help me with this issue please

greenjk

i got thrown out well made to quit taking pictures at a basketball game tongiht bc the school said that they had a contract with a local photographer however i am just a freelancer not hired by the school system and its public forum not the knicks please advise

mercphoto

greenjk wrote:

i got thrown out well made to quit taking pictures at a basketball game tongiht bc the school said that they had a contract with a local photographer however i am just a freelancer not hired by the school system and its public forum not the knicks please advise

They have a contract, what is your problem exactly?

greenjk

mercphoto wrote:

They have a contract, what is your problem exactly?

just the fact that they wont allow me to take pictures due to fact i was not hired by the school system so i cant understand why another photographer cant take pictures

johng

greenjk wrote:

i am just a freelancer not hired by the school system and its public forum not the knicks please advise

Well a couple things - first you said you were a freelancer so I'm assuming your goal was to sell images and not for personal use (i.e. you don't have a kid on the team). The event has a contract - they need to honor that contract. If you want to be a professional (freelancer) then start acting like one. Find out how the contracts are awarded and get in on the process. or find a different school to practice at.

As for it not being the knicks, it's on school property so they have the right to set the rules.

If you're looking for sympathy you've come to the wrong place. Some day, if you become the contracted pro those same rules will protect YOU.

Phyxius

I gotta say Johng has got it right. The school is allowed to say "No". Just like concert venues can say "No". And, yes professionalism does come in. Now, if you were shooting for a local newspaper covering the game and they told you to leave/stop taking pictures that would have been another story.

I've been the offical photographer at horse shows and they don't tend to tell other people not to take pictures, but I have seen more than one person with a dSLR out taking pictures and trying to get people to buy them. Not cool. I also recently shot a high school holiday concert and they did hire a pro photog and he asked me if I was shooting for the school too. I said "No, just practing with a new (2.8) lens and no flash." And, he was fine with that. I'm also going to a skating competition next month to take pictures of a friend's daughter. They may or may not have a photog there, but every image they've seen from her daughter's previous comps have been horrible, so they asked me to come out to shoot their daughter and the other skaters. I told them I would, but I can only shoot their daughter unless I get permission from the show organizers to shoot the other skaters.

So, like JohnG said, if you want to freelance you can set up a contract with the school or with a newspaper, maybe be a sports stringer?