If you fancy yourself a travel photographer, one of the great frustrations you are certain to encounter when traveling in Europe is the fact that many of Europe’s most iconic landmarks forbid interior photography of any kind.

Kodachrome Slides from 1978

I have a great love of the architectural genius found in many of Europe’s great cathedrals.  In fact, when we visited London in April of 2012, the thing that I was most looking forward to was photographing the beautiful interior of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

You see, the last time I visited St. Paul’s Cathedral was in 1978, on a college travel study program.

I recalled wondering around the inside of the cathedral shooting with my Minolta SLR, and on this trip, I was greatly looking forward to capturing the cathedral’s remarkable interior with my Nikon D7000. Because, you see, the Nikon D7000 is renowned for its low-light capabilities, and producing a photograph with very little grain.  Frankly, I was almost giddy thinking about the photographs I might bring home.

St. Paul’s Cathedral – No Photography Allowed!

As we approached the entry of the cathedral, the very first thing I noticed was a sign that read, “no photography allowed”. Oooooof!  My hopes were dashed.  And to be honest, there was a fair amount of whining on my part.  In fact, to my wife’s chagrin, we walked right back out and didn’t even see the interior.  Looking back, it was really kind of childish on my part, but this is what I most wanted to do in London!  You feel sorry for me, right?  🙂

Ramesses II ~ British Museum

In retrospect, I suppose I understand their concern.  After all, this is a place of worship, and if you’ve ever been around a mob of international tourists, they can be quite rude and disruptive with their cameras.

So, if you’re a devotee of modern digital photography, be mentally prepared to find “no photography” rules in many of Europe’s great landmarks.

On the bright side, I have a great many cherished photographs from London’s British Museum.  For example, take a peek at my photograph of Ramesses II.  Pretty sweet, huh?

So, I suppose all was not lost in my visit to London.  But, I sure would have liked to photograph inside St. Paul’s Cathedral.  Wimper.  😛

 
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