21 October 2013

Arboretum charging but want your pix anyway!

| johnboy
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@hil_clix_pix is having a right old blowup at the cheek of the National Arboretum’s piratical photography policies:

OK!! I have had a call from the National Arboretum and they want to charge me $200 for a permit for our PHOTOWALK Canberra group to have our event at the National Arboretum!!! I am seriously pissed off!

PHOTOWALK Canberra is a FREE community event, just for the joy of creating photos… I am absolutely gob-smacked!!

They agree that PHOTOWALK Canberra is not a commercial enterprise but still maintain that they need to charge $200 for a permit. Considering we would all be paying for the privilege to park there and we would more than likely have a coffee or other refreshment whilst we are there, and we will be sharing our images on the flickr group and possibly social media as way of promotion of their venue, I feel that their terms are truly exorbitant!!!

The also asked if we were we willing to have our images used by them to promote the National Arboretum…… for free! I realise as enthusiasts it may seem a wonderful thing to have one of your images used by the National Arboretum, but to what extent would they use it/them??? You may see your image(s) that you created used many many times and its no use if there is no with no recompense, recognition for your efforts or authorship…Would you unknowingly waive your rights to this image? Who knows!!

So they want free access to any images we capture and the want to charge us $200 for the privilege, so I am sorry to say PHOTOWALK Canberra WILL NEVER BE HELD AT THE NATIONAL ARBORETUM.

PHOTOWALK Canberra has done walks at numerous places around the national capital and NEVER been subjected to such ludicrous demands.

The coming photowalk has been cancelled as a result.

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HICKERY said :

After strong response from community the $200 professional photography fee for @NatArboretum will be removed #canberra— Katy Gallagher MLA (@KatyGMLA) October 31, 2013

rockin’, hiraly!

After strong response from community the $200 professional photography fee for @NatArboretum will be removed #canberra— Katy Gallagher MLA (@KatyGMLA) October 31, 2013

patrick_keogh said :

dph said :

I suppose they have to milk everyone for as much money as possible before the whole thing is destroyed by an inevitable bush fire.

What a tremendous waste of time & money that place has been.

Yes, and they should never have built the Sydney opera house, the Parthenon should have been made of wood because it would have been cheaper, the Alhambra didn’t need to have all that stupid carving… what a poor life you must lead if you can’t see the value in the Arboretum.

Luckily your opinion does not seem to sway the hundreds of people who visit it every weekend from near and far. Even today in its infancy it is a thing of beauty. In 40 years time it will be truly magnificent. It is one of the few reasons that I wish to live to 100 to see it in all its glory.

patrick_keogh said :

dph said :

I suppose they have to milk everyone for as much money as possible before the whole thing is destroyed by an inevitable bush fire.

What a tremendous waste of time & money that place has been.

Yes, and they should never have built the Sydney opera house, the Parthenon should have been made of wood because it would have been cheaper, the Alhambra didn’t need to have all that stupid carving… what a poor life you must lead if you can’t see the value in the Arboretum.

Luckily your opinion does not seem to sway the hundreds of people who visit it every weekend from near and far. Even today in its infancy it is a thing of beauty. In 40 years time it will be truly magnificent. It is one of the few reasons that I wish to live to 100 to see it in all its glory.

If the Sydney Opera house were surrounded by bush land or it was bush land itself, than that comparison would have made sense.

And yes, I live one of those sad existences where I don’t get excited about a multi-million dollar tree park built in a city that’s inundated & surrounded by mountains, bush land & national parks.

Again, what a waste of money.

patrick_keogh11:19 am 22 Oct 13

dph said :

I suppose they have to milk everyone for as much money as possible before the whole thing is destroyed by an inevitable bush fire.

What a tremendous waste of time & money that place has been.

Yes, and they should never have built the Sydney opera house, the Parthenon should have been made of wood because it would have been cheaper, the Alhambra didn’t need to have all that stupid carving… what a poor life you must lead if you can’t see the value in the Arboretum.

Luckily your opinion does not seem to sway the hundreds of people who visit it every weekend from near and far. Even today in its infancy it is a thing of beauty. In 40 years time it will be truly magnificent. It is one of the few reasons that I wish to live to 100 to see it in all its glory.

patrick_keogh said :

Clearly the underlying problem needs to be fixed, but in the meanwhile perhaps what is needed is a little unorganisation. Hilary, don’t organise anything! On the other hand, I just happen to know of several other photographers from the Canberra Flickr group who coincidentally might just happen to be there on the 27th and who might coincidentally happen to bump into one another around 5pm on the paved area outside the entrance to the National Bonsai Collection. Weather permitting.

a good idea, but i concur with hickery’s stance (articulated in other social media forum) of abandoning the walk as scheduled and announced, so public, and fighting this inequity through due process. you go, girl! 🙂

patrick_keogh10:00 am 22 Oct 13

Clearly the underlying problem needs to be fixed, but in the meanwhile perhaps what is needed is a little unorganisation. Hilary, don’t organise anything! On the other hand, I just happen to know of several other photographers from the Canberra Flickr group who coincidentally might just happen to be there on the 27th and who might coincidentally happen to bump into one another around 5pm on the paved area outside the entrance to the National Bonsai Collection. Weather permitting.

Felix the Cat8:57 am 22 Oct 13

Charge the Arboretum $200 per photo they want use, problem solved. if they aren’t happy with that tell them to go and hire a professional photographer.

I suppose they have to milk everyone for as much money as possible before the whole thing is destroyed by an inevitable bush fire.

What a tremendous waste of time & money that place has been.

Perhaps in lieu of Saturday pets pictured in front of ACT landmarks, Canberrans should make it their business to photobomb any photos ACT ministers are having taken – anywhere in Canberra.

Oh, and bum selfies at the Arboretum please, no fee paid, and sent directly to the ACT Government discussion page.

You know what comes next… “They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum, then they charged the people a dollar and a half just to see ’em…”

I am the organizer of PHOTOWALK Canberra and did email the National Arboretum last week asking if we could have our free community event there. It was deemed non-commercial but the fee for the photo permit was $200 per hour. PHOTOWALK Canberra have had event around central Canberrra and I would normally check with Nat Cap Authority website to see if there we any clashes when organising that date for each of our walks…. I knew the Arboretum had fees but had no idea that we would be charged and that they would like access the the images. We had our biggest PHOTOWALK in Sept 2012 at National Botanic Gardens and they welcomed us with open arms and even provided a link to our Flickr group from their Friends of the ANBG website. I do know that the Chief Minister Katy Gallagher knows of the issues involving photo fees at National Arboretum and that it is to be reviewed. I think a review would be wholly supported by the Canberra community. So let’s hope that this discussion will add fuel to the fire! Thanks everyone! Oh! And btw, I think the date and venue for the new Photowalk will be announced on our Flickr group in a day or so or on the twitter account @PHOTOWALKCanber stay tuned!

I haven’t read the policy but I had assumed that the fee was for reserving public space for professional photographs to be taken. A policy of charging for anything else, especially in this case, is appalling!

Amanda Hugankis6:57 pm 21 Oct 13

I often attend a Meetup group called ’14 things’ which is a photography based social group. About 15 of us lobbed up early one winter Saturday morning this year and wandered all over, photographed plenty and thoroughly enjoyed the bonsai display. We bought coffee & food, paid for parking, I don’t think we impacted on anyone … we were just enjoying the arboretum and it’s facilities, just like all the other people at the arboretum were doing, including the large contingent of cyclists. No one said anything to us. I really am struggling to figure out how the could even enforce this. Tools.

wildturkeycanoe6:38 pm 21 Oct 13

What is the rule if you go there and take photos of your child playing in the playground, or in the park somewhere, as part of a school group? Is that considered to be covered under the commercial enterprising umbrella? Really, I’d like to know if school groups, tour groups are exempt even if their photos end up on Facebook and such..

psychopoesie6:36 pm 21 Oct 13

The Arboretum officially sucks for doing this. Can understand charging for weddings and commercial stuff but members of the public generally who come for a walk and to take some pics – seriously? They already get paid for parking.

Tell them they’re completely out of their trees.

I actually find this really infuriating.

As a tax paying, ACT resident, I feel I am absolutely entitled to go with my free open membership, community group to a public place and take as many photos as I damned well please and not pay them a cent. It shouldn’t be a privilege.

If i were Photowalk Canberra, I’d go anyway, take lots of photos and tell them where to stick their $200.

With their policy of charging for parking and now charging for photos the Arboretum is fast becoming a no-go area. Perhaps when the saplings grow a bit and the place gains a reputation as a must-go tourist attraction they can start acting like this but while they are still in the embryonic stage and making a name for themselves it does nobody any good to act in such an arrogant and precious way. Meanwhile if you want to take pics of an arboretum you can go to the Lindsay Prior Arboretum (the former Yarramundi beat) across the road or even the Botanic Gardens.

I took heaps of photos there and nobody said boo.

What about helmet, bar and dash cams? The video fee is even higher.

And it probably all occurred because Photowalk had the decency to ask them for permission etc. If a group just turned up and started walking around taking photos they probably wouldn’t even care or notice.

Outrageous!

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd4:16 pm 21 Oct 13

How exactly can they even enforce any of this crap? Just go do your photo walk and ignore them.

Interestingly, the wording of their fees and charges page has changed slightly to specify “professional” and “commercial” photography, rather than photography in general (as was the case when this was first discussed). And yet, they’re still trying to charge for a non-commercial activity. Hmmm…

Shocking. What did they say when you advised them that you are not going to be there? So if I go and take say 10 people up there all armed with Hi Tech cameras they are going to want to charge me for it, how absurd.

Holden Caulfield4:02 pm 21 Oct 13

Erg0 said :

…but where do they get off thinking that they can charge a group of people $200 to take photos of a public place for personal use?

And then request that they get free use of said pics.

Poor form all round, really.

Ugh. Whoever wrote the Arboretum’s photo policy needs a good kick in the arse – it’s far too open to interpretation and was bound to lead to own goals like this when applied too literally. It’s one thing to charge for a wedding shoot or other commercial enterprise on the premises, but where do they get off thinking that they can charge a group of people $200 to take photos of a public place for personal use?

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