PhotoCamp is happening in Leeds on September 6th 2008 and is an unconference based on the barcamp principle.

PhotoCamp Leeds will be the UK’s Europe’s first ‘unconference‘ dedicated to photography and imagemaking.

What a great idea. Unfortunately I won't be able to attend because:

1. I'll be on holiday
2. If I wasn't on holiday I'd be at barcamp Brighton 3
3. There aren't any tickets left - only standby places

I wish the organisers the best of luck, and the attendees a great time. Please make it a success so that more of them happen!

Labels: photocamp

// posted by Jane @ 9:17 PM    

I just finished watching an amazing TED Talk by Rick Smolan about "A girl, A photography, a homecoming". This talk is described as

Photographer Rick Smolan tells the unforgettable story of a young Amerasian girl, a fateful photograph, and an adoption saga with a twist.

and it is quite simply beautiful. Beautiful photos, a beautiful story.

Labels: videocast

// posted by Jane @ 8:29 AM    

A British Journal of Photography article states that:

Local restrictions on photography in public places are legitimate the Home Secretary has stated in a letter to the National Union of Journalists.

It continues to say that there are no legal restrictions, but that local Chief Constables were allowed to restrict or monitor photographers in 'reasonable" circumstances. It also quotes from a letter sent from the home secretary that :

The home office does not provide any guidance on photography in public places

To my mind this is far, far worse than having documented legal restrictions. This means that every time I take my camera out to any public place I am at the mercy of these unpublished "local restrictions" and the level of force that these "local restrictions" are governed by.

(Spotted via Andy's tweet)

Labels: article, Rights and laws

// posted by Jane @ 6:38 AM    

My position as Madgex Photographer came into play again yesterday when I fired off a load of shots of Team Madgex during a mountain bike race, The Long Good Saturday. The race was held at Stanmer Park, here in Brighton, and was an 8 hour endurance race. We had 3 teams entered, one pair, one mixed team of 4 and one all male team of 4. They chose to raise money for local charity StreetSmart and can still be sponsored.

I arrived at about 11.30 (the riders had been there since 10), giving me half an hour before the race to get some team shots, and pre-start shots. When the race started I headed off with the team videographer, and videographer's assistant to find some places along the route to shoot. Unfortunately for me, that meant being in dense woodland with little or no ambient light. The photos from this section aren't great, but do at least capture our guys in action.

We then headed back down to the start/finish area and spent more time with the team preparing for their changeovers, and recovering after their laps. The teams all worked well, and hard, and there was always someone at the changeover point with the riders swapping over which I think showed great support - admittedly I was also there pointing a camera in people's faces, but hey, they should all be used to that by now :-)

I headed off home at 5.30, leaving them with another 2 and a half hours to survive, but I'd ran out of space on my cards, and also knew that I had 450+ photos to process before Monday to ensure that they could see them first thing. The results for the race are available thanks to TimeLaps and I think that the 3 teams making up Team Madgex did a great job. Well done guys!

Labels: event, photo, photo essay

// posted by Jane @ 12:48 PM