bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

Driving around looking for old falling down houses, waterfalls,old cars farm equipment I came across a big BIG old building .
What a great pic , then I see its a county park. Yea, I pull in the road
the very first thing I see is a big sign saying photography permit required.

OK I thought, I talked to the people , They gave me a 3 page form, Name ,address, phone # ,email address.
Then two pages of what Im not allowed to do, No commercial photography, not allowed to use flash inside, no tripods, on and on, and every statement had to be initialed . As im filling out the two pages the woman says there is a $5.00 fee.


Its a county park, my taxes pay for it, I wasn't happy
then I see "not allowed to post images on line," I then left
I wasn't happy some of the things I understand such as flash inside and people falling over a tripod. But you cant post a pic on line, and the $5.00 bugged me. They didnt collect $5.00 for people coming in to look around or to eat lunch on the back patio..

Did you ever come across a place where you had to pay to take a pic. ( besides running photo tours in federal parks )

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

What county? I'm in SE PA. Do they have a web site?

Bill_de Loc: US

I have heard of it, and it is pretty common, for commercial photography. I never heard of needing to pay a fee for non-commercial.

I'm not even sure if the "no posting" rule goes against the Supreme Court decision that is commonly referred to as "The Photographer's Bill of Rights".

A local town beach in NY tried to ban cameras a while back. We used to shoot there before the beach was open, so when the cop asked us to leave, and apologized for having to do so, we left. The president of our camera club went to town hall, explained the court decision, and we were back in the next week.

What the town was trying to do, and rightfully so, was put a stop to unwanted photos being taken in the locker rooms and being posted online. They had a right to ban cameras in those areas where people had an some expectation of privacy.

The cop welcomed us back, as did the piping plovers. :)

--

Selkii Loc: Oakland, CA & Vancouver Island

From the official site, California State Parks only require fees if the photos are meant for "sale or profit." I also checked my local city and county parks and have found no photo fee requirements. I never even gave it a thought until now.

Since these are PA county properties you are talking about, it must have been the brainchild of someone drumming up local revenues. Terrible!

jsharp Loc: Ballwin MO.

On several Indian Reservations out west and in several cathedrals in the UK. At one cathedral we were allowed to photograph as there wasn't anyone to take the money. Some county parks here require permits for commercial photos.

MtnMan Loc: ID

Yes, last summer in Bucharest, Romania. Maybe the county is run by Romainians.

I put my camera away.

dstalnaker Loc: Round Rock, Tx

I have only heard of this when it is in regards to COMMERCIAL photography, not for personal use. You may want to check that out with the establishment in question.

Dee Dee

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

It's quite common in Europe and the Middle East to have to pay a "photography fee" or "purchase a photography permit". The Hermitage in St. Petersburg for example. At the pyramids in Cairo you will have to pay a small fee to bring in a tripod or monopod (I guess they think that only professionals use those things).

katbandit Loc: new york city

it is possible that they thought you were going to use it for commercial use when you asked about filling out the forms..i sure as heck wouldn't have paid a fee either and probably wouldn't have even bothered to ask about the forms since it is in a public place ..there used to be a place in nyc that had buildings that were painted with tons of graffiti with posted signs also ..people were all over the place photographing it..the owners are just making sure that you are not publishing it in a book or an article for financial gain as they also would want to get a royalty for it...

Haydon

No big surprise....people with their hand out looking for money :)

Grnway Loc: Manchester, NH

I think that the biggest concern is not getting a royalty for photos taken for profit, but sometimes it's just to help defray the cost of maintaining the grounds.

picturedude Loc: Yosemite natl. park, Ca.

about the only place I have seen charge you for taking pictures was back in high school, and it was for the girls shower!

Fkaufman3 Loc: Florida, LA ie lower Alabama

Take pics of street performerce in New Orleans and they will chase you down.

catalint Loc: oslo

As my roots are Romanian , I feel somehow offended by your comment. I am trying to see the humor in it as well, but I know for a fact that lots of people have a general wrong idea and impression of Romania and their inhabitants.

These days, charging people some fees for just about anything is new way of earning an extra buck. Regardless of Romanian or other country.

C.