US Parks Charging for Photos

If you’re a professional photographer shooting groups on United States National Park Service land, you now need a permit to do so.

In a move designed to offset the costs of maintenance and security associated with commercial photography on park land, professional photographers will now have to buy a permit costing between $50 and $250 depending on the size of the group being photographed.

So if you plan to have your wedding photos snapped at the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone, you have to factor in the cost of the permit.

As a photographer, obviously this is disappointing. But for American photographers, this new system must be particularly aggravating since the land is publicly owned - so even though US citizens own the land, they now have to pay to use it for certain types of photography.