Does anyone else on this forum think it is fine to persuade 3 under 16's to be photographed and the images used (including publishing on the web) without obtaining parental permission?
You probably need to separate the two actions.
Taking the picture and
usage of the picture.
If you're on public land you can
take pictures of whatever or whoever you want with whatever they're wearing (or not!) as long as no one is breaking the law (indecent exposure etc etc)
But when it comes to usage -
especially commercial usage - you need to be more careful. Some buildings have copyright for example, never mind people!
Recognisable people absolutely need to give their permission for you to use their likeness in (for example) advertising. That's why model releases were invented. If the model is under 18, I would imagine parental consent is also required (though NOT a lawyer!)
Commercial usage could be anything that promotes your business, or your product(s). It's not always about payment. Get A Lawyer or legal advice if it's not clear. "What about a club competition?" - If the images are prints, reviewed on one night, then everyone takes them home, I would guess that's ok. What about [random example] a national competition where the images are posted online and it's to promote a gay male organisation? That could probably be construed as advertising even though it's a comp
As for "
thinking it's fine", that's a moral question that is likely to have as many opinions as there are folks on this forum. Personally, I think it's a bit weird wanting to persuade strange children to be models for your camera club and a little careless to not think to ask their ages before you started, but that's me. That's a whole different scenario to the OPs question which was about something happening in front of him in a public place, where most people wouldn't have a reasonable expectation of privacy. If the guy (for example) took all his clothes off (breaking the decency laws) I would definitely have put the camera away - whether he was 16, 18 or 88!