Category Archives: Photography

Trying To Be Different

Posted on July 3, 2008 | Leave a comment

A couple of days ago it was hot. The temperature reached 29C and as anyone in the industry knows, weather pictures are all the rage. Its a strange concept, but the papers love weather pictures; not just extreme weather either.

As I wasn’t on assignment, I decided to go and try to find a good weather picture. In a situation like this, one has to try and be different, and the obvious shot of people sun bathing isn’t going to stand out.

So I decided to head to Kensington Gardens and see if I could get anything different. I had seen birds taking a bath in a fountain there many years ago, and thought this might make a good shot.

Alas, it didn’t really work!

Two hours spent in the sweltering sun produced a couple of ok pictures, but nothing amazing. I believe the saying is “never work with children or animals”!!

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Posted in Photography, Pictures

Vincent Laforet Interview

Posted on June 28, 2008 | Leave a comment

In 2007 I had the pleasure of meeting Vincent Laforet at the University of Southern California (USC) where we were both part a small group of World Press Photo winners giving a seminar to the students.

I had been a fan of his work before we met and I must say that as well as being extremely talented, he’s a wonderful chap to boot. Canon has an interesting interview with him here.

Update: Sports Shooter have a very interesting interview with Vincent which includes his thoughts on the industry – a must read.

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46664 Concert: In Celebration Of Nelson Mandela

Posted on June 28, 2008 | Leave a comment

Lets face it, this is without a doubt the best job in the world. Yes, the days can be long and the stress plentiful; its occasionally dangerous and often unappreciated, however, its still the best job.

I was fortunate enough to cover the 46664 Concert, in celebration of Nelson Mandela’s life, achievements, birthday and his charity. It was an amazing experience.

As always, there were some issues. The photographers’ area was around 50 meters from the stage which meant my standard lens became a 500mm! The slightly bigger problem was that there were several hundred people in front of our position – which wasn’t raised high enough. This brought its problems of trying to avoid the tops of people’s heads (there’s always someone very tall around in these situations!). It became worst as the crowd put there arms up, and even worst when camera phones and compact cameras were brought into play.

Still, it was an absolute joy to be there and a bigger joy to photograph it. We had two photographers covering it, two runners (taking our CF cards back and forth – many thanks Nina and Eli) and two AP editors back in the press room (Dejan and David – top job gents). Its such a joy to work with professionals. There was even some time for a little bit of fun!

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Posted in News, Photography, Pictures

Photoshop Disasters

Posted on June 23, 2008 | Leave a comment

Just came across a blog with tons of Photoshop disasters. Its got a load of really very funny and stupid mistakes made by retouchers / photographers.

My stand in any type of editorial photography is absolutely no Photoshop work outside of traditional darkroom techniques. The second we start to add or subtract anything from our images, we call into question all that we take with our cameras.

However, some tabloid papers and perhaps all beauty magazines retouch their images; sometimes very heavily, and often in a very obvious way. The Photoshop Disasters blog is doing a great job of showing the extent of this.

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A Looking Glass Eye – 21st Century London

Posted on June 23, 2008 | Leave a comment

Just a heads up on a group exhibition I’ve got a few pictures in: A Looking Glass Eye – 21st Century London at the EXIT Gallery, above Soho Books, 121-125 Charing Cross Road, London WC2. 27 June to 12 September.

This summer the EXIT GALLERY at Claire de Rouen Books is putting on a group photography show of London in the 21st Century. A very ambitious project for such a small gallery. The star of this show is London, as seen through the lens of both new and established award winning photographers… Stephen Gill, Valerie Phillips, Wassink Lundgren, Simon Wheatley (Magnum), Peter Marlow (Magnum) and Edmond Terakopian to name a few. Just like the melting pot that is London, this orderly mess makes for compulsive viewing. It’s free and on for over two months.

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Posted in News, Photography, Pictures

The Frontline Club Award

Posted on June 21, 2008 | Leave a comment

John D McHugh was awarded the club’s first ever award for journalism last night. The award was given as a result of his outstanding work and dedication to covering the war in Afghanistan. Although John D is a photographer, he also covered the story using audio and video.