Skate Canada & Photos

[CherylS]

I know that most of us saw it coming last year when Skate Canada instituted the new policy and later changed it due to tickets being sold but were many people really aware that it is back to that policy for sure this season????
It's not on the website and an email from them said it was conveyed at the time of purchase which is not true. The person I talked to could hardly speak English and therefore the seating and the name and address were totally wrong in the confirmation. The policy might have been stated in the confirmation because I admitedly was so upset about the other mistakes that I never read it but the confirmation is received AFTER tickets are purchased!

I know that non-photographers can't understand really and I certainly don't want to risk harm to the skaters but other options have been proposed that could have been tried to stop that.
There are many of us who would never use a flash and are using photos for legitimate purposes ok'd by the skaters involved and not selling photos.
Assuming that the problems are all legitimate problems, there could still be some sort of fair credentialling for photos only which could be permanently revoked if abused. I've heard all the arguments that a ticket doesn't give anyone the right to take photos and all of that but it still would have been a good practice to well-publicize a change in policy in advance.

I'm not sure yet if this includes people with media passes but I think it should if that's going to be their policy. Not all people with these credentials have anymore of a legitimate purpose than others but use it for advantages such as what being able to take photos would bring.
Small publications will become real popular with skating fan photographers!!

I just had to get that out and make sure that those who haven't purchased tickets are aware.
There are other non-Skate Canada events to attend and with this policy in force I choose to go elsewhere. It's just too much money to go to these competitions when I can go elsewhere and also have the opportunity to do something else I enjoy at the same time! :evil:

[jp1andOnly]

could u please descibe the policy. I'm unsure of the policy and can't respond to this post accordingly.
I highly doubt the venue people will be chasing around people looking for cameras. I mean, if they catch u using a flash, it should be confiscated, but its hard to tell who is using cameras if there is no tell tail flash

[CherylS]

Well. the policy is no cameras allowed other than credentialed media photographers. It's possible that people sitting in unobvious areas with small cameras could get them in and take photos as the arena staff never were good at policing the flash policy either but you could risk having your camera taken away. More professional cameras with big lenses that can't just fit in your pocket would probably be impossible to get away with.
I think they've said that you will be able to buy photos by the official photographer through Skate Canada but that's not a lot of consolation to people that just like to take their own. They say the new policy is due to the flash issue as well as for skater's images being misused but there are others beside the media that have legitimate uses and permission from the skaters and the media is being favored over the fans.

[jp1andOnly]

I'm interested in knowing when this policy went or is going into effect. I think its just a load of hot air from Skate Canada.

[CherylS]

It is supposed to be in effect beginning with Skate Canada in November I guess. The reason that they stopped it from going in effect last year was probably because they had already sold the tickets before they decided on it and people complained and they said that it was just suspended for those events last season but never actually published that it was definitely set for the coming season. It might not be any better enforced than the flash policy but, as I said, I think it's not going to be easy to to sneak photos in with larger cameras. They sounded really set on it in their emails but I suppose that they wouldn't have camera police in every aisle so if someone wanted to risk a small camera they might get away with it.

[jp1andOnly]

i remember when they started harping about no video cameras. Well, that didnt last, because these days tons of peopel are bringing their camcorders in

I guess you just have to be willing to risk it and see what happens.

[CherylS]

Yeah, sometimes people get away with things like video but I've seen people get watched closely too after being told no.
I just think it's worth stating the case for fans to them and maybe if they hear it enough they will work with us on other options besides a total ban for us little people. Someone elsewhere mentioned how much the skaters and families appreciated the photos she gave them. They're not always going to be professional at taking skating photos. Can someone explain why media (especially other than large publications who might have the advantage of giving them a lot of free advertising) is more important???
I consider good websites as having a much higher concentration of the people interested in the sport as viewership, so what if it doesn't come out in print. We decided to handle our fan club mainly over the net so that we didn't have to charge a fee and could have a larger membership while still providing little things like photo buttons, etc. Even if we can get photos from SC, would we have to pay them money to use their photos in this fashion for t-shirts, etc.?????? That's just not possible when something's being done for free. I know it's exciting for the skater to have something like this and a show of support but this is going to make that tough to do.
Websites will be really interesting with just words and no photos!
And again, sorry it's so emotional but it really is a big thing for some people and the majority of those people were not the ones causing the problems but everyone suffers, except of course the media!

[dawnk]

I have received ticket confirmation from SC for Quecec City. It's written, on the ticket, in french, cameras not allowed. I assume that the actual tickets, when printed, will say the same. If they are as lax about enforcing the "no camera" policy as they were about taking cameras away from those using a flash, we have nothing to worry about.

[Lise]

I knew that they were planning on doing this..last year´s nationals, I saw so many people sneaking in video cameras and I got in trouble for having my camera (which was off and still in its´case)!! If I remember correctly, someone had planned to upload the video of Jamie and David´s practises on a website which is was not allowed since there was a big sign stating no video cameras. They (SC) were ok for the use of video cameras for family members and those with media accrediation but there has been a major abuse by the general public.

Last year, I count the number of times the flashes were going off and causing skaters to miss jumps or scale back, it was particulary bad whenever Jamie and David or Elvis were on the ice. People do say it´s only a minority of people that use flash, well, just a little can cause injuries. This is a dangerous sport. In a recent episode of Off the Record, Jennifer Robinson stated that she was going into a jump one and had to abandon it because as soon as she was going to pick to go into it, someone snapped a picture of her and they were using flash.

Personally, I would prefer to pay for the pictures since the professionals do tend to get the better shot of the skaters but I do beleive that the general public should be allowed to bring cameras for autograph sessions so they could have their picture taken with their favorite skaters. As well, I beleive that the money goes into the Athlete Trust Fund so it does benefit the skaters.

I know that I´m in the minority but I´m all for the safety of the skaters and if that means I pay for pictures, so be it.


Lise