Has anyone ever been told, "You can't take photos here."?

I have now been told this twice in the span of just under a week.  I do not have a SLR type camera.  Just a smartphone.

The first time, I was standing outside of a Circle K.  I was shooting photos of their Amazon lockers and the Redbox kiosk.  They also had Propane tanks locked up but I never got that far because a woman saw me through the double glass doors from the inside and ran outside to tell me I couldn't take any photos.  She said there are signs everywhere saying so (I didn't see any) and that I would need express written permission to take photos.

The second time, I was inside the patients area of a children's dentist.  I was in this long room that had 4 patient chairs, all separated by glass partitions.  There were no other patients in this room but yet I was told I couldn't take pictures due to California HIPAA laws.

What do you guys think about this?

You were on private property both times. They can restrict what happens on their property. Now, if you were standing in the public street taking the photos, there isn't anything they can do. 

I was taking a photo of a historic wall mural on the full side of a 3 story building from the street sidewalk some years ago, and a woman came yelling at me, telling me that I couldn't photograph the mural. I started to tell her that I was on a public street, and that if I could see the mural from there I was within my right to take a photograph of it.

But rather than make some old lady go into a screaming fit over this, a friend of mine ran the shop across the street from the mural, so I went in to see her, and while there, I asked if I could go upstairs to take the photo. She not only allowed this, but went upstairs and opened the window so I could get a better shot.

I have no idea why people think they can keep a photographer from taking a photo of something, if we are doing it while in a public place, but more and more I've had people doing this to me. None of them seem to know what rights we have as photographers, and none seem pay any attention at all to someone standing 10 feet away and taking the same photo with a cell phone. The size of the camera seems to be what makes them think that we can't take the picture. 

I have a good cell phone, and whenever I want to take a pic in an area where I think the big camera might cause a confrontation, I whip out the cell phone and take the picture that I want. I guess so many people are doing this now that it seems to be acceptable, even when on private property. Shopping malls are private property, yet no one stops momma from taking cell phone shots of her kids in the mall. Bring a big camera in there and see what happens. Mall Security will escort you out after the first shot.

Charley 

ablang wrote: I have now been told this twice in the span of just under a week.  I do not have a SLR type camera.  Just a smartphone.

The first time, I was standing outside of a Circle K.  I was shooting photos of their Amazon lockers and the Redbox kiosk.  They also had Propane tanks locked up but I never got that far because a woman saw me through the double glass doors from the inside and ran outside to tell me I couldn't take any photos.  She said there are signs everywhere saying so (I didn't see any) and that I would need express written permission to take photos.

The second time, I was inside the patients area of a children's dentist.  I was in this long room that had 4 patient chairs, all separated by glass partitions.  There were no other patients in this room but yet I was told I couldn't take pictures due to California HIPAA laws.

What do you guys think about this?

Yeah they were correct in both scenarios.  Especially the Dentist.  That's a bit weird tbh.

I get the HIPAA thing, but my philosophy is that if you can see it you can capture it, private property notwithstanding. If anything, it's a civil matter, not a legal one, so they're not going to call the police, and you can refuse to identify yourself, if it should come to that.

See www.krages.com/phoright.htm

Yep, years ago, I was told not to take photos of an Abercrombie & Fitch storefront in a Mall...