Acmp Blog

iPad Vs Print Folio

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 03:38:00 +1100

IPAD VS PRINT PORTFOLIO - Meg Moss, Content and Photographer Management at ImageBrief.com

Are the days of individualized printed portfolios gone? There are plenty of new IPad apps on the market today for artists and agents to explore for showing images. IPads are certainly a convenient way to share images, but does that mean death to printed portfolios?

We put this question out to a collective group of bookers, art buyers and photographers and had an overwhelming (and quite emotional) response - both for and against.

The Photographers' Perspective:

The pros are the same pros that apply to all digital media. It is easily shared, quickly edited and updated, transportable and less-expensive. However, it seems size (and quality) does matter and this is where opinion varied the most. While the IPad is small and portable, maybe it's too small.

Here's what one of my colleagues had to say:

"If I'm going to see a magazine or an advertising client, (people who are interested in the 'quality' of my work) then I would definitely take a printed portfolio....and for me that's about quality of printed work, the detail (which is important to me for beauty), and also just the feeling of actually looking at a book, turning pages etc, its more professional, and it feels like I am showing someone a little more respect if I give them an actual book. Its like I care about them enough to have carried this heavy book (that's taken years of work and lots of money to create), so for me it would seem a little disrespectful to go to see Vogue or someone like that, and hand them a 10 inch screen. Often I will have 3 or 4 Art Directors from an ad agency present during a meeting, and the size and format of a real portfolio allows them to easily look at the book together as a group..." - Gavin O'Neill (www.gavinoneill.com)

And this from members of our Linkedin Group (Photo Editor, Art Director and Creative Buyer Network):

"Looking at my book on the iPad is a great experience, but it doesn't have the wow-factor that my printed book does. On the other hand, I can re-organize it while sitting on an airplane, it is much cheaper to replace, and I carry it everywhere! The last Photo Editor I met with met me in her crowded office. Her desk was covered with work, and there wasn't a clear place to open-up my printed book... When I took out my iPad instead of a printed book, she looked really relieved to receive something small and manageable. When she saw a few photos she really loved, I opened my printed book on my lap, just so she could see the true quality of the work. I think it worked really well to have both!" - Andrew Stiles via LinkedIn

"The best possible argument for "print" is that it leaves a psychological "imprint" that electronic media may never match. Strategically and economically speaking: "Share" the IPad. "Leave" the promo. "Pray" for phone call!" - David Casteel via LinkedIn

The ability to edit your images within your portfolio to perfectly tailor it for each client is an undeniable advantage. Your ad agency client looking to book you for product photography has no interest in your landscape work or what you can do with skin tones and vice versa. Those images can be easily removed from your iPad portfolio. Of course you can take pages in and out of your portfolio but each edit causes a little more wear and tear to your book, and the prints.

Keeping printed portfolios up to date is costly - in both time and finances. Prints are expensive and as each shoot is your best ever (until the next one), you always want your latest work to be shown to your new clients.

Tailoring your portfolio on the iPad is simple and can be saved for future, similar clients, essentially giving you a range of ready-to-show portfolios.

Gavin does, however, raise a valid point in talking about 'the quality of printed work'.

If the client is booking you for a job that will be finalized in print, there is no better way to show them what their end product will be, and the quality that you can offer than to provide them with a printed piece of work. There is a difference in how your work looks on a monitor versus how it looks in print. There are also many factors that can interfere with how your work appears, such as varying colour calibrations from screen to screen.

The flipside is that many clients are now booking you for work that will appear in a digital format. In that case, surely showing how your work looks in a backlit device is more relevant.

The Buyer's Perspective:

As with the photographers, responses from the buyers varied.

"I vote for an iPad when an agent comes to see me and wants to show me books of multiple photographers and/or artists. However, I still prefer a big, beautiful printed book for presentation. I know our Creative Directors still want to see a well-put-together printed portfolio when they're deciding on shooters for upcoming projects" - Clair Carter-Ginn (Buyer) via LinkedIn

"I would have to say having a photographer hand me an iPad over a traditional portfolio would be disappointing as I could get the same experience sitting at my desk going through the photographer's website.
Gadgets are cool but hey its the images that count right?" - Tom McGhee, via LinkedIn

And this from ImageSource:

'Art directors and art buyers make a choice based on what they have seen on a website, before you ever get to present the work,' said one noted agent who preferred to remain anonymous. 'They rarely have time to see portfolios, and they will pretty much make their mind up from the website so that's really where you need to put the attention.' - ImageSource 10 May 2011 http://blog.imagesource.com/the-end-of-the-portfolio/

No Conclusion

Perhaps the bigger question here is tactile or digital? E-Books can be downloaded in the thousands and are cheaper than buying a physical copy, in your reach immediately, and portable. And yet there are still die-hard (physical) book lovers (myself included) who want to feel the pages, smell the paper and dog-ear where you are up to for next time.

This isn't a new argument. It is a branch of the whole argument for the digital age. The entire publishing industry is having this same debate - do we still need to print our magazines?

Some of the words used by the people in our survey to describe printed portfolios were 'magical', 'memorable', 'special', 'respectful' and 'treasures'.

The words used to describe the iPad portfolios were 'portable', 'light' 'easy-to-edit', 'convenient' and 'quick'. Harsh adjectives in comparison to the warm, emotional used to describe the print version.

It seems that the printed portfolio is becoming the fine china while the iPad steps into the everyday crockery equivalent. There is a luxury associated with the print portfolio. Perhaps it's the money that has been spent, the physical maneuvering often required to actually get your printed portfolio to the office of the client. Perhaps it's the feeling of belonging to an old-school, elite club that hits you as the smell of prints waft out of a newly opened portfolio.

The one and only conclusion here is that there is no conclusion - it is all about personal choice both on the photographers' part of how they would like to present their work, and from the buyers' part of what they need to see in order to book you for the job!

My personal thoughts are that this will go the way of all mediums where there is a digital and physical option. It will be discussed, delayed, debated, agonized over and then one day it will just be that the digital option is the standard. Pulling out your big, albeit beautiful, printed portfolio will be like offering to pay somebody by cheque or sending some transparencies by courier... Old-fashioned, inconvenient and expensive. Even the tactile folk among us (myself included), have to acknowledge when there is a simpler and better way.

Resources:

Some of the portfolio applications recommended within our LinkedIn group are:

http://iPadportfolioapp.com/

http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/

http://www.foliobook.mobi/

http://www.xtrafolio.com/

http://aphotofolio.com/designs/

Meg Moss is a Director of www.imagebrief.com.

"On Assignment" James Pevitt

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:06:00 +1100

Port Fairy's East Beach is regally visited by Southern Right Whales during the cold winter months. I had been into water photography for some time and my equipment being an EOS 3 with a 70-200 zoom all in an Aqua Tech Water Housing.

Looking at the East Beach I noticed a large whale cruising around the bay. Could I get a pic of it with the water housing? I was going to soon find out!

The old surf club malibu was a beauty. I was glad to have it and can still remember when the Port Fairy Surf Club first got them. I was a young lad then and always looking for any excuse to get into the ocean..

There was now a large plastic container strapped to the front of the board. It held my camera and water housing so my arms are then free to paddle. As I padded out to the general area of the whale, little did I know how close I would actually get to it!

I paddled to where I first saw the whale and from a distance started taking pics with my lens on full zoom. Next minute the it has swam underwater over to me for a closer look. I suddenly felt very alone and imagined it picking me up and launching me with its tail to shore.

Next minute it surfaces right next to me. Now I am a bit scared. It swims straight under me a couple of times. I take a few pics but it was difficult to achieve focus with it now being so close.. Only need one good pic I determinedly thought.

It was now way to close for the 70-200 but managed to get focus as it surfaced again. Took a few pics and was wrapped to find when I got the film developing (Yes film) that at least one was sharp.

The whale did not harm me and it turned out to be an experience I would never forget. You are rightly so, not meant to get so close to these amazing creatures but someone should have told my friend the whale that.

James Pevitt works mainly revolves around travel photography. James has worked in Brunei, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Syria.

www.jamespevitt.com

www.portfairyfolkfestival-archives.com

"On Assignment" Andrew Richey shoots for the Melbourne Spring Fashion Week

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +1100

To date, this year has been a busy one. We have had some fun working on some exciting projects and I thought we would share a few pics with you...

We were recently selected to shoot the Melbourne Spring Fashion Week Campaign images. It's a thrill to see the huge multi media exposure and our pictures flying high on flags, billboards, posters and all sorts of other applications across the city and further afield...

The brief was "to enhance Melbourne's reputation as a world class city of unique fashion, design and culture", and to bring back a greater focus on Melbourne, which had apparently been lost over the last couple of years.

The location was to have an architectural setting, based in Melbourne of course and focus on clean lines, strong shapes and shadows. Our beautiful city offered many suitable locations but after jumping from rooftop to alleyway I came back to one of my first thoughts - the concrete banks of the Yarra and Crown Plaza Hotel (formally Work Trade Centre). I found a unique beauty in this building, once described as ‘an abomination' and ‘an ugly lump of concrete'. It was built in the 80's in a ‘Brutalist' style and for our shoot offered the most amazing platform for a strong campaign.

A key and most important feature of this spring shoot (shot at the start of winter) was sunshine. It was essential and would add extra graphic lines and shape to our location that was not possible to re-create artificially. A picture perfect day in the middle of a terrible weather period was a definite long shot and to add a pinch of pressure the deadline was solid and could not move an
inch.

With fate ordaining, the rain stopped, clouds parted and we were presented the day we asked for. Combine that with a wonderful creative team, gorgeous talent in Sophie Van Den Akker and fashion designer Yeojin Bae who constructed an exceptional custom dress for the shoot and you can't go wrong...

We had a great day and came home with a beautiful set of pictures.

I hope you enjoy them...

"On Assignment" Mauro Risch, Shooting a Concert GigaPixel Crowd

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +1100

"Shooting a Concert GigaPixel Crowd"

A few months ago I was contacted by a Sydney based Agency to help them check the viability of a project. The reference they had was the Glastonbury festival, where there were 8.000 people in the crowd on a sunny beautiful day. The final shot(1.2GB) was placed on the web(FB) where most of the attendees tagged themselves.

I thought it would be technically challenging, but if the guy did in the UK, we should be able to manage the same results Down here. The difference would be: our Gig was indoors.

My plan was to shoot a series of images and then stitch them together. I'd need a day before the GIG, with the Good Charlotte Band, to rehearse all the camera moves and all the technical specs I'd be facing during the shot.

Bad luck. The Big Top Hall, Luna Park in Sydney, had another event on the previous day of the GIG, so we couldn't rehearse anything. We had the day of the concert to check all at once. I arrived with Craig, brilliant assistant, at the venue around 8am. Nothing was ready.

No stage, no lights for the concert, hundreds of containers, cables, etc...

I was told then, that the ceiling lights would all be off, between the warm up presentation and the Good Charlotte BAnd start. The show director told me it would ruin the mood. So, we called Kayell guys and they sent us 10K of tungsten in less than an hour. Light problem solved.

My goal was to be able to enlarge the image, until the point where you could see the individual face full-screen on Facebook. For that, I'd had to shoot with the Hasselblad 39Mpixel.

The moment came pretty fast for us to shoot. Around 9pm, the warm up circus show was finished, the crowd was excited, and we would have the endless 3 minutes to shoot the crowd facing the mezzanine across the stage, where we were ready to shoot.

The MC, came to my side with the microfone and asked all the 1400 people to look at the camera. At that point we had the Hasselblad (80mm 2.8), the 5 Canons 5D mkIIs(35mm 1.2, 50mm 1.2 and 85mm 1.2) ready to shoot the whole crowd in 3 minutes.

At the end, we shot over 500 images to be stitched together. 3 long minutes. But at that point, everything worked perfectly, except for the fact that they had the fog machines putting smoke everywhere.

The final image came out of a combination of 85 images from the Blad and the Canon.

Final file size: 1.93GB (36.614 x 18.870pixels)

I have to thank everyone involved in this project. It really brings another dimension to what I love the most in life; Photography.

Photographer: Mauro Risch (www.maurorisch.com)

Assistant: Craig Proudford

Client: Mastercard

Personal Projects - Glenn Campbell

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +1100

Many photographers have personal projects where they explore ideas and different ways of expressing them. In the first of a regular Series, Darwin based Glenn Campbell talks about his project.

My latest exhibition "Shrine" is up on line and in the Supreme Court of the NT as part of the Darwin Festival, it also contains my first foray into the DSLR video world with shooting what I'd describe as a series moving stills shot on the 5dMk2, recording wild sound and interviews separately and then editing in final cut pro.

My motives for embarking on this project were mixed, I my first memory is of a car accident that we happened along on a lonely stretch of the Flinders Highway, the death of the first person that was close to me was my best mates little sister at the age of 17, I was utterly drained from a tumultulous couple of years crossing the country and the world and needed to be somewhere else for a while, and at that time being in a car with no fixed destination was the best place to be.

As I drove I thought about the grieving families I met in the aftermath of the 2002 Bali bombings , both in Sydney and later in Kuta as people tried to deal with such a mindless act that tore apart their lives and changed forever the way they saw the world because the ones they loved the most were no longer in it.

I would start to slow down when I passed a cross on the highway, then started to get out of the car, then started to photograph, now seeing, now having an inkling of the depth of the emotions that drove those left behind to build some reminder to their loved one who left them on what become the worst day of their lives.

Glenn Campbell's blog

"On Assignment" Fiona Lumsdaine making a heartfelt difference

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:03:00 +1000

This member blog post comes from Sydney photographer Fiona Lumsdaine. She is one of the members of a very special photography orgainisation called Heartfelt. (An organisation that I am proud to be the president of). Heartfelt is a volunteer organisation of professional photographers from all over Australia dedicated to giving the gift of photographic memories to families that have experienced stillbirths, premature and ill infants and children in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units of their local hospitals, as well as children with serious and terminal illnesses. With the kind blessing of the family, Fiona has written about one of these sessions. Gavin Blue

.......................

The email comes through... "There is a session at a Sydney Hospital for a still born baby boy. I spoke to his father today and they would like the session in the next day or so and he is expecting a call from the photographer that can help them out."

The next day Iʼm on my way to the hospital. My Think Tank is prepped (as a Heartfelt photographer, you always have your batteries fully charged and CF cards formatted and read to go) and Iʼm telling myself that Iʼm good to go. I arrive on the ward and am directed to the Mumʼs room. I knock on the door and wait to be invited in.

This is possibly the most difficult moment that we experience as Heartfelt photographers. We are walking into the most intimate and harrowing moments of a strangersʼ life. We donʼt know them, and they donʼt know us. We donʼt know how they are coping with their grief. We usually donʼt know any details at all about their baby or child.. other than their medical situation or prognosis.

Some parents greet us with relief and gratitude. Others are barely aware that weʼre there. Some are desperate to talk to us... a person outside the system but there to support and help them. And others are terrified to speak at all, lest they break down and canʼt find a way to hold it together.

Iʼm invited into the room and introduce myself to Mum, Dad and their 5 year old daughter. Weʼre all waiting for their baby boy to be brought into the room from the mortuary. I get my gear ready... the room is big enough for me to use my 85mm f/1.4, and so I pop it onto my D3S and put my 35mm f/2 on to my D700. I have my 50 f/1.4 ready to swap out with my 85mm. I would use my 24-70mm but itʼs back-focusing a tad and I canʼt risk missing a single frame. There is no do-over.

The daughter is shy. She doesnʼt like having her photograph taken and Mum is worried that she wonʼt be able to have a photograph of her two children together. I kneel by the daughter and ask her to look through my viewfinder. I ask her what she sees. I show her how to press the shutter, and we spend a minute or so together as she takes photographs of me.

Mum touches my shoulder and mouths "thank you". She sits by her daughter, and I capture them laughing together.. hugging each other. Dad is lying on the bed. Barely talking. Mum asks me why Iʼm a Heartfelt photographer and I tell her that I know what it is to experience loss. In those few words, we establish a trust. She knows that I understand, and I know that she knows that I understand.

I ask her if there are any specific photographs that she would like taken, and she explains that there are a few family traditions that sheʼd like to uphold. And that other than that she would simply like a record of their precious time with their baby boy.

Baby is brought into the room and I begin shooting in earnest. My primary role is to record this moment in this familyʼs history. To provide the only photographs that they will ever have of their time with their first born son. To prove that he did exist. To keep his memory alive and with them in a tangible way.

Mum is howling. Dad is silent. Daughter is hiding in a corner painting with a family friend. Tears are streaming down my cheeks, but I hardly notice them as I move around following the light and the emotion. I realise that Iʼm short of breath. I have almost stopped breathing, as if in respect for the depth of emotion in front of me. I struggle to slow my breathing back to normal.

Daughter eagerly and gently helps her parents bathe her brother. She sits with him on the bed and kisses his forehead. She watches her Mum and Dad holding each other and leans into them and places her hands on their arms. Immediate family come and go, and I shoot them all. I ask Mum if sheʼd like me to leave them alone for a while, but she tells me that she doesnʼt want me to miss a single moment, and so I stay.

After what seems like 15 minutes, but is really an hour and a half, I tell them that I will leave them alone with their precious boy, and pack my gear up. We hug. We cry. I explain the Heartfelt process and make my goodbyes. This is the next hardest part of being a Heartfelt photographer. I make my way into the corridor and gulp back my tears. I try to regulate my breathing and tell myself that I can cry once Iʼve made it to my car. And when I have made it to my car, I let it all out. The injustice. The grief. The cruelty. The heartache. It comes POURING out of me... loudly. And then I call my state rep and debrief as I drive home. Home, to my healthy and alive children.

*Mum wrote and sent an amazing letter to Gavin Blue after our session. She has given her permission for me to share it here with you. She has also written a very profound and moving blog post describing her experience of having a Heartfelt photographer turn up in her most devastating moment. That can be found here;

http://hesperasgarden.com/2011/08/heartfelt-2/

"Hi Gavin,

I just wanted to take a moment in the stillness of "The After" to write to you.

Wow. What can I say. You have helped me in such a profound way, and yet we have not met, have not spoken, and only briefly "talked" on facebook before all this started. I was one who asked for flyers many moons ago to give to my midwife to keep on hand if every she had a client who needed to get in contact with you and the Heartfelt services. I never received the flyers (time gets away from all of us), however as Murphy's Law would have it - I would have been that client to need your details.

I have promoted Heartfelt and spoken many times of what you do - all before. Before it happened to me. Before I really knew. And now we are here in this place, where Avery is not with us and Heartfelt has become a massive piece of me, in ways I never imagined.

Before the news of his death was even 12 hours past the sonographers lips, I was talking about Heartfelt. I was telling the midwives, the social workers, the ICU nurses that I would have heartfelt come. The midwives went home and looked you up on the internet. The Obstetricians took down your website on their notes so they could have you on file, and the Social Worker wrote your website on the front page of her diary. Everyone who came by my room heart about you. And by the time they left, they knew how important you were to a family like mine.

To have to make that call, and have you send someone is a big ask. But you sent us more than just a photographer. You sent us Fiona. What an angel she was when she came into our lives, on the Darkest of journeys. When she opened the door and became part of our family, with tears shed, warm embraces and an understanding beyond all comprehension. We asked for a couple of photos for the funeral, just one or two. Fiona sent us a collection that warmed our hearts and told a story we could not utter in words. Shown on a slide show they illustrated the grief, the joy, the family and the love for our little boy.

The small snippet of photos sent through blessed our families and friends with a million memories of Avery - without them having ever kissed his cheeks. I have attached just one photo. It is one moment that was caught, but I think it says everything that Heartfelt means to me. It captured love, time, relationships, joy, heartache and more. The photo is magic. To my little girl, it is a perfect moment of her being a big sister to her little brother. To a mama, it's is a magic family portrait of my two beautiful children. This photo is everything. We gave a small flyer out to all of our guests with Avery's photo on the front and the attached photo of Fiona's on the back.

We included a message underneath asking for donations to Heartfelt in Avery's name. I know a number of people have already made donations. I hope many more do.I am hoping to raise some money myself to donate to Heartfelt in the next few weeks as I process all that has occurred. It is the least I can do after what Heartfelt and Fiona have given to me and to my husband and daughter. I know my friends and family and acquaintances will come to the party and dig deep for the cause and hopefully my darling Avery will help you get the word out to other hospitals around the country. I know that none of the people had heard of you at the hospital before Avery - but they all do now. I really hope I can help with the book. It is the very least I can offer.

Gavin, thank you so much for the tireless work you do, and the special breed of photographers that work under the Heartfelt banner do. I know you know how much it means.

With love and blessings

Kristie Tatton, Avery's Mama."

.......................

If you are interested in becong a Heartfelt photographer, you can apply online at www.heartfelt.org.au

Tools of the Trade - iTools

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 19:01:00 +1100

Sydney photographer Chris Benny shares one of his Tools of the "Trade"

Currently 95% of my work is on location and there are two gadgets I wouldn't leave the studio without.

The first is my iPhone and an application called Sun Seeker. I probably use this application about twice a week.
It uses your iPhones camera, GPS and magnetometer to work out solar position, path and your current location... Ehh...Make sense?
Simply point your iPhones camera at your subject and the sun's path and current location is overlaid on the screen. (See image below).

It's perfect for scouting locations - Turn up to a location at any time during the day (or night) and you can precisely work out where the sun will rise, set or be at anytime.
If your client hasn't seen the location, you can take a photo (with the Sun Seeker overlay) and message or email the photo directly to them.
The application can do a bunch of other things too, but this one function is pretty useful for any photographer.

The second gadget is my iPad & its ability to tether wirelessly to my 1Ds III. (God! This is starting to sound like an Apple ad).
Originally I bought the iPad as a digital portfolio and thought it would be pretty much useless for anything else. This was pretty much true until I stumbled upon this little video. (http://fstoppers.com/ipad/)
All I did was purchase a Eye-Fi SD card (transmits images wirelessly over WiFi.) and install a couple of applications onto my iPad.
I set my camera to shoot RAW to the CF card and low-res-jpg to the SD card.

Now when on location, I give my iPad to my client and let them watch the shots instantly pop up on the screen. It has completely replaced my old system of tethering to my laptop on location. The iPad is always turned on, half the size and more than twice as light.

"On Assignment" Rob Anderson, Shooting a "WildCad"

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:37:00 +1100

My client gave me the telephone number of Mario Condillilio, the creator of "WildCad", a custom 1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. Its amazing appearance is due to the five different colours of unique PPG Vibrance range fadeaway paint in a job that Mario estimates costs AU$200,000 alone. It won the award of Top Custom Car in Australia at the recent MotorEx show in Sydney.

Click here to read more about the award.

I called Mario. He had been working eighteen hour days to finish the project and there's another challenge: The vehicle had to be photographed in the car park of the industrial estate of his workshop in Sydney's western suburbs. No budget for a studio and no room inside his workshop. Ouch!

Fine particles of aluminium are embedded in the paintwork which only shows up in direct light sources - either full sun, tungsten spotlights of direct flash. My strategy? I packed my four trusty Nikon SB800 Speed Lights, a new Nikon SB900 and Nikon D3x camera.

After various shots in full sun (yes sun was out the entire day), towards dusk we set up flash units on the concrete down the side of the vehicle, plus one held at waist level at the front/rear of the vehicle. The direct flash makes the metallic paint pop and when strategically positioned hot spots can be minimised. The flashes were also used through scrims & inside the vehicle on other shots.

After a 5:30am start in Melbourne I was on the 10pm flight back home. Thanks to Mario and Catriona Colalillo for making the day run so smoothly.

Rob Anderson

"On Assignment" Mark Watson, on location for North Face

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:42:00 +1100

Mark Watson, a Nikon Ambassador and ACMP Member, writes about a recent project;

This project was one of the best of 2010 and whilst photographically i didn't achieve all I wanted to because of a 100km+ hr wind and snowstorm bearing down on us (meaning we lost 3 days of intended shooting), from 'having fun in some amazing terrain' angle, this project was amazing.

This little behind the scenes snippet has been edited for Nikon Australia and so takes a look at some of the challenges involved with a back-country big-mountain multi-day skiing photography assignment (Wow! That was a mouthful)

Although I ended up with mild hypothermia and first-degree frostbite on my toes (finally regained sensation a month later), the project was a blast, so if you find a spare five minutes and want to have a laugh at me trying to snowshoe, breath and talk exhaustedly into the camera (we all know blokes can't multitask)... then click here to see the linked video and have a peruse.

I even decided to wear some new head-garb for those of you who chuckled at my last head-ware in the glorious days video - (if you didn't see the last video about hangliding the 'tsunami of the sky' then check out http://inciteimages.com/cool_stuff/glorious_days/glorious_days.html)

If you are in Oz then enjoy the warm weather and sunny surf days, if your elsewhere then enjoy the oncoming falling of the addictive white stuff (snow)

Cheers,

Mark Watson

Tools of the trade – (You know when you are getting old when…..)

Thu, 04 Nov 2010 00:23:00 +1100

Most of my current equipment geared towards efficient location work. It all needs to unpack and pack quickly and efficiently.

For corporate portraits I often provide different variations and one is often a plain white paper background.

I used to tape and untape the background between shoots which tended to damage the paper. I found a simple way to keep the paper tight on the roll as well as protect it while in transit.

Unfortunately it also had me realize that I also must be getting old that I would be finding alternate uses for this product outside if it's original purpose.

This particular product doesn't come from Manfrotto, Nikon, Kayell or B&H. It comes from Mount Gambier's Mick Mullan's Building & Plumbing.

It is the humble stubby holder.

It is easy to apply, feels natural and familiar in the hand and readily available.

Thanks to Mick for supplying this "Tool of the Trade".

Personal Projects - Rodney Dekker - Tides of Resilience

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:45:00 +1100

Rodney Dekker is a documentary photographer and multimedia storyteller. He has photographed the affects of climate change and its resulting hardship on livelihoods in Australia, Bangladesh, Tuvalu and Kiribati.

In his upcoming print and multimedia exhibition ‘Tides of Resilience', opening on 24 October at Obscura Gallery, Rodney continues to explore how climate change affects communities, this time in Bangladesh. The exhibition is raising money for a charity that builds schools and provides education in Bangladesh. You can make a contribution to the project by visiting www.indiegogo.com/tide

Rodney's photos have bun published in Asian Geographic, The Age, Australian Geographic, The Big Issue, Outback, Capture, Australian Photography and Weekend Australian amongst others and in many book publications. You can view his photos at his website www.rodneydekker.com

Collections of his photos are held in the National Library of Australia and most state libraries. He is represented by Obscura Photos www.obscuraphotos.com and is a member of MAP Group www.mapgroup.org.au

Tides of Resilience opens on Sunday October 24, 4pm - 6pm at Obscura Gallery and runs to 18 November 2010. Proudly sponsored by Pixel Perfect and the Climate Advocacy Fund www.climateadvocacyfund.com.au

Tides of Resilience
Obscura Gallery
Opening Sunday, October 24 · 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Exhibition dates: 24 Oct - 18 Nov
First Floor, 285 Carlisle Street, East St Kilda, 3183

Personal Projects - Mark Farrelly

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 02:53:00 +1000

I work as a commercial photographer and I am also an artist. While I have been exhibiting my work since 1995, it was only in 2006 that I sought gallery representation. I have now been represented by the Jackman Gallery since 2006 and that has fulfilled a long-held ambition.

In my upcoming exhibition, Halcyon Days 2, opening at the Jackman Gallery in St Kilda on Wednesday September 29, I focus on architecture and in particular the often mundane spaces and buildings that we walk by, and pass through, every day, with an eye to the composition of the structural and architectural elements.

Images in the series include arcade machines, a faded department store, an empty food court, a staircase and an escalator. We walk through these spaces every day without noticing the architectural elements - through my art I am paying homage to some humble spaces where I see beauty - through symmetry and organization. I love the detail and the pattern that those structural elements provide.

Technically my photo-based artworks blur the line between painting and photography. I have played with colour: de-saturating the photographs that form the foundation of the piece - which are attached collage- style to plywood - and using digital processes to selectively add colour. The department store series is linked visually by the use of red and green on key elements.

I also extend the boundaries of the image with paint and paint on and over the photographs. The paint is sanded back and sealed with glaze and shellac, resulting is rich textured pieces.

I invite all ACMP members to the opening on Wednesday 29 Sept at 6.30pm at the Jackman Gallery, 60 Inkerman Street, St Kilda.
(Halcyon Days 2 runs 29 Sept to Sunday 17 October, Weds-Sunday 11-6pm)

Contra Band

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 22:52:00 +1000

If you have been following the news over the last couple of days - chances are you would have read about the unfortunate situation that American indie band Vampire Weekend have found themselves in.

Now faced with legal action and the possibility of paying millions in damages due to intellectual property infringements, this is another great reminder for all professional photographers the importance of model release forms. Additionally, it provides an interesting example of how digital media and the internet is making it more important to obtain release forms to protect your work.

The Back Story

Ann Kirsten Kennis, the woman featured on the cover of Vampire weekend's new album "Contra" (image below), was a professional model working in New York City during the 1980′s and 1990′s. She claims that the photographer, Tod Brody, produced a modeling photograph of her which he had not taken, and submitted a forged model release form signed by someone claiming to be ‘Kirsten Johnsen'. Kennis has filed a lawsuit against the band, its record label and the photographer, and is now seeking more than $2 million in damages. And if Brody can't produce hard evidence to the contrary, there is a good chance that she will get it.

Times have changed

Back in the 80′s and early 90′s, before the advent of the internet, digital cameras, facebook or other forms of digital distribution, the likelihood of photographers being caught with these kind of IP infringements was much slimmer. However, fast forward to today's digital landscape and our ability to instantly access to all forms of multimedia from anywhere on the planet, has changed the game significantly for photographers. Today photo's can store all types of metadata, allowing pictures to be searched via more than just a simple description. Individuals can query by date, model name, copyright information, photographers personal information and a range of other recorded data fields. Additionally, as facial recognition software continues to develop, it is now far more important for professional photographers to obtain release forms that protect themselves and their clients.

However, this shouldn't be a problem, much like any industry's licence agreement, the best way to avoid any mishaps in the future is to know your rights, and know when and where you need a model release form. The problem the Mr Brody, his lawyer and the record company are going to face, is firstly, proving that the image was shot by the photographer. This was an image which was shot on a polaroid more 30 years ago, there are no negatives and no recorded metadata.

Secondly, if he is able to produce the original, he must prove that he captured the image and owns full copyright. Finally, the photographer will have to dig up a 30 year old piece of paper and prove that the model signed it, and in the end, it will most likely just come down to his word against hers.

Benefits of a Digital Model Release

As you maybe aware, we created a digital model release system (iRelease) to safe guard against this exact situation. Whilst pen and paper model release forms have their place, they can be very unreliable unless you take certain precautions.. With a digital model release form, you can prove the time and date the model signed the form, prove that they agreed to the terms and conditions, and you take a photo to prove that the model was there when the contract was signed. Collectively, it leaves little room for former clients to make claims such as this.

I guess time will tell how this situation will play out, but going by history, I am not to confident that Mr Brody will come out smelling like roses.

"On Assignment" shooting in the rain with Rhiannon Slatter

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 22:14:00 +1000

Shooting in the rain.........

I was recently approached by Andrew Hoyne (Hoyne Design) to take a series of 3 images for use in the rebranding they were undertaking for the company Sydney Property Finders.

The job involved shooting three locations, building types which represented different parts of Sydney Property Finders' business - Residential, Commercial and Property Management. I was shown a mockup indicating how the images were going to be treated with a heavy orange duotone reflecting the company's brand colour. The shots themselves needed to be strong dynamic compositions which clearly communicated the type of building they showed (i.e commerial, residential, property management).

Prior to the shoot I made sure I knew which direction each building faced so I could ensure we were planning our timing around when the light was going to be best at each. As they were going to be treated with duotone I knew the weather wasn't super crucial, but I still hoped to get some light and shade, basically sufficient contrast so the shape of the building was clearly defined through the duotone. And above all I didn't want to arrive at one of the locations at a time of day when light was behind it........

I kept a close eye on the weather forecast all the same, which from about 5 days out started and then continued to indicate heavy rain on our chosen Wednesday. I checked and double-checked that the art director still wanted me to go ahead and make the trip from Melbourne to Sydney despite this and the answer was yes, go ahead whatever the conditions...........deadlines are deadlines I guess. It was going to be up to me to make sure I would be able to get the shots required even in those conditions. Location photography throws up all sorts of often unexpected challenges. Rain was not one I'd had to work with too much, most of my architectural shoots get postponed if there's no blue sky to be had, though there has been the odd occasion.

I made sure I had a nice wide umbrella and raincoat with me and made sure my assistant brought wet weather gear with him as well. In my experience the weather bureau don't always get the forecast exactly right, but that day they had it spot on! And as predicted it positively poured.........The first location was for the commercial part of the business, an old-style semi highrise building in central Sydney. My assistant Craig basically tailed me with an umbrella everywhere I went, holding it over camera to avoid too much moisture getting on the lens. Despite this water had to be wiped off the lens many times. We ducked under cover and into the car to load images onto laptop and show the art director the shots we were getting. I magnified the view to ensure the rain I was shooting through wasn't showing up too much, thankfully it was all but blurred out as I was keeping exposures reasonably long (around 2 seconds due to low light caused by overcast conditions). We managed to cover a few options we were both happy with before getting back into car and heading off. The rain was getting even heavier by the time we got to the second location, a residence in Mosman. At least by then we had a bit of a system going (Craig shadowing me constantly with umbrella - very overqualified for this role, no other way around it though) so were able to keep camera (though not so much ourselves)reasonably dry and cover plenty of options there too.

Thankfully the final 'property management' location was an interiors shoot so we were able to get indoors and warm up slightly. The fabulous harbour view from these Point Piper apartments was all but obscured by fog, but this wasn't to feature our shots in any case.........I covered a number of detail images in the kitchen, Craig managing to track down a squeegee from the cleaners to wipe raindrops off windows when they were in shot! Despite shooting indoors at the end of the day, my footwear hadn't quite stood up to the weather and was still soaking wet. I picked up some lovely new and, importantly, dry socks at Sydney Airport on the way home.

I sent all the proofs through the following day and quickly received the art director's selections for each of the properties photographed. I processed these three files as black and white adding a reasonable amount of contrast to make up for lack of any sunshine and to make sure the shapes were nice and defined through the duotone which the designers would apply later. The shots were all well received and if it wasn't for this blog I don't think anyone would guess what the weather was actually like on the day - and that's the way it should be!

Social Media for Photographers, One Photographer's Approach

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:19:00 +1000

How critical is social media/marketing to your photography business?

Photographers are busy people. So too are our clients. More so than ever before we have an abundance of information available to us at the click of a mouse. It's always evolving; full of opportunity and at times, a little overwhelming.

As you can see, the modern day photographer is a busy one indeed. Running a successful photography business has always been about much more than just taking great photos.

As shown in the diagram above, the skills we need as a photographer in 2010 are much more diverse. The list could go on, but, I think you will see the most notable change in skills is the web-based tools such as wesbite/Blogs/Facebook/Twitter.

And with all the new ways to promote your business the range of options is both exciting and challenging. Wouldn't you agree?

Which social media/marketing tools are right for you?

This is a very personal decision; it's about finding the right fit for you, your brand and your clients. Often a combination of your preferred tools works really well.

About one year ago, I euthanized my facebook account. A bold act at the time when I was so heavily entrenched in it, but certainly a move I have not regretted.

About one year ago I set up my twitter account. This, I can report has been the most inspirational move I have made in years.

Instead of being in touch with old high school friends (lovely as they are, we lost touch for a reason) I was now immersed in a world that spread outwards to photographers from all over the world. From my home office in Melbourne I am getting creative inspiration, ideas, technical advice and feedback from my photography and industry colleagues that I never once had.

From using Twitter and linking in to dozens of photographers Blogs, I have realized the potential power of the Blog. If utilized right, a Blog is a current, living document of your photography business. In some cases the Blog can supersede a website.

Why Blog?

Simply so that my current and future clients can get to know me... FAST! My Blog is a behind the scenes look into what I do, it's more personable and friendly than a website. This is key for my wedding & portrait business clients.

For my commercial clients my website is a more formal introduction to me and my photography. In the short time I have had my Blog online, my enquiries have increased significantly.

Acclaimed Perth wedding photographer, Samm Blake, is testament to how well web based marketing can work "My entire business was built on my website, Blog, facebook and twitter!"

"My Blog is definitely the most important marketing tool for my business. It allows me to share my most current work and allows me to connect with current, prospective and past clients as well as many other photographers around the world"

Website Vs Blog

In your business, one web tool may outshine the other. Yet, what is so powerful about these available tools is how amazingly well they can compliment each other. I use my website and Blog to differentiate the services I offer. For me is all about making it easy for people to find and to connect with me.

"Website and Blog are the most important in our business. The websites works as a medium for art directors, designers etc to look you up and see your work so it's an important overview of your work. The Blog keeps them informed about what your doing and hopefully on their minds when a suitable job comes up. Obviously you need to promote in other ways which direct people to your website otherwise it can sit there being very idle."

Adair Lander from Adrian Lander, Commercial Photographer, Sydney.

Shouldn't I just be taking photos?

Whilst all this stuff sounds easy and exciting, most of it equates to a lot of time and personal input from you. All of the time spent at the computer, is time away from your camera. So, if you consider it a chore to participate in social media, then I suggest you don't.

The inspiration I have gained from being able to connect with fellow creative people has truly taken me by surprise, yet it all falls into step behind me actually shooting.

Top tips for Blogging

Content is king - add regular posts that create interest for your viewers
Use Twitter & Facebook to attract visitors to your Blog
Match your Blog to your branding

Top Social Media Tips

Be yourself, share share share! (but not the nitty gritty details)
Respond to others; let people know you are alive and kicking (and interested in what's happening)
Don't try to do too much, just pick the programs that you enjoy using

At the end of the day, regardless of what decade we are in, nothing is has been or will ever be more important than taking really good photographs.

I am excited about my photography career, I hope you are too!

Gemma Carr

Freelance photographer, Melbourne

I take photos, I blog and I tweet.

www.gemmacarr.com.au

Links:

www.prophotoblogs.com add on software especially made for photographers use this code to receive a $10.00 discount GCAR6406

www.wordpress.com free software to build your Blog.

www.Problogger.net a usefull resource with everything you need to know about blogging from starting up to maximizing your BLOG's potential.

www.sammblakeblog.com Samm is a great example of how to best utilize online marketing tools to run a successful photography business.

www.adrianlander.com.au Sydney photographer Adrian Lander uses a combination of social media/marketing in his Commercial photography business.

"On Assignment" shooting an inspiring woman with Gavin Blue

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 13:36:00 +1000

I love the variety of subjects I get to shoot on editorial stories. A recent shoot was for the Women's Weekly, for images to include in an article written by Erin O'Dwyer. The story was about Muslim women wearing the Burqa and how European countries have been debating the banning of the Burqua.

Faduma

Here is an extract of the article;

"Sacred or oppressive? As Europe debates the politics of the hijab, Erin O'Dwyer talks to four Muslim Australian women about why they choose - or choose not to - wear the Islamic veil.

Islamic veils are expressions of faith to some, and symbols of oppression to others. Either way, they continue to spark debate. The latest controversy has flared in Europe, where first Belgium, and perhaps soon France, will pass laws to stop Muslim women wearing the face-covering burqa or niqab in public.

In recent times, and against the backdrop of the war on terrorism, many Muslim women have embraced headscarves as a symbol of reverence and a political statement of defiance against the west.

Laws on Islamic veils vary between countries and regimes. In Afghanistan, for example, the hard-line Taliban forced women to be fully covered in public. However in Turkey, a secular state with a large Muslim population, students and public servants are banned from wearing headscarves.

Recently, Belgium passed laws to stop Muslim women wearing the Islamic burqa or niqab. The author of the law argued everyone in public must be recognizable, and that the burqa clashed with the values of a free society that respects the rights of all.

In July, France - where a driver wearing a face veil was fined by police for not having a clear field of vision - will debate a similar bill to prevent French Muslim women wearing any headscarf that also covers their face.

President Nicolas Sarkozy says the burqa is an "affront to French values" and a denigration of women. Germany, however, sees no need for a ban.

Muslim leaders in Europe have spoken out, saying women who choose to wear veils or headscarves will become social outcasts, trapped in their homes. "Today it's the full-face veil, tomorrow the veil," says Muslim Executive of Belgium spokeswoman Isabelle Praile. "The day after it will be Sikh turbans and then... mini-skirts."

Dr Soraya Alami runs a boutique medical practice in Sydney's Lakemba, a hub of Lebanese Australian life. Around 80 percent of her patients are Muslim women and children. The majority wears a head scarf but she has chosen not to.

"I grew up in Lakemba. In those days there were just five Muslim families in the area. It seemed really important as a doctor to go back because I felt I could build a cross-cultural bridge.

I still remember as a child seeing very elegant Muslim women, going to the hairdresser every Saturday and going out wearing beautiful evening gowns and jewellery. In Australia in those days, and overseas too, Muslim women did not wear headscarves. But even now, Muslim women who wear headscarves are very elegantly dressed. Under the hijab, they wear colour-coordinated underwear.

When I was young, no Muslim woman wore the scarf. I recall my mother saying that her generation and my grandmother's generation had fought hard to remove the veil.

I don't feel there is a need to take the headscarf. What I understand of the Prophet's teachings is that the best time to wear a headscarf is when you are praying. My understanding of the headscarf is in its historical and cultural context. Historically, it was safer for women to cover themselves to protect themselves from violence and sexual exploitation. In today's society women's rights are recognized and protected by law."

Faduma Mousse, 51, is a community health worker from Melbourne. She came to Australia as a Somalian refugee in 1995. She has five children and 15 grandchildren. She wears a headscarf as part of her Muslim faith.

"My husband was killed in the war. I left my country in 1990 and spent five years in Pakistan. I was a single mum with five children and it was very difficult. I used to work with Community Aid Abroad in Somalia and I had good friends in Australia so I came here.

It was very hard in the beginning. When you come to a new country you miss your country, your friends. It took me five years to feel at home.

When I first came here people would say: ‘Why are you wearing a scarf? Is it because you don't have any hair? It's too hot, you shouldn't be wearing it.'

I always say: ‘This is my religion and my culture. I trust in God and I respect my culture.' My faith has always been strong. In those days, there were not many African people in Melbourne. Now there are more and people are more accepting.

My children all grew up here and they speak to each other in English. My grandchildren were all born here, they speak maybe three words in Somali. I am still Somalian and a Muslim, but I see myself as more Australian now."

The Lighting Setup in Faduma's front yard

The final shot in the front yard

My job was to photograph Faduma, the Melbourne subject in the story. I met her at her modest Oakleigh house on a Sunday afternoon. Faduma's yard had neatly kept grass and was devoid of all other plants. I was welcomed into her home, where we sat on the floor and talked about many things.

Spending time with Faduma, I quickly realized she is an inspiring woman. I was humbled by her human spirit. Faduma's husband was murdered in Somalia by the army, she became a refugee, then with her 5 children she travelled cross country to Pakistan where her money ran out. She etched out a life there for herself and her family for 5 years until she was lucky enough to get a job with an Australian Aid Agency who she had worked with in Somalia. After working with them for a year, they helped her apply as a refugee to Australia.

Now Faduma is employed as a community health worker. She is also very active in the Somali community.

I shot the images of Faduma with my Nikon D3x, 24mm PC lens, SB900 speedlights controlled by the SU800, HonlPhoto light modifiers, ThinkTank Photo Airport Airstream and Airport Ultralight bags.

"On Assignment" shooting a personal project with Vincent Long

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:21:00 +1000

My "Red Balloon Project", a collection of portraits of Australian fiction authors has been three years in the making and will culminate in an exhibition at the Byron Bay writers Festival on August 6. This is a "love job" that is only possible when time and "spare cash" permit. and as neither of these are ever in ready supply it has meant ..

As the deadline looms I am in a minor panic to about my ability to have a body of work ready in time.
About three weeks ago I decided that seven more portraits of Australian writers located outside of capital cities were needed and this therefore entailed a road trip down the east coast of Australia to visit them one by one.

Now christmas 1984 was the last time I drove to Melbourne from Brisbane. My mate Dave and I tossed our bags, some cheap booze and a tattered RACQ map into his brothers Ford Laser and set off in a generally southerly direction looking for large green signs to direct us to the city on the Yarra

It's now 2010, twenty six years later, (gulp), however this time when I got behind the wheel it was minus the booze but with more bags as well as the 21 century version of the tattered road map- a Navman. I'll admit, in the days leading up to my departure I was wondering if I had bitten off more than I could chew as I'd only a week prior returned from two months traveling in Central America and the UK.

At this point it's possible you the reader's expectations may possibly have been built up in the vain hope that there might be some amusing anecdote from my travels to tell. Sorry but there isn't one. What I can say is that the trip did in a wonderful way remind me of one main of the reasons why I got into this career/lifestyle.... people.
I am, I like to think a people person and for me half the job satisfaction comes from these often one off encounters with strangers and the brief entree into their lives. To be allowed to build an intimacy with them, and a certain level of trust however brief is such a privilage .

Probably the most poignant moment of my trip in this regard was time I spent on a property in Tanja NSW with writer Gillian Mears. Now in her mid 40's she was, fifteen years ago at the height of her powers struck down with MS, a disease that gradually that affects the ability of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other. This can result in the paralyzing of the muscles and can eventually render normal motor skills almost impossible. A terrible terrible thing for a writer...or a photographer.

I'd been in communication with Gillian for over a year trying to co ordinate the portrait sitting with her. We'd been juggling dates as both of us had trips overseas, me to Europe her to South America to seek a cure for her MS. She has another planned to the US in 2011. I'd made a tentative date with Gillian that happened to coincide with this years trip away in Mar/April and for a while there it didn't look it was going to happen and I told Gillian in an email. She was quite disappointed.

A short time after my email to Gillian I got a call from a friend of hers. She explained to me how important it was to Gillian (and to herself it seemed to me ) for her to be part of the series and insisted I do my best to re arrange my plans to make time to meet with Gillian. At first my ego kicked in and I took umbrage at being told what to do but eventually my "higher self" prevailed and I changed my plans. We agreed on place, Tanja in southern NSW and a date of June 14th. And so I set about organising transportation and airfares and other logistics.

On monday June 14th, around 8pm, after seven hours behind the wheel I finally arrived at her friend Marr's property, just outside Tanja. Gillian had chosen to have her portrait taken here as it was special place. Having each author collaborate in regard to the location is an important part of this series.

After a warm bowl of Marr's homemade beans, my daily World Cup fix of football in the form of Nederlands v Denmark and a good nights rest I woke the early next morning. It was a chilly 6 degrees as I headed down the property to the "cubby" where Gillian wanted to be photographed.

MS plays havoc with muscles in the heat and herein lies the conundrum. It's cold so naturally you want to heat the room. However the warmer it is the more seized up the muscles become. It was a nude shoot and as the hour and a half long shoot progressed, it became more and more evident that Gillian was having increasing trouble moving about, yet she insisted on keeping the room warm, more for me than her. I have a very poignant memory of her wrapped in an old dressing gown, crawling on all fours over to the fireplace to add more wood. She wouldn't let me do it for her.

It is said that life is cyclic and that we regress back to our infant state as we reach the end of our lives. The difference being that as babies, family and society will nurture us as we promise hope and hold the key to a future they will not see. At the end of our lives we promise nothing and all too often in western society at least, wisdom gained by a life lived is not valued and the "old person" is seen as a burden.

I feel privileged that Gillian made time for me and more because she did so in a way that caused great physical discomfort that she didn't need to put herself in. In the short time we spent together that day we talked about many things. She was very candid about her life, relationships, fears and recent experiences attempting to find a cure for MS. I in turn reciprocated with my own experiences and ups and downs of my life and by the end of our time we had by default created an intimacy between us that I will remember.

It is these shared moments that are, as a certain credit card advertising campaign goes "priceless", and are to me as valuable as the images created.

NB At the time of writing the RED BALLOON exhibition was facing the real possibility of not going ahead due to local council public liability regulations in relation to proposed hanging procedures

Landscape Photographers, including you, are losing rights

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:35:00 +1000

With the upcoming Arts Freedom Photographers' Rally at Sydney's Opera House on August 29, we thought it was timely to reproduce Ross Barnett's article from Online Opinion website:

Landscape photography in Australia has had a long and proud history of supporting the conservation and preservation of our natural environment.

In 1859 some of the very earliest Australian photographs were taken in the Grose Valley of central New South Wales. That area is now preserved as part of the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains National Park.

Images that the Lithuanian-born photographer Olegas Truchanas created of wild places such as the original Lake Pedder in Tasmania, remind us of what has been lost of our natural environment, while the photography of his protégé Peter Dombrovskis played a vital role in the ultimately successful campaign to save the Franklin River in the early 1980s.

All of these images were made by photographers who were able to access natural areas without the hindrance of red tape or bewildering regulations that have now been imposed in increasing numbers of national parks across our country.

In the United States, the country which pioneered the concept of national parks, landscape photographers enjoy much greater freedoms than their Australian counterparts. In the US, landscape photographers whose work does not involve the use of either models or props brought into a national park or similar location, have rights that were put into law by Congress in May 2000. These photographers do not have to pay fees, obtain permits or hold public liability insurance.

Yet in Australia, landscape photographers can find themselves in breach of the law and potentially subject to fines which can run into the thousands of dollars.

In New South Wales, for instance, a landscape photographer could be slugged with a $3,300 fine for undertaking "commercial photography" without a permit in a National Parks Wildlife Service (NPWS) reserve. According to NPWS' Filming and Photography Policy, endorsed in October 2001, commercial filming and photography means "any filming or photography principally intended for public viewing which may or may not be undertaken for financial gain".

This definition is so broad it would include photography done by keen amateurs who wanted to upload their images to photo-sharing websites such as Flickr or Ipernity, or even to Facebook. And it is not a definition of "commercial photography" that is used by the photographic industry itself. Here commercial photography is considered as work that is carried out for corporate clients and is largely done for advertising usage.

To test how ill-thought-through the NPWS definition is, I contacted the Commercial Permits Officer for the NSW NPWS about the following scenario. I have ancestors who lived in the town of Hill End during the Gold Rush-era of the 19th century. Today, Hill End is an Historic Site that is administered by the NPWS. So would I need a permit and have to pay substantial fees if I wanted to take pictures around the town, even though they were only going to appear in a family history book?

The answer was yes, even including making a payment to the NPWS for taking pictures of my great-great-grandfather's grave site. Needless to say, I did not go ahead with that project: the licence fee alone was $275 with the need for a security deposit of $220 - public liability insurance costs would have seen the total outlay push well past an amount of $1,000 for what was supposed to be a very limited edition.

Similar policies on "commercial photography" can be found in the national park bureaucracies of Queensland, South Australia and Victoria. In South Australia for instance, the annual charge for a commercial photography permit within their national parks appears to be $265. In Victoria what is described as an "Annual Landscape Photography Licence Fee" costs $335 and applies to anyone whose photography might be used in public displays, journals, magazines, postcards, textbooks and websites.

Of course, such regulations do not apply to journalists and writers when they visit Victoria's national parks in a professional capacity. This is no doubt because newspapers like The Age would take up a campaign against Parks Victoria if such a policy was introduced. Yet Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Australia is a signatory, states that: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

It is not just some of our state-based national park bureaucracies which have policies on filming and photography that run counter to Australia's commitment to human rights vis-a-vis the right to freedom of expression. Waverley Council, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, requires photographers to obtain a permit for any filming and photography which is carried out within the boundaries of that municipality. And whether a photographer has any intention of carrying out a "commercial activity" would seem to be totally irrelevant as far as Waverley Council is concerned.

The most absurd thing about this policy is that it is probably being breached hundreds of times every day by people who take "happy snaps" of themselves, their friends or their family at play in places like Bondi Beach, Bronte Park or along the dramatic coastal walk that links Bondi to Bronte. And just how it can be enforced in an age in which nearly every mobile phone has an inbuilt camera simply defies belief.

But the prize for Australia's most insidious controls on photography must go to Parks Australia, the federal body that manages our best known natural icon, the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Under regulations that have been in force since mid-2000, the Director of National Parks has the power to ban all filming, photography and even sound recording in all Commonwealth Reserves - these include Kakadu National Park and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

Parks Australia justifies these regulations on the basis of "respect for Anangu", who are the traditional owners of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. According to Parks Australia, Anangu wanted commercial "image capture" and use to be controlled and actively managed because they were concerned that widespread dissemination of images through commercial use may have lead to images of sacred sites being seen by people who in accordance with Anangu custom should not view them, and that images of their country could also be used in ways that are culturally insensitive.

Certainly one can sympathise with the Anangu desire not to have pictures of Uluru used as backdrops for alcohol or fast food advertisements, but how realistic is it to put a prohibition on media use of images of the Valley of the Winds walk at Kata Tjuta when this area is tramped by hundreds of people on most days, virtually all of whom are carrying cameras?

Parks Australia faces a hefty problem here because, despite their regulations, widespread dissemination of images has been occurring on the internet from almost as soon as the day the Governor-General's signature was dry on this piece of legislation. As of late March 2010, more than 90,000 images of Uluru can be viewed on the Flickr website. And many of these would breach guidelines that have been put in place by the park managers at Uluru as to what can and can't be filmed, photographed or even painted.

The same happens on other websites across the internet. At the RedBubble website there are 639 images of Uluru that are available for sale and the vast majority of these would not have the necessary permit for them to be sold. Quite bizarrely one notable photographer even displays a close-up image of the domes of Kata Tjuta despite it having been specifically rejected by the park authorities for potential sale. While he isn't commercialising this particular image, just by having it online it is reaching a widespread audience.

A Parks Australia document, Film and Photography: A Matter of Respect for the Park and its People, sets out the rationale for the severe restrictions on commercial photography at Uluru and Kata Tjuta. It says that in Anangu Law certain sites, ritual objects, designs and ceremonies are restricted to people who can "properly" view them. Because of this, artistic and photographic images of these secret, sacred areas are regarded by Anangu as wrong and immoral, no matter how beautiful that part of the landscape is.

However, this doesn't explain why virtually all of the north-east face of Uluru is off-limits to commercial photography when Anangu who travel in and out of the Mutitjulu community, where many of them live, can see this area on a daily basis. Nor does it explain why it was appropriate for an Anangu artist to paint the north-east face of Uluru, and include the detail of two very sacred sites, while commercial artists and photographers are forbidden from including these same areas in their work.

The Uluru rules have also come under attack from civil libertarians. In 2002 the then-President of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties told The Sydney Morning Herald that the EPBC Regulations (which govern "image capture" at Uluru) were a "disgrace", adding that the photography controls limit the media's freedom of speech. And in 2003 the Federal Environment Minister backed down from the legal pursuit of the authors of the children's book, Bromley Climbs Uluru, because this would not have been "appropriate given the importance of principles of freedom of expression in our society".

The Uluru rules also do not explain previous commentary about Anangu society by two authors who worked closely with the Mutitjulu community in the early 1990s. In his 1994 book, Uluru: Looking After Uluru-Kata Tjuta - The Anangu Way, the highly respected author and photographer Stanley Breeden noted that: "Anangu confided in Mountford (Charles P. Mountford - an anthropologist who first visited Uluru in 1935) and allowed him free rein with his camera. The result of the photography alone is a perceptive and wide-ranging view into traditional Anangu life".

And in his 1994 book, The Rock: Travelling to Uluru, the prize-winning author and historian Barry Hill noted that the film and photography guidelines were one of the things that Anangu had to learn about from the "white fella" in the years after the Handback of 1985.

Nor do the Uluru rules explain what was said to me in 1993 in an off-the-record comment by the then park manager at Uluru. While I cannot repeat the specifics of what he told me it was clearly evident that the rationale for the Uluru rules was far more mundane than the cultural reasoning that he kept repeating when the interview was on the record.

Readers of this article may wonder why the issue of filming and photography at Uluru actually matters to them. Aside from the issue of freedom of expression it should matter to them as taxpayers.

In late 2009, a new "sunrise" viewing area, costing $21 million, was opened within the national park. Yet only four years earlier in August 2005, a traffic and parking study that was commissioned by park management suggested that a new sunrise viewing area - one which would have been consistent with the park's infrastructure master plan - could have been built at perhaps one-tenth of this cost.

This potential viewing area would have used the site from which Stanley Breeden took the Anangu-approved cover shot for his 1994 book. Yet instead, citing cultural concerns related to photography which did not exist in the early 1990s or even when the park's infrastructure plan was adopted in January 2000, Parks Australia allowed a reasonably minor project to become a massive undertaking.

A new road was built to access a viewing area on the southern side of Uluru, which is ultimately the wrong side of Uluru as far as winter-time photography is concerned. Meanwhile just a few kilometres away from where tourists are being bussed to this Talinguru Nyakunytjaku viewing area - dubbed the Peter Garrett Memorial Viewing Deck by one cynical commentator - Anangu children in the township of Mutitjulu remain without a swimming pool during the hot summer months.

This article originally appeared on the Online Opinion website and appears here courtesy of Ross Barnett.

Ross Barnett is a Sydney-based travel writer and photographer

http://rossbmedia.wordpress.com

The good, the bad and the ugly of Photography Competitions

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:31:00 +1000

William Long, the photography industry's competition watchdog illustrates a good, and then a bad and ugly example of two current Photography competitions.

The Good

The Inaugural NSW Parliamentary Plein Air Photographic Prize is an Acquisitive Prize for the Best Landscape Photograph taken in NSW.

http://www.parliamentaryphotoprize.com.au/

After a good look through this competition's term and conditions, I just have to congratulate everyone involved in producing such a magnificently fair competition.

And the organising committee are Elsa Atkin, Mark Tedeschi, Warren Duncan, C.Moore Hardy & Tegan Sadlier.

Thank you for producing a good competition. I trust you will be well supported.

The Bad and Ugly

Yet another photographic competition with extremely unnecessarily harsh and unfair terms and conditions.

Why you should currently not enter Hallmarks Pet Photo Competition. Simply by entering you give the rights to your image to Hallmark. At first I thought, yes this is possibly ok, they appear to be just asking for unlimited, in perpetuity licence from finalists and winners. But then term #20 is the usual crap image grab term.

To those who produced this poor competition at HALLMARK, the general public would surely support an honest and fair competition, not one that has this term ! And because of this term I would definitely not support this competition - be aware!
I'll be contacting Hallmark today.
Here's the offending terms:

20. When an entrant submits any materials via the Promotion including comments, recordings and images ("Content"), the entrant, unless the Promoter advises otherwise, licenses and grants the Promoter, its affiliates and sub-licensees a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, and sub-licensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish and display such Content for any purpose in any media, without compensation, restriction on use, attribution or liability. The Promoter reserves the right to crop, adjust or modify the Content (including text and images) in any manner. Entrants agree not to assert any moral rights in relation to such use and warrant that they have the full authority to grant these rights.

Entrants agree that they are fully responsible for the Content they submit. The Promoter shall not be liable in any way for such Content to the full extent permitted by law. The Promoter may remove any Content without notice for any reason whatsoever. Entrants warrant and agree that: (a) they will not submit any Content that is unlawful or fraudulent, or that the Promoter may deem in breach of any third party intellectual property, privacy, publicity or other rights, defamatory, obscene, derogatory, pornographic, sexually inappropriate, violent, abusive, harassing, threatening, objectionable with respect to race, religion, origin or gender, not suitable for children aged under 15, or otherwise unsuitable for publication; (b) they will obtain prior consent from any person or property that appears in their Content; (c) they will obtain full prior consent from any person who has jointly created or has any rights in the Content, to the uses and terms herein; (d) their Content shall not contain viruses or cause injury or harm to any person or entity; and (e) they will comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including without limitation, those governing copyright, content, defamation, privacy, publicity and the access or use of others' computer or communication systems.

Without limiting any other terms herein, the entrant indemnifies the Promoter for any breach of the above terms.

21. Entrants agree that if their entry is selected as a winner, that they will not use, or allow someone else to use, the Content for publically available commercial purposes, including, but not limited to, greeting cards, or advertisements.

22. All entries (which shall include photographs) submitted become the property of the Promoter. Entries will not be returned to any entrant. As a condition of entering into this promotion, each entrant agrees to assign all of their rights, title and interest (including copyright) in and to their entry to the Promoter. Each entrant warrants to the Promoter that each entry submitted is an original artistic work of the entrant that does not infringe the rights of any third party. The entrant agrees to indemnify the Promoter against all costs and claims by third parties arising from a breach of this warranty. Entrants consent to any use of their entry which may otherwise infringe their moral rights pursuant to the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).

Followup

I've heard back from Hallmark, who have assured me that its not their intent to use anything other than the winners, and finalists images. The reason for the current terms and conditions were they were the same used in the States. They are prepared to change and adapt their current terms and conditions, and I hope to be able to offer an acceptable alternative quite soon.

And as an update, although I had an initially positive verbal response from Hallmark, I've yet to see the promised email. I had mentioned this blog as one of the 15 places I'd posted similar warnings. So it begs the question.

I also rang Hallmark 5 times, and after what was a good response, the woman I spoke to has refused to follow up on what she said.

William Long - Photographic Competitions Watchdog

On Assignment - A Church Is A Church Is A....

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:07:00 +1000

The next in our ACMP series "On Assignment" Vincent Long writes from Mexico.

A church is a church is a church....
As mentioned in my previous blog, I have been shooting an ongoing assignment
documenting world heritage sites in Mexico. The process is fairly intense and
quite comprehensive and requires me to shoot pretty much all the major heritage
monuments in each city including museums, historic houses, heritage streets and of
course churches. Mexico, the most Catholic country on the planet, is thought to
have 7000 of these temples of worship. They vary little in design--basically
consisting of an altar a nave and possibly two or more transepts (side altars)--but
otherwise, all the same.
So you get the picture, so to speak. Ok so I am out there pretty much all day
everyday from dawn to dusk shooting. It can get to a point that if I've been
snapping in the hot sun too long when things start to literally melt together. When
one 18th century Spanish colonial facade starts to look like the last, and the
next...and the next.
So I'm in San Miguel,a beautiful little town in the north of the country, shooting
my seventh heritage site in about three weeks. I am in yet another church and am
wandering through the nave when I turn and see a shaft of the coveted, afternoon
light. Add in angelic sound effects here. "Oh wow" I think to myself, hoping to
hell that I have implemented the internal dialogue switch, "What lovely light
pouring through that window" . And yes I am quite literal
Just an aside here, I have noticed on these jobs I have begun to talk to myself on a
regular basis.... just mutterings at first but of late they have begun to progress into
full blown conversations but with the added benefit being I can always get the
responses I want ..... well mostly.
Anyway so it dawns on me that this beautiful symmetry I am witnessing through
the viewfinder is looking somewhat familiar. Is it the light maybe? The stonework?
Maybe both? And then the bulb in my mushy brain illuminates ...... I've had this
feeling before.......I was here two hours ago..... in this very church, yes, yes I was.
Now this might be merely embarrassing to do once, but it was the third time I'd
performed this feat in one day. I begin to think it might be a problem.
Quietly, I slink off towards the rear of the church, hoping no one recognises me,
(which really makes no sense but as I said... mushy brain) I find an empty pew at the
back and lower my tired bones onto the bench. As I sink into the less than
comfortable, yet prerequisite, hard oak that all great churches have, I comfort
myself with the knowledge that it's just fatigue and that the whole assignment is
finished after the next 18th century Spanish colonial township on my itinerary.
Solemnly I vow to increase my multivitamin intake and focus a little harder. Oh
and of course, pray.