Guided Painting and Photography Workshops CUA

 

Overview

This CUA authorizes road-based photography and painting workshops which include photography and/or painting instruction or facilitation. Stops at visitor facilities, services, walks on trails less than one-half mile from trailheads or roadways, and on boardwalks/developed areas are authorized under this CUA.

General Provisions

1. Definitions
   1. Photography Workshops: An organized group using an itinerary that has been packaged, priced, or sold as a guided, facilitated, or instructional photography session. Photography Workshops embrace the scenic, cultural, and/or natural resources of Yellowstone National Park to create a facilitated or instructional experience designed to provide a photography opportunity and/or improve a photographer’s skills and/or photography techniques.
   2. Painting Workshops: An organized group using an itinerary that has been packaged, priced, or sold as a guided, facilitated, or instructional painting session. During these sessions, visitors are provided painting and related art instruction and/or facilitated opportunities that embrace the scenic, cultural, and/or natural resources of Yellowstone National Park.
   3. Incidental Videography Instruction: defined as instruction that accompanies, but is not the main focus or advertised purpose, of the workshops intended goals or itinerary, and is circumstantial to the workshop’s painting or photography lesson plan. A Special Use Permit may be required to be obtained for commercial filming before filming if footage will be used commercially.
   4. Step-on Guide: CUA holders may act as step-on guide/instructor for the purpose of providing photography or painting instruction. A step-on guide is defined as a person who rides in a visitor’s vehicle, or other commercial vehicle and acts as a photography or painting instructor. It is the CUA holder’s responsibility to check the clients’ proof of auto liability insurance before the trip.
   5. Props: Sets and props means items constructed or placed on agency lands to facilitate commercial filming or still photography including, but not limited to, backdrops, generators, microphones, stages, lighting banks, camera tracks, vehicles specifically designed to accommodate camera or recording equipment, rope and pulley systems, and rigging for climbers and structures. Sets and props also include trained animals and inanimate objects, such as camping equipment, campfires, wagons, and so forth, when used to stage a specific scene. The use of a camera on a tripod, without the use of any other equipment, is not considered a prop.
   6. Models: Model means a person or object that serves as the subject for commercial filming or still photography for the purpose of promoting the sale or use of a product or service. Models include, but are not limited to, individuals, animals, or inanimate objects, such as vehicles, boats, articles of clothing, and food and beverage products, placed on agency lands so that they may be filmed or photographed to promote the sale or use of a product or service. For the purposes of this part, tour participants are not considered models, if the image will not be used to promote or sell a product or service.

Operational Requirements

2. Group size is limited to 15 participants including guides/instructors for photography workshops, painting workshops, and step-on guiding.
   1. There is no limit to the number of separate groups a CUA holder can bring into the park in a single day, as long as the group size of no more than 15 participants is adhered to.
   2. Separate groups must be dispersed and may not congregate at a boardwalks, pullouts, trails, or trailheads.
3. All individuals are required to comply as directed by NPS staff engaged in administering wildlife management operations or managing wildlife viewing opportunities.
4. Guides and clients may not ask other visitors to move and areas may not be closed to accommodate painting and photography workshops.
   1. Permitted tour groups are sharing visitor facilities with the general public. This permit does not convey any priority use of any park area including park trails, roadside pullouts, parking areas, picnic areas, etc. Permittees are responsible for the conduct of their clients.
5. Impeding traffic or causing unnecessary delays in traffic is prohibited.
   1. Slow moving vehicles must use pullouts and parking areas to allow for the free flow of other traffic.
   2. Vehicles may not stop in the roadway to allow clients to take pictures or to load and unload passengers.
6. Vehicles may not be left idling in parking areas or park across multiple parking spaces. Loading zones must not be occupied longer than necessary to load and unload passengers.
7. Parking spaces in pull-outs are available on a first-come first-served basis and may be blocked or saved.

Equipment

8. Incidental props are authorized under this CUA. Incidental props are handheld objects, or items that a person may be carrying/wearing (e.g., binoculars, photo equipment).
   1. The use of models, non-incidental props, sets, lighting, and other specialized equipment are not authorized under this authorization.
   2. Photography and videography equipment allowed in this authorization is limited to hand-held equipment and tripods (e.g. SLR cameras, micro 4/3^rd cameras, action cameras, point-and-shoot cameras, etc.)
   3. For nighttime photography, illuminating park features and landscapes in any way for the purpose of photography is not authorized.
   4. The use of tripods or any multi-legged stabilization device is authorized but may not interfere with the general visiting public or with the free flow of traffic on roads, boardwalks, and trails.

Permitting

8. Operators wishing to utilize models, non-incidental props, sets, lighting, and other specialized equipment in association with this CUA may need to obtain a special use permit. For more information, please visit Film, Photography, and Sound Recording Permits.
9. Tours with incidental photography are more appropriate for the environmental education or road-based tour CUA.
10. Incidental videography instruction is authorized under this CUA in non-thermal areas.
    1. Commercial filming is not authorized under this CUA and participants interested in commercial film permits for projects outside of these workshops may reach out to the Special Use Permit office at [e-mail].
    2. Retroactive permits will not be issued for footage obtained during workshops.

 

How to Apply for This Activity

1. Apply for a 2025 CUA through the CUA Online Application and Reporting System (COARS).
2. To view tutorials on how to apply for a CUA using COARS please visit: How to Apply for a Commercial Use Authorization (CUA) Permit.
3. 2024 permit holders, please visit Annual Reports and Management Fees to complete and submit reports and pay fees (due by January 31, 2025).
4. For proposed commercial operations taking place prior to December 31, 2024, please contact the Commercial Services Office at [e-mail] for application materials.

 

Resources

Commercial Use Authorizations (CUAs)
Main CUA page Apply for a CUA FAQs CUA Annual Reports Guide Info Registration and Park Entry Protocol	CUA Law and Policy CUA Denial and Revocation Policy Special Use Permits Backcountry Permits Special Park Conditions
Plan Your Tour	Learn About the Park
Park roads Accessibility Bear Management Areas Fishing Regulations Boating Regulations	Superintendent's Compendium Vital Signs Reports Resources for Commercial Guides Resources and Issues Handbook Foundation Document