Question about shooting locations with clients

10 years 5 months ago #316847 by Guy Farrell
I've been driving around lately trying to locate new locations that would interesting backdrops when photographing families and other portraits. What jumps out are old buildings, some look abandoned and others not. Fields or just open space that you know someone owns. What I'm driving at here is how are you dealing with getting permission for photographing or do you just turn a blind eye and deal with it later?


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10 years 5 months ago #316853 by garyrhook
Someone's property: you just walk in, tell them you're a photographer, and ask permission to use the property.

Old buildings, those are usually a problem (often there are 'no trespassing' signs?) but anything that is public accessible from the street or sidewalk is fair game.


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10 years 5 months ago #316895 by Joves
It really depends on what part of the country you are in. I know in Arizona, and other parts of the SW that there are many Ghost Towns that would be good areas, and are usually okay to use. Any place that has a gate, or signs is a no no. Nothing like getting a ticket, or arrested to impress a client. There is one site that I use to find out ownership of properties, thought it does not cover every state, or county in the states it does have the information on. You might look and see if your area is covered. beacon.schneidercorp.com/Default.aspx If it is public property then it should be safe to use, unless of course it is posted.


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10 years 5 months ago #317021 by No Show
Asking always works for me. I have not tried the run down buildings yet.

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10 years 5 months ago #317065 by Gene.Culley

garyrhook wrote: Someone's property: you just walk in, tell them you're a photographer, and ask permission to use the property.

Old buildings, those are usually a problem (often there are 'no trespassing' signs?) but anything that is public accessible from the street or sidewalk is fair game.



Now if you photograph someone with a old building in clear background, do you need to get permission if you going to have that photo published?


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10 years 5 months ago #317125 by garyrhook

Gene.Culley wrote: Now if you photograph someone with a old building in clear background, do you need to get permission if you going to have that photo published?


In the US anything visible from a public location is fair game; there is no "expectation of privacy" when you are out and about.

That said, there's a distinction between "art" and "commercial" use. In the case of a building on public property, unless you're using its image for commercial purposes (e.g. a trademark on a product) you're probably in the clear. If you are so fortunate as to get an image published, keep good records of the location in case the publisher decides they need to acquire a release.

Or discuss with a lawyer.

For the most part, I'd suggest relaxing until the issue arises.


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10 years 5 months ago #317249 by Joves

garyrhook wrote:

Gene.Culley wrote: Now if you photograph someone with a old building in clear background, do you need to get permission if you going to have that photo published?


In the US anything visible from a public location is fair game; there is no "expectation of privacy" when you are out and about.

That said, there's a distinction between "art" and "commercial" use. In the case of a building on public property, unless you're using its image for commercial purposes (e.g. a trademark on a product) you're probably in the clear. If you are so fortunate as to get an image published, keep good records of the location in case the publisher decides they need to acquire a release.

Or discuss with a lawyer.

For the most part, I'd suggest relaxing until the issue arises.

:agree:
And check your states laws. Some states have weird laws on some things.


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10 years 5 months ago #317355 by garyrhook

Joves wrote: And check your states laws. Some states have weird laws on some things.


Last time this subject was raised, I did some googling, and I think that federal law trumps state law in this area. There may be local ordinances about where you can photograph, but the rules on what are national, as far as I know.


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10 years 5 months ago #317597 by StephanieW
Doing this with a client sounds super scary to me, but when on your own and photographing old buildings this is a really popular thing to do. But just because it's popular doesn't mean it's legal. In fact Urban Exploration tends to be very very illegal in most cases, but there's an entire community online dedicated to doing it. I love photographing old building, but I've never been arrested and I'd like to keep it that way.


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