MORGANA IN A BATH OF MILK!

•  Morgana In A Bath Of Milk! – (or The Things we do to Models!) Last month Ian Brierley had Sarah dunking her head in a bucket of water at the Summer Show, and Katie Green was there, telling us about a forthcoming assignment involving baked beans! On the day she got off lightly – Jon Gray shot her beautifully using the new Bowens Ringflash Pro , without covering her in foodstuffs! A previous girl in front of the ring wasn't so lucky. Photographer Chris Reeve got fetish model Morgana to bathe in milk for Bowens! The shoot was for a promo pic to demonstrate the new updated unit. (There's an entertaining behind-the-scenes video of the proceedings on YouTube.)
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Annie Leibovitz made a similar portrait of Whoopi Goldberg. (Goldberg would joke that cats followed her for weeks afterwards!)

Ring flash is used a lot by fashion photographers. You'll recognize the distinctive look (or the unique circular catch lights in the model's eyes). It's like projecting an even sheet of light directly from the front. With it, shadow can be a dark aura delineating the subject. (Martin Parr has made use of this quite a bit.) It can be exploited for some pretty neat effects, like creating an outline round strands of a model's hair when she tosses her head.



Walk into any fashion photographer's studio and one of the first things you'll notice is a ring flash hanging on the wall. The Bowens Ringflash Pro is a top-end piece of kit that's smaller, lighter, and more portable than the previous model. It's compatible with all current Bowens generators, but you do need to have one of these to use it. The camera support bracket can be mounted to the Ringflash Pro in either portrait or landscape position, and a large comfort grip enables hand-holding the unit.

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BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY!

• Bridges of Madison County! – Featured Photographer, Christopher Hartford
Madison County and its covered bridges both exist. Real-life photographer Christopher Hartford has been there and photographed them. (You'll remember they were originally shot by a fictional National Geographic tog, played on film by Clint Eastwood.) Chris Hartford's equally real-life wife, Louise, brought his portfolio to my attention recently. Since we believe at PhotoWeek! initiative should be rewarded, I've decided to feature it here. (Covered bridges aren't actually prominent in it.)
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Chris and Louise married in California last August during one of the US trips Chris has been taking for the past number of years. He's been shooting travel and landscape photography on film, using a Mamiya 6x7 and Olympus OM2 35mm. Click through to his portfolio to have a look at the results, then comment here if you like, to let us know what you think of it.
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HELP START A MEET-UP FOR INDY PHOTO LABS!

• Help Start A Meet-Up for Independent Photo Labs! –

THE PLOT to organize a sociable get-together for independent photo labs some time this year has THICKENED! Neil Taylor of the UK's minilabhelp forum has now launched a new web site specially to organize and promote the idea. If you think it's a good idea and would like to attend, speak up and say so. Get along to the new www.minilabhelp.org.uk forum and have your say, TODAY!
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Expressions of support in principle for the proposed conference have been voiced by trade organization, the PMA, and by supplier www.photomart.co.uk. The organizer, Neil Taylor of minilabhelp.com, says: "I would say that networking with others is going to prove vital to the survival of our independent stores. We all learn so much when talking to others, and always come away with new energy."

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GOVERNMENT RELENTS ON PHOTOGRAPHY!

•  Government Relents on Photography! – The Government has moved on from the brush-off that Home Secretary, Jaqui Smith gave the NUJ over the union's concerns about police surveillance of photojournalists. She had appeared to wash her hands of the matter, but now Lord Bassam of Brighton has said the Home Office will meet the NUJ and will contact the Association of Chief Police Officers with a view to drawing up national guidelines on press photography in public, for journalists and police.
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Lord Bassam made the statement in the House of Lords when, as representative of the Government, he replied to a question about the matter put by Lord Richard Rosser. Lord Rosser asked him was he aware photography publications reported photographers, including the press, were being challenged, asked their names and addresses, and filmed by police for taking pictures in public, and that they considered this harassment.

In his reply, Lord Bassam mentioned that his own friends and family had been affected by incidents of that kind, and said he had a great deal of sympathy for the viewpoint expressed. He went on to enumerate the steps the Government would now take toward Home Office-backed guidelines with national applicability, to protect the rights of photographers.

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WERE YOU THERE?

•  Were You There? Summer Show On WebTV! – Were you interviewed at the www. photomart .co.uk SUMMER SHOW? PhotographyTV's latest episode features this event, and includes many of the delegates who were there. Were you one of them? Take a look and see!

Did you photograph the WonderBra model? – photographer Jon Gray's world-class model at the Summer Show, Katie Green, has since gone on to win this high-profile contract. The current episode of PhotographyTV catches a glimpse of her, and also shows new model Sarah (2007 TNT UK Miss Photogenic). Sarah's got her head in a bucket of water, doing wet hair flicks for travel photographer Ian Brierley's outdoor group shoot!
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The www. photomart .co.uk Summer Show was a bumper day of photo workshops at the company's mega studios in London. Six photographers presented ten workshops across two floors of studio space, sponsored by manufacturers including Bowens, ExpressDigital, Fujifilm, ICI ImageData and Sony. The day was great fun, and was enjoyed by all.
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MARTIN PARR WINS PHOTO ESPANA

•  Martin Parr Wins Photo Espana, Gets Honourary Doctorate! – Britain's Martin Parr (Magnum), one of our most highly regarded living photographers, has been awarded an Honourary Doctorate by his alma mater, Manchester Met. He has also just won the Baume et Mercier Award at Photo Espana. Another British winner at Photo Espana this year was Olivia Arthur (who is one of just two new photographers accepted to join Magnum in 2008).

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PARINITA SALIAN LEAVING PHOTOWEEK!

•  Parinita Salian Leaving PhotoWeek! – Staff Journalist, Parinita Salian, is to leave PhotoWeek! at the end of the month to become a writer on DPReview. Pari was an invaluable provider of multi-media reporting to PhotoWeek! - working on our DVD productions as well as online video and writing. Her knowledge of photographic equipment and studio lighting was widely appreciated. She is joining one of the most highly regarded camera review sites on the Web, and we wish her well. She will be missed.

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MENCAP SNAP! AWARDS

• Mencap Snap! Awards! –
MENCAP held a prize-winners' party for their SNAP! Awards 2008 at the Proud Gallery in London's Camden last month. SNAP! is MENCAP's annual competition for photos of or by people with learning disabilities, sponsored by Fujifilm and supported by the Sorrell Foundation. Gold, Silver and Bronze prizes were awarded in six categories, and winning photos may be viewed here.

[pictured above is Chinese New Year, a SNAP! winning entry from Kwok Man]
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INDEPENDENT PHOTO LABS GET TOGETHER!

• Independent Photo Labs Get Together! – A plot is afoot to organize a sociable get-together for independent photo labs at a watering hole in the North West some evening this year. The conspiracy sprung up on the minilabhelp forum this month, and is gaining ground. Forum Admin, Neil Taylor, is soliciting expressions of interest, and if the number of lab people who want to go reaches critical mass, a meet-up WILL be organized! The idea is for the indies to network, share ideas, experiences and information (and buy each other drinks!). If you'd be interested, get onto the minilabhelp forum and pledge your attendence!

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RESTRICTING PHOTOGRAPHY IS NOT LEGAL!

•  Restricting Photography Is Not Legal! – The Home Secretary has said there is no legal basis for restricting photography in public places. Unfortunately the statement was made in a more-or-less stock response to an NUJ letter alleging MET targeting of photojournalists.

The NUJ alleged the Metropolitan Police Forward Intelligence Team were targeting photojournalists covering demos. The Home Office reply didn't really address this. It restated some of their usual statements about photographers' rights to work in public and said the Home Secretary left it to the Commissioner whether to monitor photographers in reasonable circumstances. It suggested the NUJ should address their concerns to him. (They had done.)
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Journalists are pretty miffed about this brush off.

Can the police target photojournalists with undue, persistant and intimidatory overt surveillance when they cover demos? I would say No, not lawfully, no.

Is this the Home Office's problem? – Apparently not.
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NEW MEDIA JOURNALISTS EVALUATE EYE-FI!

•  New Media Journalists Evaluate Eye-Fi! – New media journalists in the UK have begun to evaluate simple consumer wireless video streaming and image upload technologies, such as Qik and Eye-Fi, for whisking breaking news images away from the scene. Qik enables live video casting from a mobile phone via any 3G/GPRS/Wi-fi Internet connection. And Eye-Fi SD cards automatically transmit images from practically any camera, as they are taken.

www. photomart .co.uk tested Eye-Fi as soon as it was released last year. This month they lent a unit for review to freelance photojournalist Christian Payne. You can watch his review on Qik. [expand story >>>]



Eye-Fi is a new consumer technology. It's simple and cheap and will soon be available in Lexar media cards as well as in the original Eye-Fi cards.

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PHOTOGRAPHY TV NOT ALWAYS FREE!

• PHOTOGRAPHY TV NOT ALWAYS FREE! –
Peter Davey's impressive webTV initiative, photographyTV, has taken another step toward self-sufficiency by expanding its revenue model to include subscriptions as well as advertising. The new subscription model means that although Part 1 of each show will remain free, us viewers will need to pay a small amount (currently just £3 a show or £26 for twelve) to view the remaining parts and get other benefits. Peter explained that this fee is less than the cost of a news stand magazine, and is necessary to help get photographyTV to the point where it pays for itself. [expand story >>>]

photographyTV is an ongoing series of half-hour magazine style TV shows themed around enthusiast and professional photography. Currently photographyTV is broadcast only as webTV and a video podcast, with a revenue model that includes ad space on its website – and now subscriptions – as well as in-stream stings. But the show itself is the main asset, and it could be distributed via many other channels in the future.

Show Three is available now, featuring a photo safari to the Wildlife Heritage Foundation in Kent, and a tutorial on macro photography from photographer Paul Ward. Show Four is coming soon, and will include items from the www.photomart.co.uk Summer Show.

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DENNIS HYLANDER COMMENTS ON PHOTOWEEK!

• Dennis Hylander Comments on PhotoWeek! –
Dennis Hylander, one of the best known names in UK wedding photography (he used to be famous!), has commented on last week's PhotoWeek! story on Helmut Newton:

"In the very early 60s Helmut and I had our studios in the same office building known as Block Arcade in Melbourne's city centre. As a busy portrait photographer I never have enjoyed a shoot with the model! For me the kick was to achieve the result working with the female client who was ready to give me her all!"

Most PhotoWeek! readers are the kind of professionals best described as those who make their living by selling prints. Photographing experienced models is a rare luxury! Taking a good studio portrait of Jo Public is much harder! [expand story >>>]

Over four decades, Dennis Hylander has made an extraordinary contribution to UK wedding photography, and many of our wedding photography awards are named after him. His autobiography, "I used to be Famous" was published in March.

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ALAMY IMAGES FOR A DOLLAR!

•  Alamy Images For A Dollar! – Stock agency Alamy has ruffled contributor feathers with its introduction last month of Limited Use, a scheme for selling images for as little as a dollar. Contributors who opted-in to new terms last Autumn, not knowing exactly what they were signing up to, now found their images exposed to Limited Use. Under the new terms, contributors were locked in, but Alamy quickly relaxed this as a furore developed. [expand story >>>]

As is usual with Alamy, the furore developed publicly on their Internet forum. Stock photographers have a lot invested in their filings. This is threatened by the new phenomenon of microstock. All agencies must respond somehow. But Alamy's contributors are generally opposed to the company selling their images as microstock. There was a feeling that Limited Use was simply microstock by another name, and that photographers had been duped into unknowingly signing up for it. Alamy insists this was not their intention – the rather opaque route they took to Limited Use was necessary for competitive reasons, they say.

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NIKON D700 OUT NOW!

•  Nikon D700 Out Now! – Nikon's vigorously rumoured new DSLR, the D700, was officially launched on July 1. We haven't handled one, we haven't even seen one for real, we don't have any first hand knowledge of it, but in true PhotoWeek! spirit, here's our expert assessment anyway!

If you loved and coveted the ground-breaking available-light performance of the D3 (and you did), but the D200/D300 was more your bag (or your purse!), then D700 might be for you. It's pretty much a D300 fitted with the big full-frame sensor from the D3, and a large bright finder. It gives you the high-ISO, low-noise performance of the D3 in the smaller, lighter, (cheaper!) D300 shell. By the time you read this, printed magazines will be full of it, after which PhotoWeek! won't mention it again. [expand story >>>]

The pro world wouldn't really class this body as a full-on professional camera. But the D700 will certainly produce professional quality images, which, coupled with build quality (and this body does have build quality) must be one of the main criteria for choosing a camera for professional use. We haven't seen this kind of wide dynamic range, high resolution, high ISO and low noise in a mid-range Nikon SLR since... erm, to be honest, since the days of film. Worthy budget photographers could probably shoot weddings quite acceptably on a D700 now – and leave their film camera at home.
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