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A petition for UK togs


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Morning all

 

I saw this in another forum I am on and thought I would post it here.

 

Last week, I was in London and fell foul of these places many times. Sometimes I was able to get what I want and sometimes not. I was shocked at how much London has become more of a private play area for the rich rather than a city. I always thought Paris was bad but London takes the biscuit!

 

Even if you are a British citizen living overseas you can sign.

 

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/74441

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I seem to recall from an earlier post that you are a tripod man; this would draw the attention of security goons in many cases. Keep a lower profile and it's unlikely anybody will give you grief. It's a long time since I've had the

"excuse me sir" confrontation. I think it was an instance of using a fill-in flash in Trafalgar Square for which the Bobby reckoned I needed a permit. There are examples of views within London Transport facilities on Alamy; that's a No-No as well but it seems to be tolerated. I signed the petition, but 180 signatures so far isn't going to rock the boat very severely.

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I seem to recall from an earlier post that you are a tripod man; this would draw the attention of security goons in many cases. Keep a lower profile and it's unlikely anybody will give you grief. It's a long time since I've had the

"excuse me sir" confrontation. I think it was an instance of using a fill-in flash in Trafalgar Square for which the Bobby reckoned I needed a permit. There are examples of views within London Transport facilities on Alamy; that's a No-No as well but it seems to be tolerated. I signed the petition, but 180 signatures so far isn't going to rock the boat very severely.

 

I am someone who uses a tripod and for good reason. If I am doing a time lapse then I need the stability, especially when it comes to day to night sequences.

 

There is no excuse really for these bully boy tactics that the guards employ.

 

Example of trying to take a photo in front of County Hall in London.

 

Guard: Sir, you can't use a tripod and that's not a normal camera.

 

Me: Not a normal camera. It's a SLR so that is a normal camera. Why can't I use a tripod?

 

Guard: Because it's professional.

 

Me: OK. I am a professional. But let me ask you this. If I take the camera off the tripod and take a photo, is it then an amateur or professional photo given that I am a professional. because if needs be I can take a decent shot without the tripod.

 

Guard: Uh.

 

Me: Well, what's the answer then mate?

 

Guard:  Uh.

 

Give him a brain cell and maybe he would have got it.

 

Sorry folks but this nonsense has gone far enough.

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Thanks, Jools, I will certainly be signing this.  In recent times I've been stopped twice on the Olympic Park/East Village and once in Poplar High Street. The latter really did surprise me given that I was using a small handheld camera - the guard offered several explanations including that the location is now surrounded by development plots that are privately owned. The encroaching of private-public space really is a nonsense for photographers who simply want to make photographs. Moreover the privatisation of public space challenges and makes unclear whether a photographer then has the right to sell the photographs made.

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signed - I have also had bad moments in London, usually with tripod up, it is totally ridiculous. As a Brit living in Berlin I am often amazed at places I can photograph here, England really does need to sort this one out.

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Also signed. 

 

A major long-term project I'm working on at the moment involves photographing buildings in public places but not, as it happens, major city landmarks. However, sometimes I am eyed suspiciously but I get away with it because I use a huge wooden 10" x 8" camera atop a massive Gitzo Tele Pied Geant tripod which is nine feet tall. I'm perched on a stepladder to focus etc underneath my voluminous darkcloth which is black one side and a Welsh flag the other. Couldn't be more obvious if I tried. This is the trick. I look a right prat perched precariously up there with all that stuff so people think I'm a harmless nut. (Maybe I am!) I have even had kind offers to hold my stepladder in case I fall off. Can't guarantee that this will work outside Buckingham Palace today of course but it did get me out of a hole in a very sensitive spot in Northern Ireland at the height of the troubles some years ago. I wrote about this here: http://peteslandscape.blogspot.co.uk  Entry for 10/02/2014 'Of Moose and Men'

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I think it was an instance of using a fill-in flash in Trafalgar Square for which the Bobby reckoned I needed a permit.

 

Because , in fact, technically,  for commercial / professional photography, you do:

 

https://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/arts-culture/trafalgar-square/managing-trafalgar-square/filming-in-trafalgar-square/filming-application-process

 

 

See also:

 

Information for the professional news media

The GLA recognises that as an iconic site of national importance Trafalgar Square will regularly be the focal point of local, national and international news events.

In recognition of the role that the professional news media plays in our society and to facilitate news crews and photo-journalists in their news gathering activities the GLA has put in place a pre-authorisation scheme for members of the press operating in the Square. The scheme allows UKPCA Press Card holders to take photographs and film in the squares without prior authorisation from the GLA, provided they display their Press Card when requested. This means that, unlike other forms of commercial photography and filming, they do not need to seek consent from the GLA in advance of carrying out those activities in the Square. There are no restrictions on amateur or private photography on Trafalgar Square.

 

 

km

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It needs to be shared far and wide. i'm with others as it ludicrous what is going on.

 

And when it comes to permits, I don't mind paying but it's when they try charging you an extortionate amount of money to do which galls me. Give me Italy any day where things are a lot easier.

 

Canary Wharf was somewhere that really annoyed me before I went. According to their site you can apply for a permit as a pro. What happens? I write in saying what I would like to do after reading their page on photography. What's the answer? Sorry we don't issue permits! Yet, according to theit site they do. 

 

It is utter madness and it ain't gonna stop anytime soon.

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Signed, it happens a fair bit in Birmingham as well

 

The problem we have up here is once public owned land is flogged off on the cheap by the local councils.  Now it's private, but with access they can enforce whatever they want (or so it seems)

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In one place, I was told to go and look at the sign at the entrance. The way I walked in, there wasn't anything. When I did find a sign saying it was private property there was no mention of anything related to photography or commercial activities.

 

I think in some cases it's people with nothing better to do and a complex.

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Signed

 

I am tempted to start another petition to stop people calling me a Tog!

 

Oops :) I use tog for quickness and only photographers seem to know what a tog is. Prefer it to snappers.

 

 

Took me a while before I realised it wasn't a reference to listeners of Terry Wogan's Radio 2 shows :D .

 

EDIT: link added for clarity!

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Signed

 

I am tempted to start another petition to stop people calling me a Tog!

 

Oops :) I use tog for quickness and only photographers seem to know what a tog is. Prefer it to snappers.

 

 

I hear it a lot from models, still it makes a change from "hun"

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Signed

 

I am tempted to start another petition to stop people calling me a Tog!

 

Oops :) I use tog for quickness and only photographers seem to know what a tog is. Prefer it to snappers.

 

 

I hear it a lot from models, still it makes a change from "hun"

 

 

"Tog".  Better than "That old git with a camera."

 

Allan

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