I haven't really had anybody tell me no to taking pictures when spotting before. I had one occurrence where a universally disliked business owner scolded me for getting pictures of his dirty M5 almost two years ago but that was it.

This past Friday though I saw a very well specc'd 991 GT3 (red with yellow calipers and spotless and it even had a black vanity plate) at the mall. A security car was parked nearby and the guard was walking back from somewhere. Real old chubby guy. Whenever I can, I ask for permission to take pictures and this was one of those cases. I politely asked if I could get some pictures. I've asked other guards before and they never seemed to care, especially after letting them know why I was taking pictures, and valets often encourage it. Well, he turns around sternly and says no. And then goes on to say that they don't allow that here. I just say okay and walk away and he has the nerve to thank me for asking, knowing I'm a college student from my UTSA shirt I mean why else would I want to take a picture of a shiny red sports car? To steal it?

I looked on GGP Mall's website. There are no regulations on photography. And again nobody has ever given me trouble for it in the past. But I wasn't having that anyway, he drove away soon after and I went back to get my pictures I mean who could ignore that spec?

Has anybody else run into an issue like this? Somebody telling you that you can't get pictures particularly of something you know that is hard to find?

The only time you have to abide by those sorts of rules are when you're on private property (typically hotels, freestanding restaurants, some shopping centers, etc), but the rules have to come from the property owners. Security guards can't make them up as they go. If you think you might have problems with that again, keep the stated rules for the property handy (so that if you're challenged, you can prove you're not breaking any rules). However, if you shoot from public property (like a sidewalk next to a road) they can't really tell you to stop anything.

When I was in Atlanta about a year ago taking a picture of a Bentley at the Ritz Carlton in that intersection between Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza. Anyways, I took it from the sidewalk and these two security guards came up and asked for my ID and to see the picture. They told me it was fine I could keep the picture. They were just making sure I wasn't taking pictures of anything that had to do with the structure of the building.

Other than this I've never had an owner tell me I couldn't get a shot.

The only time someone has told me not to take pictures was when I was in an underground car park with a Pagani Huayra and Bugatti Veyron at the car wash. The car washers told me to stop taking pictures. However, it was my fault for not looking at the signs that said no pictures allowed. ( ;

My friend got kicked out of a country club for trying to take pictures. I also once was taking pictures two mulsannes and an mp412c from the PUBLIC sidewalk while they were parked at the Trump tower in Chicago. I got yelled at by the guards at the front door to stop taking pictures. I told them I was on public property and I continued taking pictures. They said they would call the cops if I didn't leave. I took a couple more photos and then left cause I had enough. Don't know if they ever called the police, but that's their problem. Of course it was at the trump tower though, they're notoriously mean.

@cargame_parker - lol that's fishy. Like they could do anything about you taking pictures of the structure of the building if you were on a public sidewalk. Unless it's a government building, you can take pictures of buildings and even houses though that's pushing it.

@davisvehicles - Good on you lol. It always makes me laughs when guards think they can do anything when they can't. If they called the cops, the cops wouldn't be able to do anything because you were not breaking any laws and hell, they were harassing you basically.

This story is too long so let me just cut it short:

- I'm at Neiman Marcus. I see a Ghost, CGT V8, Blu Scuro 488 Spider and a blue Dawn.

- I ask the valet if I can take pics and he is glad to say yes and another lady (shopper) was interested in lookingbat these cars too!

- I get pics of Dawn which is in the parking lot.

- Hostile security guard tells me no, says photography isn't allowed when there are no rules on photography in the code of conduct. Then proceeds to take a pic of me and tries to call me in to the security and acts like he wants to detain me

- I have the pics I want but have to skip the white S63 AMG Coupe and walk off. I call security office who tells me the same bullshit lie that I can't take photos but they say the guard was out of line

- My mother who knows an attorney and a police officer gets notice of this calls them, they get scared.

- Then we get in touch with SAPD and Bexar County sheriff

- After laughs and acknowledgment of me doing nothing wrong and they say that the guards have no authority at all. I can walk away, call the cops myself or let them call the cops so they can tell the mall they can't do cr*p.

The conclusion is, know your rights. If you are not breaking the law or the code of conduct they can't do anything. Period. Ignore those harassing security guards.

^Haha dang. Good job, hope you got pics of everything.

Yup! Except the S63 AMG Coupe sadly. I keep missing those. Was gonna shoot it next. Should've.

just some weird looks and a joke from a valet guy

I had a security guard in an 'officially-badged' golf cart suspiciously eye me today while photographing an orange Huracán. No altercations though.

I think they're too paranoid sometimes. I'd be more concerned about people taking pictures of more basic cars, not exotics. And typically when a criminal is eyeballing cars he/she does so discreetly, they wouldn't walk around with a DSLR in plain sight. Smh...

Yeah true- I had some friends that used to 'spot' by driving by exotics in lots, and given what you said as well as what I believe, it's better to get out and look at it rather than just hide behind the safety of the car. And plus, even if the owner should walk up to it during your photographs, you can usually start a casual conversation about the car with them and learn some stuff or just hear a cool story or two.

I've just gotten kicked out of a couple service garages and a couple hotels.