My Life on the Net

I talked recently about how I had done a photoshoot for one of my clients. One thing I never expected was for it to last six hours, on a day which I had not had any food. Let’s just say I wasn’t expecting it. I was however not alone and had another flickr photographer Lorraine there to help out. All in all, it was a great time.

The rest of the collection can be viewed here.

So I finally managed to get out of the house and snap some pictures at the Cavalcade - a parade that happens at the start of the Edinburgh Festival.

Here’s some of my, and flickr’s, favorites.

My favorite of the day…

I’d ask you to take a guess of which country these guys are from… but it’s a little TOO hard not to notice.

I have had another weekend that I wish that as a photographer I wouldn’t have to deal with. I’m hoping to complete a photo book for December titled ‘Age’ and in that, one thing I am looking for is decayed buildings. Bored and thinking of enjoying the nice weather that appeared yesterday, I took my camcorder and camera out for a long walk around Dundee.

Now, taking footage with my camcorder was easy. No problems whatsoever. I could even say I had a little fun. See:

Sunny Day from Craig McCreath on Vimeo.

Then, after walking a few miles I found a nice warehouse that had seen better days. It was boarded up and even had some bollards marking where they would prefer the general public not to stand. I didn’t. I took this picture from the pavement (a completely legal act, might I add) and was confronted by a man who demanded that I stopped shooting.

I had only taken one shot and I was hoping to get the bigger lens out of my bag - but this guy kept insisting that in no way I could shoot here. Here’s basically what I remember from the event:

Him: You can’t shoot here.

Me: What I am doing is completely legal.

Him: No it isn’t–this is private property.

Me: Well, I’m on a pavement and last time I checked that was public property.

Him: [quietened down a little, I think he was getting a little unsure of the whole situation]

Are you press?

Me: No, I’m just an amateur photographer. If anything has happened here I don’t know about it. I only walked by thinking that this was an attractive building and I thought I’d take a couple of shots.

Him: You can’t shoot here… unless you cross the road. If this is for a school project (what age am I?) or whatever, just cross the road. As long as you’re not going to see it to the press.

Me: I don’t see how that would be any more legal, I’m on the pavement. But I’ll do what you ask only due to courtesy. But I know my rights and I suggest you learn about them.

Him: [leaving slowly.]

How come so many people don’t seem to understand the rights of photographers in the UK? That is twice now (in a row) I have been asked not to shoot a specific building because it is private property. It’s not only me - many photographers I know have been stopped by complete strangers and sometimes even police(!) that don’t know the law. With the fear of terror in the UK and especially in London there’s a negative sigma placed on photographers and somehow I don’t think me taking a picture of an off load bay would constitute and act of terror or would aid in planning one - or in this case, give me extra money if I did sell it to the press.

From now on, I’m always going to carry a copy of Photographer’s Rights in the UK so that the people I meet and try to invade my right to take photos can leave with a better knowledge of the law and therefore not disturb a photographer or let others do it in their steed because it’s really getting annoying now.

Extra - Thanks to islandboy for sharing the BBC’s Article ‘Innocent Photographer or Terrorist?’

I’ve been asked about how I’ve managed to take a particular picture with the equipment I have so many times. It’s not professional by any means - mearly amateur. In my photo kit you won’t find any Canon, Nikon or even Pentax cameras or lenses - I chose Samsung because of the price. Nothing else.

Unfortunately, you won’t find many of your photos to be of your liking to begin with. It’s more of a practice-makes-perfect kind of hobby. Chris Marquart once said in his podcast that it’s more of a 100-to-1 relationship for even himself of photos that he considers to be good.

If you think inspiration is stupid you won’t get very far. Every artist uses it and can offer a different perspective than you may see normally.

It’s not always about the camera. While it’s good to have a decent resolution (6+ is a must for dSLRS) I still love to use my LOMO LC-A when going around. Even a small portable digital camera is useful but of course normally doesn’t give the customisation a dSLR will provide.

It’s not bad to experiment either, I’ve found that out too often. I love to shoot wildlife but it’s always difficult (what wildlife except from pigeons can I find easily?) - I’ve even go so far as to say it’s my favourite subject to shoot whenever possible. Then it’s people (also pretty hard without looking posed), architecture and landscapes. But if you’ve not tried something, do it anyway. You’ll never know what you’ll like if you haven’t tried it. It also fills the holes until you get into things that you prefer to shoot.

I try not to get stuck on the same settings too often. I normally choose a wide angle lens, 18mm, taking shots at f3.4. If everything starts looking the same you won’t impress yourself or others. Experiment.

That’s mainly what it is. Experiment. You or I will get nowhere unless we do. It brings new ideas and offers new solutions when you’re down. See, give it a try.

Do it!

I’m back in Edinburgh for the week and unfortunately don’t have the means or the time to go on a photowalk this weekend, so I’m sharing a photo that I took a month ago on a walk to Tayport.

Enjoy.

Welcome to the first of the many Photo Sundays to come. I spent last weekend at Dundee Harbour. It’s getting a lot or redevelopment, but that’s not where I like to go. A little to the side of the harbour is some excellent buildings and a nearby recyclying center. I spent an hour there and had a lot of fun. Here’s a few shots from that interesting time.

I just wish it stayed good. Before I tell you the story, if you’re a photographer or videographer - be aware of your rights!After I took some of these shots, I went towards the port and about 5o m from the entrance I was shooting some decay pictures. I was on a public road taking pictures of private property (legal). A security guard came up and told me that I couldn’t shoot as I was on Port property. Pointing at the sign, which wasn’t even visible from my distance - he took me towards it. It seemed to be after the security gate and the wire fencing (behind the fencing was port property) - but he pointed at it none the less. NO PHOTOGRAPHY.

Well sorry mate. Sorry for being on public property, shooting what I can and where I can. If only more people knew about the law, then it would be a lot easier to do what I love to do.

Winter can be a harsh time to be a photographer. It’s cold, windy and there aren’t enough daylight hours to do anything productive. I know how hard it can be to get yourself motivated to go outside and not feel like enjoying yourself is a hassle.

Here’s a few tips to get you started.

1. Don’t go outside.

If it’s cold - snowing, raining, windy - just stay inside. We’re all used to going outside to take photos and it’s easy to forget that there’s a wealth of subjects inside your own home. Take out your macro lens and have fun.

2. Cover up.

I don’t have many winter clothes, so maybe that’s why I didn’t take many photos recently. If you’re warm, you’ll be more relaxed and more capable of taking good pictures. Just make sure that you’ve got some good gloves, otherwise your hands won’t be able to control your camera too well, and ensure that the batteries are warm enough to work properly.

3. Look for inspiration.

The blues take a lot out of you, and that can include any ideas that you may have had. Search flickr for some interesting winter photos.

4. Become a Strobist.

A strobist you say? Just go outside at night with a good flash (not your in-camera flash - those are terrible) and if you have a cable to connect a flash to your camera and move it around - even better. You’ll learn how to use your flash better, as well as learning a new technique that can prove to be pretty interesting.

5. Take your camera wherever you go.

I’m pretty sure that you don’t stay in all of winter, do you? Going to work? Need to go to the shops? You’ll be annoyed if you see an awesome shot and don’t have anything to take it with. It won’t be too hard to carry a camera with you when you’re going out. It’s the simplest thing to do, and won’t hurt you too much to do it.

Hope some of these tips help to stop you to get out of the blues for Spring.

The Photographer by Stigg Nygaard is licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence.

I’m finding it hard to believe that two thousand and seven has already passed, it seemed not long ago since I was in high school preparing for an onslaught of exams and applying for university. Now it’s all different, i’ve seen people come and go in my life, and seen my life change completely as I moved out of my home in Edinburgh to stay with new people in Dundee.

But this change did not come lightly, as some may have realised. I found it incredibly difficult to take photos, and less than a dozen have been uploaded to flickr in the past few months. So before I change my ways back to the trigger-happy guy you’ve known to love, what are my favourite photos of 2007?

I wanted this photo to portray something that wasn’t what it appeared, and this was about how I was uncertain about where I was going in life. Still unsure about university and how things would end up, I felt like the future was unseen and unknown.

Travelling up Arthur’s Seat.

On a trip to a skate park, there were a plethora of skaters and bikers who were more than interested in getting their pictures taken.. A little but it a show off, but fun to shoot nonetheless.

And my favourite of 2007…

Just in case you didn’t realise - it’s winter. I didn’t since it’s a 10 minute walk to university and I finally have a warm room at night.

So when I went out to Broughty Ferry for the day I didn’t guess how easily I could have got hypothermia or frost bite.

But I held out, for you.

I hope you realise how much I put on the line for you.

Irony not included.

p.s. This looks so much better large.

How many cameras do you have?

Only one… two?  Wow. That’s all you need… Ok..

I just got a new camera from a relative in the states.  Not bad.  Then it hit me. How many cameras do I have?

I seem obsessed with cameras…  So let’s look at what I’ve got…

Cameras I have (working)

Samsung GX-1S (The only digital camera I own)

Sigma SA-5 (Film SLR)

Lomo LC-A (Fun Point and Shoot)

Voigtlander Vito B (Fully Manual Camera)

Olympus OM-1 (Arriving saturday, SLR)

Cameras Coming Soon (eBay purchases)

Yashica MF2 (Point and Shoot)

Yashica MF (Point and Shoot)

Zenit 12XP (Dunno, just really wanted a Zenit)

Cameras Back Home

Yashica MG-1 (Currently Bust / Rangefinder)

Canon Cononet 21 (Currently Bust [needs new batteries] / Rangefinder)

Pracktica TL3 (My first ever SLR)

11 CAMERAS! What the hell?  Do I need them all, no.. But do I use them all? Hell yeah.  I need another hobby, or to sell some cameras…