Are currently setting up a community darkroom to meet the needs of photographers who wish to use darkroom technology. Hastings has a growing number of analogue photographers who are interested in continuing this craft and expand with more alternative processes.
They have set up a crowdfunding site to help them with this and so if you have any spare funding, please help them:
https://www.facebook.com/SilverhillDarkroom
http://www.silverhilldarkroom.co.uk/
Alay Paun, one of our exhibitors from 2012, has recently set up the inHOUSE Film Festival, a non-profit film festival in North London which will combine music, art, film and fashion, bringing together the creative community in cross-platform events and performances.
“Still films have the ability to put images in motion, communicate a story and inspire our imagination. like Chris Marker’s acclaimed La Jetee, still films put the mind to work and allow our associations interpretations to roam freely. The power of a still image is unqustionable, but combined in sequences with sound, these images can reach a higher potency.
With a genre still left unexplored, they are looking for your contribution. inHOUSE Film Festival is calling for innovative storytellers to submit their short films, or ‘photo novels’, to be featured in our festival. The theme is ‘Transformation’.
Films must be no more than 2 minutes in length, can contain any number of still images, and must have a narrative, told by subtitle, voiceover, or the images themselves. The deadline for submissions is March 31st. The festival runs from April 9-13th.”
alaypaun@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/inhousefilmfestival
http://www.inhousefilmfestival.com
The debate on whether you can take photographs (especially with a tripod) on private or public land and encountering over zealous security guards seems to be an issue that will never go away and sadly it seems that we are moving more and more towards an undemocratic model of land ownership
The issue should be simple: if it’s private land, then you need to get permission from the landowner but there is nothing to stop you from taking photographs of private buildings from public land/right of way. No doubt, an ill-informed security guard will try to move you on from taking a photograph of ‘their’ building but they are not within their rights to do so. However, if you wander onto private land, then you can be done for trespass.
If you are asked to move on from public land, then ask to see a copy of their regulations and even ask the security guard to call the police – the police are well informed about the rights of photographers and this was demonstrated in an experiment in 2011 called ‘Stand Your Ground’ :
Some privately owned land in London includes: Kew Gardens, Paternoster Square, Canary Wharf, the London Underground , the land between Land Bridge and Tower Bridge and surprisingly, the South Bank. You are more likely to run into trouble if they think that the photographs are being used for commercial purposes, so if you are stopped then be polite (yes, it’s hard if you are confronted by a hostile guard) and just move on because getting involved in a pointless argument with a jobs worth is not worth it. If you’ve got your image, then great, it’s yours and they cannot insist that you delete them.
What about photographing people in the street? There is no right of privacy in UK stating that you cannot take pictures of people in public places but you can run into trouble if you publish the images (especially if the person is identifiable). If you take a photograph of someone in the street and they object, then the courteous approach is to explain that you are a photographer, apologise and offer to delete the image. And definitely do not take images of other people’s children without their permission – this is likely to land you in a lot of trouble (i.e. being arrested) and having all your images deleted.
We’ve been featured on the Project Eve website!
Our earlybird offer ends 1st March – don’t miss out!
Zoe Whishaw will be exploring what it takes to attract potential clients to use your services and the essential characteristics and personality traits that you need if you are to be successful.
She will also be discussing how important it is for photographers to develop a consistent, coherent personal style that demonstrates a passion and talent in the area of photography they choose to work in. And to end with, she will reviewing the essential functionality and structure of a website to help attract art buyers and photo editors.
When: 22nd May 2014
Times: 7pm – 9.30 pm
Where: The Crypt Borough High Street, London
Cost: Previous Exhibitors (including May 2014) £25; Non-exhibitors early-bird (must be booked by 1st March 2014) £30; if booked after 1st March 2014 £35
Places are limited and early booking is advised.
Zoe Whishaw is a Commercial Photography Consultant and mentor providing creative direction and strategic advice for photographers and photo agencies (www.zoewhishaw.com). She is an expert in the visual language of stills photography within commercial contexts and she has judged international photography competitions, including Wildlife Photographer of the Year, STA Travel Photo Competition, the Association of Photographers Open Awards and the 2011 annual Association of Photographers Awards and the London Photo Festival, October 2013.
When you enter photography competitions and exhibitions, do you ever read the Terms and Conditions?
If the answer is ‘no’, then you are not alone, especially when the T&Cs go forever (and ever) and are written in a language to confuse even a member of Mensa.
However, they are there for a reason and it’s important that you get into the habit of reading them, or at least skimming them for the salient terms.
Here are a few things to look out for (this is not an exhaustive list):
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Additional Charges/fees |
You may be charged an initial entry fee and then if you are selected, you may then incur additional fees. Will you be charged a commission if your image is sold? What about getting additional prints done? Who pays for getting the image delivered to the buyer? Questions questions, but all things need to be considered! |
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Copyright |
Most competitions state that the copyright will rest with the artist but see ‘usage of image’ on how they can still use your image without consulting you. |
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Delivery |
Are you responsible for getting your image to the venue? Is there a date & time that it needs to be collected? Sometimes you’ll be charged daily for storage fees. |
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Editing |
Cropped, nipped or tucked – they reserve the right to edit your image! |
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Insurance |
Following on from our recent blog post, always check whether you are responsible for insuring your work, including delivery to and from the exhibition, at the exhibition and if the image is sold, to and from the buyer. |
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Usage of Image |
I’ve noticed that a lot of competitions reserve the right to use your image in perpetuity. What does that mean? In a nutshell, they can use your image forever, as often as they like and without paying you (and often without even crediting you as the photographer). Plus, they can sell your image for third parties to utilise. |
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Usage of Personal Details |
Again, your personal details can be sold to third parties to use and you’ll start receiving annoying emails selling you things that you do not need or want. |
It’s not all doom and gloom and I would encourage entering competitions and exhibitions (especially the London Photo Festival!) but just ensure that you protect yourself and your images.
Have you been caught out by onerous Terms & Conditions? Comment and let us know.
This project (Portrait of the Month) came about due to the number of clients who’ve told me they either don’t like having their photos taken or don’t think they look good in photos, which got me thinking about ways to light and pose people to make them look and feel amazing. On a typical photoshoot I usually take a sequence of shots, so the purpose of this project is to concentrate on lighting, shooting and editing a single image only.
I’ve been studying the behaviour of light and various lighting setups for over a year, inspired by photographers like Damian McGillicuddy,Neil Van Niekerk and Scott Robert Lim. In order to practice what I’ve learned and improve my photography, I launched a new project called ‘Portrait of the Month’.
Each month during 2014 I will take one carefully planned and professionally executed portrait of an individual (no couples or groups), in various parts of London using multiple speedlights, modifiers, and coloured gels which will be showcased on my Facebook page. To get the ball rolling, I asked my good friend Shivangi to be my January Portrait of the Month and she kindly agreed.
We arranged to meet yesterday (4th January), on Walthamstow Marshes just after 11am. It rained, but the monsoon-like weather we’ve been experiencing held off just long enough for us to get the shot, however it was very windy and we were greeted by several inquisitive dogs!
I created a lighting diagram using the Strobox iPhone app to keep a permanent record of what I did. I began the shoot by exposing for the sky to retain the moodiness in the clouds using my 85mm lens. My camera settings were 1/125, f/6.3, 200 ISO. To separate Shivangi from the background I placed a bare speedlight at half power on a stand, approximately 8 feet behind her and to my right. She’s absolutely crazy about the colour purple so I put a purple gel over the light to give her a slight glow.
My main light was another bare speedlight at 1/16 power on a stand, approximately 5 feet in front of her, to my left. I also placed a white reflector on the ground by Shivangi’s feet to add a tiny kick of light on the shadow side of her face and coat.
And this was the end result …
If you’d like to follow in Shivangi’s footsteps and receive a free portrait, please get in contact – there are only 12 slots available in total.
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Are you working on a photography project and would like to be our ‘Featured Photographer’? Email us info@londonphotofestival.org for more information.
