Has anyone tried shooting construction site? Must we obtain permit before shooting? I find that objects found in construction site are very interesting for photography.
Construction Site Photography?
- Thread starter mohgui
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mohgui said:
construction sites do not ban photography, but no one is supposed to enter without a good reason clearly for safety concerns. i don't think you'll find any luck obtaining permit to shoot in a construction site. but you can shoot from outside.
taipankid said:
they can provide you with those, provided you have a good reason to visit the site ... unfortunately going in to take photographs for your own use is not a good reason
mohgui said:to sum up... no go lah...
no point shooting from outside... cannot get creative shots.
sorry to disappoint you, but the construction company has to answer for your safety if you go in. things aren't that bad, can always shoot cranes, i think they make fantastic landscape subjects
mohgui said:to sum up... no go lah...
no point shooting from outside... cannot get creative shots.
How creative you want to be? Maybe you just build your own building and in the process take whatever your creative shots to be. From my personal experience a great picture can ether be choosen to be taken, happen to be taken or edited to be great.
Alternatively, you can be a site manager or in connection to the building site, able to get in and get that few great shots you want.
mohgui said:
Yes.
mohgui said:
This is going to vary - I work in Sydney, but I expect most developed countries have similar rules.
Building sites are DANGEROUS places. Many construction workers get killed each year.
For our site - the builders 'owned' the site for the duration - not us. The fact that I worked for the organisation that owned the building didn't mean anything. The builders 'own' it until a point where they 'formally' hand back to the owner - they are responsible for site safety and security until then.
To go on site I had to
1/ Get a 'green card', basicly a certificate that said I had done a state certified 'building safety' course. (1 day of lectures). My employer put me through this.
2/ Do a 'site induction' with the building company. They issue a 'site' card. Site card must be carried at all times on site. The site 'safety officer' may demand to see this card at any time.
3/ Have appropiate 'safety' equipment - steel cap boots and an approved 'hard hat'.
4/ Sign in every time I visited the site and let the site foreman know I was there.
The foreman commented to be careful about taking pictures of the workers as they may think you are there photographicing their work habits or something and may get agressive or complain to their union and cause an 'incident'.
You may find a site foreman who will let you on site to take pictures with out all this formality, but if you are injured he stands a good chance of losing his job and being personally fined for breaking the safety rules.
mohgui said:
I was shooting a refurbishment of the building I work in. I wanted to document where the data network cables were being installed, so that later we stood a chance of finding them...
No cranes or stuff as the building was structure was kept, but I did take photo's up and down lift shafts, along corridors that had no ceilings and all the part installed services showing. Most photo's were merely functional records. Every now and then one would appear 'arty', particularly the ones taken up the lift shafts (before the doors or cars were installed).
You would not want to shoot in a construction site one loh. Safety is one issue, security is another. What's more the amount of dust in a site is terrible.
I work as an site engineer, only brought my camera to shoot once. The rest of the time, I used my company camera ;p
I work as an site engineer, only brought my camera to shoot once. The rest of the time, I used my company camera ;p
Damien said:
Must second that comment. Nearly every shot taken with the flash (i.e most of them) have 'sparkles' in the shot - reflections of the flash off the dust in the air. It's not noticable untill the flash goes off.....
No changing the lens on your (D)SLR in this environment.
no construction site management is going to let you in on the pretext of photographing for your hobby.
construction is serious business. hey, who knows you might be a saboteur in disguise.
OT a bit .. assisted on an architectural interior shoot for a private housing development a couple months ago. sounds routine..but catch was...the showroom was on the 4th floor. and.. no lifts. as the construction site was totally fenced up, no driving into the site either.
so u guessed it..the poor assistant(me) and the photographer had to lug our bags of lighting equipment, camera, stands etc all the way from outside the perimeter of the site, tru the rubble and narrow sheltered walkways...up the flight of stairs all the way to the 4th floor .. and repeat until all our equipment was loaded. and the shoot hasn't begun yet! really dreaded the journey back. :sweat:
construction is serious business. hey, who knows you might be a saboteur in disguise.
OT a bit .. assisted on an architectural interior shoot for a private housing development a couple months ago. sounds routine..but catch was...the showroom was on the 4th floor. and.. no lifts. as the construction site was totally fenced up, no driving into the site either.
so u guessed it..the poor assistant(me) and the photographer had to lug our bags of lighting equipment, camera, stands etc all the way from outside the perimeter of the site, tru the rubble and narrow sheltered walkways...up the flight of stairs all the way to the 4th floor .. and repeat until all our equipment was loaded. and the shoot hasn't begun yet! really dreaded the journey back. :sweat:
eikin said:
ironically..the development's name has something to do with the word 'light'.. :bsmilie:
no lah, it wasn't as if they were out to tekan us on purpose. it's just the way things are.
that's life for an assistant!
Stereobox said:
not that, i sense the developer/contractor quite unpro in the construction field
mohgui said:
I'm very sure you are not allowed because the main-cons are responsible for whatever going to happen to you and more over its private property. Even when I was doing a project with a sub-con months ago at a site, we had a hard time getting approval. ;(
why can't we get creative shot in construction site?
I got one for example which i think is good...
"early morning the sun is up..at the dirty look construction canteen with wooden bench, the uncle is making coffee using traditional style(the cloth type of filter where you put coffee powder inside)...as he makes up coffee the sunlight ray shines in and the...." Well all imo only, becuse i just seen one last week but no camera with me. :mad2:
I got one for example which i think is good...
"early morning the sun is up..at the dirty look construction canteen with wooden bench, the uncle is making coffee using traditional style(the cloth type of filter where you put coffee powder inside)...as he makes up coffee the sunlight ray shines in and the...." Well all imo only, becuse i just seen one last week but no camera with me. :mad2:
why i like to shoot at construction sites is because objects in these sites provide great opportunity for abstract shots. also, there are the people factor... it's nice to capture the workers at work.
some sites would offer a good photojournalistic opportunity though, show some of the living conditions foreign workers have to put up with. and everyone has their own story to tell about life back home, pretty interesting.
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