Would you need permission from store to take photos like these?

Love this idea, and curious if photographer would have needed to get permission first?   jennamartinphotoblog.com/2017/11/19/lowes-photoshoot/

I'm sure you would. Plus, the images in your link all look to me like they were shot when the store was not open. I don't see another person in any of them.

Or.....just go in there and start setting up and see how far you get........I suspect you won't last long before you're told to leave.

I always wanted to do a fetish shoot in a medical office. You can imagine trying to get permission to do that. Fortunately my friend has set up a very complete medical exam room in her studio, so.......that was a heck of a lot of fun. 

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It's really simple: public or private? That's not public property, so you're gonna need permission. This would be true in any retail establishment, office building, etc. And a lot of government buildings disallow photography (as if, with the ubiquitousness of cellphones... but whatever).

So, ask. It can't hurt, and the worst is a "no" response, right?
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Yeah, I'd bet permission was needed for this one. 

I would have sought permission....

So we have established, ask first.  Not everyone would have thought to ask.  Now what would have happened if this photographer DIDN'T ask for permission and received all the recognition as they have? 

If the coverage has been all news vs commercial in purpose, would the photographer have a target on their back from Lowes legal team?

ShutterPal wrote: So we have established, ask first.  Not everyone would have thought to ask.  Now what would have happened if this photographer DIDN'T ask for permission and received all the recognition as they have? 

If the coverage has been all news vs commercial in purpose, would the photographer have a target on their back from Lowes legal team?

I'm not sure how the kind of photography is relevant. It's still private property.

garyrhook wrote:

ShutterPal wrote: So we have established, ask first.  Not everyone would have thought to ask.  Now what would have happened if this photographer DIDN'T ask for permission and received all the recognition as they have? 

If the coverage has been all news vs commercial in purpose, would the photographer have a target on their back from Lowes legal team?

I'm not sure how the kind of photography is relevant. It's still private property.

  

As Gary said, you need permission on private property. I have shot images of the security setup at the old Korvette stores years ago. I worked for them at the time (in the photo dept at that). Years later I was out in front of an Abercrombie store in the mall & an employee came out to tell me photography of their exterior was not permitted. Funny thing was, I wasn't shooting...

"Of course if none of this was allowed we would’ve left, but as soon as we walked in an employee asked if they could help us and I asked, “We were just going to take a few photos, is that okay?” He replied, “Of course!"

Sounds like they had permission.

...tom...

There's a difference between taking photos and how someone intends to use the photos.

A store employee may have given permission to take photos but that doesn't mean permission was given to use the photos for anything other than personal use. For that I imagine it might be necessary to check with a manager or corporate office and get it in writing rather than just a verbal OK from an employee.

Seems like it would be better to check ahead of time before taking in a model/friend rather than assume it's OK to go into a retail business and do a photo shoot.

If this was done just for a blog post I think that's considered editorial use but obviously this was not for a newspaper, local TV station, or other media outlet. Even for editorial use I think permission would be necessary because it's the store's property.

I don't know if local news reporters get permission to do a story in a store or not. For a feature, maybe; for a breaking news story, maybe not (if an incident or emergency situation was happening). It might depend on the circumstances for a news crew to go in beyond the parking lot and it seems like local police or other authorities decide how close anyone can get.

Usually for editorial use a release may not be needed (but could be requested). If it was a professional photographer this would basically be conducting business on their property (commercial use) and written permission/property releases would probably be needed.

I doubt that any regular store employee would be authorized to OK such images but as has been said, the usage would dictate whether or not they would be permitted. If the stores legal team is advised of any commercial use I know they would get involved

Screamin Scott wrote: I doubt that any regular store employee would be authorized to OK such images but as has been said, the usage would dictate whether or not they would be permitted. If the stores legal team is advised of any commercial use I know they would get involved

   the store employee could care less about what you are doing, as long as it didn't interfere with them or their work. 

Yes for commercial use

Looks like you got your answer, nice work.