I don't really have anything important to add to this thread, just my 2 cen=
ts, what ever that's worth... I am about as amateur as a nature recordist c=
an get, and I think I would be pretty pissed if I was, say, in Yellowstone =
for example recording with my hand held unit, and a Ranger began to "hassle=
" (or whatever) me about it. I would automatically think that he's crazy, b=
ecause up until these recent threads about this subject, I had no idea abou=
t these "regulations" This is a very difficult subject indeed. I would have=
thought that this Ranger should?be out?doing something else than bothering=
me about recording some sounds. The only way I?can equate this is like a c=
op giving you a ticket for littering for spitting out a piece of chewing gu=
m onto the ground while he should be out?looking for the people who are dum=
ping their McDonald's fast food?bag full of uneaten garbage right out the w=
indow of there car.?
Maybe I am missing a point here, but I don't see what anyone is doing wrong=
with recording in Parks. Being charged for a permit to do so, and fined fo=
r doing so without one seems ludicrous. Sure, the person?who is obviously b=
eing a jerk needs to approached,?I understand the matters of interfering wi=
th wildlife and doing damage while your trying to record, but would we not =
record if we knew we were doing harm? I would think that we all are quite r=
espectful of nature, animals and the parks we visit and admire, we have to =
be or I don't think we would indeed be nature recordists. So I would think =
that we are inherently harmless, no more so than the average tourist snappi=
ng pictures.?I would also think that Rangers know that too.?I certainly wou=
ldn't walk off a boardwalk in Yellowstone and leave my boot prints all over=
the place to record that gurgling mudpot that was too far away to record f=
rom the boardwalk.?It's all common sense?while in any park anyway, they alw=
ays have signs that tell us not to harass wildlife, stay off the rail, stay=
on the boardwalk, no swimming here, etc, etc...
Just felt like ranting. :)
Dave
-----Original Message-----
From: mdfrancey <>
To:
Sent: Sat, 15 Dec 2007 10:31 am
Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] Will audio recording be affected too?
--- In Volker Widmann <>
wrote:
> Does anybody think that the new regulations would also affect us
> ordinary amateurs with professional looking gear.
The photographers got concerned a number of years ago about this. But
it was pretty clear at that time that the aim of the regulations were
large productions: seven lighting trucks, the train of Winnebago's
for the "talent", and the 10's or hundreds of workers, two miles of
cables strewn all over the place, and the concomitant footprint all
this equipment lays upon the land, as well as the impact on other
visitors.
So my guess is that the current set of proposals are going to amount
to the same thing. So it's likely that if you are alone or in a small
group, hauling around hand-held professional equipment, brandishing a
big lens, whatever, no one is going to care, even if they manage to
notice.
> How do you prove that the material you record never will be used
> commercially.
If you have three guys holding reflectors, or are building a scaffold
for cameras or lights, it's almost surely a "commercial" operation
that probably needs to be monitored closely.
Some guy in the middle of nowhere with a microphone is unlikely to be
a threat, let alone found or hassled. If the lower-level cops/rangers
are not aware of this, then there are bigger problems to deal with
than the wording, or even the existence, of these regulations.
> I once got stopped at Crystal Cove State Park (near Laguna
> Beach) doing some video and sound.
A month after I got my 500/4, I drove it across the continent. At a
state park in Kansas, I was approached by a ranger. The initial
impression was that, like me, he just an equipment geek. But as the
"interview" progressed, it was clear he was investigating the
possibility I had stolen the gear (the scene: a long haired
freaky-looking guy with fancy gear). Submit with a smile; $5k
investment on the line (receipts at home)!
In any case, it was a useful lesson that ironically taught me to act
like a criminal in some way: ever since I am now careful to keep the
good stuff out of sight from not only the unsavory types, but also the
authorities. It turns out to be easy to do this, as the best spots
for camera/video/audio work are not on the regular patrol routes
anyways...
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