Miscellanea

Random tids and bits about photography, photographers, digital photography, architects, architecture, design, interior design and designers, or what ever else I feel like talking about.

Vancouver Police – Camera Seizure Policy

Posted on Jun 17, 2009 in Miscellanea | No Comments

Vancouver Police announced today (June 17th 2009) that they will be officially updating their policy manual to prevent officers from confiscating cameras and other recording devices from the public without consent, a warrant, or a lawful arrest.

While they say the policy has always been in place, they are now putting it in writing, and enforcing it. Nice of them to bring thier policies in line with Canadian law, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The issue came to a head when Vancouver Province news photographer Jason Payne was roughed up, and had his camera taken by police while photographing a Police shooting incidnet. In fairness to the Police, they did apologize shortly after the seizure. This comes on a long string of bad press for Vancouver area Police made famous by the RCMP Robert Dziekanski tazer death at the Vancover Airport. The video of that incident was surrendered to Police on scene who promised to return it in 48 hours. Then they changed their minds, and the videographer Paul Pritchard had to retain a lawyer to get it back.

The announcement of Vancouver Police to update their camera seizure policy is a big step in the right direction. I’m not a press photographer, but this is a victory not just for the freedom of the press, but for all Canadians. Everyone has the right to take photos of Police officers at work, or anything else that happens in public. Compared to what’s going on in the UK where police can arrest anyone with a camera if they have a “suspicion” that the photos may be used for any type of terrorist purpose. It’s a very vague and dangerous law as far a free speech goes. Especially when many authorities think they can tell you to stop taking photos for any reason.

The Vancouver policy comes on the heels of a New York City announcement of a similar reminder to Police that people are allowed to take photos in public (by the way if you want to waste some time and get angry, hang out at the “Photography is not a crime blog” for a while!)

It’s good to see that at least some Police Departments are doing the right thing, and reminding their officers of our freedoms. Let’s hope other jurisdictions follow their lead.

Mountain Bike Photos – a la Strobist

Posted on Jun 12, 2009 in Miscellanea, Photo Updates | One Comment

I don’t end up with tons of time these days to shoot things for fun, so when my brother Paul showed up yesterday with a surprise day off and asked if I wanted to join him for an afternoon in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, how could I refuse? but, still being extremely sore from my bike park visit last Saturday, I decided to take it a bit easy, and take some gear along to try and can a few shots for fun. Turned out that I was having such a good time that we only stopped twice to shoot a quick shot.

I wanted to do a little strobist thing in the trees, to reduce the ambient, and light Paul comming off a little rock drop on the trail. I was reminiscing a bit about shooting film, as I realized that the D40x I brought, combined with the strobes would only be fast enough to shoot one frame. For about 4 min set up, I think I got a decent one.

Shot with 2 SB-80DX units on slave mode both behind the action, pointing 45° towards the camera at full power. one on the rock, camera left, and one balanced on a tree branch camera right (you can see the flare on the right side of the frame). The remote strobes were triggered by a SB-28 at 1/2 power on the hot-shoe from about 10m (30 feet) away. exposure was 5.6 @ 1/200th for a bit of motion blur shot at about 170mm. A bit of high pass filter for added drama.

Probably not mag cover material, but really fun for a quick little 5 min shoot. I can’t say how good it feels just to get out and shoot something different for a change. It really is important to go out a do something creative just for fun. We had a blast biking yesterday, and I have inspired myself to dream up a couple of more produced bike shots to try and pull off before the end of the summer.

Grab your camera, and go shoot something new, just for fun!

Aerial Earth Photography and Much More – by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Posted on Jun 5, 2009 in Aerial Photography, In Bed with Ted, Miscellanea | No Comments

At TED, Yann Arthus-Bertrand talks about global sustainability accented by some of his amazing aerial photographs. He also shows off a teaser for his new film HOME which is an aerial extravaganza to show the damage we are doing to the planet, and what we need to do to help the planet rather than hurt it. All of his work on the film is carbon offset, and the film will be provided to anyone for free without any copyright restrictions for viewing or distribution. It was released today, and you can watch it online at the "HOME" movie website.

In Bed With TED – Intro (to dispell confusion)

Posted on Jun 5, 2009 in In Bed with Ted, Miscellanea | No Comments

A while back I discovered the videos that are available on the TED website. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Some of the worlds most inspirational speakers, and forward thinkers talk at the conference, and the TED website makes all of the videos available for anyone to view.

I regularly find inspiration and insight watching a TED talk. So much so that it has become a regular routine for me to snuggle in bed with my laptop and watch a few TED videos before I turn in. Be careful, it can be addictive. Of course, I always love the talks about photography, architecture and design, but there are so many other amazing topics, that I could follow non-stop. That’s why I subscribed to the TED video RSS feed. If you don’t have that much time, you can go to the "In Bed With TED" category, or subscribe to the feed for In Bed With TED, and check out my favorites!

I Hope you enjoy!

Innovative Architecture – Vertical Farming

Posted on May 31, 2009 in Architecture, Design, Miscellanea | No Comments

Photographing Architecture is a big part of what i do, and seeing new and creative architecture regularly gets me excited for the future. There has been a real move recently towards increased housing density. Vancouver, BC is one of the most vibrant cities in the world because of its density. I have been to cities like Dallas, and recently Phoenix that are practically abandoned on a Sunday, because there is very little residential housing in the core of the city. Vancouver on the other hand, is always alive. Before I lose the point, the trend in residential, since no one is making any more land has been to go up. This does some great things. Aside from creating metropolitan vibrance, is keeps people living closer to where they work, shop, and play, reducing the need for transportation. It does mean however that more supplies need to be shipped in from out of town.

Enter Vertical Farming.

photo from http://www.verticalfarm.com

Several innovative architectural designs offer a vertical solution to the urban food supply. The one above is "The Living Tower" designed by SOA Architects in France. (more designs by other architects here) Essentially it’s a farm in a high rise, using clean energy to grow fresh food for the city centre, reducing transportation costs for produce, eliminating growing seasons, and even cleaning city waste water to provide fresh clean drinking water a s a by-product. Imagine a farmers market on the ground floor, where you can buy hydroponically grown fresh food that was harvested 15 minutes ago. Not to mention it’s an architectural photographer’s dream!

While the logistics are not simple, and solutions are more complicated than producing a great looking rendering, it’s the innovative thinking that gets me excited. Solving problems through original architectural design could someday revolutionize the way we live, interact, and even eat. Personally I’m looking forward to seeing, eating from, and hopefully photographing an amazing vertical farm in the future!

Checkout http://www.verticalfarm.com for more information.

Twitpic Photo Updates

Posted on May 31, 2009 in Miscellanea, Photo Updates | No Comments

I am still looking for a good way to display my Twitpic photos automatically on my blog, but in the meantime, you can use these links to check out my most recent photo uploads, or click on the "Photostream" link to go to my twitpic account and browse!

Most recent photos at the top!

Photography, copyright, and 0169 – Huh?

Posted on May 31, 2009 in Miscellanea | No Comments

With the widespread use of photography these days, especially online, it’s a good idea to mark you work with a copyright line to remind others that it’s not just free for the taking.

I always struggled with the finding the copyright symbol to make my copyright marks look pro. Once I figured it out though, it’s engrained, and as easy as remembering 0169.

I am probably on one of the few professional photographers who uses a PC instead of a Mac. It’s not shiny aluminum, but designed and built to order with power to spare (for about half the price). But, I don’t want to fuel the Mac vs. PC fire, so I’ll get to the point.

If you use a PC, try holding the "Alt" key, and typing 0169 (then let go of the "Alt" key genius) et voila a nice little © symbol pops up. It works in most programs, including Photoshop, and looks a lot more professional than the alternative bracket-C-bracket – (c). On some decorative fonts, it might appear as a box, because the font maker didn’t include it. If that happens, switch to a more common font just for the copyright symbol.

So, mark you work with a copyright, and look pro while doing it!

ps. For those of you with a shiny computer, try this: hold alt/option & press g.

Welcome to PhoBLOGraphy!

Posted on Mar 14, 2009 in Miscellanea | No Comments

Hi everyone,

I have finally gotten off my butt, and made it to the keyboard to get a real start on what I hope will be a photography blog that will provide some fun, learning, insight and entertainment to photo fans everywhere. (or at least to my Mom, and a few close friends!)

I plan to blog about things that are interesting to me as a professional photographer, like architecture, design, photo gadgets, lighting, studio set-ups, other cool and interesting photographers, as well as sharing some of my images, and ideas.

I look froward to an exciting blogging future, I have a lot to talk about, so check back, drop me a line at mail@andrewdoran.com or subscribe!

Andrew Doran

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