License Plates?

Is it appropriate to remove the license plate ID numbers/text in post when editing shots from an automotive shoot? I'm not sure if I should or not. Should I leave that up to the car owner?

Some people do & some don't. I would at least ask the owner whether he cares or not if I was being paid to shoot his car.
I did it here because I think it looks better, & a big white space where the numbers were wouldn't do anything to make the car look better.
Modify a license plate

PhotosGuy wrote in post #14954692
Some people do & some don't. I would at least ask the owner whether he cares or not if I was being paid to shoot his car.
I did it here because I think it looks better, & a big white space where the numbers were wouldn't do anything to make the car look better.
Modify a license plate

That's a pretty good idea, particularly if they aren't vanity plates.

Good tip about the year, thanks.

Thanks everyone yes I might start changing text on the plate.

I have changed it with my own car. If you are going to change what the plate actually says...make sure you make it look like it belongs there. The reality is that you see everyone's plate as you drive down the road anyway...so I am not really sure why people get so sensitive about it. With some clients...you would think you were putting their social and cc# back there.

Mine that I changed. I haven't done it since.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/rsutton1223/5​731449618/

For posting on the internet to any public sites or for personal use, I almost always would.

If it's shooting for art, odds are I'm removing the plate altogether in person to get it as right as possible in camera and taking out just the screw hole mounts left behind in post; or highlighting the modification of an added spoof plate, like the German front plates that are so common here in the US.

If it's someone else it's about the same matter of courtesy as not posting their name and address to the web for all the public to read with it, as most any state $5 and a form gets the same personal info. The majority of the internet doesn't care, but if it's a rare car or an expensive car or new car, it may very well make them the target of a break in.

Over the summer there was a case where somebody took a picture of a car in a parking lot because of some signage/bumper stickers and the license plate was visible in the pics. It was posted in a local forum and some people decided that the vanity plate was a reference to something offensive. They complained to DMV and the plate was revoked.

Kind of an off the wall example but if something like that ever happened as a result of a paid shoot then it probably wouldn't be good for return business or referrals from that customer.

rsutton1223 wrote in post #14961146
I have changed it with my own car. If you are going to change what the plate actually says...make sure you make it look like it belongs there. The reality is that you see everyone's plate as you drive down the road anyway...so I am not really sure why people get so sensitive about it. With some clients...you would think you were putting their social and cc# back there.

Mine that I changed. I haven't done it since.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/rsutton1223/5​731449618/
Tuned by rsutton198 | oneninty8.com, on Flickr

not removing the plate number is like taking pictures of your house and all the valuables and putting your address on it..

TurboVinny wrote in post #15069474
not removing the plate number is like taking pictures of your house and all the valuables and putting your address on it..

Not hardly.

RDKirk wrote in post #15069648
Not hardly.

what address do you use for your registration? ppl can find out where u live with your VIN # too..

And?

TurboVinny wrote in post #15071637
what address do you use for your registration? ppl can find out where u live with your VIN # too..

And they can see my car as I drive down the street, as well a few thousand others on the street...most being a lot more expensive and a lot more promising, if anyone cares to track down the owners.

RDKirk wrote in post #15072155
And they can see my car as I drive down the street, as well a few thousand others on the street...most being a lot more expensive and a lot more promising, if anyone cares to track down the owners.

u drive around with your doors and trunk open for ppl to see what u have?
We're talking about doing a full shoot on a car with interior shot of all the goodies.
same reason why ppl take the plates off at car shows....

TurboVinny wrote in post #15076759
u drive around with your doors and trunk open for ppl to see what u have?
We're talking about doing a full shoot on a car with interior shot of all the goodies.
same reason why ppl take the plates off at car shows....

I'm pretty sure he removed his Playboy collection from the trunk before the shoot, so we see what anyone passing by it can see.

This strikes me like the people who think someone photographing City Hall is a terrorist because "it could happen." Can you cite any actual known cases that someone tracked down a car from the license plate in a photo shoot to the owner's home and did something dastardly?