Paparazzi

Frontpage focus: A few of New York paparazzi
Leigh Green's splashes. Leigh says:

"My life is pretty good but it is tough out here & there are so many photographers now.Fortunately most are morons so I do alright but if the numbers keepincreasing like a bad virus I do not know for how much longer."

Most of his competition would not have been

through the tough training of Paul Delmar on

the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) course at Sheffield.

New York Paparazzi

Former Stradbrooke snapper Leigh Green has gone a long way in 12 years. He now snaps stars in the Big Apple its got to be better than being an embed in Iraq. This is the route to photographic hall of fame chosen byDan Chung, a contemporary of ours on the NCTJ course at Sheffield.
He was Guardian Photographer of the Year.
Sometimes I get the odd hankering but as I cycle home from work at Calumet, unless it is raining particularly heavily, on balance I'm happy with my lot. I leave at 5.30pm that's it. Still enjoy photography as my regular readers will note.
Leigh tells on his website of a dodge used recently to capture celeb pics at a wedding which was guarded by ex-Israeli security. He and a fellow photographer rubbed suntan lotion into each other's backs and pretended to be gay, the guards ignored them hey presto pics in the bag.

Panning for speed

Cameron Balfour in Peebles Cycling Club's 14.5 mile time trial on Wednesday evening. Tech notes:
1/30th f11 panned of course with rear curtain flash -4 stops on manual adapter, Iso 200 Camera Nikon D100 28mm lens Vivitar 283 flash.

Photojournalists v Reporters (with compacts)

There is currently a dialogue in the British Journal of Photography based on the old kernal of multi-skilling. Nick Hart has contributed to this argument with the following letter:

"I've been a journalist, staff and freelance, here and abroad, for over 30 years. I've always thought it mad that reporters could not take pictures, particularly mug shots of people they were interviewing, if they had the skills, which modern equipment has made much less demanding. I suspect that photographers are in such a lather (about the Drogheda Agreement) because they know that while most writers could easily master a modern digital camera, and take good pictures, most press photographers are not 'photojournalists' but stupid, unprincipled, oppournist snappers who can't string a sentance together."

Let alone copy out his ridiculous letter word for word and reproduce it on their blog.

As you can imagine I have replied to this letter, next installment coming soon........

Garden Photographer of the Year Competition

Garden Photographer of The Year 2008
This year’s competition is now open, with thousands of pounds worth of prizes up for grabs.A panel of high-profile industry professionals, including Clive Nichols andAndrew Lawson, will judge the competition and the top 100 photographs willbe exhibited at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London from May toSeptember 2008.Closing date for submissions: 31st January 2008.For entry details visit www.gpoty.org (http://www.gpoty.org/) .

Pentax K100D Super

Pentax's latest digital SLR offering is an update of the K100D. At £389.00 it is good value for body integral shake reduction and built in dust removal.
However, it still only sports 6.1 mega pixels whith Nikon for £10 (after Nikon's cashback offer) more the D40X has 10 mega Pixels and is considerably lighter.
Unlike the Nikon though it is possible to use any K-mount lens. Since the end of cameras like the ME Super K-mount lenses are cheap as chips.

Canon 1Ds MKIII

Photo review sites and Canon photographers have more to look forward to than just the much vaunted Canon EOS 1D MkIII.

Today a 21 Mega Pixel 1Ds MKIII is announced. Possibly a camera to rival the Dalsa chipped "medium format" digital SLRs.

For further information and a preview of the main features see: http://dpreview.com/

At the same time Canon announced an update of the venerable (in digital terms) 30D. The new 40D will have a 10 mega pixel chip. A new 14mm f2.8 wide lens is announced. Finally in an attempt to remain at the top of the quality compact market the firm announced the G9 with 12.2 mega pixels and raw shooting.

Roast Beef

Simple roast beef, parsnips and potatoes which was our Sunday dinner.
This post is prompted by a local restaurant menu which we picked up on Saturday evening.
On it are such well known delicacies as Oxtail gateau, I used to think it was good in a stew. Wild turbot fillet with pistachio crust, I genuinely did not know that farmed turbot was an option. There was also plenty of jus available with Scotish beef fillet main course, what's wrong with gravy?
In deserts was crispy shredded dough with smooth rhubarb compote, if that was not enough in the same dish it's possible to enjoy the flavour of Perth strawberries and raspberry thyme sorbet. A nice bit of strawberries and sorbet would do!

Sean Bean

So snapper's spelling is not as good as hack's cropping or something like that in the latest National Union of Journalists'multi-skilling spat.
Sure anyone can take a good snap with a pocket digital. However, to get great snaps as many students from my courses will testify takes more skill if only in "managing" the subject to capture the a perfect pic.
Back in the days when I worked for a newspaper I knew what picture I wanted and how to capture it. Notice the little sparkle in Sean Bean's eyes from fill-in flash. What's that I hear most reporter's saying - that's what seperates "stupid, unprincipalled, opportunist snappers" (according to Nick Hart in the British Journal of Photography) from top photographers.

Singer Sewing Machine

Put our old singer sewing machine on ebay today.
No special photographic techniques but did do a cutout using Adobe Photoshop Elements.
It is in full working order and comes with full instructions, accessories and power cables

Tour de France

A small collage of more than 75 images I snapped during the final stage of the Tour de France on the Champs Elysee, nearly two weeks ago. Despite the tour being besmirched by drug allegations and some truths no-one really cared by the time the caravan cruised into Paris.

Paris Advertising

This is a selection of some of the advertising hoardings dotted around France's capital. The board for Paris Plage (Seine Sands) is to remind the populace who have not escaped to the beach for August that sand, showers and beach games are available alongside the river.

Ben Starav Scottish Highlands

Ben Starav by Martin Breeze on his new Pentax K100D 6 megapixel, with body integral anti-shake.

Mount Elbrus summit

SECOND of seven summits: George Atkinson, 13, of Manor Drive, Surbiton, Surrey stands proudly on Mount Elbrus, more than 2,000 ft higher than the top of Mount Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe. On Elbrus he was accompanied by his father Mark, 48, who failed 300ft below the top due to altitude sickness.
George aims to conquer the world's seven highest summits before the age of 21. The record is currently held by British climber Jake Meyer who climbed all seven by the age of 21.

Eiffel Tower, Paris

Cameratiks & Camerabase

This is the logo for Cameratiks & Camerabase located at:

122, Morningside Rd, Edinburgh, EH10 4BX.

Opening HoursMonday - Friday: 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

The knowledgeable staff Nigel on the front counter and Patrick in repairs offer great service and can fix most broken cameras and lenses. My Nikon 180mm f2.8 would not focus and made horrible gritty noises - the repair cost £56.00 much better than £350+ for a good used one.

Cafe Louis Philippe, Paris, France

Yellow Jersey

Yellow Jersey: Contador in the middle of the peloton as it hurtles around the Champs Elysee cobbles in Paris last Sunday, looking like a shoal of tropical fish. For the technically minded: Manual mode 1/60th sec f9 105mm lens + fill-in flash from Vivitar 283 manual adapter -3 stops