Yes.
Particularly at religious sites around the world.

Not being religious myself, but wanting to respect the rules and beliefs of others, there have been many times when I've simply had to accept that taking a picture of sacred venues would be inappropriate.
But I can't say that I've complied with the rules 100% of the time... basically adhering to the rule that if no one else is there to admonish me, I'll discreetly take the picture.

On the flip side, I then feel like sharing these images publicly would be inappropriate as well, so the pictures themselves are really only ever viewed by me. Guess I'm pretty selfish in that regard, but also don't feel anyone was hurt, nothing was damaged, and no one was ultimately offended.

No harm, no foul?

I must confess that even when I am unable to fight back the urge to take pictures in such areas, I feel some sense of guilt having known that I photographed a 'forbidden' subject.

+++

And certainly there are people all over the world who don't appreciate having their picture taken by a stranger, let alone a foreigner.

In one particular incident, I was in Oman and hiked solo up a deep canyon, where at the base of the canyon stood a small hill with a nice peak. Recognizing the opportunity to get a cool vantage point at the top, I climbed up and discovered a small remote village on the other side. A community of about 10-15 homes, rustic fences, and a small mosque - an incredible photo appeared in my mind, and I instinctively pulled out my DSLR and framed the image.

I think the sun reflected off my lens, and one of the children playing in the yard pointed up at me and instantly about 15 children and a handful of adults were staring up at me. Several of the men started yelling and waving at me: I couldn't understand their words, but they made it clear that they didn't want me taking a picture of their community.

One one hand, I was probably a good 20 minutes scramble from where they were to my perch above their community, on the other hand, they certainly felt as though I was invading their property. Whether I was legally 'allowed' to take such a picture was not really in my mind. And given that I was having an otherwise very relaxed day entirely alone in a sublime wilderness area, I fought back my urge to take the picture from behind a hidden pile of rocks atop the small mountain.

So what ultimately prevents me from taking pictures where I may be considered an 'intruder'?
I guess some of it has to do with my feeling that photography is something that I enjoy. I feel a certain kind of 'flow-state' when I'm engaged in capturing a subject that compels me. When I feel like I'm 'stealing' a shot, I am rushed and distracted, and no longer enjoy the experience.

I'm sure there are photographic journalists who get a thrill from taking pictures of things that are condemned, and photography can play a pivotal role in documenting social injustices that should definitely be exposed to the world despite the objections of others.

But I'm certainly not at that level of commitment. Even when I was in Hong Kong during the current protests, I felt a bit anxious in taking pictures of the demonstrations: largely in fear that it could cause problems for me in China or upon attempting to leave the country.

I guess this is something each photographer must decide on their own, and it certainly extends into an exploration of one's personal morals, priorities, and beliefs.

As Socrates famously said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."
Perhaps this is one of the reasons I find photography to be such a fulfilling hobby, as it pushes me to examine the world not only from behind the glass of my camera, but through the lens of greater social behaviors as well.

Even with right-click disabled, I can still view the source code of your site using the developer tools provided in any browser to sift through the source code and snatch your image file.

Consider that if there were a better method than watermarks for absolutely protecting images, then Shutterstock would use it (they use watermarks.

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Post low-res versions of your pics.

2. Disable right-click on your site (people can still get around this in a number of ways).

3. Don't let the fact that people CAN steal low quality versions of your work deter you from the possibility that honest people may be willing to pay for high quality prints.

Very nice.

I also agree with this for the most part - especially the opening sentence.

Here are some thoughts based on my experience getting into photography...

- Don't get a 'bridge camera' - get something with interchangeable lenses. I believe the lens is generally more important than the camera, and didn't really understand this when I jumped into photography. If you just want to document what you see, a bridge camera is fine. Then again, so is your iPhone.

- Get in the habit of saving a little more to get a camera that you won't feel limited by in a year. When I first got into photography, I bought equipment that I could afford to buy right away, instead of saving a little more to buy equipment that I would use as my skills and interests grew. Nearly everything I bought in the first year has now been rendered obsolete as I learned the value of saving for better equipment.

I've also had great experiences with e-infin.com.
But it's definitely 'grey market' gear.

Pretty sure all non-grey market gear for major brands will sell for the same MSRP price.

Two thoughts:

- "100 x 1": I think the "1" is the actual number of images being produced.

- When I do long exposure shots with my D500, it often takes almost twice as long for the camera to process each shot as the interval I've selected (ex. a 20 second exposure takes about 40 seconds to process). When I take multiple pictures at once, it takes a picture, processes it, and then takes the next one).

I got a great deal on the Sigma 150-600 Contemporary when I was living in Japan - about $700 'used' but it came with all the packaging in-tact and seemed to be perfectly new.
It's a great lens for the money, but in retrospect - 3 years later having seen what the Nikkor 200-500 can do - I wish I'd paid extra to get the Nikkor.

I've used Photoshop for over 10 years for website, banner, newsletter, and logo design;
I mean, I thought I was highly proficient in PS, and could create amazing graphics with it, easily modify the size, shape, brightness, clarity, and create complete website layouts with Photoshop.
Then I started using it for photography,
and it was like starting over with a new software: entire regions of the software opened up to me, and I felt like a rookie all over again.

My takeaway is this: if you think you've mastered everything in Photoshop, you've at best learned to use the tools you've needed. And likely, there is a whole universe of functionality you have yet to even delve into ... typically:

- the "Pen" tool
- masking
- 3d rendering
- thousands of presets: paintbrushes, pattern stamps, etc.

Anyway, it's a much deeper rabbit's hole than most people understand.

If it's a "toy", then it's a toy the way a sophisticated camera is a "toy".

I'd get the Nikon D750.
Full frame, 24 Mpx, sales price under $1k... it's a great camera for a great price.

A e-infin.com they warranty their products for 1-year: not great since you have to ship back to Hong Kong, but it is some form of protection. I saved about $700 on a Nikkor 105mm f1.4 that arrived in perfect condition within days of placing my order, so was well worth it for me.

Stay away from Abe's - do a search on this site or at Google for "Abesofmaine reviews" and you'll see what I mean. Had a bad order experience with them before and it went like many of the reviews you see online.

I you don't mind going grey, there are other, better options.
I had a great experience with e-infin.com on a high-end Nikon lens, and they have pretty solid reviews from most of their customers.

They have the Sony a6400 for $799.00

.. and a6500 bundled with a 18-135mm lens for $1,249.00

Went to Morocco in 2017 and rented a car.
A common scam in Morocco is for a young man to approach you and start talking with you as you walk along. He will point out some local features and drop some local historical knowledge on you, and then ask for a payment once you arrive at your destination (as though he had 'guided' you). You will likely end up paying a couple dollars just to rid yourself of his presence.

If you actually hire them to guide you, they will show you some interesting places, usually shops where they have arrangements to be paid a commission for anything you buy. But they will likely shy away from the main tourist spots in fear of being caught by authorities for illegally offering tour services.

The "official" tour guides are a bit more expensive, but will follow your requests to see specific sights, and just having one in your company will ward off the freelancers.

My suggestion would be to hire official guides in each city along the way. Especially in Fez, and Ait-Ben-haddou. I didn't find a guide necessary in Chefchaoen or Marrakesh.

I used to live in China, and would periodically buy these knock-off GoPros since they are cheap enough to risk using them in the ocean (can't tell you how many GoPros have been lost in the waves).
Would get them for under $20.

For the most part, they 'work', but as others have mentioned, the lack of Image Stabilization results in videos that give you a headache when you try to watch them.

A bigger problem is that the waterproof housing is usually poorly made: the metal parts in the case quickly rust out, and the compartment often would easily come open when I was using it in the water.

Ultimately, there's a reason GoPro products sell for hundreds of dollars: they've refined their product through many iterations (currently on ver 8) and worked out many bugs.

Nikon WILL repair a grey market camera body IF they have the parts for it: they changed their policy a couple years ago and I recently called their support staff to confirm. They will also repair grey market lenses and stated that the issue with not having the exact parts for camera bodies is more common than with lenses.