Julie, PeggySue,
I DO have a problem both with the fee and with the insurance. This is not a press pass. It is a vendor fee. I get press passes when we go to Westminster because I'm covering it for the magazine. And I don't require insurance to get that pass.

If they are treating the freelance photographers (however they define that) as "vendors", then they have to put the same restrictions on all "vendors" which means they should require the same fees/insurance from the professional handlers. Now that would be a good source of income. And an absolute guarantee of lawsuits. Oh, and by the way, this new policy is in no way disclosed in the Premium List.

Julie, I agree that enforcement will be the key issue and it will be done as it is with every other capricious regulation: badly. When am I taking shots of the puppies I bred for my personal use and when am I taking shots of the Breed dogs on request for advertising? Heck, half the time I can't tell .

I'm sorry, but as an exhibitor, I also have a problem loading this new charge on the backs of the people campaigning dogs. My rates are pretty fair and my images are pretty decent. I'd like to keep that combination. To penalize my clients because they want to work with me is simply the wrong answer. But, if I'm not at the shows, they'll use someone else so it's truly a Catch 22.

What I've done is email all my clients, explained the situation and asked them, if they disagree with the policy, to contact the Show Chairman and the President of the Club and tell them so. I included both of their email addresses. This might not change the policy but it will let them know that it doesn't just effect the photographers but also the exhibitors who are now losing another source for creative images of their dogs.

Jim