Recently, there is a viral post over social media showing a photographer charged over a million IDR or equivalent to 78$ to take a picture at one of the famous mountains in Indonesia, Mt bromo.

Mt Bromo is known for its mesmerizing sunrise and captivating landscape. It’s also one of the must-visit mountains in the country. That issue sparks debate among photographers and people whether they should pay that much for taking pictures. Many of them shared their experiences including about bringing a bulky camera and being stopped but a small camera, no matter how powerful, won’t get charged just because the size is smaller than the conceived perception of a camera from these people.

I visited the mountain around 10 years ago and that was my first time taking pictures with a DSLR. There was no rule at all about that nor I got told off by anyone not to take pictures. Perhaps then, the place isn’t as famous as it is today.

But in recent years,this isn’t something new in the country. I already saw signs over temples and I remember paying around a couple of dollars just to bring my ancient camera to the temple. It sucks but it’s expected these days.

I can understand when it's a man-made set like a film studio where you can be charged to take pictures inside but when it comes to nature, it is quite bizarre.

Many famous spots in the country are managed by the government and often anything managed by them is commercialized. Even bringing a mobile phone to that mountain is charged over a few cents. Although I can see many sides to this problem, as an amateur photographer with a low budget, these kinds of rules are limiting.

Whether it is for commercial or not, I don’t think these things even exist in other countries. But let me know if the "pay to take picture" exist in your country.

I also had a strange experience when I was in Bali. I was bringing my camera inside a cafe, trying to take pictures but the staff told me that I must spend over 25$ just to do that. Not that I didn’t have the money but why would I purchase so much bread just to do that. I asked around and nobody ever had the same treatment. So, I don’t know. I wasn’t a Karen enough to complain and since then, I rarely take my camera inside a cafe in Bali. However, I never had a problem when I visited a temple in Bali but had it in Java. With all these hidden layers of rules, many of us walk on eggshells.

There are no exact rules that apply around these places which is another problem because they can’t be one foot in and one foot out. Many professional photographers in the country do not mind paying but the lines are blurred to those who have cameras for hobbies rather than commercial purposes.