April 2008

Technology moves ever onwards, especially the one you need to use. And it seemingly gets updated just after you have invested in it, unless you keep your eye on the ball!

Since getting stung all those years ago (see February 2008), I have become an addict to the latest technological releases, be they software or hardware.

For about a year now, I have been hearing about a digital movie camera, the Red Digital Cinema Camera, which is the precursor to changes in a whole creative medium.

Today, in an article in MIT's Technology Review entitled Crossover Camera, the next generation of high (relatively) pixel video camera is revealed.

The release date for this camera is believed to be "early 2009".

It is influencing the newspaper photographers, since it will allow them to shoot motion video as well as still images with the same piece of equipment.

This is not the end of the line by any means. Rather it is just the start of a new way of looking at taking photographs, and shooting video. Especially nowadays, when a short video is often required on a newspaper's website.

Even the film industry is taking note.

And I am dreaming of being able to use one when they arrive.

March 2008

I have recently read an article in The Saturday Times (dated 22nd March 2008), called Stop the Shooting - "amid fears about paedophilia and terrorism, the art of the street photographer is under threat" - written by Linton Chiswick.

If you have a moment, please read the article. It is worth the effort. And it has focussed my thoughts to the ever growing threat to taking street pictures.

Although I am not known for street photography, i often walk around with a camera looking for inspiration and hoping to capture that Cartier-Bresson "moment", or at least a snap that will provoke me into deeper thought.

In recent years, I have been prevented many times from taking an arbitrary snap by security guards patrolling an area i feel is a public space, but one which they do not. They have often been employed by the property developer, and they inform me that i have no rights to take photographs in their "private" space.

I think i know a public space when i see it. To my mind, it is a space that invites the public to stroll through it, to sit and have a coffee, to eat their sandwiches, or to meet up with friends.

I am certainly not a paparazzi. Indeed, i do not like the actions of these marauders of celebrity, and I think they have given photographers a very bad image.

I can see the time when whole areas of London will be out of bounds. Already the City and the West End have many areas where people commune, but where you may be asked to desist if you try and take a photo.

This prevention of private individuals taking their own photographs in the street, whilst we are all being surrounded by government-controlled cctv cameras, is deeply worrying to me and I find it totally unacceptable in a so-called free society.

Where is this going to end?

February 2008

This is the start of a fresh website, and it is about time too! So sorry for the delay.

I have wanted a website that allowed me the freedom to chop and change as I desired, when I wanted to, and especially one I can update MYSELF. This is what I now have, thanks to bluish - yippee!!

This allows me to keep it fresh, and not only to add photos as soon as I shoot them (if publication allows me to), but also to look for old classic shoots and add them when I find them.

I will be writing this blog as much as time allows, and in it I will mention both technical and aesthetic ideas, will add references, and link to sites that interest me.

I also, now, have a platform to mention some of the folks I have worked with when creating an image. The best images are ALWAYS the combined effort of a number of people. Even though I rarely ever use assistants, I love to work with other creators: be they art directors, fashion designers, set-builders, make-up, hairdressers, or just friends...

I would appreciate any comments and suggestions, especially as I start this blog, on ways of improving it, or areas of interest. Even to point out where it doesn't work!

Last year I worked on a fashion shoot and then built a website to showcase it.

But one of the rather fab associations I had was, and still is, with reptile (matt hughes and richard welland), who do beautiful graphics, and helped me with the text on the website. Here is an example from the homepage:-