I am always looking to expand my skills, trying my hand at macro, portraits, HDR, etc. I recently upgraded my equipment quite a bit, and want to try my hand at sports photography.

First, a bit of background... I am a school bus driver, currently with more than 10 years on the job. This year, I have pulled back a bit, and am basically driving as a substitute, and taking field trips for the sports teams.

So, here I am, spending a couple of afternoons a week sitting on a bus, waiting for the teams to finish their games and come back, so I can run them back to school again.

Seems like a recipe for happiness, yes? Or at least serendipity...

Yesterday afternoon, I was to take our middle-school girl's basketball team to a neighboring school district. I know that some school districts are a bit 'peculiar' when it comes to photos of students (I had a discipline issue on the bus, and the mother of the culprit was called in to the school - she was not allowed to watch the video, because it portrayed other students...), so I called the school that we were to visit. The secretary wouldn't even consider the question, and passed me on to the principal, who of course was not at his desk, so I left a message. I explained that I was a bus driver, bringing the visiting teams for their games, and would like to photograph the games.

He never called back, or at least not until after I left. Someone on his staff *did* however, call the transportation director of this district, basically saying "why is this pervert wanting to take photos of our students?". My boss got a phone call that she really couldn't answer.

I was told that under no circumstances was I to enter their school building with a camera.

An administrator from the school we were visiting did eventually call back and leave me a message. Apparently, they only allow professional press photographers to take pictures of their games...

Do these people realize that every single person who comes to watch the games is carrying a camera in their phone??? Parents, friends, even other members of the team, are all snapping away on their cellphones. The kids on the team were all comparing their photos on the bus going back afterwards...

What kind of sick minds do these people have, that they can only think a pervert might want to take photos? I do this for my church, and occasionally for the local Y, when I run trips for their summer daycare. I am strictly amateur, and when I have processed the images, I drop off a CD, and tell them that they can pass pictures on to interested parents. My church pictures usually get posted on Facebook, and/or the church's own website.

So, here I am, wanting to take sports photographs, and I get to sit on the bus waiting for the kids to come out... I could go in, but I am only interested in the photography side, and have no real interest in the game, per se.

Anybody else come across this kind of stupidity???