Which Way Is the Front Line from Here The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington...

As a passionate photographer, I felt the need to share my thoughts on working photographers particularly those who unquestionably devote their interests in the human condition of rights. I watched the film by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington entitled "Restrepo" and am going to be watching the sequel Korengal.

The title of this post above is the film about the life and time of Photographer, Filmmaker, and Human Rights Activist Tim Hetherington. He was born in Birkenhead and studied at Oxford, from the film you get to see his generosity and his belief that people, no matter what your colour, creed or nationality. We are all connected.

I like the warmth that the statement and thought process brings, I am a photographer whose interest in photography and social documentary will hopefully have such a rewarding career and life as Tim Hetherington’s in this chosen vocation.

We know through history that photographers who take up this route of or rather this genre of the medium become hardened to some degree, however they are not without some form of self-imposed torture. The photographers mind in this context is to get the story without question, the reason because we must inform and educate.

The loss of many a journalist is always a sad and tragic loss, however what they leave behind is a legacy to all photographers and journalists alike. 

So is that a plausible reason to continue to follow this field of work, this genre of photography?

Yes, of course it is. I can remember the mandate to which I signed a declaration to join the United Nations Forces. Whilst I was they’re often patrolling the so-called buffer zone.

One day in fact the month of August 1996, was a perfect example of how protest leads to death. The Greek Cypriot Solomos Solomou was fatally wounded by gunshots to the head.

He attempted to take down the Turkish Cypriot flag.

This took place during the protests it wasn’t the only incident to have taken place during 1996.

It was my first real insight into how protest works for the greater good; the Greek Cypriots believe that the Turkish forces do not have a right on Greek soil.

It was not the first death I had witnessed though, however it did make me think that this person truly believed in what he was doing.

This was another reason for wanting to get into journalism and in particularly photojournalism. Witnessing events like this I felt powerless even in a UN uniform, holding a rifle.

Though I spotted many cameramen, men and women holding cameras some 35mm others medium format documenting this event-taking place. I remember viewing the images the following day in the newspapers.

The story unfolding actually impressed me; this was my perspective on this world. When I eventually left the UN forces, I came back to the UK however I worked for a company in the fashion industry and really didn’t give photojournalism much thought, I still took images now and again, but nothing worth reporting.

That was until I met an Australian guy named Sean he was adventurous and so upbeat it was hard not to like him! We became close often going on climbing trips on our days off, I took him to places like Brighton too.

It was fabulous and this reignited my love of photography once more, I took a couple of street shots, and met so many people. We decided to go back there and work for the summer. Sean showed me some places he had visited in his life, I was totally enthralled by these wonderful sights, and he had worked his way from Australia to the UK via Thailand and India.

The photographs were amazing and so too was the diverse culture I was viewing in the images. Though it was many years before I would go to the Asian continent I opted for the American continent instead, it was great and I could see many people photographing the sights, but this was not street photography.

I then witnessed the aftermath of 9/11 when I visited ground zero; I was almost overwhelmed with the scale of destruction that had taken place.

Seeing it on the television was almost like watching a Hollywood movie, it did not seem real but when I found the very battered remains of the Koenig Sphere in Battery Park in 2003, it all seemed so very obvious.

Having later travelled to Asia, and gaining the dizzying heights of the Annapurna region, of the Himalayas I came back knowing that I wanted to photograph not just for me but for others. I wanted to become a photojournalist.

 So just like in the spirit of Tim Hetherington, I want to make a difference the right way. The way of informing and educating people about what is truly happening in the world raising awareness of the very fact of war, famine and disease.

This may sound all a bit grim, however that is not what I want share, because they’re many stories out there that also come positive from these events. Tim was a great humanitarian a peoples champion and that is the way, we should remember him.

Here is the film am sure you will enjoy the kindness shown in the film by the photojournalist Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros who also lost his life believing in the principles of journalism.

I would like to thank the makers of the film, Tim Hertherington and Sebastian Junger their efforts are greatly respected in the making of this film. 

Stop Legalised Theft of Copyrighted Works

Well it seems once again that this topic has surfaced, the unfortunate 'Us' photographers and illustrators alike are subject to copyright theft. I myself have been unfortunate and have discovered my images having been tampered with or not received a credit to my work.

David Bailey has also voiced his opinion once more and I am posting a link to an e-petition you can also sign electronically and help get 'our voice' heard.

It seems as though even those who have taken steps to secure their works either through Digitally Watermarking or registering their respective works with Intellectual Property Office

Remember in the USA your work is automatically copyrighted as like the UK for the US go to the US Copyright Office Whatever your choice PLEASE DO NOT USE My free copyright.com The afore mentioned site is now officially a SCAM it was initially set up by Mathew Whittaker.

When Matthew Whittaker launched MyFreeCopyright.com in 2006, many people questioned whether the service was a scam. Legally, the service is not linked to any government copyright office. What it was designed to do was to prove that a person had created a specific work on a specific date and time, by digitally registering that work. Since there was nothing illegal about what the service was, and it did that service well, it became popular with thousands of bloggers, web site developers, artists and others creating intellectual property that they wanted proof of creation for.

Now, all that has changed. In May of last year, seven years after he created it, Matthew Whittaker sold the web site and it appears that it is now owned by one Regge Chan in Hong Kong.

By June, people began to talk about the site being down and then once it was back up, complaints began to slowly trickle out that people had their accounts deleted. The first assumption was that their accounts had been hacked, however, one account holder, who has asked to remain anonymous, suspected that this wasn't the work of hackers.

He began his own investigation and found that systematically, accounts were deleted, emails to the service were going unanswered and all the works associated with deleted accounts had been removed from the site - all without warning.

So your best bet is to do it the hard way and probably the way we should all go be you a photographer, an illustrator, a poet or a musician in fact anyone who creates a piece of work.

So lets do our bit and sign that e-petition

Cheerio for now

David

A Three Legged Thing

For every photographer there comes a time when you decide on purchasing a tripod or upgrading to a newer model.

Tripods come in varying sizes in leg length and of course the varying leg angle that can applied to those legs for specific types of photography, so for instance if you’re filming or if you’re shooting stills than your choice is a very broad one at that.

Many manufacturers of tripods have a low budget end user profile, and offer the budding beginner a chance to start off and get some stable platform landscape shots added to their portfolio. I myself have had owned several Manfrotto Tripods some with independent legs and  a few with the leg struts, which act as a platform to place a camera bag or other equipment to add greater stability to the set up.

However just like higher budget cameras or pro camera set -ups, you have to look at  the equipment being used and ask why am I not spending a decent amount of money on a stable tripod platform for said camera? If your a landscape photographer and your shooting large format then you need to look realistically at what plate to accommodate your camera.

So let's say for instance large format cameras have a big base for a seating platform as do some medium format cameras, then of course you have video cameras and they will need a stable platform to shoot on, with a certain degree of versatility to perform 'tricks'. 

Vinten V3-CP2 Vision 3 Carbon Fibre Tripod is a versatile and very responsive Tripod. Matching that with the design materials being Carbon Fibre. Carbon Fibre is a strong and lightweight material often used for sea and freshwater fishing rods.

So you can imagine what they put them rods through, the Vinten V3-CP2 3 Carbon Fibre Tripod is capable of holdings weight up to 10 kg / 22 lbs. Enough for a field camera or Professional Camcorder such as the Canon XF305 the BBC use these cameras out in the field so next time your watching David Attenboroughs' natural history programme bare a thought for the camera crew and how they're shooting those extraordinary scenes in the Sahara Desert.


They used a unique dolly system and elevated platform to shoot those scenes, so where do you want to take your photography?

 
For myself I shoot a lot of different subjects I have shot sporting events like the English Half Marathon and I have shot landscapes and moving pictures. My main tripod was an Manfrotto 394-H Tripod which is ideal for a beginner / intermediate photographer or videographer.


Though being honest if you own a heavier camera it is best to invest a little more money, and move from aluminium to carbon fibre. The reason is corrosion I enjoy shooting near the coast and the salt air, sand and seawater can take its toll on the material. So care should be taken I used a decent cloth which I inserted in to the bottom end of the bag, so that when placing the tripod in legs first the cloth would take the excess water from the feet.

 
That and a trusty aerosol can of WD-40 lubricant spray does exactly what it says on the tin, it protects and lubricates. Ideal for keeping your tripod equipment, in great condition; particularly if you’re like me and shoot in all weathers.


So my latest equipment is an upgrade from a standard three legged thing to one that does much more, and can offer more leg angles for shooting, thus I am much more of a versatile photographer. I purchased a very unique tripod which offers more for your buck than your regular tripod.

The legs invert and fold back 180° onto the centre column, this is perfect for the photographer who is on the go, and much like the Benro Travel Angel features a detachable leg to form a professional monopod. So far so good, I will be field testing this tripod and will discuss these features in more detail.

One great feature is the ball head it comes with dual spirit level bubble on the plate, ideal if you want to perform some 'tricks'. So what tricks can we perform with a tripod?

Well if your into film making a couple of shots which are ideal with this sort of tripod is to raise the front leg of the tripod and using the tilt on the head of a fluid video head or ball head with large plate.

This makes for a smooth dolly type shot and for the budding film maker it's an ideal way to be creative and start being more versatile.

Another trick is to use a rubber band around the operator handle on the video head for smoother panning. Yes, yes of course you can do this using your video software however it's great to know these can be done manually saving you time in editing later.

They're many other aspects with tripods too, you can double up on them if you have the budget and shoot some incredible time-lapse photography and 3D videography / photography.

Obviously with 3D photography two cameras are involved in the process as well as reasonable editing software.

So until the next post get out there and start thinking laterally about your tripod and the special features that some offer for all budgets.

Bye for now

David