Museum photography

During my time as a fanatic mineral collector i love to visit Museums, Mining exhibitions, Mineral shows etc. In most of them i obtain permission to take photos. It is not any problem to post interesting mineral photos to Mindat. But i am unsure about geological maps, old mining photos, illustrations etc.. In my opinion they also are important to introduce a mining area or other collecting sites. But if i take pictures of them the original is not "my work". If i post them to Mindat is it correct to mention "seen in the exhibition of the......museum" ?

Two days ago i did so when i posted several photos of Mitterberg district, Salzburg, Austria.
If you think this way is correct i can start some nice series of other districts too. If Mindat has a problem with it i'll not do it.
So i ask the managers what they think - thank you!

Gerhard,

Additional concerns.

In the UK (and I imagine elsewhere too) museums generally require photographers to receive permission before they may take photographs and there may be a small fee for that permission. You may be able to get away with hasty hand-held snapshots, but anything deliberate is likely to attract official attention fast.

If you wish to publish your photos, then there are additional copyright considerations. Remember that museums usually have a small income stream from selling photos of their prize exhibits and it you want to compete with them, they may require more from you than a small fixed fee for permission to shoot .

You may also find that they have rules that permit amateur photography by available light only. 'No flash!' rules are fairly common - and I whole heartedly support that; the use of flash can be a blight on the enjoyment of other visitors.

Just ask for the museum rules at reception and all should follow from that. There is no single set of rules.