Photografr.com

Fellow photographer, Jeremy Brooks has been assaulted by a man in the street for taking photographs in the street. Quoting Jeremy from his blog;

This guy was on the corner of Stockton and Columbus in San Francisco yelling at a homeless man. Anger, conflict, drama — sounds like a great shot to me. I crossed the street but was unable to get anything interesting, since I only had my 50mm lens on the camera and I was just too far away.

However, Mr. Angry Overreaction Man decided that he now had a problem with me. He confronted me, demanding my camera. Of course, I refused. He got in my face and started threatening me, telling me that I cannot take his photo without his permission. I told him that yes, in fact, I can. He then walked up and bumped into me, trying to act tough. I told him that one more touch and I would call the police.

You can read the full story on Jeremy’s blog.

It’s great that Jeremy had the knowledge and strength of character to stand up for his rights as a photographer, but not everybody can do the same. When you go taking photographs in the street, be fully aware of your rights in your country. If somebody confronts you, be polite but firm and try to stand your ground. If the situation gets dangerous, bail and call the police. Only then will people realise this behavior is unacceptable.

Digg this story so Jeremy’s tale is heard.

Photo by Jeremy Brooks

I’ve just finished listening to the first two episodes of a great new photography podcast, TWiP.

Alex Lindsay and Scott Bourne of PixelCorps have put together a great irreverent podcast. It’s entertaining, witty and full of news great tips for the new and experienced photographer alike. You can also look forward to some superb guests.

It’s great that photography is receiving the same treatment as other tech subjects. The presenters are well known from other podcasts, and as such this show is going to receive a lot of cross publicity.

The guys say that while the first podcasts are audio, they plan to use video and screencast when appropriate. There is also an attached blog which also has some great hints and tips on photography.

If you listen to podcasts, this one is definitely adding to your playlist. They seem very keen to interact with their new listenership and are keen to hear what their audience want from the show.

I’ll be listening.

Links:
PixelCorps.tv TWiP
TWiP Blog

I’ve been hoping somebody would organise a photowalk close to me for a while, but it turns out that if you organise something yourself, it’s more likely to happen. Who’d have thought?

We’ll meet at the Bobbin Mill pub for a bite to eat and a chat at 1pm before heading off for a photowalk round the grounds of Aberdeen University, Old Aberdeen and Seaton Park. If you’d prefer to skip food, we plan to leave the pub at 2pm.

The University of Aberdeen has some beautiful architecture dating from the 1500s to the modern day that we can spend a bit of time exploring and photographing. The cobbled streets of Old Aberdeen are well worth a visit and look great through a lens. Seaton Park, one of the cities biggest parks, is beautiful all year round, and will provide a nice contrast to all the architecture shots you’ll be taking.

This is an all-inclusive event. You don’t have to have any photography experience to take part. You don’t need the latest kit to impress. Even a disposable camera will do the job. We can all learn a little something from each other.

Please remember that this is Aberdeen in winter, so you should prepare for cold, rain, snow, wind etc. Or it might be glorious sunshine. You really never know.

I’ve created an Upcoming page for this event here, and there is a Google map of the suggested route here. Please sign up so we have some idea of numbers approaching the day. If you have any ideas or suggestions for the Photowalk, feel free to post them in the comments.

Photo by iwouldstay used under Creative Commons.

This Saturday (January 12th ‘0 sees the first ‘official’ London Photowalk. Meeting at The Blackfriar pub in Queen Victoria Street at 1pm for lunch, then heading out for a 3 mile Photowalk along the river Thames.

This is a wonderful route for a Photowalk, taking in some of the most iconic London landmarks.

All levels of photographer are welcome. Don’t feel you need to have the latest kit to fit in. The idea of these photowalks is so everybody of every level can learn from each other.

[UPDATE] I just received this update from Phill Price: Apologies for the late notice but TfL are fiddling around meaning that blackfriars is closed - coupled with the Flickr London covering the south bank last week - the start (and route has moved slightly). http://tinyurl.com/32j7hj

I hope you move over into the attend list - and if so I’ll see you in the ship and shovel!

Upcoming Link
Photowalking.org
Photografr.com Events

Trevor Carpenter has launched a new blog focusing on his photography challenges. The site will issue regular challenges to photographers, helping to inspire and motivate them to move outside their normal photography “box”.

PhotoChallenge.org kicks off with the 2008 Challenge, designed to help you document your community. All that is asked is that you take one planned photograph of your community each week, and tag it 2008challenge on your blog or photo sharing website.

I’ll be taking part, and in fact posted my first shot today, and posted on Flickr, Ipernity and Zooomr.

Trevor is very good at coming up with inclusive ideas that everybody can take part in, and I look forward to more challenges in the future.

Following Scoble’s show about SmugMug, I’ve decided to give it a go. I want somewhere to store my photos online safely and reliably, allowing my friends and family easy access, and myself the ability to share my photos with the world.

I am extremely impressed by the services offered by SmugMug. They are a family run business, regular photographers and most importantly, they turn a profit. In this day and age, it’s nice to know your photos aren’t going to be sold on to BigCorp over night.

The SmugMug team are very keen on photography and making sure your photographs look good. They have a lot of pro users with some stunning shots on the site. They have just launched some brilliant new features for viewing your photos at premium resolution on small and large screen monitors. If you love photography, they are well worth a second look.

Depending on how it goes, I think I will drop my pro membership on Flickr come the new year to offset the cost. I get my photo sharing kick from Zooomr, and Flickr aren’t able to offer assurances like back-ups of my shots even at pro level. I won’t ditch them all together, I just wont need the extra capacity of a pro membership.

I’ve decided to go for a Power user membership, which allows me various customizations, but more importantly allows me to upload video. As time moves on I’ll be using video more and more, and want them to be as safe as my photographs.

I will begin uploading my collections to SmugMug over the weekend. If you are interested in giving them a go too click here for a free 14 day trial. If you do decide to sign up in the longer term use the code NGGfJsOJxWpEM to get a $5 discount (this will also get me a discount when I renew).

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Starting tomorrow (Thursday 25th October) the BBC Four in the UK are to take it’s comprehensive ever look at “the most influential art form in the world” in a new six episode documentary show, The Genius of Photography.

The series will look at all aspects of photography; “from daguerreotype to digital, portraits to photo-journalism, art to advertising; in the UK, America, China, Japan, Africa and beyond.” It will interview some of the world’s best photographers including William Eggleston, Nan Goldin, William Klein, as well as many others.

Examining great photographs and the people who took them, the series also explores the ‘genius’ of photography itself. “This magical, unpredictable and democratic medium that has transformed the way we see ourselves and our world.”

The show airs at 9pm on BBC Four, and is repeated through the week.

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It’s a fairly quiet week of photography events ahead. And it’s about this time of year that the weather can get in the way a little. Don’t ever forget that bad weather can make for some great photographs. Just don’t forget to dress correctly.

If you know of any events coming up in your neck of the woods, why not join up to the Photografr.com Upcoming Group and add them there? It’s a great way to keep in touch with the latest photography events.

20th Oct: Colors of Autumn Photowalk: Klagenfurt, Austria: This time the guys are out to capture nature’s autumn colors, and there is no better place in to see and photograph these colors than the forest at Kreuzbergl. Upcoming Link.

21st Oct: Berlin Photowalking Festival of Lights: Berlin, Germany: Photowalking of the Berlin Flickr community for the Festival of Lights. They’ll meet to get pictures of as many sights as possible and then all meet later for a beer. Upcoming Link.

23rd Oct: Flickr in Brazil: São Paulo, Brazil: Team Flickr is heading to Sao Paulo, Brazil for a Flickr meetup on October 23 at MUBE (Brazilian Museum of Sculpture and Arts). The event is to celebrate our Flickr members and to introduce Flickr to more of the Portuguese-speaking world. Upcoming Link.

25th Oct: Leeds Flickr Click-n-Sup: Leeds, UK: Theme for a speedshoot will be announced shortly thereafter (and broadcast via Twitter.com. The evening is friendly, low key and fun. Photography is one of many topics discussed. Upcoming Link.

As Photografr.com approaches it’s 1000th post (It’s been going down in the last few days as I trim out the pic links that don’t work any more), I’ve been looking for a way to highlight some of our earlier photographs without re-posting, or posting a list of links.

Those paying attention to this post may have realised I found my format. The video slideshow.

I’ve been using ProShow to make slideshows of my own photographs for my family, though I never thought until now to apply it to Photografr.com. I plan on making one of these videos every two or three months. I think it’ll be a great way to look back at some of the wonderful photography that’s been posted in the past.

I’m always on the lookout for alternatives to the way I’m currently doing it. If you have any ideas let me know in the comments. If you are viewing this in a feed reader, you may need to click through to the site to view the video, or visit the Vimeo page.

update: I’ve re-made the Photografr.com Fifty on Viddler so that I can add links in the comments for all the pictures. Apart from the 4×3 / 16×9 difference, let me know what you prefer. Are the comments useful or distracting?

from www.viddler.com

The Return of X-Files, originally uploaded by Jon & Brigid.

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