Workshop Update

So last Monday I called the Corporation of Shepherdstown (their city government) and asked if there were any restrictions as far as photography with light stands go. I was told that the clerk would check and get back to me in about an hour. So I called back. Now I was told that I needed to e-mail the clerk the information about where we wanted to shoot and what we were planning for the day. So I did that.

Eventually it turned into this whole mess of how she, the town clerk, needed to get with the mayor to have this approved. In the back of my mind I was wondering what we truly needed approval for and how bad was this going to get. After all, the Shepherdstown locations we were wanting to shoot at were all considered to be in public view. If we were denied, would this indeed be a challenge to the right of photographers?

Any ways, on with the story. The Shepherdstown clerk called me back the next day, maybe it was the day after next, and told me she needed the group name and any credentials. I sent her an e-mail telling her that technically, we're not a specific group or club and we just met and started arranging this via a Flickr group. We don't have specific credentials as a group. I also asked why she needed this information. My response was along the lines of "The mayor has had problems with photographers in the past". So who's this almighty mayor to impose and bend laws at his will based on an experience with another group of people who share the same hobby? I mean, there are often motorcycles, primarily Harley's and Custom choppers that will sit outside shops and rev their engines for two or three minutes, then tear off rattling all their windows with their straight pipe exhaust. My bike's exhaust is unnecessarily loud, but I don't sit outside shops and rev my engine. I start my bike and go and two minutes is a long time if some one's constantly toying with a vehicle capable of producing that many decibels that it makes your teeth rattle. And despite the loud noise and the complaints and the bad experiences with that group of people, there's no magic law that prevents them from being able to ride into and out of town.

Enough with the rambling...

Well, about four days had passed since the initial call. Remember the first workshop post and my rant about Harpers Ferry? Well it seems that they've had a change of mind. I received a letter in the mail for a self guided tour of 16 photographers with no mention of needing a permit. But I held out.

Finally on Monday, one week later, I found a voicemail on my phone saying that the photography was approved and we could go ahead with the meet. Talk about politics moving slow. So we're good to go. I have this whole great organized idea planned and I'm hoping it turns out great. After my partial dissatisfaction with the Patapsco meet(sorry to everyone that helped plan the Patapsco meet. It was extremely fun and I learned a lot, but it was chaotic and I felt bad that it seemed like certain people didn't get an equal chance at trying out new things...at least on our side of the river.), I really want to do something fun and organized that will turn out to be a great experience to everyone that attends, not just those with all the equipment to do this. I also would like for there to be more communication and sharing of critiques and ideas between the people in the groups to accomplish an experience that will produce some good photos and a sense of having learned something valuable that pertains to photography and what the people will be doing in the future.

Oh, and I hope no one thinks I'm being a Nazi because of the whole organization thing. I appreciate organization in certain things in my life, definitely no my computer desk or my programming works, but definitely for things that involve groups of people and their satisfaction.

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Putting the "Work", in Workshop

So one of my goals for Capital Photography was to host photography related workshops and classes for people, providing our members and other people in the community a chance to learn from professionals and each other. Who knew it was going to be so much work?

My intentions for the first one kind of developed over the past week and yesterday I really got into gear and started arranging everything I possibly could ahead of time. The three biggest concerns of mine were location, models and certainly not least of all, organization.

I started with the models here. Fortunately I have some very good friends who were willing to do the job; throw in the offer of money and it was a definite. So in two test messages I took care of most of the modeling arrangement.

Next was the location. The original intention was to hold the event in Harpers Ferry. It's large, has a ton of scenery, and would probably not be crowded with it being the off season. This is where the trouble started. I called the number on their website to enquire about rates and I was informed that I may need a special use permit. That's fine, we could swing the fee for the location if we absolutely had to. Well one phone call led to another and it was finally confirmed that we needed a commercial film/still photography permit even though:

1. Our group is not a business
2. This workshop is not for profit
3. None of the work is commercial

OK, that was a little irritating, but I'd do what I have to. The latest voice mail on my phone told me that I needed to fill out the permit request form and turn it in with a check for $50 for the filing fee, which was non-refundable of course. It also said that for a group of 16, we would be required to pay a $150 location fee for the permit. That was another irritation, but Harpers Ferry seemed worth it.

So according to the directions on my voice mail, I looked up the permit form on the website. WHOA!

Please note, the more complicated your project is, the longer it will take to process your request. Some projects require months to process.

In bright red text no less. So there was a good chance that I would turn in the permit with the filing fee and never hear from them again. I figured I should call just in case...oh, and I had questions about why they needed my company name (don't have a company), tax id # (ditto), project manager's name (and again), catering company's info (and again), and a host of other non related things. So a phone call later and I learn that if I would have turned it in on 11/7, I may have heard back from them by the 15th of December. No guarantees, mind you. The woman on the other end explained that she has to receive the permit request form and them drop it off at the adminsitration office. The permit request then has to be viewed by seven people and approved by each. It really sounds like a good way to take $50 from some one if you don't feel like doing the work at the time; it also sounds like Harpers Ferry doesn't like to deal with anything out of the routine, even if it can be good for business.

After that hassle, I just said forget it, we'll find a place to host the event that wants us there. So now I'm thinking on Shepherdstown, WV. It's still close to Harpers Ferry and has some very good locations for photography. It's also close to other accomodations for those that don't want to drive too far and it's not in the middle of no where. So here's to hoping it all works out, atleast for the sake of my sanity.

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