Do they have a permit?
I spend a lot of time at the beach.
I spend a lot of time on the beach with my camera.
So do a lot of other people. We’ve got pocket-sized digital cameras, pocket-sized video cameras, and cell phones that take still pictures and videos. Almost everyone who has a cell phone has a camera.
You wouldn’t think that snapping a few photos of friends and family, or shooting a bit of video on the public beach could get you in trouble. But you’d be wrong.
I was reminded of this by an article by Alexandra Caldwell that appeared recently in the Pinellas Park Beacon. To set the stage for this quiet fiasco, I’d like to remind you of the “dream job” on a tropical island in Australia that was so heavily advertised a few months ago. A huge amount of money would be paid to someone to fill the position of being a beach bum / island caretaker and blog about it for 6 months. Many people submitted their video resume in hopes of landing the job. Alexandra Caldwell was one of the applicants.
Alexandra and her husband Nick decided to film their one minute video at Honeymoon Island State Park. They hiked to what they believed was a secluded beach and started shooting video. It wasn’t long before a law enforcement officer drove up on a four-wheeler to investigate whether: (a) they were shooting nude video, and (b) whether they were shooting any type of video where money would be made.
He even went so far as to ask them to replay the video so he could verify that there was no nudity on it (that must be some type of violation of their right to privacy, or unreasonable search or SOMETHING). (Read Caldwell’s account)
Now, I’ve met some of the rangers and park employees / volunteers at Honeymoon Island State Park and they are very nice and very dedicated folks, and they were just doing their job, so this isn’t a personal commentary about them. It seems that someone HAD CALLED IN A COMPLAINT that someone was filming a nude video on the beach. Someone clearly had a very vivid imagination.
I go to Honeymoon Island State Park several times every year. The northern parts of the island are pretty remote. But let this be a lesson to all of us who love remote, secluded beaches. You may THINK you are alone at a secluded beach, but someone may be watching you.
As a freelance blogger and multimedia content creator, I have had occasion to arrange promotional video shoots around the state. I learned that to take pictures or shoot video on Daytona Beach, for example, you have to have a permit. This makes perfect sense to me–if you have a crew, props, wires trailing all over, and are blocking part of a public street. But for three people (one carrying a video camera) to walk around on the beach shooting a video to promote tourism in the area, I found it overkill. So, I inquired further as to exactly what type of photography would require a permit.
The beach official I spoke to said that any type of photography that is intended for public consumption needs a permit. “You mean that if Aunt Mary takes a video of her niece and nephew on Daytona Beach and uploads it to YouTube where the general public can view it, it requires a permit?” I asked.Well, yes, technically it does, the official replied, but it is a bit of a gray area.
When I think of all the millions of photos that have been uploaded to the web for everyone to see (many of which have advertising next to them on the website and generate (gasp) MONEY!) I think of all those law-breakers who don’t even know they are in violation.
State and National parks are even more strict, since they have dedicated law enforcement on-premises. I’m currently in the process of arranging a video shoot in a very remote National Park. The most crucial part of the entire operation is to get the permits to shoot video.
This seems like one of the areas of the law that has not kept up with technology and has created a whole slew of law-breakers. Obviously the law is selectively enforced so as not to turn everyone shooting a cell phone video into a criminal, but it somehow makes me feel a bit too restricted–like I could be singled out and fined if I take a picture of the wrong thing in front of the wrong person.
“Whaddya mean I can’t take a picture of Uncle Willie on the beach by his sandcastle without getting a permit? Aint’ this America?”
