October 3rd, 2008 Chris Beaumont
I’ve recently been adding a lot of new photoblogs to my Google Reader in a bid to find a bit of inspiration and to keep up with the Jones’s, as it were, and one of them in particular has stood out above the rest. I’m not a massive fan of the site design (though looking at the images from Google Reader means that isn’t a problem), but the images are excellent, providing a marvelous insight into modern city life.
Check it out if you get a chance … [daily dose of imagery]
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June 4th, 2008 Chris Beaumont
These kinds of stories about photographers being man handled by security guards are depressingly frequent these days.
Guardian columnist Bruce Schneier asks: Are photographers really terrorists? The answer to which is a resounding ‘no’.
He proports an interesting idea; the image of terrorists snapping covert shots of potential targets in movies is a primary reason behind the average security guard’s belief that all photographers are attempting to bomb their buildings.
Terrorists taking pictures is a quintessential detail in any good movie. Of course it makes sense that terrorists will take pictures of their targets. They have to do reconnaissance, don’t they? We need 45 minutes of television action before the actual terrorist attack — 90 minutes if it’s a movie — and a photography scene is just perfect. It’s our movie-plot terrorists that are photographers, even if the real-world ones are not. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jun/05/news.terrorism
The reality is that there’s a distinct lack of evidence that terrorists ever use photographs to plan their mis-adventures.
The 9/11 terrorists didn’t photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid subway bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn’t photograph the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The Unabomber didn’t photograph anything; neither did shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Photographs aren’t being found amongst the papers of Palestinian suicide bombers. The IRA wasn’t known for its photography. Even those manufactured terrorist plots that the US government likes to talk about — the Ft. Dix terrorists, the JFK airport bombers, the Miami 7, the Lackawanna 6 — no photography. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jun/05/news.terrorism
Comforting reading from the article …
… there aren’t many legal restrictions on what you can photograph from a public place that’s already in public view. If you’re harassed, it’s almost certainly a law enforcement official, public or private, acting way beyond his authority. There’s nothing in any post-9/11 law that restricts your right to photograph. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jun/05/news.terrorism
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May 28th, 2008 Chris Beaumont
Couple of fascinating articles by the legendary Strobist author David Hobby and veteran pro Joe McNally about their recent experiences shooting with strobe lights in the desert.
Both recently went to Dubai and while there shot a session together in the dunes with some lovely results. Most interesting is the discussion on the use of the “high-speed, focal-plane sync” mode on their Nikon SB-800 flash units, which allowed them to shoot at very high shutter speeds and achieve the balance between harsh sun with lots of ambient light bouncing of the sand combined with punchy strobe lit model.
Here’s Joe McNally’s blog post on the shoot in the Dubai dunes, and here’s a follow up article by him about his past experiences shooting in the desert plus some other strobe related goodness.
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