Turned away from Huntington Library & Botanical Garden...

We tried to make today our first time of taking Amore with us to take pictures, so we thought the Huntington Library would be a great place to start... Boy, were we so wrong!!!

 

They turned us away, saying that "the doll is considered a 'prop' and it's not allowed inside the garden". We were both just shocked with out mouths open.

 

All arguments aside and unable to reason with the people there, we got a refund and left very unhappy. We were really looking forward to taking some pics of Amora. So we left all disappointed, didn't even bothered to try to go anywhere else. We felt so discouraged to try taking her anywhere. This sucks.

 

We were told that if we were to call in advance, then it would cost a lot of money to get permission. We took it as "if you have to ask how much, then you can't afford it".

 

The garden is a beautiful location and it would've been perfect.... It was our first time taking her in public and we were shot down.

 

Now we're both feeling if we'll have the same reaction from other places we might take her to... even Disneyland next week for our Bats Day event.

 

Has something like this happened to anyone else??? Are we the only ones to experience this??

Yup, the local botanical garden requires a pricey permit if you want to take any "posed" photographs on the grounds. Most places that require an entry fee will charge additional fees for photography. Sometimes those fees are a couple hundred dollars, or more (I've seen places charge more than a thousand dollars).

 

Your best bet are public areas -- parks, streets, beaches, etc. Places that don't charge an entry fee, or charge a nominal fee for an entry permit (like a state park).

 

If you're planning on going somewhere, check to see if they have a "photography" section on their website. Hunting Library has one: http://www.huntington.org/WebAssets/Templates/content.aspx?id=650

 

If they photography page mentions "fees" or "permits," they probably are not going to allow you to take photos of your dolls without paying an additional fee. If you're unsure, it's best to call in advance rather than be disappointed at the doors. I'd recommend calling Disney to learn their policy.

There's a private garden near me with similar policies. They do allow photos, but not props or tripods. I can understand it since they do not want people stopping and clogging up the walkways or potentially damaging the garden. It's the owner's personal garden, and I would be the same way if it was mine.

 

Like Cauldroness said, public parks are your best bet. Lots of people take their dolls to places like that, and there aren't any such rules.

Hmm, I guess I'm lucky then, my local botanical garden doesn't allow tripods or bags but they do allow pictures, and I asked to take my doll in and was allowed. I think they viewed it as much the same as taking a picture of another person in front of the garden scenes, which is allowed. Though I've always just been by myself, I don't know how they'd react to a group who each had a doll or anything.

What a shame, I'm really sorry this happened to you! I've thought about taking a doll with me for the same kind of thing to that garden, but now I don't think I will. >

When I first got Tana, I'd wanted the other Arizona Dollfie folks (EcchiZonans) to meet up at the Tucson Botanical Gardens.

Then I found out that they wanted $150 each to take photos.

 

We later hooked up at the Pima Air and Space Museum for an awesome meet:

 

http://www.figure.fm/en/post/38990/First+Time+DD+Meet.html

 

It's all where you want to take pics, really. there are plenty of places, parks and such, that won't charge a fee,

it just takes some searching to find them.

 

Don't give up! It'll be worth it, for sure!

Wow..... just..... wow.

 

I've NEVER heard of this down here in SC. We have TONS of parks, plantations and gardens that you have to pay to get into and we've had very large groups of people go there with dolls and cameras and NEVER been told that we couldn't take our dolls in for photos or that we had to pay some crazy fee to do so. That's totally unheard of for me.

 

It sucks that this happened to you but DO NOT let it discourage you from bringing your girl out to other places and taking photos of her! There have to be plenty of other nice areas near you that will gladly have you and your doll(s) there to take pics. I understand how you feel, it's only natural to feel like that when you had high hopes of beautiful photos of your girl dashed. But please keep at it! Don't let one small bump in the road keep you from doing what this hobby is all about..... having fun with your girl and taking lots of great photos of her to share with your friends.

 

I wish you luck in the future!

 

 

 

Billy

We're both trying to keep our chins up. And you guys are right.... We shouldn't give up. I'm hearing that there's other places we can go to with next to no problems. We're going to wait until Bats Day this weekend, then take as many pics as we can.

 

But I admit, this'll be our major project were doing with Amora, so we're nervous. We believe things will be fine there, but we'll see....

 

Thanks for all your comments, you guys are awesome....

Really sorry to hear that this happened to you & your wife on your very first outing with Amora. I've never taken my DD or have had a DD meet at the Huntington Library. Myself & others were always discouraged by the high price of admission for a few hours of picture taking. Now knowing this makes me glad we never tried to have a meet there (which is a shame because it is quite lovely).

 

I guess when it comes to the "Props" part being a no-no it comes down to the individual botanical gardens. I've met up with many other DD owners at The Arboretum in Arcadia and we have never had any problems with taking pictures of our dolls there. There was one time when we came as a group that they saw our doll carriers and thought we had tripods/reflectors/etc in there, but once we showed them that there were only dolls inside they were fine and let us in. I've also gone just by myself with my dolls and also never had any problems. Obiwanivan & pichu10176 have been to The Arboretum twice this month with their dolls (May 9th & May 24th) and had no problems. So I definitely suggest for you & your wife to try going there to get your botanical garden fix It's a lovely garden and the admission price is much cheaper at only $9.00 per adult ($6.00 if you have a Student ID).

 

Have a wonderful time on Bats Day at Disneyland and I do hope you try to take Amora out again to other places. And as others have suggested public parks are always good! We have had plenty of meets at parks with no problems. And beaches will be great for summer photos (which I need to go and do).

I'm so sorry that happened to you! I can understand why a place like a garden or museum would want a permit for photographers with tripods & props, and I guess they have to draw the line somewhere & not make exceptions. Don't be discouraged though! There are lots of public places without those restrictions that you can take wonderful pics in.

The same sort of thing happened to me at this meet I organized late last month all the way over here in New Jersey. Live and learn. Put some feelers out there/research/etc. for another location in the future. Then contact whoever you can contact at the location in order to make sure everything's going to be okay.

 

I was talking to a couple people who came to my meet, and they told me about this other place. We might go there in the fall.

 

Of course, we had two previous successful meets at the original place, so finding out that doll photography wasn't allowed last month was a real pain

On a recent trip to Como park and zoo in the Twin Cities, mitsuki and I were told that we couldn't take "posed photography" without first buying a permit. It's definitely a prop thing, since many people would stop on the rock bridges in the Japanese gardens to pose for other members of their party to take photos...

 

We were disappointed and annoyed, since we'd previously taken DD photos there without any issue, but we were also just about done at that point, too.

This is really a horrible experience, I'm sorry. Places like parks should be free to the public but everything is about fees$$$ now, they will start charging us even for breathing some day.

 

I don't take my dolls out, I would if I knew someone who likes the same hobby but me alone taking pictures in public is boring and depressing. This is why all my pictures are boring since I only take indoor pictures...

On a recent trip to Como park and zoo in the Twin Cities, mitsuki and I were told that we couldn't take "posed photography" without first buying a permit. It's definitely a prop thing, since many people would stop on the rock bridges in the Japanese gardens to pose for other members of their party to take photos...

 

We were disappointed and annoyed, since we'd previously taken DD photos there without any issue, but we were also just about done at that point, too.

"Posed photography" is exactly what they said to us last May, too. I've got to wonder if it's not some sort of new park business practice that has been schemed nationwide. *puts on tinfoil hat*