Photographing People in Public

[easy3dsource]

Hey guys, I figured I'd give a bit of insight of what I've had to do to create the libraries you see at easy3dsource.com.

 

Here in Chicago the rights for public photography are along the same lines as what others have stated here; if the subject is anywhere that is considered public domain (sidewalks, streets, public parks / beaches), you're able to freely use photographs taken in that location. I was always concerned that since the subjects are being isolated from the photograph, it might create an exceptional circumstance within which a person might have grounds for a law suit, so when shooting the photographs for my products I decided to play it safe.

 

Playing it safe entailed this:

 

-shooting in public with 2 or 3 people; one person (myself) taking photographs in a direction or location where the other 1/2 people could quickly attempt to talk to people, and convince them to sign a waiver / release.

-if, as I was shooting photos I saw that someone clearly signed a release; I would spend more time photographing them, knowing that I'd be in the clear.

-if a person made it very clear that they didn't want their photos to be used at all, the people in charge of the waivers would make a signal to me; I would then photograph that person and make note that they aren't to be used.

-after reviewing 1000's of photographs, I determined that there weren't enough photos to create a decent volume of people, I would select images that were shot from behind, that seem unlikely that the subject would be recognized.

-if after all of the above, I still felt the volume lacked a decent number of people, I would select a handful of photos that could be manipulated / photoshopped so that the subjects weren't clearly recognizeable (as mentioned in a previous post).

 

As you might imagine; this wasn't the most fun thing to do. When I originally started Easy3dsource it was my intent to actually set up a small selection of models to shoot in a studio; I even bought backdrops and lighting equipment. However, with very little startup capital (and the poor timing of the site launch right at the start of the recession), the alternative was the most viable solution.

 

Over the last 6 months I actually have been organizing studio shoots for our next products, but this in itself has been a slow process.

[alexg]

I use stock photo people if needed in the foreground. All other in the background can be anything. But I do avoid using frontal shots of people. I just put the recognizable faces in a folder and then use them in the next 6 months. Hair will change. So is fashion and body shape.