Can I use my camera and shoot some photos in Riyadh!

If it was Jeddah, it would've been ok as long as you'll not be taking pictures of people particularly women.

Riyadh I wouldn't bother at all.

All in all it's prohibited, you can take special permission from authority.

I think it was discussed before

I stay in Riyadh and I love photography. I have taken lots and lots of pics both in Riyadh and outside Riyadh. Alhamdulillah, no problem at all.

Common sense should be applied while taking picture : You don't take picture of others, if at all if you want take their permission first !!!

Hey Bobel, Welcome to Riyadh. I would advice you to be careful when using your camera. Here it's not Allowed to take a picture of females even if they photobombed you, you will be fined for that if you post that picture on the internet. And if it's a guy you should ask permission. If you are passionate about photography you can do landscape and take a picture of the city. You can try vlogging too, it'll be fun.

thanks brotha, appreciate the advice

sounds good, I wanna explore the city and take pictures of the architecture, roads and so forth but I just wasn't sure if it was safe to walk around with a camera taking a bunch of pictures. appreciate the heads up. if you're located in Riyadh I'd love to tag along and shoot

appreciate the advice, I understand the photo bombing part, I don't wanna invade into anybodies privacy, I just wasn't sure if landscape and things in that nature was allowed, thanks again

Shooting photos in Riyadh would alright specially in some picnic places like Ashara, Ashara (10 riyals, 10 riyals) a place where even expat ladies can remove their abayas. However, there are some places that taking pictures are strictly prohibited, i..e., military camps, airbase, and all government facilities. You can shoot whatever you want but don't get caught.

appreciate the advice, I'm gonna cruise around over the weekend and see what I can come up with, I work at RSAF so I don't plan on shooting anything attached with miliatry just strictly the city for landscape, shops and stuff like that

If u love outdoor shots try diriyah and dq

I'll keep that in mind, I've taken a few shots but it won't let me post them on here

hamudi wrote:

If it was Jeddah, it would've been ok as long as you'll not be taking pictures of people particularly women.

Riyadh I wouldn't bother at all.

All in all it's prohibited, you can take special permission from authority.

I think it was discussed before

Sorry, you are wrong.  Photography in public was made legal by a Royal Decree around two decades ago.  I proudly cut out the news article from Arab News at that time and kept it safely with me in case I got stopped by the police or something.

Anyway, my parents and I have been taking pics in public in SA for close to 4 decades.

Just exercise caution and common sense, like anywhere else, but even more here.  Don't take pictures of:

* police
* military installations
* government buildings
* women in public -- unless yours -- even in the background

and you will be fine.  I must say, I am in Jeddah, well was (Praise the Lord!), so in Riyadh you have to be even more careful, but as long as you avoid families and women, you will be good to go.

There are millions of pics of Riyadh and its people on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, taken by citizens and residents.

perfect, appreciate the heads up, I've started taking some around the compound and posted them on Instagram, names g0ldschlager if you're interested

Thanks, will check them out!  I have taken several tens of thousands of pics in SA (mostly Jeddah) since 2009, but never put them up online anywhere, save for the occasional few on my FB profile for family and friends to see, perhaps a couple to a few every month.

One day I am going to go through all my pics and organize them and select the best to display somewhere.  I haven't even looked at 90+% of my pics after shooting 

And you are welcome! 

lol I'm the same, I have a grip of stuff I never share but people always wanna see the other side of the world so I try to post at much as I can

Trapezius wrote:

hamudi wrote:

If it was Jeddah, it would've been ok as long as you'll not be taking pictures of people particularly women.

Riyadh I wouldn't bother at all.

All in all it's prohibited, you can take special permission from authority.

I think it was discussed before

Sorry, you are wrong.  Photography in public was made legal by a Royal Decree around two decades ago.  I proudly cut out the news article from Arab News at that time and kept it safely with me in case I got stopped by the police or something.

Anyway, my parents and I have been taking pics in public in SA for close to 4 decades.

Just exercise caution and common sense, like anywhere else, but even more here.  Don't take pictures of:

* police
* military installations
* government buildings
* women in public -- unless yours -- even in the background

and you will be fine.  I must say, I am in Jeddah, well was (Praise the Lord!), so in Riyadh you have to be even more careful, but as long as you avoid families and women, you will be good to go.

There are millions of pics of Riyadh and its people on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, taken by citizens and residents.

oh didn't know about the royal decree.

Knowing people of Riyadh, anything is possible, hence I was advising to take permission for "professional photography"