Masters Of Photography

Posted on May 7, 2011 | 4 comments

By The Macallan

Sky and mountain top scene from plane on route back from Perpignan to London. September 10, 2007. Photo: ©Edmond Terakopian

The Masters of Photography is an interesting project and competition, with year’s theme being Great Journeys. The people at The Macallan really seem to be into photography which is a great thing!

I need your help folks 🙂

I entered five images into this years competition and all five have been accepted. The way the competition works is that members of the public have to vote for the pictures they like and these then go onto the judging round. So please spend two minutes and look at my images below and vote for the ones you like 🙂 The website will ask for your age (as it’s a drinks company) and if you tick ‘remember me’ it won’t hassle you again and all links will just open up. All you then need to do is click on the VOTE button at the top right of the images you like.

Here are the links:

Sky

A Pier On The Thames

People On Pier

A Leaf

Battle Of Britain

Thank you very much for your help. I’d appreciate if you would share the link to this blog post on Twitter, FaceBook and with your friends and colleagues via any means! Thanks 🙂

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Retrospective 5 Camera Bag

Posted on May 6, 2011 | Leave a comment

Think Tank Photo’s Smaller Shoulder Bag

Photographer Edmond Terakopian on assignment with a Retrospective 5 for his Leica gear and a Shape Shifter for his Mac; 10th commemoration of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States. American Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London, UK. September 11, 2011. Photo: LP

The one thing I have heard for a couple of years at trade shows when on the Snapperstuff stand, from Leica photographers or people with smaller DSLR outfits is “why don’t Think Tank do a smaller shoulder bag?”. Well, they do now and I got mine today!

Think Tank Photo Retrospective 5 in Pinestone. Shown with a Leica M9 and 50mm f0.95 Noctilux ASPH lens. May 06, 2011. Photo: Edmond Terakopian

It’s called the Retrospective 5 and comes in a natural canvas Pinestone and black. I have already been using the Retrospective 10, 30 and Lens Changer 2 from this range and must say that I absolutely love the range. They are extremely comfortable to wear, hugging your hip with their movable bases and extremely easy to work out of. They also blend in really well, most definitely not looking like camera bags.

Think Tank Photo Retrospective 5 in Pinestone. For size comparison shown with (L-R) Fuji X100, Olympus E-P2, Leica M9 and Leica X1. May 06, 2011. Photo: Edmond Terakopian

The Retrospective 5 has now become my Leica outfit bag. Considering how small it is, you might be a little stunned to find that I have the following inside:

Leica M9 with Leica 21mm Elmarit, 35mm Summicron, 50mm Noctilux and 90mm Summarit lenses. Also the Leica SF 24D flash, TTL extension cord, x2 ND filters, 21 mm Viewfinder, x1.25 Viewfinder Magnifier, Lightmeter, Spare Batteries, Think Tank Photo Cable Management 20, Pixel Pocket Rocket memory card holder and some other bits!

Think Tank Photo Retrospective 5 in Pinestone. Fully loaded with my Leica kit. May 06, 2011. Photo: Edmond Terakopian

The bag is also the perfect size for a small DSLR outfit (with a couple of lenses – eg Canon 5D MkII, 16-35mm f2.8L and a 50mm f1.2L) or a Micro 4/3 outfit like the Olympus E-P2 with several lenses and accessories.

I simply cannot recommend this bag highly enough for anyone who shoots with a Leica M or a Micro 4/3 outfit.

For the UK, check out Snapperstuff. For more info, have a look at Think Tank Photo.

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Royal Wedding

Posted on May 2, 2011 | Leave a comment

My Reportage On The Wedding Of

Prince William To Kate Middleton

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It’s been a hectic few weeks. The pressure of the Royal wedding has resulted in many meetings, emails, phone calls and Tweets between colleagues, picture editors, technicians and press officers.

With a story as huge as this, with all of it’s logistical nightmares as far as security, bureaucracy, cost and locations are concerned, one photojournalist just couldn’t tell the entire story. Looking through the papers, “Fleet Street’s” finest did a superb job; there are stunning images of the couple from every angle and every moment covered by my colleagues. The page designers at the papers also pulled the stops out and produced magnificent work. The highest accolade though must be paid to photographer Max Mumby with his stunning picture of the couple driving away in the Aston Martin; The Times did an amazing job of running this as their front page and even went as far as doing a complete wrap with another wrap picture on the inside; genius. It’s these collection of images which told the story in it’s entirety. Although part of me really wanted to witness the wedding itself, I had other plans.

My way of covering the story was more aimed at the magazine market for which my agency Polaris Images specialises. I decided to look at how Londoners were effected by the wedding, starting from all the memorabilia being offered for sale to the Royal super fans camping out days before the event at Westminster Abbey and The Mall near Buckingham Palace. For this aspect I visited the super fans at night and also during the day.

For the actual day, I had spent well over a month talking with various people who were organising street parties and finally found what I hoped would be perfect for my needs; a small road in Brentford with a nice little pub called the Lord Nelson. On the day after a slow start it did end up offering some of what I had wished for!

For anyone wishing to buy images for publication, please contact Polaris Images or visit my Photoshelter site.

Technically, I used a Leica M9 and 50mm f0.95 Noctilux ASPH for the majority of this work. The first night was shot entirely on a Leica X1. For other shots, I used a Canon 5D MkII with the 135mm f2L, 45mm TS-E and 15mm f2.8 Fisheye. All image processing was done in Apple’s Aperture 3 and Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro 2.

I’m thrilled to say that this project is also featured on Steve Huff’s website, where there is more information on behind the scenes stuff.

To see the entire edit of images, of which there is also a colour set, please visit:

(NB – although there are some identical images in both sets, they are different)

Flickr – B/W Set

Flickr – Colour Set

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Posted in Leica, News, newspaper, Photography, Pictures

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Help Me Find My First Camera

Posted on April 23, 2011 | 13 comments

Appeal – Help Me Find My Nikon EM

My very first camera was a 110 cartridge Fuji compact. Back in 1986 though I saved up enough money to buy my very first SLR, a Nikon EM with a Nikon E-Series 50mm f1.8 lens (thanks to my friend Vahe for helping me with the choice and steering me away from buying a Zenith!).

When at my first local paper as a staffer, the Harrow Observer, we would have work experience placements from the local schools and we had a young lady, with blonde hair (I think) who was very enthusiastic about photography but didn’t have a camera. At the time I thought nothing of it and offered her my Nikon EM kit, a Tamron 70-200mm and I think a Nikon flash at a very cheap price.

Now as time has gone on, for the last few years I’ve come to regret this! I’d dearly want my first SLR back! Not one like it, but the one! It’s part of my personal history and now means a lot to me.

So, if it was you, or if anyone knows anyone who did work experience at the Harrow and Wembley Observer (Harrow, Middlesex) in the early 1990s and bought a Nikon EM from me, please ask them to get in touch!! I would so love this camera back (thankfully I still have my first professional SLR which was the original Canon F1).

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Devastating Loss

Posted on April 21, 2011 | 11 comments

RIP Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington

We have lost so much. Yesterday, the 20th of April 2011, was a very dark day. The world lost two very passionate, courageous and dedicated journalists; photographer Chris Hondros from Getty Images and photographer and film maker Tim Hetherington who was with Panos Pictures.

They were more than our friends and colleagues. They were the voices of those who needed to be heard and our eyes to help us see places where we were not brave enough to go to. The world and those who need to be heard, lost a huge deal yesterday.

Amsterdam, 23-04-2006 Awards ceremony van de World Press Photo in de Oude Kerk. L-R: Chris Hondros, Mohamad Azakir, Ben Smith and Edmond Terakopian with their awards for the Spot News and Spot News Stories categories. Photo: Bastiaan Heus

I had the honour to know both Chris and Tim a little. I had met Chris for the first time in Amsterdam when we went to the World Press Photo awards ceremony. He had won second place in the Spot News category with the most heartbreaking and powerful image of a poor girl crying after her parents were killed by the US military in Iraq when their car didn’t stop when ordered to. It was an amazing image that shook anybody who saw it, leaving most teary eyed. I also met Chris again at a World Press Photo event at the University of Southern California where we got trapped along with all the other photographers there to present their work, in an elevator which had got stuck for 25 minutes. It was very funny! I won’t pretend we were close friends and alas we never worked together but these two meetings showed me that Chris was an amazing man; truly dedicated and extremely caring. I have constantly been amazed by the strength of his powerful work. He produced some stunning images in Libya on the day he was killed.

Photographer Tim A. Hetherington among rebel fighters of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) at their frontline headquarters in Tubmanberg. Photo: Tim Hetherington / Panos Pictures

Unfortunately I only met Tim once; I went to see him talk once and we had an extremely interesting conversation afterwards; it was as if we had been friends for years – in fact one of the people in teh group thought we were after listening to us. So extremely likeable, so amazingly modest and exceptionally dedicated. His talent at communicating with the still image or video goes without say. His photographs from Afghanistan, especially the World Press Winning image from 2007 just left me in awe. An image from such a dark place but so much like a poem.

When I read this terrible news from our photographers’ page on Facebook I froze. It said Tim had passed away and Chris was possibly deceased too. I have no shame in admitting that this horrific news left me crying and tearful. When it became clear that Chris had also succumbed to his terrible head wound, it was just devastating.

It’s always hard loosing colleagues. It’s hard enough finding out that a colleague has been hurt. To find out that two dear people that you know, admire and respect have been killed is just……….

Our entire community of photographers is shaken to it’s core. A candle was lit in memory at St Bride’s Church in Fleet Street. Our forums and Tweets are filled with messages of sadness, grief…..such a sour feeling. Tears, silence, disbelief.

I had recorder Restrepo when it was first shown on the National Geographic channel. For various reasons I had just never found the time to see it. Last night, teary eyed and shaken, I found the time Tim. It was so nice to hear your gentle voice as you spoke to the soldiers. I wish I could say this to you face to face; it was a magnificent film; bravo.

A day before it all ended for Tim, he made his last Tweet: “In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO.”

All I wish is that neither of you amazing gentlemen suffered yesterday. I hope you didn’t feel a thing. My thoughts are with you, your families and you friends. You shone as human beings. I hope you rest in peace.

Diary (2010) from Tim Hetherington on Vimeo.

‘Diary’ is a highly personal and experimental film that expresses the subjective experience of my work, and was made as an attempt to locate myself after ten years of reporting. It’s a kaleidoscope of images that link our western reality to the seemingly distant worlds we see in the media.

Camera + Directed by Tim Hetherington

Edit + Sound design by Magali Charrier

19′ 08 / 2010

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How Much Should You Charge?

Posted on April 20, 2011 | 2 comments

Value Your Work

During workshops, presentations, organised debates, on Twitter and so on, I often come across photographers who are happy to invest money into gear, invest time into learning how to create a good photograph and then are happy to either give away their creations for free or to charge a few pounds for it. This results in the whole industry of photography becoming devalued and those of who rely on it as our only source of income to suffer. Equally, it results in the creator of the image devaluing their own work. If these few pounds were lots of pounds, then think of how much more quickly one could buy that new lens?

Every image has it's own worth. PPY exhibition. National Theatre, South Bank, London. August 28, 2008. Photo: Edmond Terakopian

If a picture is good enough to be published or be used in any way, shape, or form by a company, then it has it’s worth. Regardless of one’s position as a pro or a talented enthusiast, images are worth money.

My thoughts are that sometimes it’s hard to know what to quote or charge and perhaps this is adding to the entire industry being devalued. Here are some great resources to look at when you need to see how much to charge for a photogaph:

NUJ Freelance Fees Guide

Nature Picture Library

If you have not yet read these short posts, they are on the same subject with some useful information and thoughts:

Stand Firm

Value

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