Greenwood Gardens In Shorthills Nj

So, did you get your pictures before you were warned? You can post and sell them here since no one can tell if you took them with a point and shoot or SLR! And don't put the name of the place in your title or keywords.

You need to make a road trip to Longwood. OMG, it's unbelieveably gorg. It's just a couplefew towns over so I've been several times and I've never had anyone there tell me to put my camera away, but it's been awhile. Bring 500 SIM cards.

___________
Susan Maxwell Schmidt
So-so Board Moderator and
Artist Extraordinaire

i was able to shoot them, we took a break. but looking at the shots, there really isn't anything i can use anyway. the lighting is spotty there, and the items of interest (some stone buildings, have no flowers near them. it lacks color. i would never put the location of a place in the words. still though i'm very surprised people can find me anyway. i can't imagine what they would do to me though. they claim no commercial, but that meaning is a bit broad. but to limit the camera is silly. my phone shoots 20mp pictures and i can do hdr shots with them.

i can have a small, compact mirrorless camera, that should shoot pretty well too.

but this is the first time i ever heard that. i guess it looked more intimidating than the other camera's.

longwood i've been to i think 3 times.

i think i shot everything in that place, its sort of a filler place if we can't find anything else in the area and we need to fill a slot.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

A lot of times they don't look at the camera, they look at tripods. When Millennium Park in Chicago opened, they scammed Photographers. Anyone they saw with a tripod was threatened and made to pay a $350.00 permit fee if they wanted to stay. That was found to be illegal and stopped, but not soon enough.

tripods i never use, mostly because they are clumsy. and they have to be up front with that policy, many places don't let you use a tripod.

i'm not sure what i would have done if i had just gotten there and they refused it. since the guy walked away from me, i guess i would have put it in my bag and then used it anyway. there wasn't anyone else on the trail that looked official. at the end i was messing with the menus when he came out of no where. and couldn't give me a logical reason why there was camera discrimination.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Have you seen that?

greenwoodgardens.org/plan-your-visit/photography/

"Greenwood Gardens is available for commercial photography. ...For more information and pricing, please contact us at (973) 258-4026, ext. 17 or email info@greenwoodgardens.org"

sure, for a price. if i shoot a model, or maybe a wedding, that would be commercial photography. when i shoot, i'm a hobbyist. being commercial means you have reflectors, need an area for a few hours or a day and so on. its usually a special circumstance. and not so much a ruler guide that says - if your camera is this tall, you can't ride the ride.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Yeah, but if the 250 pound Reserve Marine caretaker was told by the boss not to let these people with a camera in the size of a shoe box shutter-bang around anymore, your own definitions may not find much consideration. You could of course contact the management now and ask for clarification.
For a while I was collecting images of old doors just out of personal interest, street view, totally legal to photograph. Then, one day, I was in front of this nice wooden door, looking as harmless as any other, a fellow in a sharp uniform with polished riding boots came out of the shrubbery. The carriers of these costumes and the places they may take you for questioning have a certain reputation in that country. I had as well no topless protesters at hand in that moment. So I admit, I´m as well guilty for another step backwards in citizen rights and freedom of photography. (Btw. - I had already deleted the photo from the card because the light was low. So I could not delete it in front of the riding boots, which did not really help in making negotiations smoother.)
Impressive SLRs are for long not liked and trusted in certain places. That´s one of the reasons some people always carried a less intrusive Leica or something like this with them. The Instagram girls who secretly photograph you in the subway because you have an in-fashion beard all "just play" with their smart phone.

Mike, sorry for your miserable experience. I commiserate. In terms of a tripod I use a walking stick I made for myself. It is three pieces and screws together. The top has a hole large enough for the top of a screw that fits my tripod hole in my camera. I just use my walking stick as a monopod. Not perfect but it beats hauling around a tripod and is useful for long

This is partly why I always carry around my Sony RX100 in my camera bag. Though I've never been bothered for using my DSLR anywhere yet.

A couple of years ago I went to a museum and was told I had to leave because I had a small backpack hanging off my shoulder. There were numerous women there who had purses that were three times the size bigger than my backpack and sticking way out to the side. I pointed this out to the security guard. The irony of it didn't escape him, but he said the rules are the rules. He was just doing his job.

So next time I will put my camera inside a very large purse. He didn't have a problem with the camera. Everyone there was taking photos with small and large cameras. The issue for him was that it was a "backpack." I think the wording has to be changed in these antiquated rules so everyone knows exactly why they don't allow small backpacks. He did say that they were enforcing these laws because that's what other major museums in the world were doing. I'd still like to know exactly why small backpacks aren't allowed.

i get that all the time. they insist i put my bag under their desk, their locked room, etc. basically abandoning it. i insist on keeping it, i have expensive gear and i'm not leaving it. i often insist of simply standing in front of the place and waiting, rather than view their stupid museum. they grimace, but i keep it. usually they are fine if the bag is in front, (its a sling bag).


usually they don't want it because you may knock things down. but if they are afraid of that, they shouldn't leave things in places where it can knock over.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Several times I was knocked to the side by a woman's very large purse. Security told me it wouldn't matter how I carried my bag. Read the sign, he pointed out to me: "NO BACKPACKS ALLOWED."

I understood his dilemma, of course, but kids were running around and you'd think that would be far more dangerous than a small bag, lol.

when i know ahead of time that there are no packs, i have plan B set up. which is a smaller sling bag and my vest. but it doesn't happen that often. otherwise i simply don't go to that place. the thought of leaving it behind, totally insane. oddly huge purses, giant diaper bags etc - all of those are fine.

usually it comes up inside of a submarine or battleship, and then i totally understand. i almost got stuck in one of those doorways (just with what i had).

---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Ironically smartphone manufacturer's push the idea that they take professional photos. Once they ban smartphones, we'll see how many people show up to tour the garden.
-----
These days a full blown DSLR is seen as exotic and something only wedding phototogs carry. Last time I went through airport security the TSA lady mentioned my "old fashioned camera" - come on it only three years old!

....

The backpack thing can be either for bombs or simply because people knock over stuff with them. I was somewhere once and had us wear our backpacks in the front.

Carol, probably The Canvas Ripper with an obsession for Ruben´s girls carried his tools once somewhere into a museum like that.

I am more concerned that many exhibitions get highly nervous these days about one having a REAL look at some artwork. Stand there for longer than 2 seconds or even dare to bring your nose closer than 3 feet to the picture and see what happens. The safest is to carry the facial boredom of someone who was just expulsed by the tour bus to fill the time before lunch.

(There are still some notable exceptions, though.)

Whoa. I happen to be heading to a similar garden in Sandwich on Cape Cod this weekend. After reading this I took a look at their web site. All kinds of restrictions on photography. A long page of restrictions on stock photography, no nudity, etc etc. I guess because so many people want to take their senior, family and wedding photos there. Entrance cost plus $50 and hour for commercial photographers.

I might have to just stop an smell the roses. Definitely leaving the big camera behind.

i'm hoping this won't become some kind of new trend, where everyone will be stuck with smaller cameras.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Mike, that´s been a trend for years, you have probably missed the major discussion among photographers when the National Trust (UK) tightened its policies. Many such organisations have to create additional revenue streams these days. One could of course claim that the Nikon is the battery set for the hearing aid, but this won´t change anything on the usability of the pictures taken, if a policy exists, to which one agrees when entering the premises.
The solution which appeals most to me: Get wealthy by selling lots via Fine Art America, buy a large piece of land, create your own breathtaking garden, create your own policies (i.e. wedding photography only allowed in bunny costumes). Somebody has of course to prune the hedges while your are busy making policies in the curatorium. So there´s that. Also, the economic cycle may till then have turned to a general preference for Terra Del Popolo, or the return of the glaciers only allows for garden cress in the kitchen window.

The camera size isn't the problem. It's the usage. These places are private property. And what they are selling is something pretty to look at for a few hours. You can't blame them for wanting to control their image and sell access to what is valuable.

the usage i understand. its the size of the camera they are trying to pin down on me. i'm thinking that they think that if its a small camera, it will take small pictures or something. to me they didn't even mention commercial use, selling etc. they basically said - no big camera's allowed, no explanation why. and still no reply from them.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

We went to the Ringling bros. circus last February. Last show and all that but waiting in line to get in one of the workers of the arena said no pro type cameras, slr w/ zoom lens and such. Folks that had them would not get in. They took them back to their cars. Phones and snapshot cameras were ok. Their show, I get it.

Yea, it's sort of silly limiting by camera size. I can print 50+ inch prints from my rx100 and it fits in my pocket.

Even some cell phones can print 16x20 and up.

It's psychological more than anything else. I guess with a dslr it's more likely you're a commercial photographer.

we can get those pocket camera's with a 700x lens (i think it goes that high,its something high up).

for a private event i can probably look up the rules, usually its listed some place. but getting there and finding out is rather rude....


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Not to get "religious", but God is good - there is the whole great outdoors to photograph - I certainly won't pay to see any garden to photograph it - probably not even to go see it. It's been years since I went to Biltmore Castle in Asheville, NC - I think we paid about $10 each to get in (now $65/person) - I'll never return - just not in my budget and there are so many other places that are - try the NC arboretum, it's free - except there is a $14 parking fee - now that's a neat trick.

Mike,

You are not far from Dukes Farm in Hillsborough, NJ. I am very close to and there is some fantastic shooting materiel here. No charge for entrance. They also offer free bikes to use but we always bring our own. A great place for photographs, biking or hiking. I always bring my large dslr (Canon 5D III) and never had an issue. Here is a link:

http://www.dukefarms.org

and

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46511-d632438-Reviews-Duke_Farms-Hillsborough_New_Jersey.html

i've been to duke a few times... its like a million miles long. you see the tree at the end of the path, and no matter how long you walk, you never seem to get closer

didn't know the bikes were free though. you really need it in that place.

i heard they will be ripping down the old greenhouse there.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

As they say... Size matters.

Except at the circus.

When I worked as an usher for Cirque du Soleil one month, they allowed no cameras, no phone pictures... nada.

We had to climb over people to go down the isles and warn people to put their phones away, or leave.

Hated that job. I ran away from the circus to join my family at home.

The beauty of Longwood is that it changes all the time. The old growth, like the wisteria, Italian and topiary gardens, change minimally but all the plantings and main rooms in the conservatory are always changing. Wouldn't surprise me to know they've instituted an unfriendly photo policy since I've been there last, tho.

___________
Susan Maxwell Schmidt
So-so Board Moderator and
Artist Extraordinaire