I have been aware for around a year that the government intended to rewrite a large proportion of the UK copyright laws surrounding the digital online use of photographs, in fact, I wrote about in this blog article. I was also made aware a few months ago on how the government planned to give non-commercial websites free reign on any image they so desire in an attempt to “curb copyright infringement” and to “make getting clearance to use an image easier” these statements are not only laughable but they are totally ludicrous. Its similar to saying we are removing all national speed limits in an attempt to reduce speeding offences. There has been a petition set up on the 10 Downing street website and I urge all of you to sign up here.
I have just been informed the post that contained my review of 2009 has disappeared from my site. It was posted during the server change which is maybe where my post has got too!
Anyway, here is the reposted review of 2009 in movie form
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This is a short video of some of my favourite shots of the year.
This list is by no means exhaustive, I had to keep editing the list down so I could bring the video in under six minutes. I think it is a true reflection of my work this year though and I’m very proud of it.
I’m sure your all aware that the 2010 winter Olympics are underway in Vancouver. You may or may not know that the opening and closing ceremonies of the olympics are the most watched events on TV.
The Boston Big Picture has some pretty amazing images of the ceremony on display here.
Yesterday Apple released information on their much anticipated tablet called the iPad. Speculation of this device had been blowing around the internet for quite a while but it reached fever pitch at the beginning of the year when Apple announced a ‘media event’
While I was at the Chillington hall wedding open day yesterday I was told by two couples they were either having their photographs taken by a friend or by someone who was charging them a couple of hundred pounds for the day. I really can not stress enough how much a risk this is.
When things go bad they can have a great impact on your wedding day and for a long time after, an example of this can be found on the BBC’s website and a text version can also be found of the Daily Mails site. A couple have taken their wedding photographer to court, and won damages after the pictures they provided were of a very poor quality. Yes the couple have won their court battle but for the rest of their married life they will still be without their wedding pictures. (more…)
I am happy to announce I am now the recommended photographer for Alrewas Hayes near Fradley and Lichfield, Staffordshire.
This fabulous venue is set in the middle of the country side and only opened this year, it is a fusion of rustic settings with clean contemporary styling. They hold corporate, private parties as well as weddings at the venue and as its a family run business service is of the highest caliber.
I will be shooting some shots for their new brochure shortly but until then I will post this photo from a recent wedding I shot there.
I had a great day at Chillington Hall yesterday with the girls from Elegant venues promoting the Hall as a wedding venue. You may already know I am one of the recommended suppliers for Chillington so I was in the marquee all day talking to prospective brides and grooms about their wedding photography.
I think we had around 50 people booked in but we saw many more than that as people visiting the food and country fayre were tempted inside by our plush surroundings.
I have included a few images from inside the marquee which gives a taste of what to expect if you book this fabulous venue and if you are thinking of booking get in contact as dates are being booked up quickly.
I just wanted to let everyone know that our flash new site is up and ready for your visit.
The site is designed to show full screen images up to 1600 x 1000 so if your used to small images in the middle of the screen your in for a surprise! so maximise the browser, turn the speakers up and enjoy.
New website screen shot
I have been working on this site for quite a few months and I’m really happy with how it looks but I would love to hear your comments too! I think this new site is more in keeping with my style of photography and even though I was still getting compliments on the old site this new one is a big step forward.
I even have a new look blog, it still has all the old posts and comments so you can still catch up with my latest weddings and thoughts. Now the new site is live I might even get chance to put some new content on there!
I was recently made aware of “Photographers for Charity”.It was started in the UK by Andrea Lane, A photographer in Hertfordshire. The whole idea around Photographers for Charity is to raise money for different charities by offering a couple free wedding photography in return for raising money. This year the chosen charity is Cancer research UK. To tie the whole thing together the organisers want people to nominate deserving couples, so If you know a couple that you believe deserves free wedding photography, either because they’ve been touched by cancer in some way or maybe in these hard times would not be able to afford a photographer then head over to their website for more information but do it quickly as the closing date for nominations is 30th June 2009 with the lucky couples being informed by 14th July.
Each photographer has agreed to offer photographic coverage and, as a minimum, a high resolution disk to the winning couple completely free of charge as long as they have raised a minimum of £300 for the charity. If I am available to cover one of the weddings I will also be donating all profits raised in the sale of prints from the couples online gallery.
I have been involved in raising money for different charities since I was at school, organising talent shows, quizzes and karaoke parties but by donating my services I am going to be able to help the charity and give a couple some wonderful memories from their wedding day who may not have been in a position to afford a photographer for themselves.
I have written here before about social networking sites attempting to hijack photographers images and claim rights over them because they have been posted on their servers. This worried me to such a degree that I have now been forced to include a ‘non-social network’ posting clause in my contracts to try and keep the rights to my photographs.
A few weeks ago I read an article in one of the trade magazines that some highly regarded photographers were being consulted by the government with the view to updating the copyright act. This at first seems like an ideal opportunity to tighten up some loop holes and clearly define what is acceptable and what is not in the digital realm (the current copyright act, last updated in 1988, makes no reference to digital display at all, in fact in 1988 the UK internet was only really used by some Universities and CERN to store and transfer documents) but with the current trend of government taking a good opportunity and doing more harm than good I await their findings with bated breath.
This morning, while I flicked through my RSS feeds, I read an interesting article over on Vincent Laforet’s site. It talks about Time Life and Getty images releasing their work for free viewing over the internet. Like the governments willingness to ratify the current copyright laws, at first free viewing of Getty images seems like a great step forward but when you think about the precedent this sets the outcome may not be so rosy. Vincent asks is this move is further devaluing the printed image and giving social networking sites Carte Blanch over our digital images. I’m not sure the move goes that far yet but as with everything, the seemingly good intentions are easily twisted into something less palatable.
The value of the printed image greatly outweighs an image on a monitor or screen, the investment you have to make both in time and money to display a photograph or print gives it an inherent value. It is very easy to load up a memory card, slide it into a digital photo frame and let it cycle through hundreds of images but compare that to picking out a single image, getting it printed, choosing the correct frame then placing it in a prime location or hanging it on the wall, the two do not compare. This is the very reason I do not offer ‘digital only’ packages for weddings. I know a lot of photographers offer this service (no printed photos or albums, just the images on a disk) and they can make a lot of money from such a package as they tend to charge the same amount as they do for a package that includes an album but without the associated costs. Those types of packages, for me, devalue the printed image as well as the skill of laying out a beautiful album, not to mention the skill in crafting a bespoke, hand made album. I think the digital only option is embracing wedding photographs as a commodity and not celebrating it as an art form.
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