License plates

[LeVeL]

When editing pictures, do you black out license plates or do you leave them alone? I don't see why it would really matter if someone's plates were on the internet, yet some people might care.

[Twerp128]

That's what I do. But I think it's a security thing, there are people that are able to run plate numbers and get addresses, records, etc. Especially if you have a nice car you don't want to advertise where you live.

[LeVeL]

Thats great! I usually blank them out (MA = white plates so I just get rid of the red letters/numbers) but sometimes its a bit more of a pain.

[damnhawk]

get an old plate, photo graph it, then use free transform to fit it in. the plate looks real b/c it is and you dont end up with the award white space of just blanking it out. Or you could try to rearrange the letters of the plate so that you can keep the tempature of color the same....

[BerserkerCatSplat]

I can't be bothered, if it's visible in public it'll be visible in my photos.

[Raparperi]

Yeah, same here. If someone doesn't specifically request that I edit out the license plate, it stays in the picture.

[FAB 1]

Unless its something like an unmarked police car, etc then showing plates can't do any harm, after all you can't drive down the street with your plates covered up.

[amadeus]

Depends who's car it is and the situation. I usually either blank'em out (like on this local murder scene the other week - wasn't sure people would appreciate their cars being seen at a crime scene)



or use show plates



If you use show plates, remember to take'em off again before you return the car - I always forget, resulting in a police car giving chase the other night when I passed him near the dealership in a black Vauxhall with just "Astra" as plate - that was amusing...

Yes, officer - it's 2am
No, I didn't steal it - It's for photos - honest!

[emil_t]

/\ is that a felony haveing "fake" license plates ?

[IceBone]

[Speedtouch]

Originally Posted by emil_t

/\ is that a felony haveing "fake" license plates ?

Technically yes, so make sure you meet a nice Policeman, who will accept your excuse. I suppose there shouldn't be any reason for them to not believe you, as you will have photos on your camera proving it, as well as documents and the correct numberplates proving whose the car is etc.

[Cobol74]

No, around here anyway you will be nicked. Put the plates on at the location of the shoot and before returning put the correct ones back.

[rootrider]

It's legal for anyone to get a plate number where I live and find out where it's registered home is. So unless I'm shooting an event where people expect photos to be taken of their cars (like a car show), I will almost always blank out the plate, usually similar to the way icebone did in his examples. It's possible to do it so that it isn't distracting... which is usually my goal.