two weeks ago with my Canon XH-A1, and all I got was, "Why are you filming this?" or "Why are you filming that?" or "Who are you filming for?" or "Do you have a permit to film?" None of the people asking these questions were law-enforcement or "officals" of any kind. Some we just nosey, but others were just officious and obnoxious. One woman tried to confront me about my filming because I was shooting a closeup of a artist's hands. The artist was in the very early stages of making a clay sculpture of her young daughter's face! I deal with the public every day, and I'm used to being stared at constantly, due to wearing a uniform 10 hours a day, and I have no problem talking with people who are genuinely interested in what I'm doing. But this near constant interruption and harassment got me quite annoyed. So that night, I created a small flyer to hand out to the few, really obnoxious individuals, who believe they know the law and their "rights" and insist on telling me about them (FYI, normally, if someone politely asks me not to film them, their group, or activity, I'll comply). The flyer politely explains that people in public have no expectation of privacy, that it's perfectly legal for someone to video or photograph anyone who is in a public place (for non-commercial purposes), and goes on to explain why I am filming. The flyer talks about the camera and equipment, and finally it politely asks them to stop bugging me. The last sentence tells them that if their questions haven't been answered by my flyer, they can request, from me, a copy of the Photographer's Bill of Rights, but only AFTER I've completed filming! :-) That was "then." I went there again this past Tuesday, this time with my Steadicam Pilot and Canon XH-A1. The response from the public was 180-degrees different. I had one person come up to me asking me to shoot footage inside their store, another asked me to shoot their act (street performers), and one wanted to know if I was available to shoot a demo DVD (for money) for their soccer team. Mothers proudly paraded their kids in front of me, asking me to film their kids (as opposed to whisking them away, or being scared that a piece of clay possibly-resembling-their-kid's-face might appear on a web site somewhere!), and people were just friendlier. Others just asked about the technology... I heard passers by, usually guys explaining to their girlfriends, talk about the "gyro" in the steadicam which keeps the camera stable. :-) I went there prepared to have to hand out my new flyer and the PBOR, but didn't need to give any away. I was dressed the same way both times -- nice jeans and a clean T-shirt. I guess it has something to do with the big "Steadicam" logo on the back of the vest! Anyway, it was a very nice change.