Quote:

"If you are photographing animals out into the wild, you do not need a release"....

David could you elaborate on this please. I am curious about how things work for folks in the northern hemisphere eg wildlife in National Parks, Botanical Gardens etc. Do photographers not need permits/releases in those cases??



Generally no with a few exceptions. If you are in a National Park, Forest, Wildlife refuge, etc., you do not need a permit or release UNLESS you are going to do a commercial shoot with the use of props, big theatical lights, studio lights, models, etc., or if you are going to photograph in an area that is not open to the public, or you are going to photograph some activity that would need Park, Forest rangers there on site while you are photographing. The same applies for movies.

Botanical Gardens as far as I know are not owned by the State or Federal Government but by local governments and most of the ones I have been in generally do not allow tripods because of the danger to other visitors (tripping, etc.). I have also gotten permission to be in the Botanical Gardens BEFORE they were open to the public so that I could use reflectors, tripods, etc. Same with museums. I have found that a lot of Botanical Gardens and museums will fall over themselves to help you out if they think there is a slight chance that they will get better known because of your photography. When I get special permission, then I make a donation to their donation box WHILE they are watching me so they know that I DID make a donation, but I have never been asked to make a donation.

David Ramey Photography