Following the disturbing figures released last summer that 120,000 people had been stopped and searched in the UK under Section 44 of the UK Terrorism Act (<1% ever got charged with an offence), it was refreshing to read a press release this week quoting Policing and Crime Minister, David Hanson MP as saying that the British Government “has no intention of Section 44 or Section 58A being used to stop ordinary people taking photos or to curtail legitimate journalistic activity. Guidance has been provided to all police forces advising that these powers and offences should not be used to stop innocent member of the public, tourists or responsible journalists from taking photographs.”

The British police has been heavily criticised recently for abusing their stop and search powers. Incidents where journalists have been prevented from taking “ordinary” street photographs has risen to such an extent that photojournalist Marc Vallee has set up a campaign group under the title “I´m a photographer, not a terrorist”. You can visit the site on www.photographernotaterrorist.org. “Photography is being routinely criminalised” claims Marc, and he has the support of more than 4000 photojournalists worldwide who have joined his group.

This issue though is not just confined to the UK. In New York, the Mayor’s Office has proposed that anybody taking a photograph on the streets on Manhattan should require a permit (source). In France, street photography has effectively become illegal as you can take photographs but copyright laws prevent them from ever being published. Strict rules also apply in India (source), Turkey, Australia (Australian Anti-Terrorism Act 2005) and many other countries in the allegedly free world.

It appears that public officials are equally scared of the zoom lens as they are of terrorist bombs. That’s a different story…

Technically…it doesn’t matter.

Technically…it’s the “correct” exposure.

But I don’t want you to become a completely “technical” photographer.  Even if we, here at Your Photo Tips, do talk often about the technicalities of photography.  These are tools for you to learn and to use at your disposal.

I want you to become a technically proficient but creative photographer.  That’s how you get those “Wow!” pictures that get people raving about your work.

Most photographic opportunities you’ll find yourself in will allow you a very large freedom of “technically correct exposure” equations to use.

You may find that after you’ve locked in your ISO at 100 and set your aperture to f/4 that the camera is setting the shutter speed at 1/500 of a second.  Many times this exposure equation may be just fine.  But I want you to consider trying something next time your out shooting.  Try setting your camera to a “technically correct” exposure and shoot.  Then take a few seconds or minutes to adjust some of the elements for creativity.  Perhaps it’s a matter of moving that aperture to f5.6 and adjusting your shutter speed to 1/125 of a second.  This will allow you to get more of the scene in focus.  This would be ideal in a smaller group portrait setting with 2-3 people closely grouped together while still blurring out as much of the background as possible.  It will help ensure that everyone is in focus.

Perhaps you’re shooting a scene that’s action filled and you want to stop the action.  Maybe you need to reset that ISO to 200.  You’re stopping action and set in a shutter speed of 1/1600 of a second and you’re camera is calling for an aperture of f3.5.  It’s how you get great action shots like this motorcycle spewing dirt all over the place!

Or perhaps you’re shooting moving water.  Why not try an aperture of f/29?  In keeping that whole scene in front of you in focus and still using ISO 200 you’ll need to adjust that shutter speed to 5 of a seconds.  This will provide those silky water fall effects.

In practicing various exposure equations you’ll find that most scenes will have 6 or more technically correct exposure settings.  It’s this same practicing of continuously messing with your settings that you’ll begin to understand that any given scene also has a small handful of creatively correct exposure equations.  It’s up to you to use the tools of the camera to find that perfect creative exposure.

Photographs:

Honda in the dust by CONNORMATT

Gorge Waterfall by Scottwdw of Views Infinitum

Its roomy internal dimensions of 13.75”W x 27.5”H x 8.25-10”D (35 x 70 x 21-25.5 cm) allow it to hold multiple combinations of cameras and lenses, lighting gear such as strobes and reflectors, and accessories of all kinds. As there are many instances when photographers shooting on location must leave behind some or all of their gear, Logistics Manager offers a three-tier security system:

• A TSA combination lock to secure the main zipper.
• A rear security cable and combination lock allow the roller to be locked to immovable objects.
• A Security ID Plate with online plate registration allows lost gear to be identified and returned to the owner.

Its additional key features include:

• Extendable handle for easy transport and maneuverability and replaceable wheels within protective housings for greater longevity.
• Attachment points on both sides for tripods or light stands
• A stretchable lower pocket in front that expands for cords, reflectors, and other grip items.
• Upper front pocket with built-in organizer and key loop.
• An organizer side pocket for secondary storage.
• Clear interior pockets for accessories.
• “No Rhetoric” lifetime warranty

“The Logistics Manager provides the answer to a question often asked by working photographers, which is, how can I transport all of my gear into the field, have quick access to it, and secure it from loss or theft,” said Doug Murdoch, Think Tank Photo president and lead designer. “We took the design and engineering principles we pioneered in our line-up of award-winning rolling camera bags and applied them to this very roomy pro photographer logistics solution.”

Specifications:

Internal Dimensions: 13.75”W x 27.5”H x 8.25-10”D (35 x 70 x 21-25.5 cm)

External Dimensions: 15.75”W x 30”H x 11.5”D (40 x 76x 29 cm)

Weight: 16 – 24.5 lbs (7.3 – 11.1 kg) depending on accessories used

List Price: $599.00

About Think Tank Photo

Think Tank Photo is a group of designers and professional photographers focused on studying how photographers work, and developing inventive new carrying solutions to meet their needs. By focusing on “speed” and “accessibility,” we prepare photographers to Be Ready “Before The Moment,” allowing them to document those historic moments that reflect their personal visions and artistic talents. We design products that help photographers travel easier, take pictures faster, and organize their gear more efficiently.

MELVILLE, N.Y. (March 12, 2010) – Digital imaging leader Nikon Inc. announced today that it will offer a unique social platform for the music, technology and film community to post content in a dedicated gallery on yfrog, the only photo and video sharing service available for Twitter. The Nikon gallery (www.yfrog.com/Nikon) will feature photos and videos from bloggers and attendees at the interactive, film and music festival taking place in Austin, March 12-21, 2010.
MT::PB

In addition to viewing content and posting comments, site visitors can use yfrog to upload images and videos to the Nikon gallery by using the hashtags “#SXSW” or “#SXSWpics,” and share content through their own social networks and follow a real-time Twitter feed on the site. The Nikon gallery will enable thousands of members of the music, interactive and film community to offer updates, share photography and video content and participate in a dialogue about emerging trends with friends and peers.

Nikon has enlisted five bloggers from various communities, including music, pop culture, film and photography to serve as photography and video ambassadors at the festival in Austin. They include:

* Sarah Austin, lifecaster and pop culture blogger, Pop17.com (Twitter: @pop17)
* Chris Brogan, author and founder of New Marketing Labs (Twitter: @chrisbrogan)
* Marko Slavnic, Nikon Festival winner and aspiring filmmaker (Twitter: @markoslavnic)
* Brooklyn Vegan, music blog (Twitter: @brooklynvegan)
* Jeff Pulver, author and tech expert, JeffPulver.com (Twitter: @jeffpulver)

Each blogger will be equipped with Nikon digital cameras to capture their experience for the Nikon gallery, showing their perspective on festival news and events through images and HD video. They will attend screenings, musical performances, interactive panels and local parties in Austin during the festival.

Photos and videos can be uploaded to yfrog via computers and smart phones, and the site supports the most common photo and video file formats, including jpeg, bmp, gif, mov, flv, mpeg and more.

“Nikon is always looking for new ways to meet the needs of our consumers, whether it’s delivering excellent image quality or providing a platform to share photos and videos in a unique way,” said Lisa Baxt, Senior Communications Manager for Nikon Inc. “We’re excited to deploy Nikon cameras to bloggers for capturing their personal experiences at events throughout the next few weeks.”

“The use of tools for photo-sharing through social and micro-blogging communities like Twitter will continue to rise, and we’re excited to work with Nikon to enhance the user experience,” said Jack Levin, Chief Executive Officer for ImageShack, the parent company of yfrog. “We recognize the need for simplifying the social content-sharing process and respect the full line of Nikon’s award-winning products that offer both photo and HD video capabilities.”

The Nikon Gallery on yfrog will remain active for uploading new content throughout March, and will remain live for viewing indefinitely.

More information:

* Click here to read full press release

About Nikon

Nikon, At the Heart of the Image™. Nikon Inc. is the world leader in digital imaging, precision optics and photo imaging technology and is globally recognized for setting new standards in product design and performance for its award-winning consumer and professional photographic equipment. Nikon Inc. distributes consumer and professional digital SLR cameras, NIKKOR optics, Speedlights and system accessories; Nikon COOLPIX® compact digital cameras; COOLSCAN® digital film scanners; 35mm film SLR cameras; Nikon software products and Nikon sports and recreational optics. For the second consecutive year, Nikon D Series digital SLR cameras are recognized as “Highest in Customer Satisfaction with digital SLR cameras, Two Years in a Row, Tied in 2008.” according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 and 2008 Digital Camera Usage and Satisfaction StudiesSM. For more information, dial (800) NIKON-UX or visit http://www.nikonusa.com, which links all levels of photographers to the Web’s most comprehensive photo learning and sharing communities.

About yfrog

Yfrog requires no registration and is free to use. It is the first Twitter-enhancing service to combine the ability to stream video files from both the browser and mobile devices. Yfrog’s use of the advanced H.264 codec makes it possible for users to enjoy high quality video on their personal computer or iPhone. Videos uploaded to yfrog can also be viewed on Apple iPhone or iPod. Yfrog users now can share any video file type to Twitter by visiting yfrog.com or any application that supports yfrog’s APIs. Yfrog was launched in February 2009 by Imageshack on top of the same infrastructure that supports its hosting service.

With more than 62 million monthly unique visitors, ImageShack is the largest independent image hosting website. ImageShack is headquartered in Los Gatos, California and is backed by Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, and Felicis Ventures. ImageShack launched in 2003 and was founded by Jack and Alexander Levin. For more information on yfrog or ImageShack visit www.imageshack.com.

DRUGS by Lyana Votey is available at DiscoveredArtists for only $75 as a 24″x18″ metallic print. I find it rather lovely.

Really enjoy this great example of street photography by Kitty at New York Portraits.

Gareth really nails this scenic photograph of Chicago trains . Love it.

I’ve never been to Chinatown in D.C. but this great photograph makes me want to go.

I’m really diggin’ this series of rain drop photographs by Ciao, Chessa!

In the Photoblogosphere

I love Motivation. I love that Howard works so hard at writing about how photography can really be about more than just camera equipment and settings. Sometimes you have to ignore the “common logic” and quit fighting mother nature . Take what life gives you and show it to the world!

Setting your camera just right for photographs at sunset can be kinda tough. Here’s a great little article on how to get that perfect exposure for sunsets .

There really are benefits to getting up early for your photography . Even if you’re not a morning person

Scott Thomas has a great review of the photography book Practical HDR for all of you interested in jumping on the HDR bandwagon.

Photo Gear

Rob Nunn has a great review on the Canon EF 35-105mm 4.5-5.6 that’s worth checking out if you need a decent walk around lens. I do need to mention that his photography is getting better and better. I’ve been a fan of his podcast and blog since he joined the Internet Photographer world and always appreciate his dedication to learning.

I have to admit, I’m not that familiar with BenQ’s cameras , but they have my interest piqued.

Your Photo Tips News

Tuesday we took our new (and hopefully improved) website live. We were able to avoid much downtime so I give myself an A- on that. If you haven’t seen the new layout (because you’re reading this in a reader or aggregator) I’d love to hear your thoughts. We’re still doing a little tweaking in the background and there’s some meat to be added here and there but the hard part is past us.

We do have some new and exciting things still in developement for you guys (especially those of you who joined the Exposure group project). Of course I’ll give you more information about those things as we get ready for launch on those projects. They’re coming soon I promise.

Have a great weekend everyone and keep on shooting!

“We are excited to join forces with CPR® and better serve our clients and their repair  needs,” says Paul Naraine, Vice President of Operations for Photo Tech. “We  understand how important the information is that many people keep on their phones or handheld devices. We know that local service is important so that people can quickly get their phones repaired and resume the rest of their day with minor interruption.”

With two convenient store locations, Photo Tech on 110 East 13th Street and Chrysler Camera located at 367 West 34th Street (2nd Floor), Photo Tech and Chrysler Camera offer a six-month warranty on all repairs, phones and gadgets and looks to complete service on most phones within the same day. Photo Tech CPR® can complete a few repairs while you wait caused from a variety  of different problems such as cracked LCDs, dropped, shattered or damaged charging ports. While other repairs such as liquid damage or excessive impact damaged devices can take two to four days.

Mr. Naraine adds, “Even better, now you can cancel your insurance on your phone, because we will be able to get your phone back to you more quickly and in proper working condition.”

Photo Tech Repair Service, Inc. is one of the oldest and most reputable sources for camera repair in the U.S. and Canada servicing hundreds of cameras and lenses of all  types every day. Their customers are consumers, professional photographers,  dealers and manufacturers from all over the U.S. Their staff of 17 technicians are authorized and trained by manufacturers like Canon, Nikon, Fuji and Pentax. Photo Tech is an authorized service  facility for Canon, Fuji, Nikon, and Pentax and also able to repair most  cameras made by Casio, Hasselblad, Kodak, Olympus, Panasonic, and Sony. Photo Tech is now also a service center for devices such as iPhones, Blackberry’s, LG’s, Playstations, Xboxes, Wii’s, iPods, MP3’s, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP Photo Tech due to their recent partnership with CPR®. Photo Tech was voted as a Best of City Search NYC in the Electronic Category for 2009 and has been a member  of the BBB for more than 10 years with an A+ rating.

Located at 110 East 13th Street, New York, NY, Photo Tech offers repairs via mail order to anywhere in the U.S. and its surrounding territories. The company also  offers messenger services for those customers located or working in Manhattan. In addition, Photo Tech offers a special coupon for every CCD cleaning, which is usually done within one hour Monday to Friday from 8:00am to 4:00pm. For more information please visit www.cpr-nyc.com or  www.phototech.com, call 212.673.8400, email service@phototech.com or stop by the store Monday to Friday 8:00am to 6:00pm and Saturdays 10:00am to 3:00pm.

Two Giants by andy_AHG

I encourage you to click on the image or title of the image to read the great description of this photograph over at Flickr.

You can find more of Andy’s work at AHG Photography.

I command you

You may have noticed that we have a new layout for the Your Photo Tips website!

It’s what I’ve been working on over the weekend and yesterday we went live with the redesign.

There are a few wrinkles that I’m still working on here and there but I’d love for you to poke around and give me a hand (if that’s not asking too much).

Just work yourself around the website and let me know how things are working (or more importantly how they are NOT working).

You may see a few things move around or change in the next couple days but this new layout begins a new era in the Your Photo Tips website.

We have a few more surprises and features we’ll be adding and, of course, I’ll let you know about them as they get implemented so that you can get the most out of this photography tutorials website.

Please let me know what you think about the new, and hopefully improved, Your Photo Tips website by leaving a comment here or using the contact page.

Thank you for your patience and for your presence,

Damien Franco

Photograph I command you by MGP 

Well I’m gonna weigh in as well and I’m saying that everyone was right and everyone was wrong.

Before I get to the details watch the video if you haven’t.

Remember that this is a television show that thrives on people’s emotions so getting all theatrical is kinda the Judge’s job.

It’s how he gets his ratings.

He did seem somewhat knowledgeable about photography and how cameras work in general but also a bit dated.

While the camera that the photographer uses isn’t necessarily a “pro” rated camera it’s certainly capable of producing rather large images and would probably suffice for most people’s weddings at that price range depending on where they live.

The plaintiff, of course, was emotional but poised and that’s what won the judge over.  He was instantly empathetic to her views and, no doubt, has seen a few of these types of cases before.

The photographer wasn’t able to handle herself well in court, in fact I thought she was pretty rude a few times, so she really didn’t come across as professional in that aspect and I did have issues with a couple of the things that her and her partner said during the case.

They said they had done “hundreds” of weddings with no problems.  Here’s where I may come across as a jerk but, if you’ve done “hundreds” of weddings I’m gonna assume you’ve been doing this for 2-3 years.  What are you still doing shooting weddings with a Canon Rebel with a kit lens?  How do you not know how fast your other lens was?  Why are you still charging only $1300 for a wedding?

The photographer wasn’t really given a chance to prove her case and that’s where the Judge was wrong.

The judge didn’t let her explain enough so he’s certainly not without fault and how do you let the plaintiff get off with a possible lie in where she may of may not  have initially met the photographer?  He said it doesn’t matter but I’ll argue that it does.

Oddly enough the judge, in the beginning, kinda stuck up for the photographer when the plaintiff said the initial prints were done on Fuji paper at a Walmart.  If they were just proofs to get the final order done I say who cares?  In the end it’s how you present your work that will help determine your worth.  I prefer slideshows instead of wasting the money on proofs but to each their own.

Was the plaintiff wrong?  It’s really tough to tell.  We didn’t get to see the photographer’s portfolio compared to the final product and, to me, that’s what the ruling should have been based on.

Did the photographer produce work that was consistent with the photographer’s previous work?

Regardless of how much a photographer charges it’s the photographer’s portfolio or website that determines whether that photographer delivered the promised results.  Not the price.

You certainly can’t expect a $1300 wedding photographer to produce the same results as a $5300 wedding photographer but you should know that going in and you simply can’t expect too much at that price.

Most of the people who read this website are newer or intermediate photographers (although I do know a few “pros” that read this website as well so I’d like to see your input also) so I put this question to you:

Does a video like this make you think twice about how you would handle being a wedding photographer?  Why?  Why not?

And…do you think the judge was too harsh in his ruling or do you think the photographer got hosed?

You know where the comments section is located.

How can I make up for those days by | Syka |