McDonald Kids

One of my favorite hangouts is McDonald's. I enjoy the company of my senior friends as well as the people you meet there. I've always had a thing for child photography, their innocent faces, their huge eyes than can melt your heart. Since I carry my camera there on most days I never pass up an opportunity to capture little faces, little smiles. I generally give the parents my info card so they can send me their email address and receive free portrait files I've taken of their kids. Some send it, some don't. It's their choice.

If you did that in this country, Bob, you would get yourself locked up.

I refuse to buy into the trend that every male, especially with a camera, is some sicko pedophile. I get a comment about posting portraits online every now & then but I blow them off as paranoid. It's like the folks that see a terrorist in everyone different than themselves.

The problem is Bob, that the paranoia running around in this country is such that if you were seen to be taking photographs of children you are likely to be attacked by the parents. Sad but true.

As a computer geek, I had several computers that had seen better days and I thought it would be a good idea to give them away to any child who didn't have a computer.

Simple? Not so. I asked my neighbour's daughter's friends to ask their parents if it would be alright for them to accept one of these computers. I had so many parents coming around wanting to punch my lights out I ended up throwing these computers away.

Such are the times we live in.

I worked for years with quadraplegics who's entire life was spent listening to cassette audio books. I built custom computers with early voice recognition software costing over $600. I trained them how to use the computer & software and donated the cost of an internet connection to expand their world beyond their fondest dreams. They could control the cursor and keyboard using their voice, including the ability to play games such as chess or checkers, scrabble or verbally highlight text that would be read back to them through their sound cards.

Good on you, Bob. I also have customised computers for kids with learning difficulties using text to speech and speech to text to expand their world no end.

Would you believe, one child actually improved his speech using this software?

Just amazing.

Mmm sat on the fence on this issue, as a photgrapher, in a public place you have the right to photograph anybody, as a parent, not sure how I'd feel if a random stranger took pics of my kids while out eating

Do you ask permission first? as that would annoy me, if you didn't ask if it was okay first. I am also unsure of posting the image on the internet, if you had their permission that is fine though. It's a very grey area for me, what is allowed by law as your rights as a photographer, and what is okay by parents of the child.
For me if you took a pic of one of my kids without permission, I would be annoyed, regardless if you offered me your card after you'd taken them.


Can see both sides of the argument, but I guess, my parent head comes first.

What if the location were changed to Disneyworld with thousands of kids? Would you have to ask everyone's permission in the area every time you raised a camera? Is it ok for Wilbur to hand out candy to those same kids at McDonald's or is he considered a pervert or something? There are plenty of adults who approach a child in public that are genuinely just admiring the boy/girl. I understand your concern Suz at being protective but remember that the media has sensationalized the negative.

Ah, Disneyland you know you are going to end up in someone holiday snaps, but even then I wouldn't take shots of someone else's kids as the focus,why would I want them, they'd be of mine as the focus.

I am not paranoid, or think someone is a paedophile, but everybody has a right to eat a meal in privacy, it's a privacy issue for me. If I was sat down for a burger with my kids, I would be surprised if someone took a picture of them.

My kids wouldn't take sweets of a stranger, as they have been brought up not too, they'd be polite but they'd say no thank you.

I think I'm going to have to go with Suz on this one! as a photographer I love the results I get when photographing Children, but as a Dad I don't think I'd be happy with a stranger taking photos of my kids in a public place!