Any Suggestions on getting supermarket interior pictures?

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Floyd

Any Suggestions on getting supermarket interior pictures?

Post by Floyd »

I have a question? How easy is it take photos of supermarket interiors? Do most store managers object? I noticed that David took an interior shot of the produce dept of "Big Valley Foods" (Former Don Quick) in Stockton, yet when I tried asking the manager there for permission to take pictures, the asian mamager seemed offended and refused.I noticed a lot of Centomart pictures so I am guessing they are friendly towards this practice? I have a lot of exterior pictures but very no interiors. I would like to take interior pictures of a former "Food Fair" located at 2053 Mariposa Road in Stockton (now "Big Value Market). Any suggestions on getting Supermarket Interior Shots? Thanks!
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Daniel
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Post by Daniel »

When I take them, I try to be as discreet as possible. Store management almost always assumes you have some sinister purpose behind wanting to take interior pictures of their businesses, so I'm not surprised they were not very enthusiastic at your request.
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TheStranger
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Post by TheStranger »

One thing I have noticed after many Flickr searches: taking casual pictures of friends, family, etc. in a supermarket context is generally kosher. If you're going solo, however, Daniel's advice is apt.

An anecdote I remember from Flickr searching is the tale of one group of several individuals that set out to take store photos, but some tried to take photos of the checkstand bags without being particularly inconspicious. NOT a recommended approach.

Having said that, I've had varying reactions - two independent stores gave me two very different situations, one where I was allowed to take a picture of a Mickey Mouse display in plain view, and another where trying to photograph a "Thank You" sign got me a "no pictures!" reprimand from an employee. So, experience is really the best thing to go on.

I would also think that touristy spots lend themselves to photography in general, so certain areas will naturally be more camera-friendly than others.
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storewanderer
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Post by storewanderer »

Don't take pictures from departments like liquor or health and beauty/medicine as these are higher theft areas and likely have more and/or closely monitored cameras present. Avoid employees. Try to take pictures when something else is going on in the store, like a rush at the checkstands, a manager called to the deli, etc. Go at off times.

Do not use a flash!
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Floyd

Post by Floyd »

A friend of mine from work suggested using a camera cell phone, because everyone uses their cell phones in grocery stores.
Rimes
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Post by Rimes »

I recently posted some photos of a store's interior in another thread. I was nervous about doing so (I chickened out a month earlier when I was at the same store), but finally got up the nerve to do so.

Here's what I did: I went with a friend so that gave me more confidence -- in case anyone asked what I was doing, I could always pretend that I was just taking a casual shot of my friend, not the store itself. She was buying a couple items, so I could stand with her while she shopped and if an empty-looking aisle presented itself, I could linger without suspicion and take a photo. Be as discreet as possible.

Also, when I suspected that an employee might have possibly seen me take a photo, I stopped taking pictures and casually left the building in short order. In all I was probably in the store no more than 10 minutes or so. At the slightest hint of being suspected of taking a photo, leave the store before anyone has the chance to say anything to you, especially if it's a local store that you can easily check out again some other time.
TenPoundHammer
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Post by TenPoundHammer »

One time I was at a Ben Franklin Crafts store that was going out of business. This was back in 2001, I was 14 at the time. Since the store was closing, I politely asked if I could take pictures - the management not only said yes, but actually encouraged me to do so! I even got a picture of the manager himself standing at the front of his store. (I also got a couple of stockboy aprons they had in the back - I wanted something with the store logo on it.) Granted, this was prior to 9/11, so I could see that if it were now, they might be a little more edgy.

In 2003, I called up the manager of a mall to ask a couple questions about the mall's history for a website I was running about that mall. The manager said he had seen my website, and started to yell at me - he even used profanity - saying that he was going to call the police on me for taking pictures in "his" mall, and blah blah blah... I hung up on him, in tears. I took the site down for a bit, and then put it back up. I really doubt the police would have done anything anyway, had the manager actually called them.
APCO25
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Post by APCO25 »

Cellphone cameras are probably the best bet since everyone has them and you could easily act like your texting or something if someone got nosy. I just picked up a Sony Ericsson K750i off Ebay and can't wait to get it. The Euro phones are so much more advanced than any of the garbage, locked down trash the US (especially CDMA carriers like Sprint and Verizon) push. Some US carriers (specifically Verizon) even disable Bluetooth object transfer so you can't even get the pictures off the phone without using airtime. (what scumbags...you pay for an advanced device and they cripple the features. Shhh...don't tell Microsoft, they'll take after this and start disabling USB and Firewire ports and force PPU)

The SE has a 2MP camera, uses Memory Stick Pro's, and has a pretty good optical zoom. My sister has one and the pictures taken with it rival my 4MP Canon PowerShot 520. As soon as I get it, gonna take some pictures of the old A&P's around Atlanta.

Not to give T-Mobile free advertising, but one of the pluses of their service is being able to use any unlocked GSM phone on their system, just put the SIM card in. (to get MMS and internet working you usually have to enter some settings) but unlocked phones blow away the junk sold here in the USA.

Other than cellphone cameras, I'd be a little weary of popping up with a full sized camera. I think the biggest problem is a lot of retail managers don't like someone poking around with a camera (they don't know you after all) and I am sure most companies' have a policy prohibiting photography by private persons or media in their stores unless they have gone through corporate channels.

Never had any trouble photographing exteriors, really not much anyone can do. Anything viewable from the public street is open to photography (that is until the homeland security crowd makes it illegal. They've already banned photography on NYC subways...how retarded)
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tesg
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Post by tesg »

I have a Sony Ericsson W810i, which has a 2mp camera, and it is capable of taking acceptable pictures indoors for smaller file use (such as web sites). I wouldn't use them for quality blowups though.

Here's a couple of samples...

Image

Hy-Vee (yes, those are windows in the back...something they've started doing in sections of new stores.)

Image

The Fareway meat counter. Behold...It is awesome.

While inconspicuous (particularly since I post my shopping list on the phone's display, so I have an excuse to have it out), SE has a couple of audable sound effects of a working camera that are not defeatable on the US versions of their phones, supposedly due to what they call "privacy requirements".

But in a noisy supermarket situation, nobody notices. The beep actually sounds like the Nextel walkie talkie beep.
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steps
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Post by steps »

Just be honest OR Tell them that your doing a report on supermarket history. Most of the store managers will let you do it if you let them know why you are taking pictures. You could also use a camera phone with a decent camera. Ive never had any problems with takin super market pics.
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