Angeles NF “Movie Slope” Business Owner Slaps the Faces of our Founding Fathers

Movie Slope Snack Bar Sign, Mt Baldy, Manker Flats, Angeles National Forest, California

Photographers Rights is my least favorite topic to write about but it needs to be done. Today I went up to Manker Flats in the San Gabriel Mountains / Mount Baldy, Angeles National Forest area not too far from the Mt Baldy Ski Lifts in order to go sledding on the snow before it all melts away. As I was walking back to the car, I stopped to shoot a few pictures of the EXTERIOR of the “Movie Slope” Snack Shop from outside in the forest because it looked rather attractive (not necessarily the above photo). Well after two patrons left without buying anything, the man who presumably owns the snack shop comes out with a smug-looking smirk on his face and asks me, "Do you have a filming permit" "No." "If you want to shoot pictures then you need a permit. Jeep filmed a commercial here and they paid a lot of money for a permit." "This isn't commercial photography." "I don't care if it's commercial photography. This is private property and if Jeep paid money to film here then you have to as well otherwise get out of here." "This is National Forest property." (He points to the trees.) "Out there it is, this building is privately owned. If you aren't going to pay money then you can't photograph this place so put that (camera) away!" "Alright man if you say so." "So get out of here then!", then I left.

After three hours of sledding in which I had lost part of fingernail among other things, I didn’t feel like hassling with this clueless guy though I had every right to be there. If it is visible from public land that it is fair game for taking pictures. I have a U.S. National Forest Adventure Pass and since I was behaving in a non-threatening manner just like any other tourist there this morning then he had no right to harass me for taking pictures. If he doesn’t like that then he should pack his bags and set up shop elsewhere. He clearly has no idea about good PR and marketing skills. I get tens of thousands of visitors to my website each month and that kind of free exposure is potentially invaluable to a small business. However he would rather try and extort money from an Average Joe photographer such as myself by citing the TV commercial thus he missed out on potentially good PR not to mention having quite the opposite effect as a result. No one was paying me to be there and nor did I have a cast, crew nor props. There is a major difference between what I was doing and what he was referring to.

The National Parks rules regarding photography states that commercial photography requires permitting through the NPS system. That is understandable because commercial shoots require security and cleanup costs that potentially disrupt the environment. However, editorial / journalism / personal photography is protected by the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Now if I was inside of the property he would have a legitimate argument but since I was outside where others were then that is B.S. I was acting in a manner not unlike that of any other tourist.

I emailed Photography Rights Attorney Carolyn Wright, Esq. about this situation (again!) and here is her response about this: “Hi Richard. I understand your frustrations. Think about what happened if you did not have a camera in your hands. Would you have been at risk for being arrested? It doesn't matter if you are trying to shoot or have a camera. Your actions are what's important.”

Photographers must stand united in the fight to preserve our Civil Rights because there are many cases of our liberties being stripped away these days by uninformed citizens such as the owner of the “Movie Slope” Snack Shop. I have a permanent link to this article regarding similar incidents published in Popular Photography magazine on my blog already but here it is again if you haven’t read it. The article is an interesting read.

“The War on Photographers.”