No Photography in Monuments

A simple question. Do you respect "no photography signs", when you can get away with taking pictures.

Yesterday I travelled a long way to photograph a monument ( owned by a public body), that I have wanted to visit for ages. You pay a small sum, they open the monument and I was left to my own devices to wander as I pleased. I packed my cameras in a nondescript small hiking rucksack and went in and took the pictures I wanted.

These photography bans used to be really common here in Italy. They have almost disappeared thanks to the cell phone, making these rules unenforceable. It is really unfathomable how sometimes I can use even a tripod, and I even have had custodians turn lights on for me, my monopod method gets little notice and in the big sites I use IBIS. Then unexpectedly you get "no photography" rules in places that we subsidize with our taxes.

Maybe because I once worked for a news magazine when I came to Italy with almost zero Italian, and learnt to shoot and ask permission afterwards, that I have little respect for these archaic rules.

Hell no. I pay for it, or pay to get in, I take pictures.

On the other hand, I do respect no flash signs.

Does anybody use flash anymore?

I use it for family snaps in the dining room, interior light is warm tungsten, also illuminated by a patio door facing west. Hard to white balance without homogenizing the light...

Also use it for scale model photography, which is more engineering- than aesthetic-oriented. Can't see the itty-bitty parts, so I photograph them...

Yes. There was some fool using an on-camera flash in a Spanish cathedral to take pictures of vaulted ceilings 100 feet away.

Yes, I honor requests to not take photographs. Yes, I sometimes use a flash — though generally for specific set shots, not while wandering out and about.

They do have to post that rule because many people in museums are using kit cameras in programmed modes and have no idea how to turn it off.

Most places like museums, just do not allow flash. The National Gallery in London on my last visit allow photography without flash.

No, it is all about the terror that sombody might make some money selling pictures of their site.

They should, if they know what it's for.

No, it is all about the terror that somebody might make some money selling pictures of their site.
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I agree I think this is the main rational for their policies . On a side note flashguns damaging paintings etc is a myth long busted though it could certainly be irritating if loads of folk wandered a gallery firing random flashes . Without an actual good reason not to do so I would not be too concerned about taken photos

I have seen similar optimists 😄 At concerts and sporting events where they may be hundreds of feet away

Do I wanna come back here? Will I come back here? Am I looking for a problem?

These are things I keep in mind not just for signs about photography, but life in general.

Always respect the rules on flash. That crap ruins moments and interferes with performances. People deserved to be bounced immediately for using flash after being told not to.

Saw some seriously dumb SOB using a flash at a live animal show once with big cats after they hammered over the pa and signs everywhere saying no flash photography for safety reasons....I hope they beat that dude up in the parking lot for that. He deserved it for needlessly creating a problem that put people's lives at risk.

My favourite is the people shooting with the biggest, flashiest, most expensive gear using flash to shoot through glass cabinets and windows

Edit -I use flash, I love flash. Indoors, outdoors, with fast primes, stopped down a bit, marvelous things. The great subject noise eliminator, or dynamic range extender I call then

I like flash enough to grab one of these little jiggers. A RF controlled trigger and receiver foot. It works a treat, and cost pennies. Only manual control, but it's not rocket science. Being radio frequency controlled you can hide them behind things, use them outdoors in extremely bright light, one of my favourite purchases. And it's much much more ergonomic and comfortable with the tiny little transmitter on the camera (just a tiny bit larger than a coin/button cell) on a small and petite body, than a big, cumbersome flash gun.

I don't use it much since the advent of bright LEDs. But if I need a two or three thousand watt-seconds per exposure, I'll use flash. Flash also has a better CRI than any LEDs I've seen.

This thread has gone off course. It is not about flash or if flash is still useful or used. Personally I have not seen anybody using flash in a monument for ages. It is all cell phones now.

My post is all about the petty restrictions you come across concerning photography when you travel and visit places. Having travelled a hundred kilometres to photograph a place for a project I am doing, I was pissed off to put it mildly to see no "photography signs". Yes, I did check out their site beforehand as I always do and the rules of entry did not mention this fact.

But then the opening times were the usual "Monument Bingo", that you need to play in Italy, as Trip Advisor/Google maps, said they were open every day, their site said they were only open at the weekend, I phoned then and it turns out they are open all week but the custodian has to open for you and you have to pay €3 during the week.

BTW. Another place I want to visit, allows photography if you write an email asking permission, which when I want to visit, I will do. Bologna cathedral allows photography if you pay then €2. I paid to avoid hassle and it seems a sensible idea.

I was photographing a building that is about a thousand years old, the photons landing on my cameras sensor did not create a risk to anybody or damage anything. Nobody's privacy was violated.

Yes, I did the risk assessment and was certain that the caretaker had gone back to his afternoon nap.

You are kidding — no? I take photos in art galleries without flash, correct the perspective, etc, and can enjoy the result at home much better than standing craning my neck in front of the actual picture. They would not be more sellable if I used flash.

David

I never use flash either, I have a flash that I hardly use, but in monuments and museums I never use flash.

For sure. These glass cases are where flash just don't work even when allowed. Some of the hardest shots I've taken, waiting for the clowns to stop blasting away with their flashes.
Inside the Emperor Qin Shi Huangs Mausoleum, (same site as the Terracotta Warriors) these half sized bronze cast Horses & chariots are over 2000 years old. Fabulous technology for the time. The first ones (Horse & chariot) weigh 1240kg, the second 1060kg. Common knowledge has Chrome plating being invented in the early 20th century, yet they've found Chrome plated swords buried in here as well. The mind truly boggles. Brilliant place to visit, I wished I had more time. Might take another trip back there in the not too distant future, thoroughly enjoyed the day spent there. I reckon the little m4/3 camera did really well, next time I'll take a black towel or hood or similar, & get the wife to hold it over my head/shoulders to try & cut the reflections a bit