Chicago CTA Tripod Permits?

[Ron Marshall]

I have shot from CTA platforms a few times with the consent of transit personnel, but today I finally encountered one who wouldn't allow it.

The CTA website states clearly that photography is permitted, but of course the problem is the tripod.

The employee told me I would have to apply for a tripod permit at city hall.

Has anyone here ever applied? To what office do you apply? Is there a charge...

Any info would be appreciated.

[Leonard Evens]

I have shot from CTA platforms a few times with the consent of transit personnel, but today I finally encountered one who wouldn't allow it.

The CTA website states clearly that photography is permitted, but of course the problem is the tripod.

The employee told me I would have to apply for a tripod permit at city hall.

Has anyone here ever applied? To what office do you apply? Is there a charge...

Any info would be appreciated.

The CTA website does forbid tripods, but they are also not a department of the City of Chicago. I would think you would have to go to CTA headquarters to get permission to use one.

I've taken pictures from the platform of the Evanston Metra platform, and no one bothered me. Of course Metra is not under the CTA, rather being under the larger RTA which includes the CTA.

[Ron Marshall]

The CTA website does forbid tripods, but they are also not a department of the City of Chicago. I would think you would have to go to CTA headquarters to get permission to use one.

I've taken pictures from the platform of the Evanston Metra platform, and no one bothered me. Of course Metra is not under the CTA, rather being under the larger RTA which includes the CTA.

Hi Leonard, do you know if tripods are prohibited on Chicago sidewalks? Security said they were fine in Millenium Park, and I have shot there without any problem.

[Leonard Evens]

Hi Leonard, do you know if tripods are prohibited on Chicago sidewalks? Security said they were fine in Millenium Park, and I have shot there without any problem.

I haven't done a lot of shooting in Chicago recently, but the denizens of the Midwest Large Format Asylum do so regularly As far as I can tell, no one has ever been prevented from photographing from a Chicago sidewalk. I presume though that if you set up a tripod in a busy area and disrupted pedestrian traffic, the police might tell you to move. I have set up my camera in downtown Evanston on numerous occasions, with a police car parked nearby, and no one has bothered me, but of course Evanston is not Chicago.

A search of the City of Chicago website for `tripod' doesn't come up with anything, and `photography permit' takes you to the film office, which is concerned with professionals shooting films or videos. That is for major operations and they do require insurance and permits and all that. Bu t as far as I know, there is nothing like that for single still photographers.

The Millenium Park issue was different. I think they were worried about protecting the ownership of images, and preventing people from . using such images for commercial purposes. But interfereing with tourists taking pictures, even tourists with tripods, didn't seem a wise move, so they backed off.

I was once interrupted when taking pictures from an Evanston public parking garage roof by a nosy security guard who asked me to go down to the office and get permission. I ignored him because I would have had to pack everything up, come back and start all over. Fortunately, as I guessed, he was harmless sort who wasn't going to strongarm me, and I was right. But when I was done, I did ask the people in the office if I needed permission, and I didn't.

That is always the problem. Mostly, you won't be bothered because police or security people have better things to do, but there will always be some busybody who decides to give you a hard time and invents rules which don't exist.

[Richard Wasserman]

Hi Leonard, do you know if tripods are prohibited on Chicago sidewalks? Security said they were fine in Millenium Park, and I have shot there without any problem.


I photograph all over the city of Chicago,downtown and elsewhere, with a tripod and have had only one instance when a security guard asked me to move. When I told him I was not shooting the building he worked for he was fine. I have never been bothered by the police or anyone else. Sometimes a cop will ask what I'm doing, but they have always been friendly and sometimes even interested and supportive.

If I was going to photograph CTA platforms, I would get permission first-it would eliminate any problems and make things simpler. Ask the stationmaster and see what happens. I have found that being friendly and upbeat opens many doors. I have used a handheld camera quite a bit on the CTA without any issues.

[Ron Marshall]

Thanks for the responses; that was pretty much what I expected. I have shot often in Chicago using a tripod, and that was the first time I've had a problem.

[falth j]

I've taken pictures in the Loop Area, and was never bothered..

But, just after the 'bean' arrived in Millenium Park, I went to the park to take pictures.

When I hauled out my tripod, the tripod police were on me immediately, and I was told that pictures taken from a tripod, were considered to be 'professional' and I would need to get a 'tripod permit' from city hall...

and, if I dared to consider taking a picture of the 'bean' with my camera on a tripod, they would ticket me, and maybe even take my camera and tripod...

I was told there were 'copy-right' restrictions, and that no professional pictures were allowed.


I told the tri-pod police that I was not a professional, and they said, my tri-pod ‘looked’ professional, and made me look like a professional photographer, therefore no picture taking of the 'bean' from a tripod...

Through out a three-hour sojourn around Millenium Park, I encountered three other tri-pod police, with the same intent to deliver picture taking warnings to me, and the lot of other tri-pod bearing ‘criminals’.

After the initial harassment, I decided to take out my tri-pod, and leave it set up about five feet from me while I snapped away, taking pictures with the camera in my hands.

Needless to say, this experiment tied up a couple of the tri-pod police who were watching me intently, in case I made the fatal mistake of using my tri-pod.

Throughout the three hours, the tri-pod police were constantly using their radios to notify someone that they were watching another tri-pod toting ‘criminal’.

[Alan Davenport]

Throughout the three hours, the tri-pod police were constantly using their radios to notify someone that they were watching another tri-pod toting ‘criminal’.

I find that very reassuring. Until now, I was worried that there were actually dangerous criminals out there, and that police everywhere were hardly able to stem the bloodletting. Obviously, at least in Chicago, crime is so well under control that they can spare a bunch of cops to spend all afternoon harassing amateur photographers. Or were those not "real" police?