Protecting yourself as a Photographer.

[d3sl91]

Background: I take pictures for fun, and share them. Yes, I have thousands in camera and video gear, but, it's still for fun and not profit. I love street photography, and "candid" portraits. This past weekend I was in a wedding, and took some pictures. I was contacted by one of the Parents saying I needed to take down a picture because it included the flower girl. It's a bit of a "family issues" problem where the mother is trying to make life hard for the wedding and...yeah. 

 

Anyway, it got me thinking.

 

What do people do to protect themselves from getting Sued for "an ugly picture"? I have recently started doing alot more street photography. And while It is public property, and I have every right to take pictures of people, theres always the chance something weird will happen. 

 

I always ask store personnel/security if I can take pictures in a store (rarely do, but, sometimes thrift shops have really cool old stuff). And I am starting to ask people if it's okay, especially if its a couple sitting on a bench or something like that. 

 

But what do you do? Ever gone as far as having folks sign a model release? 

 

 

DSC_0150DJP by d3sl91, on Flickr

[Guest]

Get  a gun and a lawyer.

Look like a redneck and no one will mess with you

[d3sl91]

Get  a gun and a lawyer.

Look like a redneck and no one will mess with you

Gun? Check. But man...I hate lawyers...

 

That's a good point though about how you look - I do actually try to look as professional as possible. Professional as in, Wearing decent clothes, combed hair, etc. I find it is less common for people to stare me down if they see me taking their picture and I look nice. 

[Guest]

Gun? Check. But man...I hate lawyers...

Well you have the gun if the lawyer gets out of hand

 

On a more serious not I feel were you are coming from. i work as a life guard and am constantly worried that if anything was to go wrong if I had to do a rescue or set a broken bone that some parent would set their pack of lawyers on me.

[Sauron]

If it's on a public street, you can't be legally sued. It's your right to take as many pictures as you like of whoever you want as long as they're not underage (that can actually get pretty nasty if they can track you down). Just avoid kids or censor them and you should be fine.

[d3sl91]

Well you have the gun if the lawyer gets out of hand

 

On a more serious not I feel were you are coming from. i work as a life guard and am constantly worried that if anything was to go wrong if I had to do a rescue or set a broken bone that some parent would set their pack of lawyers on me.

Same, I do search and rescue as a volunteer. It's sickening how many people will sue us after we rescue them from a mountain because they end up loosing a foot to frostbite or we ask them too many medical questions all in hopes to save their life...

[GamerPatriot]

There are laws that protect photographers. You can take street pictures as long as you want because it's public land. HOWEVER there is a gray area to this also. If you take a close up picture of someone, let's say a portrait of a homeless man just to say. You would need his permission to use that photo. Why? Because the main subject is him and he is the main focus. Now if you were to take the same photo with the same person in the background with cars, other people walking by, etc then your safe. This is because he isn't he focus of the photograph. 

 

Homeless woman with dogs by Franco Folini, on Flickr

 

In this picture you would need his permission because the photo is about him and he is the main subject. One can clearly see that you attended to photograph him. 

 

Vancouver Street Granville #9-7 by Bob Garlick, on Flickr

 

Now in this picture you wouldn't need the musician's permission because he isn't the only subject and this can be seen as street photography. 

 

 

HOWEVER once again check your state and city laws as they may differ from place to place. 

 

 

[d3sl91]

There are laws that protect photographers. You can take street pictures as long as you want because it's public land. HOWEVER there is a gray area to this also. If you take a close up picture of someone, let's say a portrait of a homeless man just to say. You would need his permission to use that photo. Why? Because the main subject is him and he is the main focus. Now if you were to take the same photo with the same person in the background with cars, other people walking by, etc then your safe. This is because he isn't he focus of the photograph. 

 

meless woman with dogs by Franco Folini, on Flickr

 

In this picture you would need his permission because the photo is about him and he is the main subject. One can clearly see that you attended to photograph him. 

 

ncouver Street Granville #9-7 by Bob Garlick, on Flickr

 

Now in this picture you wouldn't need the musician's permission because he isn't the only subject and this can be seen as street photography. 

 

 

HOWEVER once again check your state and city laws as they may differ from place to place. 

Interesting.

 

I would feel inclined to ask that Lady if I could take her picture anyway, as a courtesy. I'm sortof invading her privacy to some extent.

 

Thanks for the info.

[TheGrapeEscape]

Here you go https://www.aclu.org/free-speech/know-your-rights-photographers and http://photographylife.com/know-your-rights-as-a-photographer

Honestly, on public land you can generally photograph anything, and no one can demand you delete a photo because it's "ugly". Model releases only apply if you're going to use the image commercially to endorse a product or service, so unless you're selling your street photography photos you're in the clear.

You could tell those parents to eff off when it came to deleting that photo and be well within your rights, but use your best judgement lest you look like a prick.

[mopman94]

I protect myself from being sued by not being American.

[JayWhyOkay]

There are laws that protect you in terms of shooting in public, but you should still be considerate. You can take candids of others, but try not to make yourself look like a pervert or something. Also, again, I would be wary about taking pictures of children.

Look in your region/state/country about photography laws. I know in Korea you need to always have an audible shutter when taking pictures, so that when you do take pictures, people can be aware that you are taking photos. If it's in your own hobby/interest, you should be fairly safe and protected. When you're shooting events, you technically have the right to take whatever you want, but be wary if it's a private event AND if you have a client, as he/she should be able to look at the photos you've taken as well. 

 

I guess, better safe than sorry.

[the pokemon kid]

Before doing any large shoot with a client, I either get a model release form or a contract between me and the client outlining what I will provide and what they can and cannot do i.e. sue me because they don't like the photos.

 

I always make the client fully aware that I may mess up and my camera may break so a second photographer is a must for a wedding. 

Also, if you are setup as a business there is a type of liability insurance for photographers. Its just means that if you get sued for damages that the insurance will pay out for it...

[DoubleY]

I protect myself from being sued by not being American.

Thank you for your overwhelmingly helpful post and contributing to the OP's question.

[d3sl91]

Thanks for the contributions.

 

I know where I am, Portland, OR - I'm fine with taking photos (Legally), but I am also one to respect others and am not the most up front person (although I am known to strike up conversations with complete strangers).

 

Us Portlanders are alot less Uptight about people taking pictures. It's common for people to enjoy it, and people are generally very nice if you are nice to them. (They don't look like they want to kill you for no reason).

 

For anyone wanting info, heres a couple good links I found recently:

 

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm A Portland, OR Based Attorney.

 

http://www.andrewkantor.com/legalrights/Legal_Rights_of_Photographers.pdf PDF on photo Rights.

 

More Info: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/paris-city-of-rights/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1

[mopman94]

Thank you for your overwhelmingly helpful post and contributing to the OP's question.

You're welcome