Digital photography

(cross thread thread but it originates from a digital photo so I post it here)

I just shot a photo of a girl in Spitalfields. She didn't see me take it, and you can't really tell who it is since her face is half obstructed. However, it got me thinking about street photography and the morale of posting photos of others online.

Do you think it's ok to post up anything you take on say your blog / flickr / where ever? Should I've asked permission? If so, before or after the shot?

AFAIK, if it's a public place then you have no legal need to ask her (or anyones) permission (inc children but most people shy away from photographing children in this country these days in fear of being branded as a pedo) and so long as the image isn't being used to suggest endorsement of a product/company etc then you don't need a model release to sell the image.

Morally, if you want to ask then I'd be prepared for a lot of 'NO's and if you ask before then your images won't look candid at all.

I have shot thousands of recognisable images of people on the street and never asked anyone, the likes of Gilden, Parr, Meyerowitz etc must have millions of recognisable faces in their work, you think all those people have been asked?