Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Requests Not to Take Photos



For all the food bloggers who take photos in restaurants: have you ever had someone ask you not to take pictures? If so, what has been your response?


This post was written by Nosher from NYCnosh
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7 comments:

Cybele said...

I was in a bakery/chocolatier called Boule in Los Angeles and they have a prominent sign that says no photos inside the store (well, no photos without permission).

I complied, but asked for permission and was still denied. They said something about the store being "trademarked". It's their perrogative, but it did leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005 10:31:00 AM
Pim said...

I was at Boule last weekend too, and was told the same thing. It was kind of funny that the store that was trying so hard to protect their "intellectual property" and "trademark" was proudly selling Michel Bras's Banana Cake.

As for restaurants, I have never been told no when I asked permission to take photos. I don't use flash in fancy restaurants unless I'm in a private room or the kitchen table. I sometimes use flash at bistros, but only if I had to and if it didn't bother anyone.

I also do research in advance, to try to gauge the chef's reaction. I know, for example, that Pierre Gagnaire hates people photographing his food. He is so protective of his work that he wouldn't even publish recipes, so I don't even try when I go there.

I always ask though, even at somewhere that I've taken photographs before. I don't assume anything.

Also, my camera is tiny, Sony DSC T-1, people hardly notice when I use it.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005 10:53:00 AM
sarah said...

yeap - i have been asked, and i just apologize and put my camera away. i *sigh* because i always like having pix of the food, but it's okay.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005 7:50:00 PM
SaltShaker said...

I've never been asked in a restaurant, though occasionally in a store. My feeling in a restaurant is that I'm paying for the food, the "theater", and the experience, and part of my experience is photography. My response to being asked not to would be that while I understand, unless they plan to pick up the check, I will take photos of the food - I would respect a request not to take photos of the dining room that include other customers, certainly. In a store, I think I'd have to respect their request, as I'm not paying for "the experience"... at best I'm paying for a product to take with me, and that I can photograph after I leave.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005 8:06:00 PM
Anonymous said...

I simple ask, "Can I get this to go" so I can take a photo of it at home? Then I tell them about all the good publicity they are going to get with my photo being published on the web, that it will be better publicity than a photo of their food sloshed around in a styrofoam container.

Sunday, October 02, 2005 1:55:00 PM
the chocolate lady said...

I do not take pictures in restaurants. Restaurants are a refuge--tiny pockets of civility and deliciousness in a cruel world. It is annoying and unfair to folks who perhaps have only this brief restaurant visit to relax and indulge themselves to have flashes going off near their eyes.

Exterior photos can illustrate entries on restaurants.

Sunday, October 09, 2005 5:27:00 PM
cucina testa rossa said...

i had one guy at a farmers market here in paris ask me stop and menacingly waved a long stick at me. a few bowls of spices at farmers market, please! that's hardly intellectual property. a new amazing chocolate shop on rue mouffetard said no photos but when i asked, they obliged with one photo.

Sunday, October 16, 2005 7:16:00 AM

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