To ask or not?

[ksmattfish]

Reading it, all ethics aside, I did nothing wrong. I plan to have a copy in my bag to hand to anyone getting stroppy in future with the relevant bits highlighted.

I've thought about this too. When I travel through airports I always carry a copy of the National Transportation Safety regulations about hand checking film rather than putting it through the X-ray machine. To be honest though, it's never kept the guy at the X-ray machine from trying everyway possible to convince me to X-ray the film.

I wouldn't put much faith in a piece of paper to keep someone from getting mad. Informing them that you have the legal right to photograph would probably make them more angry, and they might make a grab for your camera, or pop you.

More useful might be an extra roll of cheap film in your pocket. Then when they demand the film you could try a little slight of hand, fake a rewind, and give them the dummy roll.

 

[Lol999]

Yeah, there's the fake film approach, but I look at it this way:
I'm 6'3, 245 lbs, shaved head and a goatee. if they really want to have a swing they can but there is NO way on this earth they are getting their paws on my beloved Nikon. Basically they will have to knock me unconscious to get it away from my clutches, and then I will track their ass down and get medieval. trust me.:mrgreen:

Lol

 

[Alpha]

f that. I never ask. Get yourself a good telephoto lens and snap away. If they don't like it, then too bad. If they really don't like it, then run like hell. There aren't any legal statutes against it so long as it's in a public place.

 

[DocFrankenstein]

Yeah, there's the fake film approach, but I look at it this way:
I'm 6'3, 245 lbs, shaved head and a goatee. if they really want to have a swing they can but there is NO way on this earth they are getting their paws on my beloved Nikon. Basically they will have to knock me unconscious to get it away from my clutches, and then I will track their ass down and get medieval. trust me.:mrgreen:

I can imagine it now - in rich bass: "Hello maam. I'm a photography student" :mrgreen:

You can be charged with "invasion of privacy" even if you're shooting in a "public place". Example I heard is a fat girl eating a burger in a mall.

It's better to talk and get to know your subject first. Come up, shake hands, explain why you're taking pictures of them and then ask if it's ok if you stalk them for some time. LOL Give them the card and promise to put up some pictures on your website or something...

After that - shoot. They WILL relax after 2-3 minutes.

 

[Oldfireguy]

I'm 6'3, 245 lbs, shaved head and a goatee.

Good Lord man! It's not the camera they were afraid of!

Now if you were 5'2, 120 pounds you would be so cuddly they would have taken you home with them.

Just a note since this post has generated. I stopped by a local shopping mall and talked to one of the managers. It is posted in their rules that no photography is allowed inside the mall and those rules are posted for all to see.

There are a zillion lawyers world wide to figure all this stuff out.

 

[Lol999]

I'm 6'3, 245 lbs, shaved head and a goatee.

Good Lord man! It's not the camera they were afraid of!

You see this is the perception problem I run up against. I didn't mention the tattoos or the large ear piercing either, did I? So for me to even think about swinging my lens towards a child is a crime. i have, genuinely, been mistaken for a drug dealer or a nightclub doorman, even at the Higher Ed college I study at, and I do have a deep voice. makes it difficult to persuade people I'm a *****cat and just want to take their photograph. Plus, blending in can be a tad difficult unless I'm at a bikers meeting or on a building site.

Ah well, just have to keep smiling (didn't mention the gold tooth, did I?) and hope for the best:mrgreen:

Cheers, Lol

 

[Lol999]

Forgot to mention. Broke the ice (pun) with a mobile fishmonger today. Cost me £3 for some ocean sticks I don't like but I got to snap away merrily. Turns out his daughter is on a photography course at the local college so all was cool. Of course, this means I can now stalk him for unawares shots:mrgreen:

Lol