Beauty Pageant Madness!!!

My wife thought it would be fun to enter our 5 year old girl in a beauty pageant. She was concerned that it would be too competitive and called the person in charge to inquire. She assured my wife that it was 'low key' and 'just for fun.' It was a western theme event.

Well, it was anything but low key. I'm not trying to offend anyone that is a pageant regular, but that was madness!!! Mom's screaming at kids, slathering make up on kids as young at 12 months, and coaching in a, well, intense (more like threatening) way from behind the curtains. One of the child's answers when asked why she was in the pageant was, "Because my mom made me."

Anyway, that was my daughter's first and last pageant. It was a good experience...I guess.

Now that I have strayed from what was supposed to be my point...photography. I was totally denied at the door. She saw me cradling my 70-200 and stopped me cold. Absolutely no pictures inside. They had 'professionals' there to take the pictures and would be available on their website.

I understand there are people there with better gear, better lenses, and certainly better seats than me taking photos. That is great, but what if I want to take my own photos? Is this common? I realize it is their deal and their rules, but we paid over $140 in an entrance fee and tickets for myself, wife, son, mom, and father in-law. I just wanted to take pictures of my little angel up on stage

The whole experience was bitter for me. More importantly, however, was that my daughter loved it. She was upset that we couldn't go back tomorrow. That alone made it worthwhile. Here is one of the few images I got:

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'text/html'

Yes it is normal and appropriate for no cameras.

I can only imagine every single parent having the same idea you did, you would see every seat empty and hundreds of people up around the stage taking pictures. Just like a play or a show it is more about not distracting those on stage with 100's of people running around saying "look here", "do this", "do that". I know you wouldn't do it but as you have noted there are some crazy parents in things like this.

Nice shot, so what did you do sneak in the camera......I won't give you my opinion of that.

taygull wrote in post #3252407
Nice shot, so what did you do sneak in the camera......I won't give you my opinion of that.

This was outside after the event.

MikeI wrote in post #3253952
This was outside after the event.

Cool, glad to see the instructions were followed.

If your daughter enjoyed it then I'd let her keep doing it, there would be nothing greater than to see a family do well and beat out the moms who put so much pressure on the kids.

MikeI wrote in post #3252163
what if I want to take my own photos? Is this common? I realize it is their deal and their rules, but we paid over $140 in an entrance fee and tickets for myself, wife, son, mom, and father in-law. I just wanted to take pictures of my little angel up on stage

It's all about money. Plain and simple.

While it's true that I generally support policies prohibiting photography at performances for the reasons stated above, that is not the real reason behind the policy.

Beauty pageants, and the organizations that promote them, are pretentious money-making machines. They collect from everyone involved. The "professional" they hired will kick back a percentage to the organization per contract. They don't want amateurs cutting into their sales.

A friend of mine was in a pageant a year ago. The "professional" was using a Sto-Fen, bouncing flash off a 40-foot dark ceiling in a large theatre. I didn't figure they would allow others to shoot but I decided to ask anyway. The answer was not a polite "I'm sorry, no." The answer was a very stern "Absolutely not!"

I'm glad your daughter had fun though. That's the most important thing. Some of the parents at these events make little league dads seem tame by comparison.

And that's a great shot, too!

Curtis N wrote in post #3254467
It's all about money. Plain and simple.

While it's true that I generally support policies prohibiting photography at performances for the reasons stated above, that is not the real reason behind the policy.

Beauty pageants, and the organizations that promote them, are pretentious money-making machines. They collect from everyone involved. The "professional" they hired will kick back a percentage to the organization per contract. They don't want amateurs cutting into their sales.

A friend of mine was in a pageant a year ago. The "professional" was using a Sto-Fen, bouncing flash off a 40-foot dark ceiling in a large theatre. I didn't figure they would allow others to shoot but I decided to ask anyway. The answer was not a polite "I'm sorry, no." The answer was a very stern "Absolutely not!"

I'm glad your daughter had fun though. That's the most important thing. Some of the parents at these events make little league dads seem tame by comparison.

And that's a great shot, too!

Thank you, Curtis ... I thought I had replied similarly but I guess I thought better of it! My daughter (5-1/2) is into ballet instead and they asked me to take pictures and allowed all the parents (no flash) even though they sell prints and DVDs (they professionally video the show.) If my daughter were ever asked to be in a pageant the first thing I would ask is if I could take pictures and if not, she wouldn't participate and I don't care if every kid in the valley was in it!

Beauty pageants at all levels are gruesome exploitation of girls for profit ... similar to other endeavors where old white men make money from pretty young women and girls! Even young fashion and runway models get better treatment!

besides from what dwight said about the exploitation (which i totally agree with), you have a beautiful daughter

Good idea, them not allowing cameras. I can imagine the sex predators coming out to all these events and passing the pictures around the net.

matt1987 wrote in post #3265536
besides from what dwight said about the exploitation (which i totally agree with), you have a beautiful daughter

I apologize for being such a zealot! But I am a zealot about some things ... and proud of it!

Suicidenote wrote in post #3265695
Good idea, them not allowing cameras. I can imagine the sex predators coming out to all these events and passing the pictures around the net.

I am oh, so happy, that Orange County is such a magnet for the predators ... keeps Santa Barbara clean! But I am not sure whether you are suggesting that photographers are more likely to be sexual predators than others? And since I don't know any that I know of I don't know.

Suicidenote wrote in post #3265695
Good idea, them not allowing cameras. I can imagine the sex predators coming out to all these events and passing the pictures around the net.

What a load of crap - yes there are sick predators out there but this whole don't take pictures of children in case the pedofiles get hold of them movement is a load of hyped up crap that needs to be stopped.

Prosecute those who break the law to the full extent of the law - lock the bastards up and throw away the key, zap their nether regions with high voltage, whatever it takes but don't go jumping to insane conclusions about taking photos of kids.

blackshadow wrote in post #3265799
What a load of crap - yes there are sick predators out there but this whole don't take pictures of children in case the pedofiles get hold of them movement is a load of hyped up crap that needs to be stopped.

Prosecute those who break the law to the full extent of the law - lock the bastards up and throw away the key, zap their nether regions with high voltage, whatever it takes but don't go jumping to insane conclusions about taking photos of kids.

Well, overjoyed to see I'm not the only zealot! And you are so much more blunt than me ... how refreshing! Yes, photographing children or bridges or anything else being somehow linked to terrorism or abuse is totally absurd. Sexual predators and terrorists pee so that makes everyone who pees a predator and terrorist?

When I first read the title of this post, it reminded me of this one: Click.
Glad it didn't turn out that way Nice image...

I think it is sad that taking pictures of bridges and kids will raise alarm bells. Not every person is a peadophile or terorist.

What saddens me is the whole pageant industry and especially when it is concerning minors.

Children as young as 12 months should not wear make up. They should not be put on a parade and prance about in bikini's and made to look like mini adults. THAT is what feeds the peadophilia communities. Just as much as letting kids walk around in low cut jeans with rhinestones on the bum spelling out words like "b*itch" etc.

Or so low cut that they would need a brazillian if they were full blown adults because you can see the pubic bone (as on my friend's daughter when she was 13).

I am female and believe I am entitled to dress as sexy as I want to when I want to and it does not mean that it is an open invitation to make a pass at me.

Kids as young as 2, 4, 6 or even 10 does not know how hard the real world is and should not be forced to be adults prematurely.

Most teenagers are attention seeking because they don't get any at home and will instead dress to get attention when out and about but too innocent and naive to realize the consequenses and have the maturity to handle it.

So if pageants with kids shall continue having properly screaned professional (see, I learned to spell that today) photographers just to minimize the risk of a deviant person slipping under the radar taking inapropriate images and spreading them is not a bad thing. (This not meaning that OP is a deviant person.) At the same time as I understand that it is a pain that you then have to pay for the images when a professional photographer parent could have snapped a foto of his/her kid no fee included, is a pain. It should be included in the entry fee.

We can also blame it on the likes of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan and the likes as the kids are constantly faced with images of these women barely dressed in public or on stage.

Hang on - that makes us photographers partly responsible as we take those pictures.

I'll get me coat.

Wow!! I go to work for a few days and see some great opinions!!!

I guess my whole point in this post was to vent a little frustration. My daughter is the most precious thing to ever walk this earth. Her happiness comes before anything. She loves to sing and dance, and play dress up in her princess outfits. She is a typical 5 year old. My wife thought it would be fun to let her participate in a pageant. Our concern was the that it would be a full on, competitive beauty pageant. That is why she called the director before entering. She was assured that it was, "Low key" and "All the kids will have fun."

My wife spent a week making the outfit for her. She paraded around the house, excited about being in the pageant. Before we even got inside the venue, I knew we were in trouble. There were moms coaching their 3 year olds in the parking lot, showing them how to walk, blow kisses, etc.

Once again, I'm not trying to offend anyone that actively participates in these. To each his own....It was just a huge let down for us. When I was told to put away my camera, that was just the icing on the cake. The most annoying thing was there were dozens of people taking pictures w/ their point and shoots. I guess the big white lens intimidated them

After her group was finished, we went outside to take the pictures. One of the staff members tried to usher us inside, saying they were going to announce the winners. We said no thanks. Before she left, I asked her about why I couldn't take pictures. Her answer was, "There are professional photographers inside." I said, "Well what if I'm a professional photographer, too?" Essentially, she said that they had contracted with the people running the pageant for the photo rights so they could sell them. At least she was honest.

If I had a chance to do it again, the only thing I would change would be this: As soon as my daughter walked out, I would throw my camera on continuous shooting and fire away. It wouldn't effect any other contestants. They would be pissed and tell me to put my camera away. By that time, she would be off stage and I would be leaving. Good riddance.

Please feel free to tell me how wrong that would be to break the pageant rules