Jane's Photography Stuff
Archives
April 2003July 2003
October 2003
August 2004
October 2004
July 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
August 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008 -
Home Secretary green lights restrictions on photography
A British Journal of Photography article states that:
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 :
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 This means that every time I take my camera out to any public place I am at the mercy of these unpublished "local restrictions" and the level of force that these "local restrictions" are governed by.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)
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 This means that every time I take my camera out to any public place I am at the mercy of these unpublished "local restrictions" and the level of force that these "local restrictions" are governed by.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
Comments:
Thursday, June 5, 2008 -
UK Photographer's Rights
Thanks to Pete I've now got a print out of The UK Photographers Rights Guide PDF in my camera bag. It
is intended to provide a short UK guide to the main legal restrictions on the right to take photographs and the right to publish photographs that have been taken.
Labels: article, Rights and laws
Monday, April 21, 2008 -
Petition the Prime Minister to clarify the laws surrounding photography in public places
Alex sent me the link to an article from the BBC news last week on Innocent photographer or terrorist? about the treatment of a photographer by the police. It is something I've often been concerned about myself, but fortunately have only ever had run-ins with the security guards in shopping centres.
So when I spotted a blog post over at London Photos mentioning a petition to clarify the laws surrounding photography in public places I thought I'd add my name to the list. Currently 3,483 other people have done so too, so if you're a UK citizen and interested in getting the laws clarified, then head on over and add yourself.
So when I spotted a blog post over at London Photos mentioning a petition to clarify the laws surrounding photography in public places I thought I'd add my name to the list. Currently 3,483 other people have done so too, so if you're a UK citizen and interested in getting the laws clarified, then head on over and add yourself.
Labels: article, petition, Rights and laws
Sunday, March 25, 2007 -
Snap Decision
I spotted a really interesting article in yesterday's Guardian Work section, Snap Decision. It is about Alan Kirwin, a one time computing professional, who quit his day job and went on to become a successful wedding photographer with an interesting take on the wedding format - following a couple through from engagement, hen and stag parties, the wedding itself and even onto the honeymoon.
Labels: article
Tuesday, February 20, 2007 -
Backup strategy and workflow
Backing up my images has always been important, and as I consider moving to a 10 megapixel camera, and shoot more RAW format images than ever before, the amount of disk space becomes an even greater consideration.
My current workflow is this:
I'm about to add a new task, which follows on from item 7 above which is
I don't have a good workflow for cleaning out images off my MacBook at the moment, but I guess realistically there is no need to keep images that have been processed, backed up and are "infrequently accessed". This is an area I need to get better at as at the moment I have over 6GB of images on my laptop.
My current workflow is this:
- Take photos - this seems like a good first step ;-)
- Upload images onto MacBook into Lightroom
- Use the Library view and delete the duffers and tag the keepers
- Use the Develop view with all remaining and make any adjustments
- Export all remaining photos to a folder on my desktop, and include a contents.txt file indicating keywords for photos within that folder to allow for quick searching on the server
- Decide if I want to make an album for them for janeandrichard.co.uk and if so, then copy them to a different area on my machine, open up a web browser and run a home-grown (well Richard grown) script to create an album. Then ftp it up to the server.
- Copy the folder from my desktop to the photos area on our server. (Richard runs a backup from the server to an external USB drive now and again - for a long time we backed up to CDs but its got a little bit out of hand now...)
I'm about to add a new task, which follows on from item 7 above which is
- Upload the folder to flickr tagging the photos as appropriate and putting into their own set.
I don't have a good workflow for cleaning out images off my MacBook at the moment, but I guess realistically there is no need to keep images that have been processed, backed up and are "infrequently accessed". This is an area I need to get better at as at the moment I have over 6GB of images on my laptop.
Saturday, February 17, 2007 -
Which DSLR?
After 4 years of solid use, the time has come to say goodbye to the trusty Canon Powershot G3 and upgrade to a DSLR. As the last 2 digital cameras had been Canons, then I'd assumed I would remain true to the cause and remain a Canon girl. I have no lenses and therefore free choice at the moment.
My initial thoughts were to go for a Canon EOS 400D, and so I headed off to Jessops to try it out. I got on ok with the system, but it felt a bit too plasticky, and felt somewhat unbalanced with a larger lens on it. I began to think that I needed something in the "semi-pro" range instead of the prosumer range.
I continued to read up on options, and to ask about for recommendations. The next stop was to go into Clock Tower Cameras, here in Brighton which was a master stroke. The gentleman behind the counter was knowledgable, and patient and extended my models to consider by introducing me to the Pentax cameras. As always I'd headed off armed with 2 memory cards - one CF and one SD - and so proceeded to snap away and try them out. What became apparent very quickly was how much more robust the Pentax 100D felt in comparison to both the Canon 400D and the Nikon D40. Based on that, and the ease of use, in this range the Pentax would be the one.
But now I'd started thinking about the next range of cameras, so the Nikon D80, the Pentax K10D and the Canon 30D, so back to Jessops to hold and try. In this range, the Nikon and Canon catch up on robustness, and so there was no clear winner on this factor. I plugged all three models into the Digital Photography Review side-by-side comparator to get an idea of the differences.
The flickr Camera Finder has proven useful giving the ability to see what photos have been taken with each of the cameras:
Pentax K10D
Nikon D80
Canon EOS 30D
Unfortunately, it doesn't break it down by lens, but does give an idea.
After reading the reviews, it is between the Nikon and the Pentax (read the hands-on report), so a complete change from my original thoughts, I am leaning towards the Pentax at the moment, but I think another trip to the camera shop is required, to try a few more settings based on what I've read - including the Adobe RAW format on the Pentax K10D as all my test shots were taken as JPEGs.
My initial thoughts were to go for a Canon EOS 400D, and so I headed off to Jessops to try it out. I got on ok with the system, but it felt a bit too plasticky, and felt somewhat unbalanced with a larger lens on it. I began to think that I needed something in the "semi-pro" range instead of the prosumer range.
I continued to read up on options, and to ask about for recommendations. The next stop was to go into Clock Tower Cameras, here in Brighton which was a master stroke. The gentleman behind the counter was knowledgable, and patient and extended my models to consider by introducing me to the Pentax cameras. As always I'd headed off armed with 2 memory cards - one CF and one SD - and so proceeded to snap away and try them out. What became apparent very quickly was how much more robust the Pentax 100D felt in comparison to both the Canon 400D and the Nikon D40. Based on that, and the ease of use, in this range the Pentax would be the one.
But now I'd started thinking about the next range of cameras, so the Nikon D80, the Pentax K10D and the Canon 30D, so back to Jessops to hold and try. In this range, the Nikon and Canon catch up on robustness, and so there was no clear winner on this factor. I plugged all three models into the Digital Photography Review side-by-side comparator to get an idea of the differences.
The flickr Camera Finder has proven useful giving the ability to see what photos have been taken with each of the cameras:
Pentax K10D
Nikon D80
Canon EOS 30D
Unfortunately, it doesn't break it down by lens, but does give an idea.
After reading the reviews, it is between the Nikon and the Pentax (read the hands-on report), so a complete change from my original thoughts, I am leaning towards the Pentax at the moment, but I think another trip to the camera shop is required, to try a few more settings based on what I've read - including the Adobe RAW format on the Pentax K10D as all my test shots were taken as JPEGs.
// posted by Jane @ 6:31 PM
Comments:
Hey, I recently went through exactly the same DSLR dilemma :)
I was going to go for the 350D or 400D, but as soon as i picked them up, i found they were too plasticy and too small for my hands.
After trying a lot of DSLRs in Jessops, and researching them all on the net, i eventually returned to buy the Nikon D70s - a lovely, lovely camera at a good price, and the kit lens is great - 18-70mm :D
To be honest, all of the DSLRs are great, and whatever you buy, you're pretty much going to be happy!
One quick thing which you're no doubt aware of - if you want an AF lens with the D40, you need to get a newer lens with the focusing motor built into the lens, which are more expensive.
I was going to go for the 350D or 400D, but as soon as i picked them up, i found they were too plasticy and too small for my hands.
After trying a lot of DSLRs in Jessops, and researching them all on the net, i eventually returned to buy the Nikon D70s - a lovely, lovely camera at a good price, and the kit lens is great - 18-70mm :D
To be honest, all of the DSLRs are great, and whatever you buy, you're pretty much going to be happy!
One quick thing which you're no doubt aware of - if you want an AF lens with the D40, you need to get a newer lens with the focusing motor built into the lens, which are more expensive.
Jane,
Get the K10D. I looked at all the others and picked the Pentax. Image quality is, to all intents and purposes, identical whichever camera you choose. The deciding factors for me were the Pentax's superior build quality/weather sealing, the in-body anti shake, the fact you can use lots of older, cheaper Pentax lenses with it and the availability of top quality, compact and light DA prime lenses. It's not perfect-no camera is-but it was the best of the bunch for me. Having said that, make your own mind up. Handle them all and get the one that you feel most comfortable with, everything else being equal.
Regards,
Bruce
Get the K10D. I looked at all the others and picked the Pentax. Image quality is, to all intents and purposes, identical whichever camera you choose. The deciding factors for me were the Pentax's superior build quality/weather sealing, the in-body anti shake, the fact you can use lots of older, cheaper Pentax lenses with it and the availability of top quality, compact and light DA prime lenses. It's not perfect-no camera is-but it was the best of the bunch for me. Having said that, make your own mind up. Handle them all and get the one that you feel most comfortable with, everything else being equal.
Regards,
Bruce
Tuesday, July 4, 2006 -
Photographing fireworks
Monkey Bites has the Geek Fireworks Guide, mainly due to it being Independence Day, but there are a couple of interesting photography links there. How to Photograph Fireworks from Digital Photography School and also Shooting Fireworks with a Digital Camera by Jim Barthman of the New York Institute of Photography.
My usual opportunities for taking photographs of fireworks come at Lewes Bonfire, but at the end of the recent Brighton Festival I got to take some summertime firework shots. In years gone by I've taken photos of fireworks along the Brighton seafront on summer evenings, and had one of these used as the front cover of a book. It has always been a bit of a hit and miss affair for me, usually involving a lot of fiddling around with settings to try and get the right length of exposure to get good trails, but without over exposing any other items that happen to be in the shot. Hopefully, after reading these articles I'll have a better success rate.
My usual opportunities for taking photographs of fireworks come at Lewes Bonfire, but at the end of the recent Brighton Festival I got to take some summertime firework shots. In years gone by I've taken photos of fireworks along the Brighton seafront on summer evenings, and had one of these used as the front cover of a book. It has always been a bit of a hit and miss affair for me, usually involving a lot of fiddling around with settings to try and get the right length of exposure to get good trails, but without over exposing any other items that happen to be in the shot. Hopefully, after reading these articles I'll have a better success rate.
