With a forecast in the mid-70s for yesterday, our family wanted to do something in the Portland area outside to enjoy the weather, and naturally I wanted to involve photography. My wife suggested the Portland Japanese Garden, which I’d only been to once (several years prior) and hadn’t taken photos. We looked at their website to get directions and information, and discovered they have a very restrictive photography policy.
In short, there’s a $150/year fee to take any photos which will potentially be used for any sort of commercial effort. If you don’t pay the fee, you have to sign a policy that you will never sell any of the images you take. If you’re like me and shoot stuff and then work on possibly marketing it at a later point, you’re pretty much screwed unless you pay the $150. They don’t allow any portrait photography under any circumstances. If you’re only shooting for personal, non-commercial use and don’t pay the $150 fee, there’s a $2 tripod fee. Everyone who takes photos (with the fee or not) is required to allow their marketing department to use the photos for promotional purposes.
Yes, they’re a private entity and are free to set their own rules. However when the rules are so restrictive that it prevents folks from an enjoyable experience, that’s a loss for the Gardens and a loss for photographers. Based on their restrictive rules, we chose to go elsewhere this weekend.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Yes, they charge the $150 fee for commercial photographers and it makes a lot of sense because of the expense for them to maintain the grounds. It’s a one-of-a-kind location and demands a payment. As photographers we also charge a session fee for our skill, same issue, you get what you pay for.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Daniel, you’re right, they can do as they wish… my objection was not that they charge a fee, but rather that the rules are very restrictive for them charging such a fee.
August 15th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
WOW. I didn’t know, and am quite surprised, that they can tell you what “rights” you have to your own material. I would agree that they can say yes or no to photography on their premises, but can they lawfully tell you what you can and can’t do with your photos? Afterall, that is YOUR image. They have no proprietary (did I spell that right?) ownership of your image.
This must be a recent development. I shot photos from the gardens a number of years ago, with no hassle, no waiver, no membership. When did this change?
September 15th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
I’ve been thinking more about this restriction/fee and there’s a few good reasons for this:
1. The Garden does not want to be over-filled with photographers burning through jobs, especially portrait jobs with all the attendant people. It ruins the experience for non-photographic visitors.
2. The Garden should capture the value of the Garden’s work, especially when someone intends to portray it commercially.
3. The essence of a Japanese or Chinese garden is harmony with nature, a view of the progress of seasons, and enjoyment of the unfolding view as one wanders from place to place within the garden. A mass of commercial photographers interferes with the essence of teh Garden.
What the Garden should think about is the balance between their goals and the goals of commercial photography.
The tripod fee is ridiculous, no one carries a tripod unless they really value the time they spend on photography. The $2 made is not enough of a bother for someone interested in a good photo or on a commercial shoot. Charge $5 or nothing.
The $150 fee makes sense, but they can use that fee to direct the times when they need visitors. Charge $150 or even more for commercial use during prime visitors’ hours. Charge a much lower rate during off hours, maybe $50, just to capture additional payment during traditionally slow periods.
Configure and assign special photo days and hours. Photo days could have an advanced fee, something like $20-$40, and promoted to photographers–and obviously days when more casual visitors will avoid. Time these special photo days for specifically good Garden viewing days, this will build audience and separate the special interest groups. The Garden could even promote photo seminars, etc. Special hours could work with photographers because no one wants the flat lighting of midday and will go for dawn or dusk (preferably the building light of dawn). This could all add to the broader use of the Garden, especially on low-contrast days when photographers can more easily control the contrast.
Run a yearly or half-yearly photo contest. This gets people into the Garden on a regular basis and builds a catalog of photos promoting the Garden to non-photographers.
Maybe I need to contact their marketing department….maybe they need a marketing department.
September 15th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Excellent thoughts Mike. If you end up running your ideas past someone at the gardens I’m curious to hear what they say…