For some time I have thought of taking photos of some of the detail on houses around this area.
One of my concerns is to do so without invading the privacy of others.
I wonder what the home occupant might think of some stranger knocking on the door and saying “Hi, I’d like to take a shot of your house”.
Of course the more important aspect is if the owner knows anything of the building history of the house.
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Replies
I wouldn't be pleased to see you out front taking pictures
Wifey saw a house who's color combo she liked so she got some swatch books pulled in their drive and sat in their driveway until she found a match
(didn't tell me about it until well after the fact )
If you knocked on the door and told me who you where and what you wanted I wouldn't mind
PHOTOGRAPHERS RIGHTS
Check out the above link for photographers rights there is a downloadable PDF you may use if someone hassles you.
I usualy try to secure permission, some times getting some strange looks but usually cooperation, but many times it's a request to wander on their property. Not just to photograph from a public street.
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http://www.drawingwithlight.smugmug.com
my boy subs for the Portland news station and films the night shifts and his partner carrys that with him
The only thing I would worry about is a over zealous police officer who refuses to read it.
If you ask generally people are mostly friendly. Or just flash 'em a picture of Anne....,g>
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http://www.drawingwithlight.smugmug.com
Edited 4/6/2008 6:00 pm by Scarecrow
As long as you're not obnoxious about it, I don't think it should offend most people. There are firms under contract right now that are busy photographing every street, house, and peeing dog caught unaware along the country's streets. Check out Google Maps/Stree view.
(yeah, it's a bit creepy)
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0404081google1.htmlCouple Sues Google Over "Street View"
Pittsburgh pair claims privacy invaded by posting of home photoThis thing is no one would have the slightest idea of who these people where if they had not filed the lawsuite..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Just like Barbara Streisandhttp://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=%5CCulture%5Carchive%5C200305%5CCUL20030530e.html
the plaintiffs' name is "Boring"
"Couple Sues Google Over "Street View"Pittsburgh pair claims privacy invaded by posting of home photo"
Now there's a couple with way too much time and/or money on their hands. As it happens, Allegheny County, wherein Pittsburgh is located, publishes a website with photos and layouts of every house in the county. So much for their claimed "privacy".
Here's the official photo of their shack from the public website. Not much architecturally interesting detail, but the wishing well is a nice touch!
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Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Edited 4/8/2008 7:59 am ET by MikeHennessy
it would seem that Google is also trespassing onto private property in Allegheny County in their zeal to take these stupid pictures, without a doubt I would call driving all the way to my house and taking pictures without my knowledge, trespassing and infringing on my privacyhttp://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0407081google1.html
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I didn't realize that Google was driving right into your kitchen to take thier photos! Seems to me that the street view would be all that anyone using the service for navigation would need.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
"Here's the official photo of their shack from the public website."No wonder they are upset. Their place looks like a double-wide with a little gable stuck on it.At least it won't attract any thieves who might be cyber-casing the neighborhood.
BruceT
For me, like many others here, you appreciate old houses. I'm glad you raised this question though. I love to paint watercolors of old houses, and yet I would never want to offend someone's privacy. Quite a different situation spending all day sitting with my stool and easel, sketching...and trying to get some paint on the paper...people gawking, wind, birds pooping on my paper... lol. And I am not well trained and pretty slow painter. Fumbling your way through is fun sometimes, anyway.
In the past though, I have always knocked on the door. Yeah, I could work from photographs, but it throws the perserpective and the feeling off. Always wanted to learn to to Architectural Renderings (with a bit more personality tho, probably no market for that.)
(BTW, my intention is never to sell to the homeowner. Just trying to learn, and houses are much easier for me than landscapes.)
"He said "Buck up baby, it's okay. The sunlight on the floor will always fall." ~ Sarah Harmer
Want to move to Maine? We desperately need a renderer in our office. Two architects plus the boss and me (pseudo-architects) and we can all sketch OK but need someone who want to spend the time to make our schematic designs pop for the client. Ideally the person would also be able to help clients choose colors, fixtures, and other interior design-type stuff.
Have you posted any of your work here? I'd love to see some.
Thanks to all that replied.All of your replies encompassed all that i had worries or thoughts about.In this area there are a great many interesting architectural details. As i mentioned in the first post, if I did talk to the owner it would be great if there was some information available of the construction date.Cheers
Huck made an excellent suggestion.
Get a Blonde to stand in front of the house and the owners will think you're taking pictures of her!"Perfect is the enemy of Good." Morrison
My wife and I built a custom home a few years ago. We were lucky in that all the proportions and colors worked really well together. We spent a lot of time and money on really nice landscaping. I used to love it when someone would knock on the door and ask if they could take a picture of our house. They would often follow up with several questions about various parts of the house and plants in the yard. My wife and I were delighted to tell them about them - we loved that house and loved it when people noticed it.
In 1998 when a tornado ran over our farm, I soon became annoyed with the people stopping to look and take pictures. Of course that was an xtreme incident and a lot of people.
Mike, I very much appreciate you responding to my post, but I am truly not qualified enough to even consider doing renderings for your company. I just like doing paintings of houses. Wish I had figured this out earlier on life.
When I paint houses, my work is too tight, way too technical to be considered a rendering...must be the finish carpenter in me...lol.
The watercolor renderings that I have seen are generally loose and fairly fluid, surrounded by the archectural lines, no? I could be wrong, tho. It would be fun to start a thread about that idea though.
Your company sounds cool, from what I have read here though, and I am very happy that you survived your encounter with Luka. I met him once. And I did too. Barely. Lol. (Aww. he's gonna kill me now...please have someone check in on me soon...)
"He said "Buck up baby, it's okay. The sunlight on the floor will always fall." ~ Sarah Harmer
You must have caught Luka on a day when he wasn't too hungry....
Architectural renderings can be of any style. The best designer I know, who worked for our company for a while, has a fairly loose style, but his technique could be scaled up to technical-level detail when needed. When I was in the field, he would often give me what at first glance looked like a loose sketch but turned out to be a dimensioned perspective drawing. Check out his work:
http://gulfshoredesign.com/
http://www.nicolas-homes.com/maevesway.html
He actually draws in Sketchup, traces over the Sketchup drawing, then imports the trace into Photoshop where he adds the background. As detailed as a Sketchup drawing can be is as accurate as he can be, though it looks pretty loose.
His work is very nice, professional. Wish I could do that. Anyway, most of the renderings have been taken over by the computer programs, as you mentioned. No way I could produce work to that level, as I am a beginner. His work is very cool though.
Lol, I just like to find houses I like, and paint them. No way could I measure up to that stuff tho...I'll try and post some examples for you later. I may research learning how to do that though.
Not sure if I will ever get it right, but I will continue to roll that marble around my pea-brain until I figure it out.
I take photos from the street all the time, without asking anyone's permission. And I can't agree with wanting to restrict someone from snapping a shot of what is in plain public view anyway. I mean come on, even cell phones take pictures and videos now.
Just out of curiousity, are you saying that if you take a picture of your friends standing in the street, you would first knock on the doors of all the houses in the background to get their permission before taking the picture?
I guess I wouldn't publish a photo of a house with a street address accompanying it. But I can't imagine myself knocking on the door to ask someone if I can take a picture from a public street, that to me seems more disruptive than just snapping the picture.
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CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
But I can't imagine myself knocking on the door to ask someone if I can take a picture from a public street, that to me seems more disruptive than just snapping the picture.
I think that about sums it up!
Doug
I've told this story here before, but a while ago I was taking a picture of a nice old church in the country with the sun going down behind it. I had parked in a little access lane to a farm field. A car drove past me and stopped, and I waited for it to go because I didn't want it in my picture.
The guy backs up and parks my car in, so I figure he's the farmer, mad because I parked in the lane to his field. I took the picture and approached the guy--he asks me why I'm taking a picture of his license plate! I had to do a lot of talking to convince him I was just taking a picture of the church and couldn't care less about him or his car! He finally let me back my car out and leave! Was pretty scary!
There were kids hanging on someones stoop, Sorry word is porch here at midnight, The cops arrested them and the judge threw it out, I asked the chief what this means, it means i can walk anywhere in town any time night or day on anyones property unless its posted but it needs to be posted from sight everywhere AND a first time warning must be given. Strange but thats what the police chief told me and he went over it with the DA.
I would be honored if someone knocked on my door and wanted to take picts cause my house had some nice intrinsic architectural value. With that said, if I am driving by, can stop my car and snap a few shots of a dormer or window trim detail or something, I am not going to knock on the door. If someone was in the yard, I would ask 1st but I would not go looking for trouble.
If I intended upon writing a book or publishing it, I would definitely ask 1st. So long as it is just for me, I'd be low key and get a quick shot and move on.
Oh, and regarding the Barbara Streisand thing, get a life Barbara.
She annoys me anyway.
if yur gonna photograph from the street be careful that you don't get run over....
'specially by the home owner....
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Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I hear ya on that. Maybe from the other side of the street I could blend in and no one would even know what I was doing.
When I do this I knock.
If nobody's home, nobody's gonna mind - and the public views apply.
If somebody's home, compliment them on their house and explain what you're doing and they'll feel flattered.
One time, I talked to a guy who was in the middle of a dispute with his town over a building permit and he wanted to make sure I wasn't with them. He was quite kind and showed me some of the things around back that were even better than the street view!
Golden Rule applies.
--wed me some of the things around back that were even better than the street view!That's pretty neat. Some of the views I have had were from a street elevated and on the side. That did show promise of hidden goodies.
Edited 4/8/2008 4:30 pm ET by OldGuy