So, you think it's easy...

[jools-elliott]

Afternoon all

You'd think that taking pictures was an easy game? Well, on Wednesday I was up in Paris and the hassle that I got was unbelieveable!

My troubles weren't from the police rather the archaic laws that the Paris town hall and National Monuments have inflicted upon the city.

For a start, if you want to use a tripod in Notre Dame, that'll be around 1200€ please. Same goes for its towers, Sainte Chapelle and a couple of other places they reeled off to me. Eiffel Tower at night? Forget it, the lights are copyrighted. Same goes for the west front of Notre Dame.

Found a gorgeous interior at Saint Severin. No hassle there apart from when I was doing one of my straight up shots, my had been leant back for long and I nearly passed out

Went into Saint Eustache, which blows away Notre Dame by a mile interior wise. Managed to get 7 tripod shots before getting a lecture.

The best place was up an office block where when I asked if I could use a tripod they said "sure thing".

Despite all this nonsense, I managed to get some nice moody shots during the day. I have a contact in the poster industry who is "very interested" in what I did the other day

Paris. Nice place to visit but without a tripod!

Jools

[markgozz]

Oh my god ,

And I thought it was bad over here with the private property garbage .

1200 euros ? really

Mark

[donoreo]

A lot of place, especially churches, will not allow you to use a tripod. At that point they think you are a professional and want a cut The Cistine Chapel has an outright ban on photos. They sold the rights to any photo taking in exchange for restoration.

[jools-elliott]

I'm not kidding!

For some, it was more than 1200€.

[wavemachine]

You could pay the 1200€ take the photo and say what do you think of this, show them the shot and then charge them 1300€ for looking at it

Seriously though that is both shocking and a shame

[jools-elliott]

The problem I have is that on my HD I have a number of saleable images. Before I can do anything with them, I need to ask the libraries where I'm a member as to what they want to do.

Thankfully, the images that are potentially headed to my poster contact don't need any such checks.

[DaBe86]

I gained other experience though because as I was there I took lots of pics of the Eiffel Tower during the day and also at night...WITH a tripod. There even were police men walking about and passing me but they never wanted my money. They didn't even say anything. Maybe because there were so many people taking pics with a tripod and they couldn't be bothered to tell everyone off

[Ashleyj]

Originally Posted by DaBe86

I gained other experience though because as I was there I took lots of pics of the Eiffel Tower during the day and also at night...WITH a tripod. There even were police men walking about and passing me but they never wanted my money. They didn't even say anything. Maybe because there were so many people taking pics with a tripod and they couldn't be bothered to tell everyone off

Like you I also took photos of the Eiffel Tower at night using a tripod and was not hassled once. It would appear to be luck of the draw whether or not you are stopped for being too 'professional'.

[DaBe86]

Originally Posted by Ashleyj

Like you I also took photos of the Eiffel Tower at night using a tripod and was not hassled once. It would appear to be luck of the draw whether or not you are stopped for being too 'professional'.

Maybe I didn't look professional enough and quite beginner-like while fiddling with my camera and the tripod so they didn't care

[jools-elliott]

You would have git away with the Eiffel Tower. However, I can assure anyone trying to use a tripod within somewhere like Notre Dame you will be stopped!