I‘ve been spending an awful lot of time behind the wheel just recently, more often in front of cameras instead of behind. This has lead to a couple of disturbing comments from my colleagues about similarities…
First off, I was working with fellow car photographer Tim Andrew in Northumberland recently. I’ll write more about why we were flying around the A Roads in a little Mercedes C Class another time, but towards the end of the day, Tim rigs up his favourite fill-flash and zaps off a couple of shots of me for a new avatar. Many thanks, Tim!
But the disturbing thing is that Tim reckons I’m a dead ringer for ex-F1 driver John Watson. That’s fine except that the other Mr Watson is considerably older than me…

Neill Watson, John Watson or Derek Bell? You decide...

Normally, I'd be very pleased indeed to be mentioned in the same sentence with either man. After all, they're both pretty successful behind the wheel. The disturbing thing is that they're both several decades older than me, with quite a few more miles on the clock.

I guess it’s time I started to moisturise a little more often

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Last time I grabbed a Canon EOS 1D4, it was in a winter period when there was little happening on the car photography front, so the test I did back then concentrated on it’s low light capabilities. But I was still interested to see what it brought along to a car photo shoot, where outright speed is not vitally of the essence, but accurate AF and consistent results are what’s needed. I’ve been asked several times for a quick follow up from the original article, so sorry it’s a bit late!




Fast forward to last month when Phil Raby at Total 911 tells me we’re going to be shooting two icons, a Porsche 959 and Ferrari 288 GTO. A quick call to the guys at The Flash Centre in Leeds nabs their demo 1D4 for the days of the shoot, 1DS packed as a spare and off we go.

I’ll write later about the cars, they are simply stunning and thanks must go to Specials Cars in Malton for arranging the access, plus writer Kevin Hackett’s patience at standing around waiting when all he really wanted to do was launch over the horizon on the quiet North Yorkshire roads.

I’ve been using my Canon 1DS for this work pretty much since I went digital. It’s like my favourite pair for trainers by now. If you’re a 1D series user, you’ll be able to pick up a 1D4 and use it without opening the manual. All the main controls are exactly where you’ll instinctively feel for. However, once the newness wears off, you’d do well to download some of the PDFs from Canon’s European website that walk you through the advanced customisation features.

What I was most interested in was the AF performance in tracking shots. Shooting from car to car, with a slow shutter speed for motion blur but a pin sharp car, inevitably has a high failure rate. The 1DS is generally OK, but sometimes the AF will hunt for no reason and then just as the composition falls into place in the viewfinder, you get the dreaded “BUSY” in your eye as the buffer fills and the camera writes out to the card….. Frustrating until you learn to pace your shooting so as not to choke the buffer. Not so the 1D4. No chance of filling the buffer, even at the maximum burst rate. In fact, on tracking shots, the burst rate is so high, it’s easy to have too many ’similars’. Better to turn down the firing rate slightly and keep recomposing the shot.

As for the AF, there’s no doubt it’s the best system I’ve tried yet, with far fewer failures due to AF errors. This is probably down to the fact that I set the AF to ’surrounding points’ which takes into account the area immediately adjacent to the AF point you need. On low angle tracking shots, where you’re not looking through the viewfinder, but holding the camera down near the road, there’s no doubt it gives a greater hit rate. Read more about the AF adjustments for the 1D4 on the Canon Europe website.

The only thing I’d be critical of, and it’s purely personal, is that for the first time, I found myself missing my full frame sensor. I always shooting tracking shots at the wide end of my 17-40 zoom and several times, with the 1.3x crop I found myself struggling to get both cars in frame, leaning back into the camera car to try and fit them both in and still give the empty space the guys doing the layouts will need. Canon would do very well with a non-EFS lens similar to Nikon’s 12-24 at a price point of around £500 – £700. They do have the amazing, stunningly sharp 14mm, but at £2500, beyond the reach of many. A mental re-adjustment after the first run down the road and some hand signals to Kevin and it was forgotten.

Static shots we handled using Elinchrom’s Rangers with a Skyport trigger on the 1D4, no problems. Shooting a glossy brilliant white Porsche 959 against the matt black of Yorkshire Air Museum’s hangar doors was a challenge, the black background sucking the power out of the lights, but the more powerful Rangers were able to keep up. My preference is normally for the smaller Quadra, but the Ranger certainly allows the lights to be set further back for a given output, something that can be useful for multi-car shoots.

If you’d like to see the how the shoot shaped up in the magazine, grab Issue 63 of Total 911 or download their new iPhone app to read it on your iPhone or iPad.

Apologies if I’ve seemed a little obsessed with the Digital Economy Bill this past week or two. I hope my Twittering hasn’t been too big a turn off, but I felt it was important, so here’s an explanation why:

As a photographer, I make my living from both commissioned work and my back catalogue of images. This archive is a combination of commissioned work where the licence or exclusivity period has ceased and the images may have a value to thers, plus other stock images shot specifically for that market. I’m in the process of overhauling my websites and shortly will be licencing images direct to buyers using photoshelter, more later.



Images such as the Stirling Moss and model are continual sellers, especially taking into account his recent accident with the lift shaft…. This income enables me to build a viable business model, in addiction to undertake work at rates that may not normally be viable. See my post on Working For Free for more on this.

So you can imagine the impact that Clause 43 of the Digital Economy Bill would have on my livelihood. It was time to defend my business.

It’s often said that getting photographers to agree on anything is like herding cats. We’re an individual bunch, if you get my drift and in the past, that has proved our undoing. Negotiations with large corporations like Getty have gone badly wrong. This time, for some reason, it all came together with the formation of Stop 43. This website, with representatives working hard behind the scenes and establishing direct contact with MP’s in London were able to spread the word and bring pressure to bear in a way that I can never recall before.

By harnessing the power of social media on Twitter and Facebook and bringing a reasoned argument to bear, the issue was discussed in a way that has perhaps never been done before. BAPLA’s appalling attitude, the vested interests of the large companies and groups pushing forward the bill were all highlighted, giving in the best result for photographers since the original copyright act was introduced.

The important thing now is to move forward and introduce a new dialog to give a fair deal for photographers as well as finally tackling the genuine issue of orphan works and how they can be brought out for society to see and non-profit organisation to benefit from, without independent creators being hammered by large corporations.

Many publishers and other users of intellectual property are quietly rubbing their hands at the prospect of the new Orphan Works Clauses being championed by various people in the UK right now. But there are several reasons why you should be concerned, whether you are a photographer, publisher, non profit organisation, or even just someone who puts their family photos on their local community website.

I won’t re-write what’s already been said, but instead strongly suggest you read about the situation here:

http://www.stop43.org.uk/

Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for non-profit organisations using content. It’s a GOOD THING that museums, art galleries and other community organisations should be able to publish old photography and artworks without risk of a law suit if the creator really cannot be found. It gets work that would otherwise be unseen out there for people to see and helps them create income. BUT the new legislation also allows ANYONE to jump on the same band wagon and use this badly worded proposal for their own commercial benefit with payment of only a token fee to a central collection agency. It makes no consideration for the intended image use, the people depicted in the image or whether it’s a commercial use for a huge advertising campaign or editorial use. Justin Leighton provides an excellent example of how an image like the one below can earn totally different fees for different uses here.

Buring Europe Flag Paris - copyright Justin Leighton

Not only that, but the image can be used for all manner of commercial and advertising uses with no come-back. If you skipped past it, take a look at the image a the start of this. We all have images similar, or friends & family in similar poses.

So why are so many supposedly pro-creative organisations pushing for this? Because the BBC, the British Film Institute and others all have large archives of other people’s material that they could make a handsome income from, if only they didn’t have to worry about that pesky annoyance of having to pay the creator. NONE of the people and organisations that are arguing for this actually create anything. They make their money from leveraging other people’s material by publishing and broadcasting. Imagine if they could use this material, pay a nominal fee and simply plead ignorance with no legal redress from the author / creator?

Finally, the one single thing that no-one has bothered to tell these people is the consequences of using an image from an overseas source. We live in a very small world these days and images can easily be traced internationally. Only last year, Getty inflicted a hard blow to someone here in the UK, from across the Atlantic, for using an image without permission.

Many USA based photographers I know are simply saying, “Bring it on, we’ll see you in court”
That could well be a USA court, by the way…..

I love seeing my work being used well, both by people who commission me and also by others who may have blogs or other purely personal websites about cars, photography and other related subjects. I see no benefit in putting up barriers for genuine clients and enthusiasts, but this bill is bad for everyone. Indeed, such is the nature of this legislation that several UK based creators I know are actively considering moving their business base outside of the UK for their own protection. And that can’t be good for anyone.

Here’s a big heads up and a shout out for everyone at The Yorkshire Air Museum. We’re doing quite a lot of photography and other work with them right now and we’ll be able to talk about all that shortly. But yesterday, they sent out the exciting press release that they’ve had to be so tight lipped about for so long.

On 13th April, they’re going to be getting their hands on a Nimrod MR2. Not only that, it’s NOT just going to be an empty shell, with no motors or interior, this one will be the full, operational, working aircraft. Here’s their press release:

Elvington will be the only Museum in the world to display a LIVE example of the remarkable Nimrod military reconnaissance aircraft.

Museum Director, Ian Reed said, “We have been working closely with our colleagues in the RAF for over a year on this project and are delighted at the confirmation announced today. Yorkshire Air Museum is probably the only major Museum in Europe capable of operating large jets of this type and in this way. It is also very appropriate that, as the Allied Air Forces Memorial, we are able to make a significant contribution to the memory of those servicemen in Afghanistan and Iraq who have lost their lives and those who daily risk their lives in the service of our country”.

It’s a huge boost for the museum, as I imagine the plan is to let visitors look inside the aircraft and see what a fully operational Nimrod, recently working over Afghanistan, looks like up close. It’s sure to be a popular event and visitors will be welcome to see the arrival. If you’ve an ounce of passion in you for things mechanical, be there…

The history of our armed forces is a subject close to my heart. Forget the politics, I just appreciate the sacrifice that ordinary people have made over the years. Last week, I was shooting background plates for a new website project for The Yorkshire Air Museum’s new site, going live in April. In the edit, this shot leapt out at me. Not because it’s technically perfect, far from it. In fact it was just a fire-from-the-hip shot and I’ll re-shoot it again later.
But it brought home to me the loneliness of the rear air gunner position in a World War Two bomber. Add in the shuddering statistic of a life expectancy of around two weeks and it made the hairs on my neck rise….

There’s something about a brand new 1D series Canon when you first pick it up. My 1DS is still in great shape, but these days it’s got shiny edges, scruffs on the hotshoe and marks on the baseplate from endless tripods and rig shots and after a while, you take it for granted, just like your favourite pair of trainers.

Then I pick up the brand new 1D Mk4 and recall what a brand new 1D series camera body feels like. Sure, the 5D is superb and the 7D too. But pick up a 1D Mk4 and there’s something about the built quality of these things that you instantly feel. The rubber grips are brand new, not shiny and it’s got the feeling that it was machined from a solid billet of metal. Power it up and start handling it and there’s almost a slight disappointment that there’s nothing to learn with the basic operations – everything is in exactly the same place. If you’re an EOS 1D series user, the initial learning curve is flat. Note that I said initial, there’s a lot more to this thing..

My big concern was the 1.3x factor of the chip. I’m used to my full frame 1DS and I shoot a LOT of wide angles. That was probably my most pleasant surprise – the 1.3 factor didn’t really have a big effect on the style of shot I wanted from it. Sure, you lost a little all the way around, but it still looked like a wide angle and the field of view still felt pefectly good to me. I’m sure you’d see the difference with a 14mm, but for most shots, I didn’t miss the full frame sensor.

Given that I only had the camera for a week and it arrived at short notice in mid winter, there was no way to get anyone with a supercar to come and play. I’d seen the Laforet movie shot in murky light, so Plan B was to find some lousy light and stretch the ISO. Eldest son’s kayak activities to the rescue, as an evening canoe polo training session in a pool lit by dim tungsten and distant fluorescents should be the perfect thing..

The canon 1D Mk4 - not easily distracted...

From a photography viewpoint, there’s lots going on and it’s very easy to fool the AF as a player moves into the frame in either foreground or background. Add in the tungsten lighting and a row of strip lights across one wall and you’re asking a lot of a camera keep concentrating on the core subject, even with selectable AF and deliver a useable result. I didn’t have access to the excellent Canon Custom Function guide published recently, so considering the settings on the camera were just the plain ‘vanilla’ ones as it arrives out of the box, I was really impressed. Fast moving action with people constantly passing through the shot didn’t upset it in ways that would have my older EOS hunting and racking frustratingly back and forth. In this sport, 10 frames per second is simply superb, as you can guarantee that with arms, elbows and carbon paddles flailing around, faces get obscured and it’s surprising just how quick these guys can flick the ball around. Even at 10 fps, you’re constantly trying to predict where the play will move to next.

6400 ISO, f3.2, 1/500th sec. Interesting set of numbers!

Canoe Polo - you'll spend time upside down...

Canon had to get it dead right with this camera after the public flogging over the early 1D Mk3 issues and from what I’ve seen so far, it’s superb. But the weirdest thing of all is when I look at the shots taken that night, there wasn’t that much available light in the building, it’s as if this thing creates it’s own lighting….. Quite what it’s going to be like when I get to use it on my core subjects of cars transportation and aerial work is an exciting thought.

Canon AF holds the main subject

And the amazing ISO setting of 102,400…. I’ve already thought of aerial subjects I’d love to shoot at night. Then you can think about evening drift car meetings, night races like LeMans 24 Hours….

And don’t get me started on it’s 1920×1080p HD video….
Many thanks to Tees Tigers for the poolside access and the wet feet…

The Glidetrack had been sitting in my office for a while, frustratingly. Each time I thought a subject was coming up that would work, something happened to scupper it.
So when I managed to get hold of the Canon 1DMk4 to test for just a few days, there was a steely determination to shoot something with it. But in February, there was only one subject that I could think of that I’d been wanting to shoot that wasn’t locked away for the winter.

The Infinity Bridge over the River Tees at Stockton is beautifully engineered and even the most casual passer by always comments on the shape. At night it’s illuminated in a variety of interesting ways, but what I guess many people don’t spot right away are the myriad of detail features that go to making it up which I find facinating. The more I study it, the more engineering details I see. I’m a sucker for engineering and architecture, so combine the two and you’ve got my attention.

I shot it over two mornings, but had to scrap the first day, as the conditions were so much nicer on the second day, there was no continuity to it. Even so, we had squally snow showers blasting through every few minutes suspending activities and making consistent exposure a real battle.

It’s the first time I’d used the Glidetrack, other than just fiddling around in the office, but quickly becomes addictive as you start thinking of ways to incorporate short camera moves into your shots. Like all the best ideas, it’s really simple. A bar of extruded aluminium carries a carriage fitted with a standard tripod thread and has attachments to allow fitting to a wide variety of tripods, C stands, light stands etc, or you can sit it on the floor on it’s own feet for low moves.

It’s an easy thing to use and once you’ve mastered getting a consistent speed along the track and it really gives a look to camera moves that you’d have to spend ten times the amount to achieve with a traditional dolly track, plus you lose the fast setup time and portability of it. On really cold days, the metal picks up moisture and can judder, plus the rails are very sensitive to any dirt at all. I found the best way to ensure a smooth move was to carry a small can of WD40 and a clean cloth and give the rail a quick wipe before shooting. It takes just seconds to do and pretty much guarantees a smooth move.

Best of all, once you’re done the whole thing packs away in seconds and sits in the car boot taking hardly any space at all.

The 1D Mk4 with the full manual controls for video is superb and I’ll write more of this, it’s amazing ISO and 10 fps burst rate later.

The time lapse I cut into this was shot at the end of last year on the 5DMk2 and was added because it fits the pace of the music by Vivaldi and because I like it! Overall, I’m happy with my first shot with the Glidetrack. Things I’d change next time all revolve around getting a better tripod. The Manfrotto is OK for the money, but I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on the superb Miller I tried at the Broadcast Expo. And I wouldn’t use the ball and socket head on the Glidetrack, as with a long lens it introduces very small movements that you can see when viewed in full HD. One of the curses of shooting in full HD.

Like most of my work, there’s always an embargo for publication, so I’m often writing about things several months after the shoot. This Total 911 shoot is one such, it’s just been published in the Jan 2010 issue and you can buy a copy here.

I owned a 930 Turbo a few years ago, but sadly finances at the time dictated that it was a heart-rather-than-head purchase and ultimately it had to be sold to release funds for other projects. It was a lovely car and I miss it dearly, to the point of not allowing myself to read such things at Total 911 until recently, as it was just too painful – yes, really.

So when Phil Raby calls me to shoot some 911’s, then tells me it’s going to be two 930 Turbos, my heart skips. This could be painful, like catching a view of your ex-girlfriend across the room, laughing with her new partner. Sure enough, it was. I caught sight of the wonderful Turbo LE, sporting the same chin spoiler with extra oil cooler just as mine had, plus the four pea-shooter exhausts, I felt a physical pang. Writer Kevin Hackett and I stood by as the cars were started and I felt a pain and lump in my throat as the car sprang into life with that typical bark, slight engine hunt up and down while the old ECU wakes, then settled down to that busy idle.

Concentrate, Neill. It’s just another car. Only it’s not. 911’s have always ‘done it’ for me. Plenty of people out there just don’t get it and I’m fine with that, but if you’ve been bitten, then nothing else matters.

On this particular shoot, I was using the Canon 5D mk2, plus one of the first Canon 7D’s, my regular 1DS relegated to backup duty, despite it’s imposing structure. Main reason was to become familiar with them before the first of our new Shooting Supercars series, where the two cameras were to be used heavily. Lighting was the superb Elinchrom Quadra packs that I’ve quickly found myself unable to be without. Fast, plenty of power and above all, lightweight.

We head off to the first location and I’m following the cars to the timber yard. The wonderful winding Yorkshire countryside means that Kevin ahead in the Turbo LE is often lifting off the gas over the blind crests in the road. When he does, there’s a lick of flame from the pipes as unburnt fuel hits the glowing turbo. Kevin’s having fun.

Statics shots complete, we head to the location for moving shots. Kevin and I jump into the LE for a quick recce of the road ahead. Then I remember why the Turbo was so addictive. From the passenger seat, there’s a huge lag, but then you feel the gathering wave of power, just like the beginning of a tidal surge when surfing in the sea, gathering until the tacho seems to be moving at the same pace as the speedo, the flat six noise becoming muted behind us by the wind noise from the old style body shell’s A pillars. You can’t help but grin and suppress the giggle in your throat.

Kevin’s words do the cars justice, putting you in the seat and recalling the hedonistic 80’s, so go grab yourself a copy of the January mag if you’ve an ounce of soul in your body. You’ll love the cars and remember the shoulder pads. Personally, I won’t rest until I once again have an aircooled Porsche 911 sitting in my possession.

As for the cameras, the 5D was, as ever, superb, delivering great colours right out of the card, with the minimum of post required. The 7D? I liked the rapid fire burst rate, higher than my 1DS, but when shooting the tracking shots, I found the lack of weight actually a hindrance, my arms much more used to the ‘heft’ of the 1D series cameras when hanging out of the back of a camera car. Purely personal, nothing against the 7D, it’s a superb piece of kit and I’m sure that if I owned one, I’d quickly become used to it.

The Quadras were super reliable. I’m, constantly amazed at how many high output shots I can get from the batteries without running out of power. plus they seem to take very little time to recharge and are quite happy sitting in the car boot feeding off my inverter. A natty little by product of their compact size is that you could probably just about squeeze them behind the front seats of a 911…

Sometimes you see a shot that grabs your attention and this is one of them. Taken by NASA’s Modis Rapid Response Satellite, it show the United Kingdom this week in a way I’ve never seen it – covered in snow 100% I know lots of people are grumbling about the weather, the state of the roads etc, but just stop and take a look around you. My area in Yorkshire is simply stunning right now and sure, it’s a pain getting around but when did you last see the countryside looking like this? Thanks to Chris Garret for the heads up on the photo via Twitter.
See the full size image here >>