How to know someone does not want to be photographed.

Tony_Alberta said:

My understanding is that for someone to publish your photo they must have a signed release form.

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That is not generally true, Tony. It mostly depends upon the "intended use" of the photo -- and also, the country in which the photo was taken. To publish is different than to use commercially. However, if you are in a public place in the US, you have no right to privacy as to who can take a photo of you. A general rule that a photographer should follow is that if asked "not" to take the photo, the photographer should oblige that request and if the photo has already been taken, should delete the photo. However, they "can" legally take the photo and do not have to delete it.

As a photographer, I can use any photo to advertise my work that I have taken of people in public or with permission in private without a release. I cannot sell a print commercially without a release from the person or model. However, it is my understanding that if a candid photo is taken in a public place, I can sell the photo without a release. I have never done that though and if I did, would consult with an attorney first to make sure.

In Vietnam I was with the 9th Marines and was involved in the evacuation of Saigon. Their are many photos on me on the internet during that time That I really hate to see, I was never asked if they could be used, nor do I want them on their. That was a real ugly time and their was things that had to be done.
In the end Always ask if you are planning on taking a picture. EVEN IF SOMEONE IS IN THE BACKGROUND.
And does someone have to have your permission? NO, I have tried to have some of the pictures took off and have been told they are file photos and are free to use.
BY THE WAY As others have said the hand doesn't look like it was their in the beginning

Tony_Alberta said:

My understanding is that for someone to publish your photo they must have a signed release form.  Of course on Facebook this rule is ignored completely but then most folks are publishing to friends and family so they don't mind.  I do mind.  My family and friends are all well aware of my "quirk".

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As a photographer I have dealt with this issue many times over the years, especially when I had a web site. You are allowed to photograph anyone and you do not need their permission. You can publish the photo on the web, in a book or in a magazine and you do not need a signed release form. However there are magazines, books and web publishers that do require a signed released form if there is a recognizable face in a photo. This was dreamed up by lawyers and it has no legal grounds to stand on. Celebrities have been harassed by paparazzi for years and they can do nothing about it. Even when they take an existing image and Photoshop someone else's body or do some other crazy thing, there is really nothing that can be done about it.

Here is a photograph that is a perfect example, it is Obama and Palin's heads Photoshopped onto someone else's body. Either person could sue, but it would be thrown out of court. Trying to prove damages because of a shot like this is just plain stupid. Judges know this and won't waste their time with such frivolous lawsuits.

If you saw a photo of yourself being used in any way you would need to first find a lawyer who would take the case, pay him a retainer and hope you could find a judge who would hear the case. And you would then have to prove damages, which is almost impossible to do.

If you are going to employ a model and use the photos for profit a model release form is generally employed, but only because the lawyers need something to do.

That sure looks like Obama and Palin. Someone must have spent a lot of time with a scissors and a tube of glue, cutting and pasting magazine photos together in a way that you don't see the joins in the paper images. Then they'd have scanned the resulting "photo".

Maybe it's real?

Ned said:

Maybe it's real?  

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Who would lead ? 

Judging by past performances of both...........neither would lead!

Tom said:

Someone must have spent a lot of time with a scissors and a tube of glue, cutting and pasting magazine photos together in a way that you don't see the joins in the paper images. Then they'd have scanned the resulting "photo".

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Tom, I would imagine the cutting and pasting was done digitally. I once took two shots at a wedding of a family that included an 8 year old that was smiling nicely in one shot and had his eyes closed in another. The rest of the family looked best in the later -- so I took the eyes from one and pasted them in the other. 

Understood Bob; It was just my warped sense of humor  :-[  Coupled with my ability to put up a decent poker face, it can get me in trouble, both in person and online. When someone mentions the port or starboard of a boat, I'll always ask "is that the pointy end or the blunt end?" and they'll proceed to explain it. If Chris is around, she always jumps into the conversation with something like "don't listen to him, he's just teasing", spoiling my fun.

At one company where I worked, we'd have a photo of the exec team in the annual report every year. One year, our PR team hired a 'top notch' photographic team from LA (big $$$) to take the photo. We all trooped up to the wine country and posed for the photo in a vinyard, but one member of the team was traveling on business that day. When he returned, the hot shot photographer took his photo and added him to the rest of the group digitally. Nobody bothered to check a proof of the PS'd image before the annual report was printed and the guy who was PS'd in was clearly too tall. He's a tall guy, maybe 6'2", but he sure isn't 7', which is how he showed up in the printed image.

I can only shake my head when I see this stuff. But your original message and linked image were good for discussion  ;D

WeatherWunder said:

Judging by past performances of both...........neither would lead!

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That was a great one

Just a curiosity question for the photographers in the group - Why wouldn't you just ask someone if they would mind being photographed?

AndyinLexington said:

Just a curiosity question for the photographers in the group - Why wouldn't you just ask someone if they would mind being photographed?

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I did just that yesterday and got a great photo. I never attempt to photograph a person without their permission if the person is going to be the subject of the photograph. But I never worry about the people in the background, they never notice that their photo has been taken.

I take it that most of you are not familiar with the Amish............

They definitely do don't want to be photographed...at least most of em don't.

I knew about that one Bill, and I suspect a lot of others do too.

codgerbill said:

I take it that most of you are not familiar with the Amish............

They definitely do don't want to be photographed...at least most of em don't.

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I know, I used to live in Ohio and 90% of my neighbors were Amish. 

In the San Blas Islands off Panama, the Kuna Indians do not want to be photographed unless you ask first and then pay them a fee.

Most Native Americans do not want to have their picture taken. It's always polite to ask before taking a picture of another person.

Wendy

Check the index finger in this photo. Same woman and she didn't mind having several pictures taken in the same album. The picture in question is four shots to the right.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sushicam/3193277975/in/set-72157603966940157/

I think Dick is right, she just didn't want her picture took at that time

You must have missed the middle of the thread. The girl is not a Japanese lady who doesn't want her photo taken and it is not Photoshop. It is the photographers girlfriend in a set up photo. It is not real, just an act.

Some trivia .... the "food" she's looking at is probably plastic models of what's on the menu, a common practice at Japanese eateries. When I'd spend a week or two in Tokyo or Kyoto, I was usually alone (sans a translator) on weekends, and liked to get out in the boonies. Unfortunately, English is virtually non-existent and, without those plastic models in the window, I'd have gone hungry. All I had to do was motion to the waitress to come outside, and I'd point at what I wanted to eat order among the display in the front window.