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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
High school photo policy
Gary Mills, Photographer
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Culver | IN | USA | Posted: 3:29 PM on 03.22.11 |
| ->> Our school needs to develop a policy for photographers and others with cameras on campus. I've searched and didn't find any useful threads. All help would be appreciated. Thanks. |
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Louis Lopez, Photographer
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Fontana | CA | USA | Posted: 3:47 PM on 03.22.11 |
->> Policy for what purpose? students? Visitors?
Most schools are closed campus so one has to be authorized to be on campus to be there. If they are authorized to be there on campus for a purpose would that not cover it? |
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Gary Mills, Photographer
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Culver | IN | USA | Posted: 3:53 PM on 03.22.11 |
->> Sorry to be so vague. We are not closed and no outdoor sporting venue is fenced.
Pros always register with our Communications Dept. but it seems nowadays everyone had a digital camera and long lens. |
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Vince Crampton, Photographer
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Apopka | fl | US | Posted: 3:57 PM on 03.22.11 |
| ->> If there is a current sports photographer for the school they might have an exclusivity clause. If not, I can't really think of any policies that should be in place. The school doesn't care if parents take pictures of their kids, or if students take pictures of other students. Truthfully, if someone isn't running you off the sideline, you should probably look at it as an opportunity. If there are no policies, maybe that could mean they don't have a contracted photographer. Why don't you try to get in there? |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 4:21 PM on 03.22.11 |
| ->> Gary what is the purpose of the policy? Keep in mind that 99.9% of phones nowadays shoot both still and video. Are you trying to limit 'long' glass at evens? I am yet to see any school around here have a 'closed' sporting venue. You are correct that everyone nowadays has long glass so the question is why is that an issue? |
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Gary Mills, Photographer
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Culver | IN | USA | Posted: 4:57 PM on 03.22.11 |
| ->> It's an issue because the head of schools and my boss say it's an issue. Culver is a private boarding school and very protective of their students and turf. |
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Mike Ullery, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Piqua | OH | USA | Posted: 5:11 PM on 03.22.11 |
->> It would seem to me that the issue is pretty much covered under existing law.
If the campus is private and the property privately owned, anyone who is not permitted on the property is guilty of trespassing.
It the students are participating in an event, photos for editorial purposes are usually welcomed by schools but if they choose to not have their kids in the paper, well, that is their choice.
They can deal with parents in the same manner as most private schools.
If students are participating in an event on public property, the school is SOL if they don't want photos taken.
If sporting events are the main issue, just require that shooters on the sideline/baseline, etc. be credentialed. Then they can control who is shooting, from up close anyway. |
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Alan Look, Photographer
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Bloomington/Normal | IL | United States | Posted: 5:15 PM on 03.22.11 |
| ->> If sports or other event type teams are the question, how do you protect them at away (off the Culver campus) games and events? |
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John Germ, Photographer
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Wadsworth | Oh | USA | Posted: 5:21 PM on 03.22.11 |
->> Gary,
The question to ask your boss is: what problem is he trying to solve? You threw out the "around campus" part. Quite honestly, your school is going to have an impossible time trying to enforce a no photo/video policy on campus. So, is it a problem with students taking/using photos of other students on-line? Is it a fear of someone sneaking on campus and taking photos for nefarius purposes? It really comes down to what problem he wants to solve. I'm guessing there has to be some driving issue behind his desire to have a policy. And by your post it seems to go beyond sports. Being private, they could forbid the use of photography but good luck enforcing it. Even if a non student took photos on the sly, at most they could simply kick the person off campus. Penalties for students could be different, but it's got to be a policy your Board would support. |
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Gary Mills, Photographer
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Culver | IN | USA | Posted: 5:55 PM on 03.22.11 |
| ->> Thanks to everyone for your advice and input. |
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Kevin Johnston, Photographer
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Oden | MI | USA | Posted: 8:27 PM on 03.22.11 |
->> Maybe your attacking the issue from the wrong end. Cameras are a fact of life at schools these days. Students, parents and visitors all have them and trying to police them will never work.
I would guess that the problem your boss and the school are having is that there is a parent, or small group of parents, that do not want their kids photographed by some strange older guy they don't know. Our schools deal with the problem by require such parents to put their kids on a "Do Not Photograph" list. That way everyone, in theory, knows not to photograph a particular student. It gives the school a legitimate reason to question who is shooting and for what purpose.
Might be a way of working out your issue with the school. |
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Steve Violette, Photographer
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Gulf Breeze | FL | USA | Posted: 9:23 AM on 03.23.11 |
->> Gary
At our local high school, photographers are required to carry insurance if they are to make and "sell "images" online. THen the site needs to be password protected. At the beginning of the year, Students are given a form to have signed by their parents that indicates if they wish to "not" have their images online. Kind of link having to opt out of credit card stuff. THis is policed by the AD - but - it takes diligence on someones part to follow up and enforce. Also - the policy is reviewed at parent meetings for each sport (boosters clubs) -because we are sports related. THe school also has a policy about using phones during school hours on campus - YMMV
Good luck |
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Andrew Brosig, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Nacogdoches | TX | United States | Posted: 9:33 AM on 03.23.11 |
| ->> No photo lists are great. But, again, I'll go back to the point - what about off-campus venues, i.e. sporting events, conferences, field trips, etc? Mostly sporting events. It's difficult if not impossible to enforce a campus policy at another campus, isn't it? I'm not a lawyer (and I don't play one on TV), but I'd think if the school soccer team, for example, went to XYZ High to play and the local paper was there (or anyone with a camera), your school wouldn't have a leg to stand on trying to enforce a "don't photograph" policy. |
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Doug Pizac, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | USA | Posted: 9:51 AM on 03.23.11 |
->> STEVE...
Only those photographers who make and sell images online are required to have insurance? That seems mighty strange. But if you make and sell images via a printed order form or you sell your images to a newspaper for the print edition only, that's okay? It would seem that photographers without insurance no matter what their marketing is are a bigger risk since they are most likely not professionals and therefore have a higher chance of not conducting themselves in a safe manner thereby posing a greater risk of harming others. How in the world do you enforce this? And what is the penalty? And how does a photographer know which kids are off limits from being photographed? Does the school distribute a list of "do not photograph" kid names to everyone with a camera? Do sports rosters have an asterisk next to the names of athletes not to be pictured?
GARY...
Was there ever a reason given by your boss as to why the school needs a photo policy? One cannot address a problem without knowing what the problem is. |
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Steve Violette, Photographer
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Gulf Breeze | FL | USA | Posted: 12:42 PM on 03.23.11 |
->> Doug,
The sidelines are watched by the AD and the administrators and those that are not the "authorized photographers are asked to leave the sidelines if it is determined they are posting and selling images online. THe insurance policy is a hurdle put up by the school in order to gain their permission to shoot at the school properties. THe papers have their local photographers - so selling to them is not an issue - We generally do not have any problems with the "do not shoot" kids/parents. It is made known that if the parents do not want their kids images posted online, that they just have to ask that they be taken down -and we promptly take the images down IF we missed those on the list.
We have actually been asked by a dad why no images of his son....after mom said she didn't want any images posted......... left hand right hand I guess...... Also had instances when we mistakenly posted - mom was fired up - we took down the next day......and were thanked. I suppose it just paying attention and doing what you are asked to do, but also following the rules and understanding what is being asked - both by us and the parents
THe reason for the policy is most likely many frivilous law suits that keep showing up about privacy - this is the reason at our local high school a form is signed asking if you wish to exclude your student from ANY published photo's |
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Louis Lopez, Photographer
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Fontana | CA | USA | Posted: 3:49 PM on 03.23.11 |
->> How do you identify the kids on the do not photograph list? A photographer is not going to go around asking every kid on a play or in a crowd shot what's your name?
Will the school distribute mugshots of each kid not to photograph?
Any policy the school may have could be trumped by the policy of the conference or league association the teams are participating in. Most federation photo credentials require you allow access to the bearer if your team is participating in a contest they oversee. |
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N. Scott Trimble, Photographer
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Lake Oswego | OR | USA | Posted: 4:04 PM on 03.23.11 |
->> Culver! I was the first male NOT to go in my family. Wanted to, but my folks were forced to either pay for High school or college. In the end, I still paid for college! : (
Tell them to communicate with the NPPA to build a comfortable, and fair policy. |
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Paul Hayes, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Littleton | NH | USA | Posted: 4:20 PM on 03.23.11 |
->> These policies are for the birds. I suppose they satisfy the C.Y.A. requirement, but outside of that, they are arbitrary and a hassle for professional journalists. When your team travels to outside venues, which they will for 50% or more of their games, they are subject to that schools policies. So kid X could appear in the Bumblecrunch News -- which is probably also online -- but not in the hometown paper.
My advice is have press sign in to your facility, kick out the ones who cause problems, and if there is a compelling reason not to put a kid in the paper (custody issues, children of public safety officers, justice officials, celebrities or whatnot, death threats, bad acne, the daily horoscope) then tell the press beforehand. However I would assume these requests would formally come from the parents/children themselves and not be made on a whim by school officials.
But until schools are ready to (a) Close off athletic events to the public and/or press, (b) Tell news outlets to stop covering them, (c) Have people hand over handheld camera and video devices, (d) Make players wear masks at away games, (e) Ensure that these same student-athletes are not photographed or videotaped or named during coverage of outside *academic* events or awards ceremonies, and/or (f) Pay newspapers directly for coverage then these policies are a needless and bothersome exercise in futility. |
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Geoff Miller, Photographer
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Portage | MI | USA | Posted: 11:03 PM on 03.23.11 |
->> Gary,
I would hope your boss isn't thinking about some sort of photo policy that would have prohibited me from taking pictures with my equipment as a parent for my son's JV Hockey team when we came down there to play your team two seasons ago? |
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Bob Nichols, Photographer
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Tipton | IN | USA | Posted: 8:04 AM on 03.24.11 |
->> "Culver is a private boarding school and very protective of their students and turf."
And many private schools have students who are children of very important people. This sounds more like a safety/privacy issue than just unauthorized photography. Controlling unauthorized photography on your campus would be the easy part of the equation. Fencing and permanent security checkpoints will be big expenses that are needed to help achieve your goal.
Parents who really want or need special protection of their children should not allow their child to participate in extracurricular activities that would take them off campus. This includes being a spectator at sporting events off campus. |
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Tim Gangloff, Photographer
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Knoxville | Tn | USA | Posted: 12:55 PM on 03.25.11 |
->> Sorry, but I am wondering just how protective of their students privacy they really are when I see this page:
http://www.culver.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6168&Itemid...
Perhaps I got the wrong school, but just did a google search of Culver and Private Schools got me there and a few clicks led to pix of kids and their hometowns....
But from checking Gary's portfolio pix here and this school's website, it looks like we've got a match. |
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Bradly J. Boner, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Jackson | WY | USA | Posted: 2:13 PM on 03.25.11 |
| ->> Tim - I'm going to speculate that by "protective" the school basically seeks to control, as much as possible, what information about their students is made public. The link you provided is part of the school's website, and it's probably safe to guess the images and text contained therein were created, edited and approved by school staffers, officials and administrators. |
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