Getting around a tripod ban

peter fran

peter fran

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Peter Francis
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I'm thinking of going to Blenhiem Palace in the summer but on their website it says Tripods are not permitted.I'm expecting it to be fairly busy so I'm wanting to do some long exposure shots in the hope of blurring the people in my shots.Anyway is there anything else on the market I could use to get around this problem.
Thanks in advance
 
Should have asked me 30 years ago ,my oldest daughter was one of the estate managers then .
 
Absolutely no help to your question but you will be amazed at just how busy the place is. The coach parks are rammed with Japanese tourists and when they get-a-clicking with their selfie sticks, it's carnage.

Like Tijuana suggested, try and go in the Winter
 
You could try a miniature tripod. Alternatively go very early, entering through the footpath gates (since the place will be closed - make sure you stay on the footpaths though unless you already have a pass).
 
Borrow a child with a pushchair. Lend the child to someone else and clamp your camera to the pushchair. Don't forget to remove your camera from the pushchair before giving it back. Oh, and don't forget to give the child back.
 
Ask Blenheim Palace and say what you want to do and they may be able to arrange something. They say no tripods to make sure all and sundry aren't there with them causing chaos, but if given notice they may be able to assist and advise the best time.
 
Beanbag on a wall

Or, a piece of string tied to a quick-release plate on the camera. Tie the other end of the string to your foot and pull up hard - it is nearly as good as a tripod for short long exposures.
 
They seem pretty fair to me

Photography and video

We encourage visitors' photography on site and love seeing visitors' photos on social media. You can share your moments using #blenheimpalace for a chance to feature as our pic of the week!. Photography inside the Palace is permitted but we ask that flash is kept off to prevent damage to our artefacts. Tripods and selfie sticks are not permitted inside the Palace.


Wedding photography is not permitted onsite unless prior consent is obtained or a wedding is officially held at Blenheim Palace. Consent can be obtained from contacting customerservice@blenhiempalace.com.


Due to Blenheim Palace being in close proximity to Oxford Airport, filming with a drone is not permitted onsite and any unauthorised drone use can result in a significant fine and prosecution of the drone pilot.


Commercial photography or filming is not permitted onsite without prior permission, however, we welcome commercial filming enquiries, for more information, click here for Blenheim Palace as a Filming Location.
 
Just holding the camera firmly against a wall or solid structure can work or placing the camera on a window sill also works. Timing can work too like arrivve early be first in and make multiple visits.


Or this

Nawty said:
Get an Olympus OMD camera and marvel at the IBIS.

And EM1ii + 12-100 can get 4s handheld at the wide end...
Click to expand...
 
The mini tripod is an option, but unless you find a wall or suitably high post, you're stuck at floor level.

If you want to do long exposure to make the crowds dissappear into a blur, how about a different technique.
Take 10 images of the same scene, about 30seconds apart (enough for people to walk a bit) and then combine the images and use Photoshop's Smart Object stack mode to remove the moving people.
Here's a tutorial on this:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwYE3qhpQWo
 
What about one of those monopods with retractable legs. Smaller footprint than a tripod so you may get away with it.
 
BigJohn said:
What about one of those monopods with retractable legs. Smaller footprint than a tripod so you may get away with it.
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I’d make a small bet that security there doesn’t know that the tri in tripod means 3 and so they will class a monopod as a tripod. If not, how about one with 4 legs?
 
Going in low season is probably your best bet.

Suvv said:
Borrow a child with a pushchair. Lend the child to someone else and clamp your camera to the pushchair. Don't forget to remove your camera from the pushchair before giving it back. Oh, and don't forget to give the child back.
Click to expand...

that kinda works (I have a toddler and pushchair of my own, not borrowing lol) but requires a lot of patience because even close by footstep vibrations will ruin pictures and you are limited composition wise.
 
nandbytes said:
Going in low season is probably your best bet.

that kinda works (I have a toddler and pushchair of my own, not borrowing lol) but requires a lot of patience because even close by footstep vibrations will ruin pictures and you are limited composition wise.
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Following on from the pushchair idea, you could borrow a mobility scooter on-site (lots of national trust places have them available) and then you can be the one in the seat and clamp your camera to the handle-bars. The stability would be better than a pushchair because it's heavier.
 
ABTog said:
Following on from the pushchair idea, you could borrow a mobility scooter on-site (lots of national trust places have them available) and then you can be the one in the seat and clamp your camera to the handle-bars. The stability would be better than a pushchair because it's heavier.
Click to expand...

Not sure if taking a mobility scooter meant for a less-abled person for the purpose of taking photos is the best idea....both practically and morally....
 
Phil Maddocks said:
Not sure if taking a mobility scooter meant for a less-abled person for the purpose of taking photos is the best idea....both practically and morally....
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Neither is "borrowing" a pushchair. Just thinking about the options and the ways that a camera can be stabilised. There have been a few posts on the forum from less-able bodied photographers on how to mount/shoot, so that's where the idea came from.
Several of these ideas would be questionable from a moral standpoint of whether you're actually breaking their rules or in a grey area. They would probably say that anything standing on the ground, be it monopod, tripod or platypod is banned.
I've seen that some places actually ask you to leave any tripods at the gate on the way in, so you can't even carry it around.
 
Inside the palace they are very particular about rucksacks/camera bags being in your hand and in front of you.
 
I have just checked out my last trip a few years ago and I only took outside pictures. As I was not going to be able to take a tripod, I handed in my kit and it was quite pleasant to walk around without all that weight. In the past my camera club has done deals with stately homes etc for Club outings where we have the run of the premises to ourselves for several hours including using tripods. These properties were mainly owned by the NT and we were able to do this long before they changed their policy on photography. The were not greedy but had to have at least two staff members for safety reasons and charged us little more than that costs which may have several hundred but would be shared across say 20 members. We almost always offered the NT some of our images as well which we allowed then to use in publicity material but not to commercially exploit without permission. To be fair, Blenheim Palace is huge but it may be worth asking if there is a possibility of taking tripod images at a non-public time perhaps in a limited area. You cannot lose by asking.

Dave
 
Serious answer. A monopod will be a good second best.
 
If by summer you mean during the school holidays then long exposures aren't going to remove the number of people that will be visiting the interior. I remember it being very busy both times we visited. You'll not achieve the shutter speeds you need anyway without a tripod so rather than try to remove people you're better off taking a different approach and trying shots that work with the crowds

Simon
 
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