What annoyed you today?

[jinky]

Leeds City Council photography policy in the Christmas Market area.
Once more I set out for my annual "challenge the rules" shoot in the main public square in Leeds taken over by the Christmas market. As I entered I read a new set of rules stating that friends / family and general scenes could be shot ( on camera  ) as long as recognisable individuals were not the main focus of the shot. No "large" filming  equipment or tripods without prior permission and same rules for commercial shooting. Fair enough I thought - I am armed with my consumer D7000 and consumer lenses today and not shooting commercially. 10 minutes in I am shooting a "custom bokeh " shot for my comp entry. I`d asked the stall holder who was happy as long as she was not I it and she had been admiring the effects but security thought otherwise. It was a large professional camera / lens (50mm 1. so I could not shoot .Not  what the rules say I stated - showing him a copy on an image I`d shot for this very purpose. As he argued that he made the rules I pointed out that whilst challenging me a group of drunks had just knocked over a small child behind him and his energies might be better spent elsewhere. Off he goes. I carry on. Stepped it up a notch and took images for moving people comp - shooting the horse fairground ride and aiming for a motion blur / panning shot. Enter security woman 2 - a 20 year old who started off confidently and then backed off graciously as I explained that I was neither shooting commercially nor with the aim of getting recognisable faces. As I made to leave through a side exit after deciding it was pretty crap and crowded anyway challenge number 3 from security came. Cannot shoot here he says - just have I say and 2 of your colleagues agreed I was within the rules. Well I say not he says and I am senior. he argued there was not a no smoking ban in place but he had powers to impose one if it was dangerous and had complaints and same with photography!!! That`s not health and safety though - yes it is he says and people complain about being photographed. When asked how many complaints there had been today he faltered. Honestly what are they on? needless to say I left and had a couple for not too brilliant shots to use and had a rant on LCC facebook page about where the social history photos will be I years to come with such policies but..... As ever you`re fine with compacts / phone cameras just dslrs are the problem. I know I could take my compact but why should I?

[Reinardina]

I think, at the next Council Elections, you, and your Leeds group, should make this point to all candidates, old and new. You can stir up a lot of dust, and make people feel uncomfortable with the possibility of a lot of negative publicity.

It's worth a try. But they should publicly acknowledge their commitment to scarp the ban.

I have read a lot about on line petitions, would that be a possibility?

it's a ridiculous rule and should be scrapped, after all we're not living in North Korea.

[jinky]

Honestly I tried it all 3/4 years back and ended up in meetings with leader of the council / head of leisure services etc. There is no public right of way now across our main public square so they can legally impose whatever rules they like. It is the stupidity and inconsistency of the rules that get me - use anything but a dslr and no challenge. I stated to the leader of the council 3 years ago that I would carry out acts of civil disobedience by shooting whenever I liked and have done last few years but bored with it now. The mistake the citizens of Leeds made was in not noticing the bids to remove the right of way across the square that should have been maintained. Done slyly but legally.

[Oldboy]

Honestly I tried it all 3/4 years back and ended up in meetings with leader of the council / head of leisure services etc. There is no public right of way now across our main public square so they can legally impose whatever rules they like. It is the stupidity and inconsistency of the rules that get me - use anything but a dslr and no challenge. I stated to the leader of the council 3 years ago that I would carry out acts of civil disobedience by shooting whenever I liked and have done last few years but bored with it now. The mistake the citizens of Leeds made was in not noticing the bids to remove the right of way across the square that should have been maintained. Done slyly but legally.

It's a good job you don't have a photographic memory or they might get you to erase it! 

You need to challenge that, as at the end of the day you pay their wages or allowances so, as long as you don't infringe anybodies rights, I don't think they can stop you regardless of any silly bylaws they introduce. 

[jinky]

Honestly I tried it all 3/4 years back and ended up in meetings with leader of the council / head of leisure services etc. There is no public right of way now across our main public square so they can legally impose whatever rules they like. It is the stupidity and inconsistency of the rules that get me - use anything but a dslr and no challenge. I stated to the leader of the council 3 years ago that I would carry out acts of civil disobedience by shooting whenever I liked and have done last few years but bored with it now. The mistake the citizens of Leeds made was in not noticing the bids to remove the right of way across the square that should have been maintained. Done slyly but legally.

It's a good job you don't have a photographic memory or they might get you to erase it! 

You need to challenge that, as at the end of the day you pay their wages or allowances so, as long as you don't infringe anybodies rights, I don't think they can stop you regardless of any silly bylaws they introduce. 

Trouble is that I know they can legally stop me as their is no public right of access now to the square / thus right to photograph - as in any shopping arcade / private property. My argument is against the inconsistency and vagueness + the morality of doing this in a public square funded by council tax payers.

[Oldboy]

Honestly I tried it all 3/4 years back and ended up in meetings with leader of the council / head of leisure services etc. There is no public right of way now across our main public square so they can legally impose whatever rules they like. It is the stupidity and inconsistency of the rules that get me - use anything but a dslr and no challenge. I stated to the leader of the council 3 years ago that I would carry out acts of civil disobedience by shooting whenever I liked and have done last few years but bored with it now. The mistake the citizens of Leeds made was in not noticing the bids to remove the right of way across the square that should have been maintained. Done slyly but legally.

It's a good job you don't have a photographic memory or they might get you to erase it! 

You need to challenge that, as at the end of the day you pay their wages or allowances so, as long as you don't infringe anybodies rights, I don't think they can stop you regardless of any silly bylaws they introduce. 

Trouble is that I know they can legally stop me as their is no public right of access now to the square / thus right to photograph - as in any shopping arcade / private property. My argument is against the inconsistency and vagueness + the morality of doing this in a public square funded by council tax payers.

If it's a public square then they can't impose a no right of way, as that only applies to private land. If the square is owned by the council then, by definition, it's public land. 

[jinky]

Honestly I tried it all 3/4 years back and ended up in meetings with leader of the council / head of leisure services etc. There is no public right of way now across our main public square so they can legally impose whatever rules they like. It is the stupidity and inconsistency of the rules that get me - use anything but a dslr and no challenge. I stated to the leader of the council 3 years ago that I would carry out acts of civil disobedience by shooting whenever I liked and have done last few years but bored with it now. The mistake the citizens of Leeds made was in not noticing the bids to remove the right of way across the square that should have been maintained. Done slyly but legally.

It's a good job you don't have a photographic memory or they might get you to erase it! 

You need to challenge that, as at the end of the day you pay their wages or allowances so, as long as you don't infringe anybodies rights, I don't think they can stop you regardless of any silly bylaws they introduce. 

Trouble is that I know they can legally stop me as their is no public right of access now to the square / thus right to photograph - as in any shopping arcade / private property. My argument is against the inconsistency and vagueness + the morality of doing this in a public square funded by council tax payers.

If it's a public square then they can't impose a no right of way, as that only applies to private land. If the square is owned by the council then, by definition, it's public land. 

Afraid not oldboy. I challenged and checked it out legally 3/4 years back. The right of way was legally removed having been advertised to the public (god knows where) and all is above board. I`m like you though - I would think it illogical if not immoral to do so. I`ve just had a reply to a post on the Council facebook page - always get my quickest response on facebook pages I find  . Evidently it should not have happened to me 3 times and I have been given the Events officer contact to discuss it with. I said I`d pass given our last conversation but have dropped a line to the Evening Post  desk to see if they are interested  probably not I`d guess.

[donoreo]

The problem is the rent - a - cops who act as security.  They are not given clearly defined rules. 

[jinky]

The problem is the rent - a - cops who act as security.  They are not given clearly defined rules.

No the problems are the removal of right of way and ill defined rules. There is no way the average security guy could know what is meant by the vague rules though it does give them authority to interpret them any way they wish and thus come up with bad decisions.

[Hinfrance]

I know I keep banging on about the LR print module, but for F's sake, all I want to do is print one 4x6 photo to put in a Christmas card. So I select the picture, select the 1 4x6 preset from the list, change the paper size to 4x6, or 10x15cm and LR has a tiny image displayed in the middle of a big sheet, with a cell size that goes up to 26x20cm.

It's a useful as a really useless thing.

[jinky]

I just never print from lightroom - always from CS 6. I`ll have to give it a go sometime and see what I find happens - though given your experiences maybe best to leave it.

[Hinfrance]

I used an editor too in the end - Serif's Photoplus. Luckily the 4 x 6 template actually printed a 4 x 6 picture. Who'd have thought it . . .

[DigiDiva]

I bought a bottleof perfume from 'NEXT' yesterday as a gift. Went to wrap it today and noticed there was no top on the bottle and the bottle is empty. I have clearly picked up an empty bottle off the shelf! Are they going to believe me when I take it back??

[Oldboy]

I bought a bottleof perfume from 'NEXT' yesterday as a gift. Went to wrap it today and noticed there was no top on the bottle and the bottle is empty. I have clearly picked up an empty bottle off the shelf! Are they going to believe me when I take it back??

You must have handed the bottle to the shop assistant so, that's two of you who didn't notice it was empty! 

[Reinardina]

I bought a bottleof perfume from 'NEXT' yesterday as a gift. Went to wrap it today and noticed there was no top on the bottle and the bottle is empty. I have clearly picked up an empty bottle off the shelf! Are they going to believe me when I take it back??

You must have handed the bottle to the shop assistant so, that's two of you who didn't notice it was empty! 

Wasn't it in a sealed box?