Tuesday 24 February 2009

'Ele' video

Sorry this is coming out in dribs and drabs but I could not upload it in time before I left my hotel this morning

Another great piece of editing work by my good friend Jonathan Laurence



It shows the fun and games we had leaving snowbound Heathrow.....and the excitement we had in Thailand

It was a Trip!

Focus on Imaging 2009



From Thailand to Birmingham....

I always enjoy 'Focus On Imaging'at the Birmingham NEC

It serves as a great barometer of the Photographic world, seeing new trends, which companies are on the way up and which ones are having a harder time in this current climate

Overall I got the feeling that the recession in the photographic world is not as bad as it could have been

Midway through the show I have been struck by what seems a renewed interest in RAW imaging solutions

I only say this as I have been presenting on the Microsoft and Phase One booths and I cannot recall seeing bigger crowds nor a bigger demand for trial software

I think it could be down to photographers wanting to explore other ways of processing RAW images, in search of higher quality and an improved workflow

At the Microsoft stand I have been showing stills from my latest 'Forest' shoot

And today I will be showing the video teaser too

So, here are a few of the stills....

I will save tech spec and chatter for another time as I'm dashing out of my Hotel for my first presentation of the day.....excuse me!



Monday 16 February 2009

Avoiding the big Freeze

This shoot has been sometime in the planning.....

I decided to push the boat out in the depths of the English winter and undertake my latest 'Forest' shoot

This time in the rain forest of Thailand

And to think we missed the biggest snowfall in the UK in nearly 20 years...sigh

I'm not going to show you the finished image just yet, you will have to wait until it is rolled out at 'Focus on Imaging' at the end of the week

You can see me on the 'Microsoft' stand as well as with my old friends at 'Phase One'

Needless to say it was a great deal of fun, if rather down to the wire

As for the animal in question this time I will give you one very 'BIG' clue

This big boy is transporting all of the gear to the location.



I shot this on the now ubiquitous Canon 5dmk2, a truly amazing camera

We missed our elephant out of the forest (I just love saying that!) and I can say Hannibal had it right! Let the Elephants carry the hardware if you can

World Press Photo, Pulitzer-Winning Photographer Struggles to Find Work

I have just been the reading on 'Editor and Publisher' a challenging tale of the times we are all living at the moment.

Winner of 'World Press Photo' Anthony Suau recounts his unsuccessful battle to get his excellent photo essay on the economic crisis in Cleveland ,Ohio, published in 'Time' magazine.

Any regular readers of 'The Dark Art' will know that I have considerable sympathy with this situation.

What I find truly disturbing though are the comments attributed to Suau in the 'Editor and publisher' story


The last two months have been especially bad, Suau says. He hasn't had a single assignment except for covering the presidential inauguration for a Japanese book publisher.

"If the situation continues like it has in the last two months, down the road I would be in danger," Suau says. "Do I have to get another job to do something? I don't know. I may have to do something else besides photography."


Anthony, who has won a total of two World Press awards and the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography,is a seasoned pro with 20 years experience,covering conflicts and human crises around the world.

Judging from the experience of many of my peers, Anthony is not alone in these particularly trying times.

It brought to mind an experience I had in 1993 when I won the 'Nikon Feature Photographer of the year award'

I really thought I had arrived, lots of Picture Editors came up to me at the awards and complimented me on my work.

So I waited for the phone to ring......waiting for that call for some big gig or another.

Waiting for the magic wand to be waved by someone, anyone, but myself

I was to wait for some time, as 'The' phone call which I waited for never actually came.

I never did quite work it out

But I do have a theory..................

I reckon that when one wins a prize or an award, be it big or small, it may be best to consider it as a tool with which to promote oneself with, nothing more, nothing less

I wonder what would have happened if I had been more proactive after my small piece of success?

What I do know when I have had success subsequently I have used it as a license to be a right royal persistent pain in the backside to any art director or commissioning editor who will open the door to me.

I wish Anthony all the best with his career and hope he gets the work he so richly deserves.

The photographic world would be a poorer place without him.