Edinburgh prefers riders rather than photographers. Rider-photographers are OK. We used to follow the London photographer policy, but it’s now London centric, so here’s the local Edinburgh centric advice!

Any publicity is good publicity (sort of.) so we don’t mind people taking photos. BUT individuals may prefer not to be photographed, especially up close, or when changing, or being painted. Riders should note that when EWNBR started, most photographers were at the start. On the route it was mostly random tourists. Now everyone has a phone or tablet with a camera.

If you are worried about appearing online, possibly a hat or wig, some fancy dress, and a pair of dark sunglasses may reduce the chance of being recognised. If you do take pictures, there is a flickr group so any photos that publicise our cause are good, but play nice and if someone indicates that they are unwilling to be photographed, please respect that. If the weather permits, there will be a “modesty screen.” in the form of a windbreak.

Some points to be mindful off:

• The Meadows has is under Edinburgh council’s Parks department, and their fiat holds. Go and look at their policy if you are taking photos for commercial purposes.
• Play nice. If someone indicates they don’t want to be photographed, don’t. If you already have identifiable photos of them, please delete them.
• Get at least implied consent to take a photo of an individual if you can.
• The area within the windbreak is a no photography zone. Under Scottish law, it could be argued that it is an area where people have a reasonable expectation of privacy. If you take their photo without explicit permission this could lead to prosecution. So don’t.
• Harassing people, upskirting, or upkilting, is illegal. So don’t. We will have a total sense of humour failure. So will Police Scotland. It’s likely, at the very least to be a breach of the peace*. (Which a naked protest isn’t.)

*A note for the English and Welsh. A breach of the peace in Scotland is different to England and Wales. It's more than a ticking off. Look it up. The law here is different, since Scotland has a constitutional right to a separate legal system.