I've never had a problem working in downtown but I rarely setup on private property and I never setup where I'll be blocking foot-traffic on public property (around here you can get into trouble for being ON the footpath). Los Angeles has a film permits organization that can help people with city permits and arranging access but it's really not practical for opportunistic shooting because you need to set dates and arrange insurance in advance. I usually don't decide to go out until 4:00 in the afternoon if you know what I mean. I also couldn't see myself spending hundreds of dollars every time I want to expose a sheet of film. However, for certain projects permitting is the only way to go.Originally Posted by Allen in Montreal
Last time I tried something far tamer that that, I got a 37 dollars ticket for not being on the foot path.
Did you request a permit from the city or just took your chances?
(for a small fee for the permit, Montreal is willing to bend the rules a little, they have a film permits division now, I hear it does very well for them).
Great picture.
For this shot I was setup where the sidewalk 'ends', so to speak. The whole area is probably technically closed to pedestrians and there are signs warning you not to walk onto the overpasses. Nonetheless, around sunset these overpasses are major commuter routes for transients which results in interesting opportunities for making new friends. The reason i needed a tall tripod and step ladder was because I had to shoot over the chain-link fence that doesn't really keep people out of the bushes. So while I was a foot from the roadway and up high the ground was level and I could get up on the ladder between pulses of traffic which was unnervingly close.
I do this kind of thing all the time and I almost always see LAPD, or some other form of security and the only time I've had problems is around the Port of Los Angeles.
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