Legitimate Icing On The Cake!

This was the photo that I was hoping to take the day I went into this shopping precinct, but could not because a security guard told me that I couldn't take a photo in there.

For those readers who might not know what happened last time, press here.

I was idly listening to the news last week and suddenly I heard a bulletin that caught my attention. A grannie, (definitely not me!), who was also visiting this precinct, had tried to take some photos on her digital camera and had also had a problem with the security guard telling her she couldn't take photos there. Only this lady was more feisty than me and held her ground, arguing that it was a public place and that she could take photos for her own use. She had eventually been told to leave and thought that she was about to have her camera confiscated.

She went to the media who contacted the shopping precinct. The person who had full authority there, said that only professional photographers had to ask permission and it was perfectly acceptable for ordinary folk to take photos for their personal use, without being hassled.

Apparently the security guards, were not guards at all but Customer Servicemen. It turned out that they had been over zealous!

Well, being the type of person that I am, I travelled back there and went up to the top floor where one of these men was standing, and took out my camera and snapped the photo that I wanted. He saw me do it and said nothing! I thought that I would leave it at that. I had got the photo that I wanted and a story to go with it.

I feel pleased to think on that first visit, that the man who I thought of as a security guard, thought that I was a professional photographer. Even though I am a grannie and had a tiny camera and no other gear like tripods or long angled lenses. Or maybe I am flattering myself and he just didn't know the rules. Or maybe the company were forced to change the rules so as not to appear foolish.

Anyway, I admire the other grannie who stood up for herself better than I did and if she ever gets to read this......... well, thanks!

So Am I A Criminal Now?

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I don't normally like modern architecture, not for the sake of it that is. However there was something about these glass domes in this new shopping centre, that really caught my eye. I was like a kid in a toy shop at Christmas......... and  I had my camera handy. I started snapping without a care in the world.

Up on a higher level, things got even better, snapping glass domes through other glass domes and the patterns were fantastic. I was really looking forward to going to the very top level and taking photos looking down through the glass domes and seeing all the angles and unusual shapes that would come out in the photos.

"Excuse me," said a voice of a man behind me, "You can't take photos here." 

I turned around and saw the security guard! Gulp.

"Its just that these glass curves in the roof are so fantastic," I stammered. "I am an amateur photographer. They are only for my own use."

"You will have to get permission if you want to take photos here," The guard went on to say.

I half expected him to demand that I delete the photos from my camera or worse still to confiscate it. 

I went on to ask where I could get permission. The man, who was speaking in a very heavy foreign accent, told me some brief instructions that I didn't fully understand, so off I went. I had to go right to the top of the precinct to get to the Management Office. 

Was I feeling unusually bold? I figured that as I was probably captured on thousands of CCTV cameras as a would be terrorist, that I had better go and make it legal and explain my case.

After much asking around (why did I always chose a foreign person each time, who I couldn't fully understand) I did eventually get to the Management Office. The doors were heavily locked and there was not a person in sight.  

Surely that security guard must have known that the office was closed. Is that what they do to put people off? Make it so difficult that they hope people will not bother?

So that was that then. I looked down at the glass domes and realized what it must feel like to be a junkie needing one more fix, or a gambler needing just another bet, an alcoholic needing one more for the road. What was happening to me? 

I clenched my hands in my pockets so that I wouldn't be tempted and tried to think of other things. 

I would find a way to come back some time in the future and ask the Management Office if I could take the photos from the top level.

So for the sake of security, I cannot tell you where these pictures were taken. In which town or city or even in which country. However I will reveal to you that it is somewhere in Europe.

However, as I didn't have the camera interfered with in any way, I feel that it is OK for me to use the pictures that I had already taken.

Am I wrong? Gulp!

These are my photos (I think!) and this is my story for Photostory Friday. Hosted by Cicely and MamaGeek.

Visiting Bristol.........

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

People either love Bristol or they hate it. You can shop till you drop and this is the newly built shopping precinct that we recently visited, called Cabot Circus. Noted for the glass domed roof. It is a huge shopping area and this photo doesn't really do it justice.

If you like posh shops then this one came from London. I always think that Bristol comes second to London, but I guess many people will disagree.

Bristol is steeped in history and this is the theatre on Bristol City Centre. It is very old. Many of the top ballets, plays and musicals come to this theatre.

Bristol has a history of the sea. There are many walks along the waterfront and the old buildings have been modernized. The bridge has been named Pero's Bridge, after a slave who had that name, when Bristol had a part in the slave trade.

There are many tranquil parts of Bristol, lots of parks and open green places to rest a while. Just like in London.

Harry and I love to visit all the lovely places in Bristol, when we can.

For those of you who might be confused.......... we are at present staying with our daughter on the east coast, nearer to London! 

These photos were taken by me for Photostory Friday, hosted by Cecily & MamaGeek.