last night, i went over to a neighbouring building, touted as toronto's tallest, to take photos of its newly renovated concourse. at almost seven in the evening there's not a lot of people to distract from the shots. they also have beautiful Christmas decorations. i had just taken three shots when a young security guy approached me and told me that the building does not allow photography. sometimes in confrontation like this, height is an advantage. it so happened that i was standing on a ledge and thus was above him by a foot.
"yes, i'm allowed to photograph here, at least this month," i said. he insisted and asked me to erase the photos i have thus far taken because the building is private property. i gave him my most impatient shake of my head, slow and kind of condescending almost.
"the building has a photo contest," i said in an even voice, "it's kind of hard to submit a photo of this place if photography is not allowed here. and as far as erasing anything in my camera is concerned, you, sir, has no legal basis and right, and i would not oblige, sir, because my camera is my private property, and although you probably may have a reason to forcibly kick me out of here, which you don't, you (i waved my camera at him) cannot ask me to erase anything in my camera. now, you can call your manager or the police, but i assure you that it would be a waste of everyone's time and resources because what i'm telling you, sir, is the fact - the building has a photo contest and i'm not erasing anything in my camera."
are you sure? he asked, softer voice now. and i replied, "call your manager. i'll wait here." but he immediately acquiesced and said that he will take my word for it.
-o0o-
i'm kind of leery about submitting anything to this contest because the ad says outright that the property will have ownership of all entries submitted. i'm planning to submit this and another 'nothing' shot, but it kind of annoys the hell out of me that win or lose, you lose your photo.
srsly????? there are photographers EVERYWHERE!!!! it completely mystifies me that they try and stop it... i mean - what are you taking a picture of that could be so damning? and no - i hadn't realized there was a photocontest going... pity - i was just a few steps away when i was taking my royal bank plaza shots :)
incidentally, there is a cool vantage point of your building from front... if you stand in the right spot, the CN tower is reflected in a really funky way...
@northy - that's awesome. yes, i have a shot of that last year but i didn't post it. the subway/GO level entrance is best. also, if you sit on one of the benches in the RBC plaza facing the union station, there is a wall that has the CN reflection on it, too.
@summerfield I entered a comp for year of the farmer. Was lucky to get a minor prize but it was a voucher at an online booze store. Mmm I don't drink wine. So I thought get some beer for the son in law. can't use the voucher on beer and you need to spend $120 before you can use your $50 voucher. This is really a joke of a prize and I told them so. Hope all goes well for you.
So I am thinking that this mall needs to hire a new PR person as well as inform there building staff as to what is going on. You would think that they would love to have as many people as possilble see the building. I don't think I would be bothered to enter a contest with a company like this. It is decorated quite nicely by the way
Commerce Court had a pic contest last month (or before that?) so I guess each buidling is following.Yes, that's why they offer these contests - so they get a stellar photo for no money! The reason I haven't entered many. I still need to bring my camera downtown but don't want to have the same encounters.
@tesssa@bkbinthecity - i decided last night i won't submit any of my photos. as kass wrote @russianblue they have these contests so they get the photos they want without paying high fees to the professional photographers. i also found out they're not going to give acknowledgement whenever they use the photographs because by submitting we accept the terms of the contest specifically that the rights are transferred to the property. the prize of a nikon D3100 (similar to the camera i'm using now) is just not worth it for me. it's a $400 plus prize but i'm sure that's been donated to them by one of their mall merchants. i'm not into photography for the money but for self-satisfaction and i'm not about to sell off whatever little skills i have. thank you, folks. @tara11@abhijit@henrir@catsmeowb@myhrhelper@sarasdadandmom@pamfromcalgary@sunnygreenwood@steeler
this is great information. thank you for sharing. too many times people do not read the 'fine print' on things, as you must know, working in a law office, and then try to back out of something when it is too late. we should all pay attention to this when we look at photo contests and competitions.
You go, girlfriend!! I LOVE this photo .. what a gorgeous pov. And Bravo to you for standing up to the guard. They are so doggone irritating. I applaud you for your "attitude!" We must get together and shoot some photos someday. Nobody would stop us .. we'd be a force to reckon with. lol :) (I have no camera as yet ... maybe next week. Am seriously sick of Nikon service!)
@catsmeowb - thank you, camille. the condition was not a fine print, it said outright on their promotional flyer. but the prize was more prominent and people would just gloss over the part about ownership and proceed to the prize. i wanted to get a new camera but i won't be getting a nikon. i think i'm going back to canon. but i will wait until january because that's when prices are really low.
@karenann - this is why i am thinking of getting a canon. my nikon actually would jam sometimes. i told the shop about it and they said maybe it's the sd card. but i got a class 10 sd card. i think nikons are just like that. so i'll be getting a canon. thank you, KA. and i hope you get your camera pretty soon. and then we can go photo hunting!
I am looking at Canons, summerfield. They are great cameras and I hear that their service is better. I've heard that they're a little more complex to learn, but I don't mind .. I need a camera that works and one that I can trust. Crossing my fingers and holding my breath (on the Nikon) for now.
incidentally, there is a cool vantage point of your building from front... if you stand in the right spot, the CN tower is reflected in a really funky way...
i was going to post it here, but i don't think it will show up well...
@tara11 @abhijit @henrir @catsmeowb @myhrhelper @sarasdadandmom @pamfromcalgary @sunnygreenwood @steeler