Photo Blogging

Has anyone else noticed a recent trend in a lot of resturants/stores that have added signs up asking for pictures not to be taken? Or at least when your photographing something you get a feeling that it's being frowned upon?

I noticed that on my last trip to Diho/Whole Grain market in Westmont they had added a long list of 'nono's on a sign as you entered the market and one of the things listed was 'no photos'. I asked one of the cashiers about it and she said that the owners would rather not have photos of their items redisplayed.

I've had this happen over the last few months at other places as well. Bobak's seemed to object at my photographing the salad case. A first time visit to a chinese resturant in Bridgeview got the staff up in arms as to what I was doing.

I'm wondering if this is a new trend or just something that I've never noticed before. Prior to this the digital camera I was using was quite small and compact. Recently I've switched to a Nikon D70 which is much larger and more noticable camera.

I'd be interested in hearing other peoples opinions or experiences.

Chain grocery stores all seem to have the no photography sign, which I suspect is a result of the ABC News-Food Lion case a few years back. (ABC found unsanitary conditions in Food Lion stores, Food Lion successfully sued on the basis that they had no right to sneak cameras in there. A search on ABC and Food Lion will produce lots of articles.)

As for restaurants, I have a feeling we're going to start seeing more permission denied, which already happens once in a while. Mostly I think this is a bad idea for restaurants, all they're doing is denying themselves publicity because they don't understand how the world is changing. But I can see the rationale in some circumstances-- Grant Achatz has complained about seeing his newest dishes ripped off because they were posted on blogs as soon as they were invented, and my feeling about flash photography in a fine restaurant is that you're allowed one, if it's your birthday and you're posing with your spouse, but after that you're being a public nuisance.

When it comes to people taking photographs of their meals, the chef David Bouley has seen it all. There are the foreign tourists who, despite their big cameras, tend to be very discreet. There are those who use a flash and annoy everyone around them. There are those who come equipped with gorillapods — those small, flexible tripods to use on their tables.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/dining/restaurants-turn-camera-shy.html?ref=dining&_r=0

The liquor store by Opart/Spoon has felt this way for years. (Yes, I got permission before taking this picture )

Dave148 wrote:

When it comes to people taking photographs of their meals, the chef David Bouley has seen it all. There are the foreign tourists who, despite their big cameras, tend to be very discreet. There are those who use a flash and annoy everyone around them. There are those who come equipped with gorillapods — those small, flexible tripods to use on their tables.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/dining/restaurants-turn-camera-shy.html?ref=dining&_r=0

But later in the story he asks folks shooting photos of plates to come I to the kitchen and shoot them there.....

mhill95149 wrote:

Dave148 wrote:

When it comes to people taking photographs of their meals, the chef David Bouley has seen it all. There are the foreign tourists who, despite their big cameras, tend to be very discreet. There are those who use a flash and annoy everyone around them. There are those who come equipped with gorillapods — those small, flexible tripods to use on their tables.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/dining/restaurants-turn-camera-shy.html?ref=dining&_r=0

But later in the story he asks folks shooting photos of plates to come I to the kitchen and shoot them there.....

A VERY reasonable policy. Best of both worlds actually. People who want to take pictures get better lighting and a chance to interact with the kitchen and staff and the restaurant gets to have an uninterrupted service with no bother to the other diners.

I like it a lot.

here's the quote from the article,

But rather than tell people they can’t shoot their food — the food they are so proud to eat that they need to share it immediately with everyone they know — he simply takes them back into his kitchen to shoot as the plates come out. “We’ll say, ‘That shot will look so much better on the marble table in our kitchen,’ ” Mr. Bouley said. “It’s like, here’s the sauce, here’s the plate. Snap it. We make it like an adventure for them instead of telling them no.”

I got the sense that this "solution" was a creative way to deal with a problem--not, necessarily, something he was trying to encourage. As someone who doesn't typically take pictures while dining, I could relate to the companions complaining about cold food and impatience with the process of getting the perfect shot . But I can also appreciate the results of the effort so it's all relative.

I always got dirty looks when taking pictures at the table, though I've never been told not to do it.

I attempt to be as discreet and quick as possible. I never use flash (and loathe when people do). I've never really had a problem.

Pie Lady wrote:I always got dirty looks when taking pictures at the table, though I've never been told not to do it.

fropones wrote:I never use flash (and loathe when people do).

Well, that explains it.

When I bought my camera (Canon S100) the main thing I looked for was performance in low light. The combination of a low f-stop with processing the raw photos results in decent pictures with no flash even in pretty bad lighting condition (although not 100%). A DSLR would probably do even better with no flash but I wanted something that can fit in my pocket.

Definitely no flash for me, ever.

stevez wrote:Definitely no flash for me, ever.

Ditto. I never use flash and can't stand it when others do. I don't think food shot in flash light looks particularly appetizing, either. I have a camera that shoots well in low light but when conditions are espeically dark and the pics make the food look unappetizing, I don't post them. It's just not fair to the establishment in question to represent them in such a manner.

=R=

I used an iPad (flashlight app) for lighting on this photo during Goosefoot's soft opening on 2012

lobster/hubbard squash/licorice root/curry

Not hugely distracting but I choose a seat where I could shoot and not be seen by 3/4 of the diners.

On camera flash does look terrible on most plates and I would never shoot food like that.
This however mimics how I like to shoot food at home (broad source from behind)