Question About Taking Photos of Houses, Barns, and Other Buildings

[PrairieAir]

The thread (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11413) about a stranger photographing someone's house has me wondering. I see a lot of interesting old farmhouses, barns, and other structures while I'm out and about. I'm very hesitant to take pictures of a house unless it looks like it's uninhabited. If the barn is too close to a house that looks like it's being lived in, I often won't photograph it either. In fact, I often chicken out even if no one is around and it appears no one may live there. I don't want to invade anyone's privacy, but I'm really tempted.

I would look for someone to ask, but I'm nervous about that, too. Our neighbor, a very nice woman in her 50s, once told us about someone pulling into their drive and to the back of the house. She grabbed her gun before going out to greet them. I understand why. She was home alone and she thought they might be poking around looking for trouble. After all, she didn't recognize the truck. It turns out they were there to inquire about one of her horses. Another neighbor, also a very nice guy, is a very private person and makes no secret of the fact that he will greet people with a gun in hand if he doesn't recognize who has pulled into his drive. MIL was looking for some information on some land near us and one of the neighbors told directed her to the owner's house. When the man answered the door, it was obvious he had a gun in the hand he held behind the door.

All that not to argue gun laws or the practices of my neighbors (because I really do understand), but to say I don't want to make anyone nervous by pulling into their drive and knocking on their door when they don't know me and aren't expecting it. There's also no telling what kind of person they might be or what kind of danger that could put me in. I don't know if I'd want to do that without dh with me, and he often is not.

So, what is the proper thing to do? What would most people appreciate? If it isn't apparent who the building belongs to, should I worry about seeking out the owner and asking permission? I know that whether someone asked first or just took photos of my house from the road I wouldn't mind too much. I like my privacy, but I would understand. In fact, we have had several people drive up and ask if they could see the inside of our house and one took pictures with our permission so they could get ideas for their own house. I think I would feel braver and better about the whole situation--and possibly not miss some great photos--if I knew what most people would expect and appreciate.

[Shelly in IL]

I live in a neat older house at the end of approx. a 500 ft. driveway. It is on 6 acres that are picturesque. I would feel very invaded if someone pulled in my driveway for no apparent reason. In fact, someone pulled in my drive a few years ago, and just looked around while in their car. VERY Invasive!!! They left before I could get outside. Photographing would be even more so, as you don't know if they are casing the property for future theft. JMO

[PrairieAir]

So, in a situation like with your house, would you say just skip it altogether? I would never pull in someone's driveway and take a picture without asking. I might take a picture of a fence or barn from the road or I might ask. Would you think it was okay to pull in to the drive and ask or park on the road and walk up to the house and ask?

[Myrtle]

All the examples you gave involved the photographer trespassing.

Take your photos from the street. Don't go onto someone else's property uninvited even if it's to ring the doorbell, don't drive your vehicle onto private property without permission and that includes their driveway. Don't loiter on the street in front of their property.

If you really want to be sure that no one is offended, upset, or creeped out don't take any photos at all.

(I don't generally fling my door open to folks I don't know either) I live in a nice enough neighorhood and without going into a lot of details, a crazy woman we didn't know knocked on our door not so long ago and ranted long and loud enough that it created a breach of peace and at that point she was ordered off the property. So, yeah, nuts do come up to people's doors even in nice neighborhoods.

[pixelroper]

if you were to try to sell the photo (stock agency, calender, cards etc.) private property legally requires consent from the owner. most people do not mind if you explain what you are doing, give them a contact #, send them a print- if you are not benefiting financially it is less of an issue, they have no recourse if you take a photo from the road and they never see it or you. the previous poster was correct do not go onto private property. stay on public areas.
hope this helped.

[Colleen]

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

This is a primer to your rights as a photographer. In a nutshell, you have a legal right to take photos of whatever your heart desires as long as you're on public property. As far as accessing private property for the purposes of photographing it, I'd just ask ~ even if it required me to pull into a driveway. Of course the driveway's private property, too, but for goodness sake, if we've reached a point in this country when we're going to rush to arm ourselves when we see a car turn into our driveway...well, I find that depressing and paranoid.

[PrairieAir]

The previous poster was correct do not go onto private property. stay on public areas.
hope this helped.

How would I contact someone to ask their permission if I do not at least walk up to the house to ring the doorbell? I'm not talking about places in town. I'm talking about places in the country where addresses are often not visible to look up a phone number if one exists. I'm most often drawn to old barns that are no longer in use and farmhouses that look abandoned. (Looks can be deceiving, though.)

I think I need to say again that I would never go onto the property and take a photograph without asking permission whether it looked inhabited or not. The closest I have come to that is taking a photo of an abandoned barn, no house in sight, from the side of the road.

[PrairieAir]

http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm

This is a primer to your rights as a photographer. In a nutshell, you have a legal right to take photos of whatever your heart desires as long as you're on public property. As far as accessing private property for the purposes of photographing it, I'd just ask ~ even if it required me to pull into a driveway. Of course the driveway's private property, too, but for goodness sake, if we've reached a point in this country when we're going to rush to arm ourselves when we see a car turn into our driveway...well, I find that depressing and paranoid.

Thank you. This is what I'm looking for, some sort of standard to go by.

I do think it's a little extreme to say walking up to someone's door to ring their doorbell is trespassing. If that's the case, I've had Girl Scouts trespass repeatedly:D I don't want to upset people though, so if this is the way most people feel, maybe I'll just forget about it. I have thought about advertising in a few of the small town papers to see if anyone has any old barns they'd allow me to photograph or getting the word out some other way.

[pixelroper]

a knock on the front door, shout a hello, if nobody answers...
personally I'd be uncomfortable just snapping a photo and running- as I said, I give them a print if they give me their address
I've stopped at places before- nobody has ever minded, I guess I look pretty harmless though:)
a friend of mine collected photos of abandoned buildings in the middle of nowhere- he just stopped and snapped, no sign of life except wild-
if you think someone can see you from the house- meaning there is house right there and seems occupied, ask-if it's gated and the gate is shut stay away

as I said if its for your private use- would anybody know?
I use my intuition, some places just look creepy or unfriendly- don't go there, find another barn

just take a photo from the road if you aren't comfortable
people get suspicious if you seem suspicious-

[Colleen]

a knock on the front door, shout a hello, if nobody answers...

She's asking because several you told her to stay off of private property.:)