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What's best "paparazzi" etiquette for shooting in public?

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Sid Daley said:
I believe "paparazzi etiquette" may be a oxymoron. I think
they will as a whole stoop to ony level to get the photo that
puts the bread on the table.. imho

Sid

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If you are in a public place, most everything is fair game.
You just have to common sense.

If you look like you are snapping shots of people for your own reasons that are not clear to any one but you.
(You will have bad feedback I promise)

But if you look halfway professional or you have a genuine reason that’s obvious to everyone around. People will either be happy to get in the shot, or put their hand up in front of the camera. If they’re frowning move on quickly, But if they smile, they may be coaxed into a pose.

Permission is always needed in private places. And no permission @ all is needed for a public function.

… (Everything is fair game) …
Thomas
( http://www.YCSPHOTO.com )
 
Shy1 said:
What I mean is do you first ask people if you can take their
picture, or do you just shoot away?
--
Steve S--D1X-N5700
http://www.pbase.com/sshyone/root&view=tree
Click to expand...
If you ask first, you have destroyed the candidness of the shot. But if you don't ask, you can be accused of being impolite or invasive.

In public places, in most countries, people are fair subjects. There are exceptions, and each country has its own set of rules. You can't shoot indigenous people in the Canadian arctic, for example, without asking first. And they will politely inform you of your transgression if you do, generally. But that means you get more posed, fake-looking, hokey images of the locals--an example of where the local policy works against your art while satisfying a sense of privacy.

Digital cameras are more stealthy than film cameras and that allows shots to be taken without looking through the camera. And that can help.

My personal policy is shoot first and SHARE. Now you get people on your side. But every situation is different.

-iNova
--
http://www.digitalsecrets.net
 
Peter iNova said:
If you ask first, you have destroyed the candidness of the shot.
But if you don't ask, you can be accused of being impolite or
invasive.
In public places, in most countries, people are fair subjects.
There are exceptions, and each country has its own set of rules.
You can't shoot indigenous people in the Canadian arctic, for
example, without asking first. And they will politely inform you of
your transgression if you do, generally. But that means you get
more posed, fake-looking, hokey images of the locals--an example of
where the local policy works against your art while satisfying a
sense of privacy.
Digital cameras are more stealthy than film cameras and that allows
shots to be taken without looking through the camera. And that can
help.
My personal policy is shoot first and SHARE. Now you get people on
your side. But every situation is different.
Click to expand...
Hmm, yes, this is what I was thinking of: shoot first, then ask if you may keep the photo. Don't know if this is a good or advisable approach, but better than just shooting and not asking. Of course this only really works with digital, since if they say you can't keep the shot, you can show them how you delete it.

--
Teppo @ Finland
 
If I am 'targeting' a person or small group, I always perfer to ask.

If I need stealth, (as in to capture expressions with children), I will then show the parent the shot on the LCD & offer to erase if they wish.
Most will say "How can I get a copy of that?"

In the example below, I found this (presumably) homeless fellow an interesting character study & hoping to turn it into an 'art' shot.

When I asked "May I take your picture", he happily chatted with me & got a chuckle out of seeing his pic. on the screen.


Shy1 said:
What I mean is do you first ask people if you can take their
picture, or do you just shoot away?
--
Steve S--D1X-N5700
http://www.pbase.com/sshyone/root&view=tree
Click to expand...
--
Myron



Coolpix 5000
 
My general rule when I go ahunting for candids is if I'm spotted I don't pull the trigger, which erases any doubt as to ask permission, but I like alot of folk like it this way because it avoids the posing etc. However, I do like this shoot then ask idea I learned reading this thread. Seems that might be a nice way to meet people, make new friends! And as a 46 year old single guy lol, meeting new friends is something I enjoy, especially if they're of the female gender. So I might have to give this a shot!

--
God Bless,
Jim
CP995, CP800
http://www.pbase.com/jrj02
 
At a large farmers market this morning, I was inside their store at their bakery section, (yes, I did have my cam in hand), while awaitng my turn, I noticed the perfect "my 3 sons" pic opportunity. There was a father standing there in front of the glass display with his oldest next to him, then the middle child, and last in this horizontal line was the youngest. Perfect symmetry and decending height scale. They all looked very much alike too. Would have loved to snap one off. Probably would have, but the mom was sort of in the way of a clean shot. What should I have done? Kindly asked the mom to move out of the way?
Steve S--D1X-N5700
http://www.pbase.com/sshyone/root&view=tree
 
Myron

Nice work, he looks like he enjoyed the attention. It is probably some positive attention for a change for him.

Mike 5700
 
Shy1 said:
What I mean is do you first ask people if you can take their
picture, or do you just shoot away?
--
Steve S--D1X-N5700
http://www.pbase.com/sshyone/root&view=tree

If you plan to sell for profit or publicly display the photo, The subject (s)must be 18 years old and you must have a modeling release form signed by the subjects in the photo. That is why so many movies and ads set up the entire scene.
Click to expand...
You can print them off yourself if you word it correctyl. Search Google or dogpile.com (True search engines) on the subject and se if you can find an example.
I'll look around and see if I have any left anymore.>

--
Michael
 
S O R R Y, THIS IS WRONG!
Thomas Bauer said:
If you are in a public place, most everything is fair game.
You just have to common sense.
If you look like you are snapping shots of people for your own
reasons that are not clear to any one but you.
(You will have bad feedback I promise)
But if you look halfway professional or you have a genuine reason
that’s obvious to everyone around. People will either be happy to
get in the shot, or put their hand up in front of the camera. If
they’re frowning move on quickly, But if they smile, they may be
coaxed into a pose.
Permission is always needed in private places. And no permission @
all is needed for a public function.

… (Everything is fair game) …
Thomas
( http://www.YCSPHOTO.com )
Click to expand...
--
Michael
 
Peter iNova said:
Shy1 said:
What I mean is do you first ask people if you can take their
picture, or do you just shoot away?
--
Steve S--D1X-N5700
http://www.pbase.com/sshyone/root&view=tree
Click to expand...
If you ask first, you have destroyed the candidness of the shot.
But if you don't ask, you can be accused of being impolite or
invasive.
Click to expand...
I agree with this, shoot first or loose a good candid shot BUT! Get a release form signed, if not do not sell or display the image. Delete it.
in this country you can be sued for looking at someone the wrong way.

--
Michael
 
On retrospect, [and another boarders advice], I should have tapped the mom on the shoulder and waved her back, indicating I wanted to take her family's pic. Then I could have showed it to them, and if they liked it, I could have emailed the image to them, or even mailed them a print. If they didn't like it, I could have deleted it on the spot. I was sooo close to snapping it anyway, but I had the auto flash on, so it sure wouldn't have been very secretive. They were there so long, I could've taken 20 pics. Oh well, another opportunity missed...this time.
--
Steve S--D1X-N5700
http://www.pbase.com/sshyone/root&view=tree
 
I'd be sure to ask the parents. Carry some business cards, ask if you can send them a print in return for a release. Do you realize there are two types of releases, images and property. Shoot a picture of a classic car with an identifiable plate number and try to sell it as a stock photo. Won't happen. Buildings that are not Federal have the same restriction, copyright is held by the architect unless its a news photo. Can really get to be a touchy thing but, most of the time you will just be asked to remove the picture.
Shy1 said:
What I mean is do you first ask people if you can take their
picture, or do you just shoot away?
--
Steve S--D1X-N5700
http://www.pbase.com/sshyone/root&view=tree
Click to expand...
 
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