wesm Loc: Los Altos CA

Well said, and well received, I hope.
At Il Duomo in Florence, they were quite serious about attire; refusing entry to women in shorts or short skirts, or without a suitable scarf for covering necklines. The street vendors do a thriving business there.

IDK about it being mostly Americans, I saw lots of tourists from other continents, usually in big tour groups with lots of selfie sticks, show their disrespect by crowding in front of everything to get a selfie, then moving on without ever looking at the attraction. And yes, they tried to do the same in the Sistine Chapel.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Some words to the wise...about shooting in public areas, exhibition venues and tourist attractions, especially in foreign countries.

Believe it or not, in my 73 years on this planet, I have found that most folks are nice people but some of us tend to remember the rude ones. In my 50+ years in the professional photography business, I have a basic rule of thumb for garnering cooperation form all kinds of folks, officials, security people, church officials and just ordinary folks. My policy is that “you get more with honey than with vinegar”. I always find that politeness, professionalism and common sense stuff like asking permission, seeking necessary permits or credentials and plain old good manners usually pays off.

Just being nice has gained me admission and privileges in places where no other photographer have gone before me or have been restricted for years. Sometimes, however, the rules are the rules and it is best just to follow the program or walk away.

Getting into confrontations with rude folks is never a good idea- it just makes things worse. When traveling abroad, it is important to remember that you many not have the same kind of rights as you have in your home country and having a altercation in a public place can land you in the jail house- and that's putting it mildly.

For better photographic opportunities, I sometimes find it is best to visit certain places at off-peak hours when the tourist population is down- perhaps off season.

I have worked as a press photographer for a daily newspaper and have done assignments for many other media outlets and organizations. Even with press credentials, my movements were sometimes restricted at certain events and venues. It is unfortunate that polite and very professional-like photographers sometimes have to “pay the price” for both amateur and pro shooters who behave like boors. Back in the day, many photographers littered churches and other venues with film wrappers and spent flashbulbs- that goes back to the 1940s and 50s but certain restriction in theses places are still in force. Others have damaged floors and gardens with spiked tripod legs and walked across flower beds in public botanical gardens. Some wedding photographers have been known to interrupt ceremonies. Some folks think that the ownership of a camera comes with a free-for-all permit to go anywhere and do whatever they want- ths is a serious misconception.

As far as flash photography in museums and galleries is concerned, well, it is theorized that the cumulative effect of the ultraviolet content of electronic flash lighting will, in time, have a detrimental affect on the pigmentation of paintings and other graphics and works of art. I don't have the literature on that but I do know that flash and stroboscopic light do have a relatively high UV content. I have asked a number of archivists and curators about this and some adhere to the theory and some say it is debatable but why take chances. In some venues, perhaps the continuous flashing of light is just considered to be annoying to other patrons and visitors. In any event, as I alluded to in my last post, most on-camera speed-lights are not the tool of choice for art reproduction of any sort.

I have used polarized high powered studio type electronic flash units to reproduce art in museums and for private collectors and galleries. The lamp heads are placed at a safe distance form the painting so that the heat form the modeling lamps will not affect the artworks. The polarizing screens that I place in front of each lamp head will also absorb a great deal of the UV radiation. The lights are placed, at least, at a 45 degree angle to the camera/subject axis to bring out textures and preclude reflections.

I hope some of this information proves to be useful.

gsmith051 Loc: Fairfield Glade, TN

i found my 50 mm 1.8 lens worked just great.in most museums. The Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg was the toughest on regulations on any I visited all over Europe. No bag of any kind and absolutely no flash. The crowd was large but staying behind my group gave me a chance to shoot before the next group caught up. That worked in most museums. Take the fastest lens you have because tripods are out. Good luck and have a great time. /George

bennydnut Loc: Phila, Pa.

yep, Many places will not allow photography period, and many more places will not allow Flash.
good luck and enjoy your trip.

hpucker99 Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

There is software available that will reduce or remove the presence of crowds. The German firm Franzis makes a program that supposedly does this. You can also take multiple shot and create a smart object / stack in Photoshop and merge them. The safest bet is to somehow get photos with as few people as possible. Good luck.