KobreGuide Names A Troubled Paradise to the Web's Best Multimedia & Video Journalism

I appreciate the plug from the KobreGuide, which named A Troubled Paradise to their Web's Best Multimedia & Video Journalism. You can find the link here.

The Difficulties of Shooting Street Photography Today

The Scream by Edvard Munch

Yesterday, I was working on an assignment on a travel related piece in Girona, which is a beautiful city about an hour north of Barcelona. As part of the assignment I had to shoot a bakery and a restaurant. Since these types of stories can bring positive publicity for a business, there are rarely any problems and usually if you explain to the customers as well, they don't mind being in the photo either. That being said, I'm always surprised by the people who get hostile about having their picture taken, especially in this type of situation. I mean I can understand it if you are doing something illegal or cheating on your wife, but buying bread? What would someone fear, exactly?

While shooting in the bakery, an older man started to protest as I took photos of the two women selling bread. He was to my side with his back to me and was out of the frame. I told him that he wasn't in the photo and if he were, it would only have been of his back side. I could have gone on to explain that since I was focusing on the two women, he was extremely dark, out of focus and completely unrecognizable, but then again, how do you explain that to someone who doesn't understand the technicalities of photography. And if you're busy and need to work quickly, do you really want to waste your time and energy with someone who is already angry?

On his way out of the bakery, he turned to me and said "in Spain you have to ask for permission first, before you take someone's photo," and then started to go on about Spanish law and how only he was the owner of the rights to his image and nobody could take his photo without his permission. I politely informed him that he was mistaken, but it was such a surreal moment and immediately I thought of this quote: "If a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, then extensive-but-incomplete knowledge is a constant torment."

And that is the case today, street photography is a constant torment. Despite living in a world where everyone has some kind of camera phone on them at all times and constant surveillance by CCTV systems, people are more paranoid and afraid of photography than ever before. Why? What is it that they have to fear?

Adobe Announces Camera Raw Update

In case you missed it...

Here it is!

A Letter From A Freelancer to the New York Times

To read more on the shameful conduct of the New York Times legal department, read this exchange of letters between George Zimble and the legal counsel of the New York Times, story click here. And thanks to Melanie Burford for sharing this with me.

Maldives Multimedia Piece Takes 1st Place Honors

I just received news that my multimedia piece on the Maldives received 1st Place honors in the Team Audio Slideshow of the National Press Photographers Association Monthly Multimedia Contest. The entry which, I produced with the help of the outstanding guys at Bombay Flying Club, beat out entries from the New York Times and the Seattle Times, which is not bad for my first piece. The piece can be seen on the Burn website here, which is where it was first featured .

Nothing New Here

Today's New York Times features an article entitled Photographers, the Image of Shrinking Pathh. According to author the perfect storm that provoked this mess was "the advertising downturn, the popularity and accessibility of digital photography, and changes in the stock-photo market."

They also take a shot at amateur photographers. “People that don’t have to make a living from photography and do it as a hobby don’t feel the need to charge a reasonable rate,” Mr. Eich said.

My take is that this is an oversimplifcation of the problems within the profession. Especially the casting of blame on amateurs. The truth is that a lot of professionals, especially young professionals are the ones who are typically afraid to negotiate with photo editors and accepting the $200 a day assignments. If they don't value their time, who will?

They're Here...Well Soon Anyway!

According to today's New York Times, Rupert Murdoch's News International, has devised a pay plan for The Times and The Sunday TImes of London. "From June, the new sites, www.thetimes.co.uk and www.thesundaytimes.co.uk, will be available at £1, or $1.48, for a day’s access or £2 for a week’s subscription."

To read the full story, click here.

Advertisers Show Interest in iPad

A good sign of the potential of the iPad became clearer today in an article in the New York Times. It seems that advertisers are showing an interest in buying advertising for the Ipad versions of some magazines. Is this a fad or not is still to be determined, but regardless it's a positive sign.

Advertisers Show Interest in iPad
By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD
Advertisers initially approached new media as if they were going duck hunting, tiptoeing cautiously into the waters of mobile phones and the Internet.

With the iPad, it’s big-game season.

Getting ready for the April 3 iPad introduction, FedEx has bought advertising space on the iPad applications from Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek. Chase Sapphire, a credit card for the high-end market, has bought out The New York Times’s iPad advertising units for 60 days after the introduction.

Advertisers including Unilever, Toyota Motor, Korean Air and Fidelity have booked space on Time’s iPad application. In a draft press release, The Journal said a subscription to its app would cost $17.99 a month, and the first advertisers included Capital One, Buick, Oracle, iShares and FedEx.

At least initially, it should provide a nice boost for publishers. iPad advertisements on print publishers’ applications cost $75,000 to $300,000 for a few months with some exclusivity, said Phuc Truong, managing director of Mobext U.S., a mobile-marketing unit at Havas Digital.

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Not Again: Canon 5D Mark II Firmware Update to Update

It seems Canon needed to correct a problem with the update so here is a second version to the same update I reported last week. This time it is called 2.0.4. You can download it here.

Canon Canon 5D Mark II Firmware Update Available for Download

The much anticipated firmware update for the Canon 5D Mark II is finally available for download. I updated mine this morning. The five big enhancements are the following:

1. Adds or changes the following movie frame rates
NTSC:
1920x1080:30 fps (changed - actual 29.97fps)
1920x1080:24 fps (added - actual 23.976 fps)
640x480:30 fps (changed - actual 29.97fps)
PAL:
1920x1080:25 fps (added - actual 25.0 fps)
1920x1080:24 fps (added - actual 23.976 fps)
640x480:25 fps (added - actual 25.0 fps)
2. Adds a function for manually adjusting the sound recording level (64 levels).
3. Adds a histogram display (brightness or RGB) for shooting movies in manual exposure.
4. Adds shutter-priority AE mode (Tv) and aperture-priority AE (Av) mode to the exposure
modes for shooting movies.
5. Changes the audio sampling frequency from 44.1 KHz to 48 KHz.
6. Fixes a phenomenon where communication between the camera and the
attached lens is sometimes interrupted after manual sensor cleaning.
(This phenomenon only affects units with Firmware Version 1.2.4.)

>To download, click here.