Mike's Railroad Crossing Forum

Can one discern when the street view photos were taken?

Also aerial photographs?
Thank you.

(My wife's brother is clearly seen adjusting his lawn sprinkler a few feet from the street.)

It would be pretty easy to spot one for Streetview. Below is what a car looks like with the Google camera mounted on it.

I believe the aerial shots come from satellites in space, so that you would never know about.

Spotted one pulling into the Loves truck stop in Tehachapi yesterday. The driver was dressed pretty snappy in a shirt and tie, but asked me not to take his picture. I was fine with that. I see the lenses have an improved, full circle basket of protection now.

gedunk wrote:...The driver was dressed pretty snappy in a shirt and tie, but asked me not to take his picture. I was fine with that. I see the lenses have an improved, full circle basket of protection now.

You have every right to photo the driver if in a public setting. You need not even ask. Asking risks a "No" answer. If "No" I'd photo anyway.
But why photo the driver?

Too bad some Googlearth drivers are too dumb to clean the camera lens - some photos are almost worthless.
They should have windows over the cameras to make cleaning easier and to protect the lens from stones.
This "ball" is probably to shade the lens.

I didn't ask. He saw me setting to take the picture of the car, and requested that he not be in it.

gedunk wrote:I didn't ask. He saw me setting to take the picture of the car, and requested that he not be in it.

I would have taken the photo, anyway.
Anyone in public can be videoed or photographed.
If he doesn't want to be in the photograph, he can get himself out of view if he wishes.

Robert_Gift wrote:I would have taken the photo, anyway.
Anyone in public can be videoed or photographed.
If he doesn't want to be in the photograph, he can get himself out of view if he wishes.

Obviously you are going to do what you want to do... but a little common courtesy goes a long way, and can keep someone from getting teed off and a confrontation starting.

I would be a bit uncomfortable if a total stranger came up to me and just started taking pictures without any reason or asking if it is OK.

cabman701 wrote:

Robert_Gift wrote:I would have taken the photo, anyway.
Anyone in public can be videoed or photographed.
If he doesn't want to be in the photograph, he can get himself out of view if he wishes.

Obviously you are going to do what you want to do... but a little common courtesy goes a long way, and can keep someone from getting teed off and a confrontation starting.
I would be a bit uncomfortable if a total stranger came up to me and just started taking pictures without any reason or asking if it is OK....

You aren't in a flashy Googlearth car with attention-attracting contraption on top.
I would not engage the guy and bother him with a question.
He should expect stares and photos.

Robert_Gift wrote:You aren't in a flashy Googlearth car with attention-attracting contraption on top.
I would not engage the guy and bother him with a question. He should expect stares and photos.

There's no doubt the car attracts the eye. As you can see in the second shot, there is another person behind the car; he was taking a picture with a cel phone. Neither of us "engaged" or "bothered" the driver. He was out of the car; he raised his hands (palms outward) and said "please", and moved out of range. There was no internal moral struggle here. There's no doubt he has been stared at and photographed a whole lot. He's likely quite annoyed sometimes...why should I add to it? I didn't want a picture of him anyway.

I'm signing off on this thread here. We are WAY off topic.

Google streetview is finally updating Huntsville. Proof:
https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=3 ... 08,,0,1.87