Photos of Children...

magicmonkey

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What with it being summer and all, the kids are out in full force and running around looking like great models for the camera, the big question here is should we actually take the photo?

I've passed up on a few great shots in the last few days as there's so much paedophile hype in this country I would worry about how the parents would react, I also wouldn't like to ask before taking the shot as we all know how kids in a group will play up for the camera and encourage each other to be even more lude than the pose before. Another one is if the parents aren't around as happened yesterday when there were a group of kids playing cricket in the park, they would have made great shots but I didn't want to ask the kids as their parents might object later and cause a problem.

How does everyone else handle this, pack up and walk away or is there another approach?
 
Children who I don't know, whose names I don't know, whose parents are not around anywhere ... I'd better not take their photo.
Should I see the parents somewhere and HAVE managed to take a photo, I'd go and ask if they want a print. Or, if it is digital, I'd show them the display and ask if they like the photo.
If they say: Hey, well, how nice! And: Can I have a print? I'd ask them if they were also ok with the photo being shown in the internet. If they say yes, then you may. Best is to have a ready-made release form in your camera bag for them to sign.
If they are very unhappy with you having taken a pic of their child, you can promise to destroy it (if it is on film) or delete it in front of their eyes.

All this is spoken in theory only, mind.
I have so far refrained from taking photos of children in public ... so actually I take the pack-up-and-walk-away approach myself, really.
 
I guess what I'm really after is some magical idea that lets me take some good shots without annoying people, I suppose that's the fine line you always tread when you have a camera around people you don't know, especially kids!
 
Yup. I always ask, unless it's at a wedding or such where it's part of the environment. Even then, I'm very careful about how the parents react. If I'm at a park or even a picnic where I don't know everyone, I'll ask first.
 
As a mummy of 2 littlies i would definitely say 'ask'... i know if i saw a dude in the park taking pics of my babies, i'd be thinking 'paedophile' and would probably pack up and leave.....sad how so many sickos spoil it for everyone else..... if i was asked, i would probably be more than happy, providing i had no strange gut-feeling! xx
 
I said this somewhere before but the times change and not always for the best. When I was in photo school, one of the exercises was to go to the park and shoot kids at play. That was just about the time of woodstock, so you get an idea how long ago it was.

Now I wouldn't make a photo of a stranger (young or old) without asking. That is unless they are a small part of a large landscape. I know it is legal, but I have no desire to stand there while they whip out their cell phone and call 911. I avoid playgrounds like the plague. Even though I doubt seriously any pedo would use a camera the size of mine, it still makes people nervous these days.
 
Someone told me that as long as it is public property, i have the right to take their picture, and i do not have to ask them who they are as long as i do not sell the picture to a stock photography place. Is it really that scary to take pic's of people in public places???
Mabey we should all start wearing name tags that say pro/amature photographer on a string around our neck??? Just Kidding!:mrgreen:
 
I was talking more about the moral right, as opposed to the legal right. As far as I'm concerned I don't have the moral right to make a parent worry about their childs safety although I do have the legal right to in this instance. The laws also vary quite a lot depending on where you are so it's always best to find out for yourself what the local laws are, for instance, if you read an injunction taken out against a group of protesters in the UK then you are considered a protestor and are covered by the injunction rendering you unable to take photos. Handy to know if the police tell you to read something before you take any shots...


*edit* It's disturbingly difficult to get any information from the government about photography law in the UK from the internet, it all seems t be third hand (at least) information which doesn't bode well!
 
Lol, or if it's gonna be a really amazing shot, just take it and pump those legs!!
 
last weekend i was walking in the park with my friends and I saw a girl who was standing and watching a tree which has a big elongate hole (like a peach!!! well, I saw there a peach) and the small girl was staring there, so I made a photo of this tree and girl`s back. after a boy came and stood there, then i decided to ask him to stay because I wanted to shoot him. well I shot lot of photos with the boy and finally I came to his parents and offered them to send them these photos, they we glad and happy....

after this i found out that I could not control this boy (it could be only this particular boy), I asked to make his face like he is lost in forest and he is very scared...+)) he told me "I`m not lost! There are my parents!!"
Then I asked him to make a face like i`m very ugly and disgusting... well, he made a face like he doesn like to do anything and that`s what I was looking for...

I mean that is very complicated to work with kids...
If these kids is not YOURS!!
 
malachite said:
Kids are easier to work with if you get them drunk first ;)

Michael..........

:lmao: haha well it will be more easier to feed them drug$ then! :er:
 
magicmonkey said:
Nah, they tend to run around too much, the motion blur can be a real pain! ;)
It depends :sexywink: on, you know what!:greenpbl:
 

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