Monopods are Prohibited

why would you want to get around it? just do what the owners of the place want. it is theirs not yours; an they can set any rules they wish. when you get your own aquarium building you can set any rules you like.

if you think that is a interesting rule wait till the people get to the china olympics and take pics with their dslrs.

a monopod can and have been used as a striking weapon.

I haven't had any problems with monopods nor have I seen them prohibited anywhere...In fact we were just at a local zoo last weekend and I saw 3 or 4 monopods... Have even seen Tripods at Disney World....

My guess is that someone tripped over one and / or complained about the use of one, so management decided to ban them. Or possibility does exist that management doesn't want to train help so they ban both.

Legally - my guess is that unless you can prove a disability that would require you to use a tripod or monopod you're probably not going to have much luck, since the attractions can set whatever rules they want regarding such things. You might be glad that they didn't ban photography altogether.

Dave

I was just in Russia and Estonia, and the places you could actually TAKE pictures (I got stopped several times, including a street market, which I thought was odd), there were prohibitions on tripods/monopods all over. Also last year in Paris, I saw those restrictions in places.

My solution was basically get creative, and see how I can compose with the wall or nearby railing. Not much else you can do, since often flash is out of the question.

Trip hazards and assault aside, I think there's the "we want you to buy OUR postcards with photos" angle too. Sometimes I take a prohibited photo anyway (A/F, aim and snap while pretending to look at something else). It's the photographic version of the finger, I admit.

I agree that you should follow the rules laid out by the owners, but you might be able to get away with using a string tripod. You attach a string to a bolt that screws into the tripod mount of the camera, and the other end of the string drops to the floor. You stand on the string and pull up until the string is tight. The camera should be much steadier now. Not rock solid, but much steadier.

Peter

To add to the answers as to why they might be prohibited, they can be used to break the glass. Although I would hope that the glass is very strong and not easily broken. Can you imagine millions of gallons of water rushing into the aquarium full of people?

Peter

Did you ask anyone about the rule or ask them why the restriction was in place?

It might make sense to get the official answer and then attempt to reason with them... if nothing else, you'll know the truth and would have more facts than you're going to get by a bunch of us speculating on a website...

Can you imagine millions of gallons of water rushing into the aquarium full of people?

Now THAT would be an amazing photo!

St Louis Art Museum will allow neither tripods nor monopods. I tried to get permission via e-mail for a monopod, but no answer at all. Of course, no flash either, but no problem with hand-held cameras. Chicago and Vienna, similarly no problem with hand-held pictures, to mention only a few.

I must say that the monopod I have, one of the Dynotran knockoffs, is built like a tank and would certainly make an excellent blunt weapon.

>>gallons of water rushing into the aquarium full of people<<

Some movie I saw years ago, had a gunfight in an aquarium with just the results indicated.