EXIT signs and other signs at venues - How do YOU handle them?

So, I was at a reception last weekend and was annoyed with all of the "Exit" signs and cheap laminated "no smoking" and "liability" signs taped everywhere. Something seemed to ALWAYS be in the background. Every time I looked through the lens, it was always the first thing I noticed! It was very distracting to me. I managed to hide many of them by maneuvering myself to place bodies between the lens and the signs, but it's not always possible to do that. You can't always do that when you are capturing candid moments. The bride even noticed them and pulled some of the "No Smoking" signs off the walls. It was a nice venue but looked very tacky with homemade signs taped everywhere.

I was just curious, how do YOU deal with these types of "eye sores" at events? Exit signs, you can't move, and even the No Smoking signs and such are probably not supposed to be touched. Do you even think about them when shooting and just remove them in PP? Do you remove them in PP at all or just leave them? Or do you do what I do and actively avoid them during events when you can? I will probably remove them in PP or at least make them less noticeable. Is it just me? I notice them a lot and it annoys me.

So...how do YOU handle them?

Thanks!

No help here on dealing with the signs other than basically what you've covered. Most likely the exit signs are insurance mandated. Our little country church just had an insurance inspection done and we have to put up exit signs...it's very evident that where the exits are but... And...even though the signs will be nice, lighted signs they will look tacky in the church. As for the hand written signs...maybe they hadn't had time to get the "official" signs up yet and wanted to be "covered". No mention was made of having to have no-smoking signs up (it's a church so they probably figured nobody would be smoking in there)...in a non-church setting the insurance might require that or either the owners/caretakers of the property didn't want the building smoked up. Seems that a few strategically placed 2"x8" signs from the hardware store would have sufficed for that, though, being as most smokers these days are aware that most establishments are smoke-free.

It sounds like the signage included the hand-made signs was a bit of overkill.

What type of venue were you shooting in....church, old mansion, country-club, community center, etc.,...???

Ed

Intheswamp wrote in post #17583731
What type of venue were you shooting in....church, old mansion, country-club, community center, etc.,...???

Ed

It was a conservation club. Nice log cabin looking place in the woods. You are probably right about the printed signs though. I think they just went over-board. A sign on the entry door would have sufficed. There were signs on every single wall and multiples on longer walls.

It sounds to me like they had a smoking problem with a group in the fairly recent past that hacked off some (all?) of the club officers and members...

Ed

Intheswamp wrote in post #17583744
It sounds to me like they had a smoking problem with a group in the fairly recent past that hacked off some (all?) of the club officers and members...

Ed

That is probably true. The type of people that typically rent this place are usually pretty rowdy too.

Intheswamp wrote in post #17583731
Most likely the exit signs are insurance mandated. ...

Ed

Fire code regulations, enforced by State or local Fire Marshal,. There are of course federal standards, but the State has the authority on which standards to adopt.

Little to do with insurance, any public venue must meet fire code regulations to receive it's certificate of occupancy. If you don't have them you are literally breaking the law, unlike simple insurance violation.

this is all in reference to actual illuminated EXIT signs, which also by law (NFPA) should be positioned at a height that all can see, which typically (always) would be above the heads of any photographers subject of interest.


Hand made signs on the other hand are just a bad venue:
1- No one reads them (except maybe those of us that notice how ugly they are
2- nothing makes you look more bush league or fascist than pasting up a bunch of hacked "you can't do this" paper signs. Ugh!


This venue has all the required exit signs. They would be unlikely to be considered obtrusive;

IMAGE LINK: http://jakehegnauer.ze​nfolio.com/p291329501/​e300a8d9f

I haven't shot commercially but done some architectural stuff for fun and in smaller rooms the signs can throw a nasty colour caste onto the walls.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #17583762
Fire code regulations, enforced by State or local Fire Marshal,. There are of course federal standards, but the State has the authority on which standards to adopt.

Little to do with insurance, any public venue must meet fire code regulations to receive it's certificate of occupancy. If you don't have them you are literally breaking the law, unlike simple insurance violation.

this is all in reference to actual illuminated EXIT signs, which also by law (NFPA) should be positioned at a height that all can see, which typically (always) would be above the heads of any photographers subject of interest.

Hand made signs on the other hand are just a bad venue:
1- No one reads them (except maybe those of us that notice how ugly they are
2- nothing makes you look more bush league or fascist than pasting up a bunch of hacked "you can't do this" paper signs. Ugh!

This venue has all the required exit signs. They would be unlikely to be considered obtrusive;

IMAGE LINK: http://jakehegnauer.ze​nfolio.com/p291329501/​e300a8d9f

Thats acceptable and looks normal. I agree, just have some signs professionally made. They don't cost that much and paper signs are so tacky!

For the most obtrusive signs in the best photos, I'll 'shop them out.

The latest versions of Lightroom's spot-healing brush do a pretty good job for most of my needs.

BlakeC wrote in post #17583714
So, I was at a reception last weekend and was annoyed with all of the "Exit" signs and cheap laminated "no smoking" and "liability" signs taped everywhere.

What is a "liability" sign? I mean, other than the "exit" signs and the "no smoking" signs, what signs were there?

Tom Reichner wrote in post #17583885
What is a "liability" sign? I mean, other than the "exit" signs and the "no smoking" signs, what signs were there?

I forget what it said but I've seen them places before. Basically says that the venue is not responsible for any injuries on the premises and something about damage to the property.

But I'm more curious as to how others have dealt with Exit signs and other ugly signs or eye sores at venues.

nathancarter wrote in post #17583851
For the most obtrusive signs in the best photos, I'll 'shop them out.

The latest versions of Lightroom's spot-healing brush do a pretty good job for most of my needs.

The spot-healing brush IS pretty handy! Adjusting the Red Chanel also helps for Exit signs with a red light or green for the signs with the green light.

BlakeC wrote in post #17583897
The spot-healing brush IS pretty handy! Adjusting the Red Chanel also helps for Exit signs with a red light or green for the signs with the green light.

I also forgot to note, in the cases where the spot healing brush doesn't work but I don't feel like taking it into Photoshop, I'll just use the adjustment brush to paint on some negative exposure and saturation to make the lights less objectionable. I generally don't want to mess with the channels for the whole image just to correct a background distration.

If there's a lot of them, I'd just use the composition I want and clone it out late. I'd rather pay attention to the important people and moments.

I frequently have these issues in small "black box" theaters. I generally let them be, unless they are really intruding in my composition. In those cases I clone out. Luckily, usually I'm cloning to a black wall, so I have that going for me!