Photography and the law

But of course! We must rush to our drawing boards straight away. I can see it now. The basic tripod, for use in the field. An emergency fourth leg which unhinges, swings down and locks shut, together with a small front bar. Tripod feet which upon the press of a button retract into rubber protectors. You could then say that the camera attached to your 'Zimmerpod' is your electronic lifesaver equipment which alerts you to pavement hazards and small dogs.

Brilliant!

Your horizon is not straight, you had the wrong shutter speed for her hand, which is also out of focus, as your depth of field is too narrow.

You need to close down youe aperture to increase your depth
of field, but speed up your shutter speed, so you will need to bump up your ISO setting as high as you could go.

Also, there are no catchlights in her eyes, perhaps flash would've helped.

HTH

Pete

It did the trick though

Why are peeps so paranoid, they think we going to make millions from there photo, or else what??? I mean just about every high street has CCTV and you get constant photos when you drive past of them nice cameras.

What can we do with a camera?? SHOCK HORROR ! not a lot.

I mean... honestly what? Map an area out for some clandesine theft or something? get real.

I just hope this all passes soon.

Tommy

Use the right sort of camera (non-SLR) and don't use a tripod and nobody will bother you.

Thanks for the PDF link put up by Keith Selmes which portrays the law on photographing in public places. However,I see this was written in November 2004. I also note with interest the comments put on by willie2cameras and would love to find that he is 100% on the nose with what he has written. I am however, very confused about the law and photographing children and have searched Google to see if I can find anything that is more up to date than Nov. 2004.

I would love to get some action shots of kids skateboarding or even children just at play but have been told that one is just not allowed to photograph kids these days without the express permission of their parents. I have been told this by friends who are also interested in photography but no one can say where they got this information from. They just say they know it is not allowed. I know that possibly if I asked the older kids concerned that they would say it is okay but on the other hand I would like to think that I am staying within the letter of the law.

From the PDF link and all other information I have been able to find, it would seem that you can lawfully take pictures of kids without their parents or guardian's permission as long as the resulting images cannot be construed as indecent. Is this correct or am I missing something? I am not looking to take pictures of kids for publication other than in camera club competitions.

I can see that of course children must be protected but it does all seem rather pathetic to me because, as has been said, no one takes any notice of anyone using a camera phone and anyone intent on taking improper photos of children in public can so easily find a way to do it without being noticed.

This page by the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary seems to sum up what you can't do. Parental permission, or the location, don't enter into it, its the nature of the photographs.

There will be a lot of confusion relating to photography on private property, e.g. at schools or at sporting events or swimming baths, where photography may not be allowed, or there may be restrictions depending on parental permission.

In any case, whatever is legal or illegal, public ignorance and misinformation will lead to people being hostile to photographers. Personally, I'd rather avoid confrontation with stupid people.

Perhaps there would be some possibility of taking photographs in an official capacity, after going through the appropriate checks ?

Police officers can be touchy about photography intruding upon their domain, be it an accident scene or any other incident. Simple friendly explanations are often all that is needed. I agree that standing ones ground in the face of belligerence is important, not important enough to get arrested or assaulted by angry members of the public though.

Not just knowing your rights is enough. Being polite is vital. I was recently taking photographs of a pub from a public place. The landlord came across to me and asked what I was doing and why. I answered, we had a chat about photography, and he left me to it. I would do the same as him if I saw someone photographing the outside of my house.

Taking pictures of children is a different and very touchy subject. I would be very suspicious of someone taking pictures of my grandchildren, mobile phone or SLR. A polite and full explanation as to who you are and what you wanted could be helpful. If I were approached by someone who refused to identify themselves and explain I would refuse, politely at first.

I have never had any problems in taking pictures except when I have been where I shouldn't and even then I have mostly had no problems by being polite.

I notice in these threads there seems to be many photographers who don't want to go out of their way a little to avoid confrontation.

But why ? is there something wrong with them ?
Its really illogical.
If people are unhappy because they feel the privacy of their family is intruded upon, that would, in our culture make some sense, but 'suspicious' is an odd word to use - although I expect many would.
(privacy in a public place may not exist legally, but people often seem to assume an area of mobile personal territory around themselves or their group, and I would think it impolite to infringe on this)

Given the fact that you are filmed 300 times a day by cctv, have your faced scanned by face recognising software 11 times a days and have your exact movements recorded and stored for 7 years via your mobile phone, just exactly what privacy are we protecting... ???
The police can object to photography of them because many of them are power freaks with a serious attitude problem towards the public they serve and enjoy the misuse of the power we give them, often born out of years of school bullying.