Safety and Legality of Shooting on Country Roads

<p>I hope this question hasn't been asked yet, as it seems like a very simple question...but after a great deal of searching here on photo.net, I can't seem to find a complete answer. Most of the forums and articles I've seen have discussed street photography, which isn't really what I'm into:<br>

<a href="../columns/mjohnston/14-tips-for-photographing-in-public">Tips for Photographing In Public</a><br>

Or, in this particular forum, much of the discussion is geared toward taking photographs in parks and such. I'm more interested in the legality of "parking and shooting"...not necessarily shooting in parks. :-)<br>

I'm primarily interested in old barns (in many instances, the farm house is gone, but the barn or silo still remains). Sometimes these barns are empty, but sometimes the farmers still use them for storage purposes. I live in an area which is developing quickly, and we have little fragments of what used to be large farms (I can see how a farmer might get nervous if a person hangs around taking pictures of where he stores his farming equipment, even if from a distance). <br>

Anyway, many of the barns I am interested in photographing are on country roads or along relatively busy highways. I am primarily concerned with two things: legality and safety. Is it legal for me to park alongside a country road so long as I am not obstructing traffic (or lack of traffic)? I've seen from reading other forums that even if it is legal, I still might be confronted. I believe in being honest and polite, but would rather not have to deal with unnecessary uncomfortable situations. Of course I would not venture onto the property, I would take my shots roadside.<br>

There are some locations I'm interested in photographing that are located along busier highways, but in many instances there is a country road that runs perpendicular to it, and I could still get my shot by pulling onto that road and taking my pictures from there.<br>

Does anyone have any suggestions? I want to do this right...legally and safely. Also, when shooting in these types of situations, is it wise to bring along a companion, or does it really make a difference?</p>

 

<p>I do it all the time. In fact, since I live in a rural area, it's just about the only kind of shooting I do. Legally, there's no problem parking on the sides of country roads as long as you don't block traffic. Will you be confronted anyway? Depends on the area. I photographed many old, abandoned barns and houses in northern Arizona and was never approached even once. In Tennessee, however, it's a much different story. Even barns that have been abandoned for decades have an owner who lives nearby, or a neighbor who knows the owner, and they will stop to check up on you. People in this area look out for each other. I've had some pretty interesting discussions with these folks, and often learned quite a bit about the history of the building I'm shooting. I've never had anyone tell me to go away. Of course, it does help that I live here. In the past, I have been in some areas where taking photos without permission would be a major problem for residents in the area, like some of the Navaho communities in New Mexico. One of them even has a large sign posted on the road leading in, asking people to respect their privacy and to not photograph in their area. Again, it depends on where you are...</p>

<p>Amanda,</p>

<p>As a person who's grown up primarily in the country I can say that as long as you're not obstructing traffic then parking on the side of a country road is legal. I do it almost every day for my job. In terms of safety you should be fine as long as your vehicle is completely off the road. And whatever you do, do not park near a hill where the opposite view is obstructed. And don't park on any curves. If you've got farm equipment barreling over a hill at 25mph you're going to want to give him plenty of time to slow the tractor and more importantly whatever he's pulling, down to get safely around you. </p>

<p>If you're spending time photographing a farmsite; be prepared to be stopped a couple of times by neighbors or the actual owner. Don't be too nervous if you see someone stop; just tell them what you're doing and they should be fine with it. I'm not sure what part of the country you are in, but in the Midwest most country folk are extremely nice. 9 times out of 10 you won't have any issues. If you've got one, carry your business card to show them that you mean no harm. Whatever you do, if you see someone coming, don't just drive away. That could lead to issues. Let me know if you have any other questions. ~Justin</p>

<p>I grew up on a farm in Missouri, and own about a section of land there still. I also live in a rural part of the country on North Central Plains. I think I can comment. Taking photos from the road right of way (between the fences along the road) is legal, period. You have to be smart about where you park being careful to (1) not get stuck (2) not have car jutting out into the lane. I am also careful to NOT park just below the crest of a hill on country roads. On top of the crest is generally OK, as is at least 30 yards below the crest. For safety, keep your eyes open and watch for traffic both ways, just like your mommy taught you. I often photo at night along gravel roads and then wear a reflective highway workers vest. This time of year there are few places to park because of all the snow. It's customary here to park in the field access openings, where the farmer has a gate to drive into his fields. Here, we leave the keys in the ignition so farmer can move the car if it needs to be moved. Don't know if that's how it's done where you live, but I wouldn't be afraid to pull into an access like those and park over to the side so access isn't blocked, just about anywhere.</p>

<p>One other thing I'll mention is that most farm folks don't mind if you come up and ask to take a photo. Go to the door that seems to be the most used. At farm houses that is usually the side door close to where the cars are parked, not the front door. Most all of the trouble they have comes from people who don't ask. I am very rarely turned down. Usually they pretty much give me the run of the place, even inside the barns etc. If you are polite (sounds like you are) you shouldn't have too much trouble. Do try to knock on the door before it gets dark though.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

<p>My experiences have been right in line with William's. I park and stay on the side of the road. I take my time and don't hide the fact that I'm photographing. Surely enough, someone will pull up to see what I'm up to, and that's what I want. I chat with them a while and ask them about the building/property, and eventually ask them if they would mind if I approach the building. Usually, they are quite open to it, and will tell me if there's anything to watch out for, whether they want me entering the building, etc. If they don't seem amenable, I simply tell them that I fully agree with their concern, thank them for taking the time to chat, and go on my way.</p>

<p>I would love to know where you are talking about, Amanda.</p>

<p>Here is Eastern Pennsylvania I am basically surrounded by country roads. The number one problem I have is finding a safe place to pull over with the car. The second is, basically everywhere you go is private property. I have not had any problems from doing photography along a road. But I never trespass even if I am sure no one would see me. In this case...zooming with the feed does not apply.</p>

<p>However, the adjacent county to the north has, shall we say, a lot of very protective people and merely driving slowly, you may have a local following you.</p>

<p>I recall birdwatching and doing photography along the back highways when I was in New Mexico. You could always tell who were the locals...they would actually slow down and wave. Where I live, they would just as soon blast you with their horns and sure as hell not slow down.</p>

<p>So, I think it varies greatly from location to location.</p>

<p>I was on a back road near Saluda NC a couple years back. I pulled off the road to take a look at my map and had a man tap on my window with a .45. He said he was a police officer and than accused me of breaking into his house. I told him that it had been a while since I broke into any houses and I was just trying to figure out the fastest way back to I-26. </p>

<p>You never know what you will run into on the backroads, especially in the south. I only pull off on shoulders, never driveways. DOT owns the shoulder. The only thing that ever worries me is, am I photographing a barn that has a meth lab? I think a dealer would have a problem with that. Meth labs are everywhere, as well as pot farms. I have, several times, ran across pot plots in the Nantahala & Pisgah National Forest. I would never say that you will be fine photographing on the backroads. If you do it, be carefull.</p>

<p>Derek</p>

<p>+1 for get a safe parking spot, and I've never had any trouble from anybody.<br />Hypothetical-lawsuit paranoia and commercial egocentrism is more concentrated in upscale suburban neighborhoods and posh downtown condos. "That sure is a pretty field," would probably neutralize 98% of all concerns.</p>

<p>If you met the one person who was being a jerk, you might have found the one guy, probably self conscious, thinking his place didn't look too good. Some of those old broken down barns or closed businesses are people's broken dreams, so basic respect for the subject and some people skills there. That's unlikely, and would be no different from what kind of reaction you'd expect to get if you were photographing the inside of your neighbor's trash can. You have no desire to be intrusive, so I would not worry.</p>

<p>Out here in western PA, I've been asked (somewhat accusatorily) if I'm a surveyor (there are a lot of gas wells around) and I've been asked if I have car trouble. But no one has minded me taking pictures. If I can find someone to ask, I will. I'm a bit of a chicken about asking and was putting it off in the case of this one barn I really like. I finally had the guts to pull up the driveway and ask the guy I saw outside. His answer was, "Sure. But why would you want to?" Taking a 5x7 or so back for them after is a good way to build some goodwill, too. Everyone knows everyone else around here. </p>

<p>I live in the same general area as William and my experience is much the same as his. I grew up in the country near Kingston, Tn.(infamous home of the disastrous coal ash spill)...17 miles from the nearest town. Living there as a teenager, I doubt that a photographer taking pictures of people's barns and such would be met by the locals with anything more than friendly curiosity. At that time (late 60s, early 70s), farming was a full time occupation for many of our neighbors...so they were there to keep an eye on their property. As in many regions of the country, dairy farming ceased to be a money making endeavor, as did tobacco farming (the two most common types of farming in East Tennessee)...meaning that these folks had to take jobs in town. The more this became the norm, the amount of theft and burglary went up dramatically. Add to this...moonshining gave way to growing pot. With moonshiners, ya just don't hike into an area of woods where there's smoke coming up through the trees...and you have nothing to worry about. You don't get any warning if you stumble into a thatch of pot growing in the woods...and as rough of a reputation as moonshiners have, my generation that was responsible for the pot growing were (and are)much more dangerous. I'd rather face a moonshiner with a shotgun from a hundred yards than a pot grower with an Uzzi. Now, the pot growers are being replaced by meth labs in house trailers, barns, garages, and the one I love...the rolling lab in the back of a utility van. For all my rambling...what I'm getting to is that in some areas you have a double threat to consider, i.e, the criminal element that roams the countryside while honest people are at work...and the property owners who <em>are </em>home...and rightfully edgy about the bad guys that have infiltrated their neck of the woods. </p>

<p>Now that I've most likely added some more things for you to worry about...I continue to make frequent trips into the countryside to shoot barns and such. As others have said...don't hide what you're doing. Wave as people pass by, have a business card ready to hand out if someone asks what you're doing. I always leave car's blinkers on no matter what time of day, which has led several people to stop and ask if I'm having car trouble...and if I need help. The only "bad" incident I've had was in a mountainous area that is a bit remote. I stopped in front of a house to take a picture of a sign that read "eggs for sale". I snapped the shot through my window...stopping no more than 10 seconds. I pulled away and no more than 100 yards down the road I pulled over to change lens on m camera. Almost immediately a woman pulled up beside me in a Lexus asking me why I was taking pictures of her house. I explained that I didn't take pictures of her house...that I was a photographer by trade, and was just taking pictures of her sign. I was friendly...and related that my wife (who was with me) had just said that if she had any cash in her wallet she'd like to have bought some eggs. This didn't make the lady flinch or veer from her mission to interrogate me. Next she asked, "why are you taking pictures at all". I repeated once again that I was a photographer and I just thought her sign was interesting. Next, she tells me she "doesn't appreciate me taking pictures of her house"....stating that she doesn't know me. By this time I was getting a little irritated with her insistence that I'd photographed her home, so I offered to let her see the pictures that I'd taken. She refused to look...and started ranting very angrily. Seeing that speaking in a calm, reasonable, non-threatening tone was getting me no where...I finally just told her that I had done nothing illegal and she'd just have to live with me and my "eggs for sale" sign photos. She jerked the car into reverse, and I could see through my rear view mirror that she was talking on her cell phone while writing down my tag number. This was the one such incident I've ever experienced on the backroads of Tennessee. As my wife and I drove away...and we discussed how incredibly and needlessly rude the woman had been, it suddenly hit us: if this woman thought that we were such a serious threat ...how smart was it for her to pull side by side with our car and confront us with hostility? I wouldn't have dare said this to the lady...but I couldn't help but think that she was lucky that she was wrong about my intentions...for if she were right, she might have faced being shot with a Smith & Wesson...and not a Nikon. Needless to say...we didn't go back to buy eggs. </p>

<p>Morals of the story: </p>

<p> Be careful when taking photographs whether you're in the country, the city, or maybe even your own back yard. <br>

Don't take photographs of eggs for sale signs.<br>

Beware of hillbilly women who drive a white Lexus.</p>

 

<p>If she was driving a Lexus, do you really think her main business is selling eggs ?</p>

<p>I've never encountered a single problem shooting farmers' fields, structures, equipment, livestock, crops, or even homes. Most of the worries about this subject come, I think, from people who live in uptight suburbs or urban areas, and just can't wrap their heads around how pleasant most country folk actually are. A smile, a wave, and deferential body language always goes a long way.</p>

<p>Somehow I doubt it Roger ;)</p>

<p>William Kahn wrote: "In the past, I have been in some areas where taking photos without permission would be a major problem for residents in the area, like some of the Navaho communities in New Mexico. One of them even has a large sign posted on the road leading in, asking people to respect their privacy and to not photograph in their area. Again, it depends on where you are..."</p>

<p>That's just one of SEVERAL reasons I prefer to stay off Indian reservations. </p>

<p>Kerry, I am actually shooting in the Midwest, in Southern Illinois. Not many hills to be concerned about. <br>

Bethe, my grandmother would ask the same thing...why do you want a picture of a barn that's falling down? Or one that isn't falling down, for that matter.<br>

Thanks for all of the responses.</p>

<p>I've done quite a bit of "country photography" around Oakdale, CA and have had only one instance of anybody getting huffy about it. Its probably a good thing he expressed his displeasure and drove off 'cuz I tend to put up with a bit of guff and then tell somebody to stickit where the sun don't shine! But just the same, there's few people who've given me a second glance and I've stopped hundreds of times to snap a photo or two. About 99.9% of the time if anybody sez anything at all its just to ask a friendly question, country folk tend to be that way. </p>

<p>Around my neighborhood the problem with people shooting from country roads usually involves firearms, not cameras.</p>

<p>And Amanda:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Midwest, in Southern Illinois</p>

</blockquote>

<p>in the real "Southern Illinois" (with capital S, you got that right), there are plenty of hills. You must be from one of those <strong>central</strong> Illinois places like Mount Vernon or something.</p>

<p>And <strong>Southern</strong> Illinois, sure as all get out, ain't no Midwest. (see my first sentence)</p>

<p>;)</p>

<p>Yes, well...I guess it all depends on who you ask! I'm actually north of Mt. Vernon, East of St. Louis. My fiance is from Champaign, and he calls my neck of the woods Southern Illinois....<br>

It's all relative. ;-)</p>

<p>Odd you mention barns Amanda..It's one of my favorit past times when not shooting for money.<br>

I particularly like shooting old decrepid barns..the bygone ea.</p>

<p>I see no prob with doing what you are asking as long as personal safety comes first.<br>

With all the rules and regs out there, if all were obeyed, I think I would have missed some really good shots.</p>

<p>"adapt, overcome, improvise" Clint Eastwood.</p>

<p>Odd you mention barns Amanda..It's one of my favorit past times when not shooting for money.<br>

I particularly like shooting old decrepid barns..the bygone ea.</p>

<p>I see no prob with doing what you are asking as long as personal safety comes first.<br>

With all the rules and regs out there, if all were obeyed, I think I would have missed some really good shots.</p>

<p>"adapt, overcome, improvise" Clint Eastwood.</p>

<p>At the risk of extending this thread unnecessarily -- old barns are great subjects for photographs. Some deteriorate slowly and gracefully, others quickly and not so gracefully. This barn in my area changed dramatically between Nov. 7 and Dec. 11 this past fall. Each time, I pulled into the driveway of the property, knocked on the door, got no response, and took the photos. Perhaps I should start a "No Words" thread!</p><div></div>

<p>I do a lot of photography along country roads and have been approached a few times by people with somewhat stern attitudes. None have told me to go away. I think the advice to be very visible (not sneaky) is good. I hadn't thought about blinkers, but I'll use them in the future. My approach, where possible, has been to ask first. I have my camera hanging around my neck, fully visible. I walk up the main walk or drive to the house, with a smile on my face and a business card in my hand. <strong>The smile and business card are essential.</strong> I knock on the door. If there's an answer, I present my card, compliment the owner on the really cool looking barn (or whatever), and ask if I can photograph it. I usually get weird looks that seem to say, "Dumb city folk! It's just a barn." I'm almost always told it's OK. Even the Amish have let me photograph their farms and farm animals, so long as people aren't in the picture.</p>

<p>The important thing, though, is that I'm not at all sneaky about what I do.</p>

<p>Where I live, I've recently found myself on the other side of the fence. I can guarantee you that many of you would get a very stern reception from me if you came to photograph my house, at least if you're young. I'd likely demand that you get the **** off of my property and never come back. The reason is that the county has hired two college students to rove around, photographing things that they feel should come to the attention of the county. Therefore, if they're photographing you, it means trouble is coming.</p>

<p>If some kid with a camera were to march up the walk and present a business card with a smile on his face before shooting any photographs, I'd probably hear him out, and I might even let him do his photography. He'd just have to convince me he's not with the county. A smile, a business card, and a plausible explanation as to what he's wanting to photograph (and why) would be essential.</p>

<p>The only time I was confronted while photographing in the country occurred several years ago. I was standing on the side of a state highway in western GA photographing a barn and its reflection on a pond. My car was well off the road. As I returned to my car, another car pulled and a gruff individual asked, "You aint one a them quarry fellers, are ya?" I was surprised, but calmly said no, I was not a quarry guy, just an amateur photographer taking a photo of something that interested me. Then, I realized the significance of the small "stop the quarry" signs I had seen along the road. So I guess the moral of that story is, you never know the situation you may be walking into.</p>

<p>A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to photograph a barn in Boone, NC. It was cold with snow and ice on the ground, and there was no good place to park off the road. So I parked the car on the sidewalk across from the barn. But the car was not completely off the road. No sooner had I gotten out of the car, than one of Boone's finest came by, stopped, asked me if everything was ok, and said I had parked in a bad spot (he was right). So I moved the car, walked 100 yard back through the snow and got great shots of the barn.</p><div></div>

<p>Some years ago I stopped by the side of a road to photograph an old farm house that was literally falling down. I parked just before the house, in front of a mobile home. As I was getting out of the car with my cameras and heading towards the old farm house, an old lady stuck her head out of the door of the mobile home and hollered at me that they did not want photos taken of the old house. I told her I was just taking photos for myself, and she repeated her comment. Since I was on a public road and knew I wasn't breaking any laws, I replied to her that I was going to take some photos anyway.</p>

<p>I took a few, got back into my car and was putting my gear back in the camera bag on the seat beside me. I didn't notice a car coming up behind me and stopping, with a big young fellow stepping out. As I noticed him, I also noticed I didn't have the key in the ignition in case I needed to make a fast getaway. I feared the worse, probably the old lady's son or grandson was going to give me grief. Or worse.<br>

<br />He stepped up to my open window as I was fumbling for the key and asked me if I knew how to get to a nearby location. Whew! Dodged the bullet on that one! With a sigh of relief I told him I wasn't from around here and left prompty.</p>

<p>An almost close call for me!</p>

<p> </p>