The cost of shooting in Rocky Mountain Parks

[tirediron]

It's expensive, darned expensive. If you want to avoid be tossed out of the park, you'd better have a permit, and in order to get that permit, you need to dig deep! If you want to shoot in Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, Yoho, Mount Revelstoke, Glacier or Waterton Lakes National Park, you need a permit, the application for which must be completed at least ten days in advance, and can cost you up to $2000.00 for a weekend of shooting. Yep, you read that right. Here's how it breaks down: (For groups of less than six): Application fee: $148.60. Location fee: $495.30 (PER DAY!) AND you need to carry $2,000,000.00 liability insurance. The full policy can be found here

It seems that the intent of the permit process was to prevent huge production companies moving in and filming in the middle of our parks. That's great, but as detailed in the excellent article in Outdoor Photography Canada (OPC) where I first learned of this (Summer-Fall '08 issue), it applies to anyone with a camera who wants to sell their work. In other words, you can take pictures for yourself (You may still get hassled by the parks staff if you go in with your 400/2.8 because you "look" professional) but if there's any chance you are going to sell, you NEED a permit! The article does go on to say that interpretation of this regulation varies by park, and that the park staff don't deliberately go looking to hassle photographers, but regardless the rule is there, and you can be ejected from the park for failure to comply.

Personally, I think this is beyond idiotic. I have no problem with a permit process so that they know where I am and what I'm doing (in general terms) so that in the event there were damage to sensitive areas, or other problems, they have a record, but asking me to pay somewhere in the area of $2000 for a weekend of shooting? I doubt if I would shoot enough images in a weekend to recover that cost in a lifetime!

Another excellent point in the OPC article is that no other artist has to pay this fee; you can take your easel and paintbox and stay a month if you want. I fully intend, and encouage everyone else in Canada, or who may visit these parks, to write the The Honourable Minister responsible and demand a change in this policy to make it more reasonable on those of us who might spend a few days a year in the park, and if we're lucky, make a few hundred dollars from the sale of those images.

[baddness]

I read the same article. Thought that they were going overboard with this. I guess photography is not art? Maybe if you went with an easel and canvas and your camera would you still need a permit ?

[Marko]

Those fees are outrageous T.I. thanks for sharing that article.

Charge the film crews, I'm down with that, but individual photographers? That's just robbery.

I guess the old saying take only pictures, leave only footprints no longer applies and needs to be amended to...

Take only pictures, leave only footprints and a pile of your cash.

[tirediron]

I read the same article. Thought that they were going overboard with this. I guess photography is not art? Maybe if you went with an easel and canvas and your camera would you still need a permit ?

What about the Fred Flintstone camera; you know the one where the bird comes out of the back and pecks the image into a rock tablet; that's sort of a combination of both. Would you only have to pay have price?

[baddness]

What about the Fred Flintstone camera; you know the one where the bird comes out of the back and pecks the image into a rock tablet; that's sort of a combination of both. Would you only have to pay have price?

lol never even thought of that one. Those were awesome cameras to.
This policy should really be challenged. I heard or read somewhere that Harper is saying something about photography not being an art. I could be wrong though.

[tegan]

I would disregard the permit. A park is a public place and as such I have every right to take photos there.

Tegan

[Travis]

I would disregard the permit. A park is a public place and as such I have every right to take photos there.

Tegan

me too..........

[mindforge]

I would disregard the permit. A park is a public place and as such I have every right to take photos there.

Tegan

Sneak it in. I have heard about the permits... if you get questioned after having the gear just put the camera away... about all they can do is ask you to stop.

In California, I don't think they do this at all. Lots of state parks and I have never heard of anything like this.

I would never pay something like this. Just take the gear up and start taking pictures. Play dumb if you get stopped. This is ludicrous.

[aophoto]

This is crazy, are we entering a communist era of our country or perhaps we are already there. Last time I checked we were a democratic society.