Photographing People in Public (Page 2): Somewhat related. How many times have you been to an event where there is a table of food, and people stand in front of the table eating and...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Somewhat related. How many times have you been to an event where there is a table of food, and people stand in front of the table eating and talking?

Also, for some reason, people seem to find a doorway to be the perfect spot to stop and talk. People are rude idiots, myself excluded. : )

YeloCab1

Not against the law to take pictures of kids in public places I have no idea who that kid was or where his parents were

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

YeloCab1 wrote:

...I have no idea who that kid was or where his parents were

The parents were running toward you with the police right behind them.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

For years I fussed about people who were in the way of a "great shot". The I realized my shot without the people looked like a post card - in other words, was just my copy of a common shot - so today I find ways to shoot around them, to get the important components of the shot but incorporate them too. After all, in most cases, they are why the thing is there.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

rehess wrote:

For years I fussed about people who were in the way of a "great shot". The I realized my shot without the people looked like a post card - in other words, was just my copy of a common shot - so today I find ways to shoot around them, to get the important components of the shot but incorporate them too. After all, in most cases, they are why the thing is there.

I had the same realization. I was trying out some German software that supposedly made it easy to post process out people. There I was in Sicily photographing a Roman structure with tourists sprinkled throughout. When I got home I compared the shot with the people to the one without the people and came to your conclusion. No people and you've got a postcard shot. But get rid of *some* of the people to improve the composition and you have a more personally meaningful shot.

SS319

JerryJDavis wrote:

From what I've read, taking pictures of airplane taking off or landing near a large airport will give the same kind of excitement.

We had so much fun as children, what ever happened to the world while we weren't looking?

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Longshadow wrote:

Especially at Disney!

Disney is not a public space. And they have rules governing photography including a general model release that allows them to photograph you in the park and use the pictures for any purpose.

You, however, my not photograph or video for commercial purposes.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

jerryc41 wrote:

<snip>Also, for some reason, people seem to find a doorway to be the perfect spot to stop and talk. People are rude idiots, myself excluded. : )

One of my personal pet peeves too. Be it a doorway, a narrow area of a sidewalk or hallway or right outside any busy entrance. People seem to congregate in the one spot that is most likely to cause traffic flow problems even when 2 feet a way is a nice wide open area where they could hold this oh so important conversation.

JerryJDavis Loc: Davenport, IA

YeloCab1 wrote:

Not against the law to take pictures of kids in public places I have no idea who that kid was or where his parents were

In the United States it is not against the law to take a picture of anyone in any public place, and to even publish it, so long as you're not insinuating that the person in question is endorsing anything (in other words, you can publish it only for "journalistic" use, like a newspaper or even a blog, but not in an advertisement).

HOWEVER, some local laws may contradict this, and while you could ultimately win in court (with the help of the ACLU, maybe), it will not be worth the bother or legal fees.

I once almost got thrown out of a store because they posted, "No photography allowed," and I ignored it. My lawyer later informed them that if they open their doors to the public, and no type of membership is required to enter, it is legally deemed a "public place" and they cannot legally enforce any type of photo ban. He did tell me what they can do, though, is refuse you business and tell you to leave, and if you refuse, they can charge you with trespassing.

Again, not worth the hassle.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

JerryJDavis wrote:

From what I've read, taking pictures of airplane taking off or landing near a large airport will give the same kind of excitement.

The only time I've had that experience is when I photographed the train station in Wilmington DE. It turns out that Joe Biden used that station when he traveled between home and DC.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

berchman wrote:

I had the same realization. I was trying out some German software that supposedly made it easy to post process out people.

In the 1940s, they were doing that without software.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

jerryc41 wrote:

In the 1940s, they were doing that without software.

Yes, many millions.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

berchman wrote:

I had the same realization. I was trying out some German software that supposedly made it easy to post process out people. There I was in Sicily photographing a Roman structure with tourists sprinkled throughout. When I got home I compared the shot with the people to the one without the people and came to your conclusion. No people and you've got a postcard shot. But get rid of *some* of the people to improve the composition and you have a more personally meaningful shot.

jerryc41 wrote:

In the 1940s, they were doing that without software.

Even a straight answer would acknowledge the changes Stalin had his lab people make - removing Trotsky for example - but I don't know whether Hitler did that sort of thing with virtual people {as opposed to the awful things he had done to real people}

fotoman150

SS319 wrote:

As far as intentionally taking pictures of people, If you want to have an exciting day, put on your old blue jeans, a hoody and tennis shoes, and go to a neighborhood playground and start snapping photos of all the children. Guaranteed to be a long, exciting day, with name calling and mug shots, etc.

I did this when I took my kid to the playground. Nobody said anything to me while I took pics with my SLR. I was pushing my kid on this mini zip line and the other kids were like"push me!" So I looked around and saw no parents so I started to push the other kids. After a minute this one kid, who looked small but was exceptionally heavy came up to get pushed and I said "Man you're a heavy kid." Just then, his Mother spoke up and said his Daddy was a big man. I said, "What are you feeding this kid!" She laughed and said he eats like a horse. We both laughed. I was a little nervous but it turned out OK.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

fotoman150 wrote:

I did this when I took my kid to the playground. ... (show quote)

Wow! You're a braver man than I am.