Alberta Provincial Park Photographer Kicked Out of an Alberta Park

I recently fought a fight for every cottage industry photographer in Alberta (or elsewhere) that few people know about.  I thought I would blog about this because it is important information for you to know if you have ever been an Alberta Provincial Park photographer.  In other words, you have entered an Alberta Provincial Park to photograph a family, a child, a couple, an animal or other with the expectation that you will make some profit from the use of the photo (being paid for the session or image).

The Background of this Bizarre Tale concerning Alberta Provincial Park Photographer

On the evening of June 30, 2017, I was meeting a new family who was new customers to Suzanne Taylor Photography.  I and this wonderful customer had been chatting since May of this year getting ready for this session and we were both looking so forward to it.  She seemed like an amazing lady and selected Suzanne Taylor Photography because of many reasons, but mostly because of the how the images look when they are processed.  It was flattering and wonderful to be selected and told why so honestly from a customer – this was going to be an amazing session.

When the day came, the family and I agreed to meet at Gull Lake, an hour from their home for a beautiful session at the Lake and the surrounding green space where I typically shoot my summer sessions.  The area is beautiful and I am so lucky to live so close to the area and have discovered some beautiful spots to photograph in the last several years we have lived near Gull Lake, Alberta.  I told them where to meet me and we proceeded from there.

When we arrived at our location, the family and I both got out of our cars to begin discussing how the session would flow and how they could expect the session to proceed.  During the family photography session, I had a few days before, at the same location, two Conservation Officers came over to ask what I was doing and to make sure all was well.  I have to state here that in 6 years of shooting in the area, even in plain sight of Conservation Officers, I was NEVER approached nor questioned about my photography as an active Alberta Provincial Park photographer prior to June 27, 2017.  The Alberta Provincial Park Conservation Officers were happy to see what we were doing and wished us well and were on our way – to capture a gorgeous and stress-free session.

What Happened Next to Alberta Provincial Park Photographer Suzanne Taylor

Fast forward back to my discussion with my new family on the night of June 30th, 2017.  As we were chatting, one of the Conservation Officers came up, recognized me from the last photography session, smiled and drove off.  We started discussing the order I would photograph the family’s children in and a second Conservation Officer approached us and called me to the side and told me I was no longer allowed to photograph in Alberta Provincial Parks because they were ‘cracking down’ on photographers and that I would need a permit to photograph (for profit) at any time in the Gull Lake Provincial Park or any other Alberta Provincial Park.  He also told me that I would not be fined this time but that in the future I would be at a sum of $300 per offense.  He also told me that the reason this was happening was because people were getting ‘drunk’ in the area and making ‘brew videos’ (I don’t know what that means – but I assume it has to do with alcohol and intoxicated people acting like idiots) and that the Government of Alberta wants ‘their cut’ of the photography session.

WTF.  What the actual f*ck.  I guess my business taxes are not enough….

I was mortified in front of my customers.  That exchange could have been bad enough in front of a past photography customer of Suzanne Taylor Photography, but in front of a new customer and her family?

I was ‘gifted’ the permission to finish up and was warned again that if I was photographing in the future without a permit, I would be fined.  The Conservation Officer had given me his card and told me to call him before the next time so that I could be “walked through’ how to get a permit online.  I don’t know if this was said to be courteous or just to be rude at this point, but I maintain that sometimes people who are given power and authority fail to appreciate the weight of the burden they carry.  When I was Child Protective Services worker with the Province of Alberta, I watched many new Social Worker’s abuses their power over and over while they got reprimanded over and over because they overstepped their boundaries.  I believe the same thing happened here and that the Conservation Officer had the Province of Alberta’s best interest in heart, he misunderstood a directive and then made an ass out of himself and made me look like the worst professional photographer ever in front of my brand new customers.

Once he left, we resumed where we were at, only now my new customers Dad was fuming and extremely annoyed by how the Conservation Officer conducted himself and a look of worry and concern was plastered over the faces of my new family.  I was now trying to cope with my own anxiety from the interaction and help my customers also recover from the unpleasantness which kept me from fulfilling my photography duties on time that night.

Alberta Provincial Park Photographer – What Next?

Clearly, the treatment of an Alberta Provincial Park Photographer was unjust.  So what did Suzanne Taylor Photography do?  Started at the bottom and worked up.

I sent an email to that Conservation Officer with Alberta Provincial Parks asking him very pointed questions about how they planned to regulate this, why I had never been stopped before and why, especially in Calgary at Fish Creek Park why I had NEVER EVER seen a Conservation Officer stopping the hundreds of photographers that do sessions down there on a daily basis – especially through the summer and the fall months.  I can’t tell you how many photographers Alberta Provincial Park Photographer Suzanne Taylor Photography has witnessed between Fish Creek Park in Calgary, Alberta and anywhere in Kananaskis Country just outside Calgary, Alberta, just before Banff, Alberta – or can I even mention Moraine Lake in Lake Louse, AB.  Thousands of photographers – professional or not shoot in these locations every year (and in some cases in a matter of just a few days) with no need for a permit – why me?  Why that day was it imperative that I needed to have a permit to photograph a family for 20 minutes in front of the same tree’s I had been using for the last six years.

No response was ever provided by that Conservation Officer.  Sadly I wasn’t terribly optimistic when I was writing it to him, nor when I sent it.  He didn’t seem the type to be concerned about a photographer’s questions when he felt he could throw his weight around like he did.

I waited 48 hours as 24 hours is the maximum set by the Government of Alberta to reply to emails sent within the week.  I always attended to emails first when I worked my Government of Alberta job – but that was me.  At the end of that period, I contacted Alberta Parks via phone and spoke with a lovely young man that really had no answers for me at all.  The number I called was the one based on the permit site online, but he had no idea what to tell me about what transpired that night.  He suggested I send an email to the main email and that it would be forwarded off to the appropriate manager.  So I sent an email to them and included the unanswered email that I sent to Mr. Conservation Officer.

I waited another 48 hours.  No reply.

I want to mention that during this time, the website for the Government of Alberta Parks was full of broken links and I was unable to access the pricing of the permit page nor the page with the appropriate contact information to direct my inquiries further.  Since my email to Alberta Parks, that has since been corrected.

Lastly, I sent a Ministerial complaint (essentially the complaint with the 2 unanswered emails) to Minister Shannon Phillips and I CC’d a copy to our MLA, Jason Nixon.  I gave it a few days and thankfully heard back from an Alberta Parks Manager.

The Outcome that is VERY IMPORTANT for All Alberta Provincial Park Photographer’s

The point of this blog post was to share with you what really consumed too many hours of my life so that if YOU, Dear Portrait Photographer end up with an overzealous Conservation Officer, you know what to do.

The outcome of this colossal waste of time was that I was correct and that as an Alberta Provincial Park Photographer, I (and you) do NOT need a permit to photograph portrait, child, newborn, couple, wedding, etc. in a Provincial Park in Alberta.  Be mindful of Federal Park regulations however as I know for a fact you must have a permit to shoot within Banff National Park for weddings – and I would assume any other photography you want to profit from in the area.  Also, commercial photography does not fall under this exclusion and a permit must be acquired for those purposes – obviously.

What I went through over the course of the last three weeks was ridiculous.  I ended up moving two photography sessions to different locations, sent all of those emails, stressed myself out over it all and for what?  If you are a tax paying citizen in this Province you have the RIGHT to photograph in any Alberta Provincial Park you would like to.  Don’t let yourself be hassled like this Alberta Provincial Park photographer was.  Suzanne Taylor Photography will be conducting business as normal going forward from this point on.

If a Conservation Officer tells you not to photograph in an Alberta Provincial Park, make sure to get their contact information and the name of their supervisor so you can report it later.

Shoot Happy & Free my friends!
Suzie

ps:  If you want to see more of the images from the second last Gull Lake, AB session Suzanne Taylor Photography shot before all of this happened, CLICK HERE.  It was a truly magical and beautiful session!

www.suzannetaylorphotography.com
hello@suzannetaylorphotography.com

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