wildfires and press passes
So as many of you are now aware, there is a wild fire burning in the Santa Cruz Mountains just about 30 miles or so south of where I am at Mount Hermon. I was thinking about driving up with Danny to see if there was anything worth taking photos of but when I found out that Police were stationed at road blocks making sure no one who didn’t live in the area couldn’t get in I kind of gave up on that plan. I still want to go up there once things have calmed down some and take some shots of the aftermath, but that will wait until later this week or next weekend.
One of the other reasons I figured I wouldn’t be able to get past the Police is that I’m obviously not a member of the press. I was lamenting to Danny about how I wish there was some kind of “citizen journalist” program that you could get a press pass through that would allow you to go in and take pictures in situations like this. Well, low and behold, when I get back home and start looking into it, I come across this blog post from Mark Hancock, a photographer from the Dallas area. Hancock points out the fact there is no miracle super pass that gets you anywhere you want to go. That would require there to be a regulating body which decided who was a real journalist and who wasn’t, which would basically be censorship of the press, which would be a violation of the first amendment. He makes the valid point, and I agree, that there is certainly a pecking order in the journalism world that insures photographers from large city papers get treated differently than bloggers or freelancers, but in effect, calling yourself a journalist/press photographer is all that you need to be a member of “the press.”
While I’m not really the type to push my luck (and Hancock also points out that your photoshopped press pass won’t fool anyone) I honestly hadn’t really thought of it like that before. It makes me much more interested in looking for some kind of freelancer status/access through a local paper that might give me the ability to have some kind of formal standing. It also makes me much more interested in taking a class on photojournalism methods and ethics. I’m the type of person who errs on the side of caution until I know the rules of the game and what is allowed and what you should never, ever do. Anyway, just my latest little nugget on the long road to being a “pro” photographer. 
