Feed back needed

[grumpyguard]

I have some questions regarding press passes. My seventeen year old son was at a community event taking pictures for a photo assignment at school. The vendors were giving him a bad time and telling him he could not take photos of their booths or of people walking down the street. When I picked him up he told me of this experience. I told him if he had a press pass everyone would have left him alone and they were just being rude because he is a teenager. We got to looking on the web about obtaining a press pass and one company looked professional that was http://picturestock.com/phpcode/web/press_pass.php Has any one had any dealings with this company? Any other suggestions? He does not wish to "Just make one up" as he knows that would be wrong and wants to keep as professional as possible so he will be taken seriously. The kid is clean cut and does not want to be thought of as another rude teenager.

Thanks.

[Skyman]

I don't know that in this case a press pass is the solution.

A basic understanding of the rights and responsibilities of photographers and a polite but firm response is the best solution. There is lots of information online about photographers rights. You have to realise though that these rights change depending on your local laws. I find the following site really useful, although the rights only apply to NSW Australia.
http://4020.net/words/photorights.php#infosheet
Have a look at the pdf summarising rights and legal issues. I keep a couple of copies of it in my camera bag. It is great for dealing with people who think they have authority they don't. Private security guards are the worst, but general public and even police are often mis informed of there rights.

It is hard to comment on specifics in terms of this event, but depending on what and where the event is, photography may have been restricted. It is also possible that vendors were worried about disruption to their customers or that customers had complained to vendors. The list goes on.

Every photographer has their own way of dealing with people who are less than pleased about their presence, and this can range from people simply feeling uncomfortable to being openly agressive and hostile. I don't think that a press pass really helps people to feel at ease. It can sometimes provide access to events that are otherwise restricted in terms of photography but it really won't blunt hostility long term. Better that your son developes strategies to deal with the hostility. He might find the press pass helped but I doubt it. People will be hostile to anything that makes them uncomfortable. The tricky bit is working out why they are uncomfortable and engaging with them to address it, rather than presenting them with credentials that infer rights that are in reality non existant.

[jetrim]

As I wrote in the "fake press pass" thread:

Seriously, press passes are almost always issued on a "per event" basis. A fake press pass won't get you in to most venues anyway. Funny thing is, pretty much all you have to do is ask and they'll issue one unless it's a really high profile event. The trick to it is knowing who to ask. Usually it's the PR firm promoting the event that doles out the press passes, tell them your a freelance photographer shooting on spec and you'll usually get added to the list with no further questions.

If your son is serious enough about photography to have you contemplating dropping $50 with a microstock company for a BS "press pass". Why not do something that will actually benefit him. Check out the American Society of Media Photographers http://asmp.org . The cost is a little higher, but membership has some awesome benefits, and there's a large discount for students. If you decide to sign him up there is an option to have a professional credential issued for a nominal fee (I thinks it's $10-15.00). It's printed on a credit card size/weight pc. of plastic with holder and lanyard.

[grumpyguard]

He is very serious about photography, and he is pretty good at it. He has a great teacher/mentor who see a lot of talent in him and has been cultivating it over the past three years. He is learning a lot of aspects of photography, animation, and photoshop. I will check out your web site.

Thank you