"As a matter of fact, you can shoot pics pretty much anywhere: in subways, airports, transportation centers, and malls."
Advice like that will create photographers that have as poor an understanding of the laws and are as misguided as most of the security guards that hassle them.
Specific regional by-laws aside, photography of anything in public places or private places (without a reasonable expectation of privacy) from a public place is usually fine, but there are typically exceptions. If, for instance, you're in a privately owned public space (eg. a mall), it's fine to take photographs, but if a security guard or some other custodian of the property asks you to stop, and you don't, you are then trespassing. Likewise, in the city I live in (Toronto) it's prohibited to take commercial photographs on the TTC (subways) or in public parks without a special permit. This is to prevent such things as, say, an overzealous photographer taking over a park to get some wedding party photos.
Advice like that will create photographers that have as poor an understanding of the laws and are as misguided as most of the security guards that hassle them.
Specific regional by-laws aside, photography of anything in public places or private places (without a reasonable expectation of privacy) from a public place is usually fine, but there are typically exceptions. If, for instance, you're in a privately owned public space (eg. a mall), it's fine to take photographs, but if a security guard or some other custodian of the property asks you to stop, and you don't, you are then trespassing. Likewise, in the city I live in (Toronto) it's prohibited to take commercial photographs on the TTC (subways) or in public parks without a special permit. This is to prevent such things as, say, an overzealous photographer taking over a park to get some wedding party photos.