I have always enjoyed music and even if I have never been to a concert prior to being with Robyn. The first concerts that I have even been to were both at the local venue called the Commodore on Vancouver’s entertainment district Granville Street. Robyn and I watched Daniel Wesley one evening and then John Butler Trio another evening later in the year. My first large venue concert was to be Jack Johnson and it was to be at Thunderbird Stadium at the University of British Columbia.
Being that I am into photography and owning a digital SLR I was pretty excited on using my 75-300mm lens at this outdoor venue and getting some pretty good shots of the bands and including Jack Johnson but prior to getting to the entrance I was denied.
Walking down the boulevard towards the stadium I noticed Security personal walking opposite to the rest of the crowd heading towards Robyn and I so I stepped over to the right a bit and noticed he made the move to line up with me still. I thought, oh great I know what this is about.
The Security personal asked to see my camera. I showed it to him and told me that I could not bring that into the stadium as it was considered ‘Professional’. Would you consider the Canon EOS 450D as being ‘Professional’? Anyway I informed him I was not professional but he stated that at the entrance they were not allowing anyone into the venue that had a camera with removable lenses. He asked to see my camera closer and said: “Yea sorry, you can remove you lens. I cannot allow you to bring that in so you might as well return it to the car and save yourself a trip.â€
I was stunned, though Robyn did tell me that I probably could not get into the concert with it and I left my compact digital camera (Canon SD750) at home thinking I would not need it. I made the trip back to the car while Robyn waited and put the camera into the car. Come on, an outdoor (public) venue and I cannot take my camera? I am not selling the photos I take (though they don’t know that right?) and I would probably not bring it to a larger venue like GM Place, or BC Place. I would not bring it into a smaller venue like the Commodore. That’s what my compact digital camera is for!
When we got to the entrance and they searched Robyn’s purse which had my 18-55mm IS lens in it. They asked us what it was for and Robyn replied “It’s a lens to my boyfriend’s cameraâ€. I stated that I previously had my camera confiscated and they said, “Oh you’re the one who had their camera confiscatedâ€. I was like huh? I guess someone else had they camera taken from them. Anyway they let us into the venue among the large crowd.
Thunderbird Stadium is home to the UBC Thunderbirds and it is used all year round for various activities, sporting events and other events. The stands were slowly filling with people as was the grass field and hill across from the stands. The stage was set in the north and the first band was being set up. I did not catch the names of the two bands prior to Jack Johnson.
Jack Johnson played majority of his larger hits (like Banana Pancakes, If I Had Eyes, Staple it Together, Bubble Toes etc) as well as did some duos with friends. Overall I found it to be a great concert though after being at my first large venue and outside, I still prefer the more private, small crowd venues such as the Commodore, or Roxy.
After the crowd began to disperse from the 30 minute encore Jack Johnson performed I started to take note on how messy the grass area had become with garbage. I guess it could have been worse. The beer garden was littered with white plastic cups which looked like a grassy area filled with white confetti.
My next test is to figure out how I can get media access to local concerts and venues to take photos of said events. That would be great fun and a hobby/career I would like to follow! Anyone out there able to hook me up with media passes to various local Vancouver events?
JeremyAug 22, 2008 at 10:29:10
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I’m not surprised they didn’t let you in with that camera. It tends to be the standard rule for most “events”. You would have been able to get great pics from a distance – and that’s what they don’t want.
At the end of the day, I just go to concerts and enjoy the atmosphere now – I’ll be able to see the pics the pros took the next day.
MichaelAug 22, 2008 at 10:30:56
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I was at Thunderbird for Radiohead on Tuesday, it seems they just left the Radiohead stage up for the Jack Johnson show.
The concerts I’ve been to at the pacific colosseum/PNE Forum don’t even allow you to take point and shoots in, I felt they were pretty liberal about that stuff at Thunderbird.
I am working on a local music site with a friend, which we hope to have up by this fall. Basically my friend Yvonne will be getting band interviews, etc, and in the process we get media passes to get backstage/take photos.
Tyler Ingram August 22nd, 2008 at 10:54:19[Link]
@Jeremy But why can I not take photos? Are they not on public property? Is Thunderbird not accessible normally to the public? Do they not want me making photos off my personal photos? Yes it’s a silly grudge but I know not to bring my camera to those venues.
@Michael that will be cool if you get media access and such! Can I tag along? lol
I remember reading that most places do not allow the use of compact digital cameras because of the video recording ability of them. They are going to have to start banning cellphones too then right? The Sony Ericsson line takes photos and video. It was nice I took my SD750 to the Commodore for both the Daniel Wesley and the John Butler Trio. Photos didn’t really turn out well but it was nice to capture the evening with great friends etc.
TawcanAug 22, 2008 at 13:15:24
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I blogged about the same thing in my earlier blog post…I actually sent an email to Ticketmaster and was told that DSLR are considered as professional cameras. I mean, what really defines a camera as a professional camera? Also with the advancing technology you can easily take recordings with your phone or compact cameras… just take a look on youtube and you’ll find tons of Radiohead concert footage.
I didn’t bring my XSi to Radiohead…it was a good thing though since it rained the entire time.
Tyler Ingram August 22nd, 2008 at 13:21:11[Link]
@Tawcan Yea I heard about the rain, a friend of my girlfriend went to Radiohead and she said she was drenched at the end of it. I’m glad the weather held nicely of us.
Is the only reason why they don’t want ‘professional’ camera equipment at these events to ensure that I don’t make money off of them? If people (like Tawcan mentioned) can take video of these concerts (isn’t that like bootlegged movies recorded at theatres?) why can I not take still photos?
TawcanAug 24, 2008 at 23:42:23
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My guess is they think that there’s more chance of ppl selling pics that are taken with dSLR? Considering the price is coming down quickly a lot of people (myself included) have recently purchased a dSLR. By no means I’m a professional. If someone uses a P&S camera to take a pic and sells this pic for profit, doesn’t it make his/her camera a professional camera?
Needless to say, like yourself, I wasn’t pleased to hear that DSLR aren’t allowed to concerts. While I understand their concerns I think they can word the rules differently. But then I probably don’t want to bring my XSi to somewhere full of drunk ppl…
Paul RomeinAug 25, 2008 at 00:32:43
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I was at the Jack Johnson concert and I brought my Canon SD1000 in with me. They didn’t really search my bag and it’s small so they never knew it was there. I took a bunch of photos and recorded a few songs – especially the ones of Jack with the woman from Hawaii that you wouldn’t be able to download. It was an awesome concert by the way!
A good friend of mine was actually at Radiohead a few days before, and he brought in the same camera as mine, but also managed to “sneak” in his Nikon D80 (with his removable lenses, haha) and I haven’t seen his shots yet, but he was pretty excited that he managed to get it in there. Obviously it wasn’t for commercial purposes and he’ll never make any money off of it.
The whole thing about them not being allowed is really ridiculous.
PS – When I was leaving I totally saw someone looking at that mess at the beer garden and taking a photo of it with a PnS… – it’s totally possible it was you, but I didn’t see people standing around like the photo up there so I guess not! lol
Tyler Ingram August 25th, 2008 at 06:04:05[Link]
@Paul No it wasn’t me taking photos at the beer garden, i would have if I had a camera. The iPhone doesn’t do well without sunshine lol.That’s cool your friend got their D80 in. For the first little bit I was thinking up ways I could sneak my camera in. Perhaps a false bottom to a backpack? lol Go on search it! mauhaha
@Tawcan I guess I’ll just stap my SD750 to me everywhere I go so in case I cannot bring in my dSLR at least I have a small backup