Monday 22 March 2010

Digital Economy Bill

I mentioned before about the Digital Economy Bill and the problems and implications of this bill, see my previous post here...http://ianforsyth.blogspot.com/2010/02/copyright-digital-economy-bill.html and I subsequently wrote a letter to my MP highlighting my concerns.

My local MP then sent it to the House of Commons and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills to a chap called Stephen Timms. I have just received a reply from David Lammy, who replied as Minister for Higher Education and Intellectual Property.

In the letter he outlines his understanding of the concern held by some photographers that orphan works legislation will create a means for content users to appropriate content at an unfairly low cost or for free.

He went on and I quote directly from the remainder of the letter.....
"I would like to take this opportunity to reassure you that this is absolutely not the case. If any orphan works schemes are created that cover photographic works then any use of an orphan work under such a scheme can only take place after a properly diligent search has been carried out. The use will also require payment of a fair licence fee, and this fee will be held safely and kept available to be claimed by the rightful owner should they come forward.

The Government's intention is that there should be no financial advantage from mis-identifying a work as an orphan work and that deliberate or negligent mis-identification should carry an appropriate penalty.
As these concerns have been raised by a number of MP's and photographers, the Intellectual Property Office has published a web page which contains detailed information about the proposals. I believe that this we page addresses the issues raised by your constituent, and I would be grateful if you could pass on the following link":
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-types/pro-copy/c-policy/c-policy-orphanworks/c-policy-orphanworks-photo.htm

Are some of the concerns understood and dealt with?
Will it add another level of confusion to the mix?

Have a read and see what you think?

Check this link for further informtion...http://www.stop43.org.uk/

Stop Commercial Orphan Works Exploitation in the UK Digital Economy Bill Clause 43

Friday 19 March 2010

Up on the Roof

After a heads up from a friend I headed down to Grangetown near Middlebrough in Cleveland earlier this afternoon, the place is about a twenty minute drive from where I live, to try and shoot some photos of a young bloke who had, according to the reports, climbed onto a roof armed with a knife and was throwing slates and tiles at the surrounding onlookers

According to members of the public at the scene he had climbed onto the roof in protest against police harassment although this was unconfirmed. The police had cordoned off the scene for obvious reasons and were playing a waiting game, reluctant to try and force the man, known locally as 'Little Jack', from the roof in case he, or others were injured in the process.

The man eventually climbed down from the roof after three and a half hours and was arrested by police and charged with criminal damage.

A police officer looks on from the cordon

Armed police officers wait in the street

The youth, watched by a neighbour, raises his arms and shouts at onlookers

Shouting at onlookers from the roof with beer and phone in hand

The youth, known as 'Little Jack', throws a piece of tile from the roof

Knife in hand he gestures from the roof

He climbs onto the chinmey stack

Thursday 18 March 2010

A and E

Sara was taken into hospital again the other day after coming down with a bug that came on quickly through the night. It's been around a year since the last, unplanned, hospital visit which is surprising since her immune system is significantly reduced following the operations she has had with her Crohn's disease and the possibility of other illness is always there.
After around five hours in the accident and emergency room she was moved to the acute admissions ward where she spent a couple of days on various IV's to rehydrate her and other medication before being released.





Saturday 13 March 2010

Don't Forget...

Don't forget Mother's Day tomorrow and if you look around there are some bargains to be had...


Friday 12 March 2010

Iraq

I was looking through my archive earlier today and ended up going through some of the photographs I took during a seven month stretch in Iraq during 2006/07........



















Breakfast Collection

A couple of shots from Saltburn that caught my eye today as I was wandering round...



The Tide Will Always Change

So it's half four in the morning as I drag my arse out of bed, I hastily make a cup of coffee and shove a bowl of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes down my throat. My gear is already packed, done the night before in preparation and after I load my Landrover I'm off for the short drive to the surf break.


The charts were looking good, the wind was right, the evening before had, according to a mate, been cranking, so all was looking right for a good session. The one thing against us is that the tides were small. As a result of this I couldn't get as close as I would have liked to for some good action photographs. Even the 500mm I had couldn't pull the surfers in close enough for decent frame filling action pictures, this was a shame, but the distance, due to the tides and the fact that this location is a difficult position to shoot from at the best of times for a good angle forced me to look at other options.


So to that end I decided to concentrate on some wider and more, hopefully, atmospheric shots to show the environment that the guys were surfing in. Before I made my way to the reef I set up a couple of off-camera flash shots that I needed for a project I have started recently. I posed up a couple of the best surfers in this area - Fraser Camfield (sitting) and Robbie Hildreth (standing) and with a single flash on a stand triggered with a pocket wizard I shot through a brolly and took their pictures.



The light was cracking. You can't beat morning sun light shining through early morning cloud cover for surf photographs - it just looks great! Especially at this location when, due to the way the wave breaks, it ends up being partly backlit by the sun. There was a brief period, only lasting a few minutes where the light took on this weird green cast as it shone through the clouds and reflected on the water and that gave everything a very surreal appearance.


Even though it is a bit of a cliche, a good sillo shot always works well and as I saw two other surfers walking over the reef I went into a position that would allow me to take one as they walked towards the waters edge.


Every surfer knows the value of stretching the muscles before a surf and I shot this picture below as he goes through his stretching routine. Initially I wanted to be closer but by the time I had made my way over closer to him he would have more than likely finished so I shot from where I was and in hindsight this was a better call as it shows his surroundings more I think.


Photographs of the paddle out to the line-up always work well here but again due to the distance I had to make the surfer more visible and this was best done by getting the picture as he crests one of the waves in the set. The hazy golden background against the dark foreground wave work well.


The surroundings at this particular break are awesome and make for great wide shots and really place the surfer in the environment which is exactly what I was after. Although this shot below was taken on the 500mm so I'm not sure if it falls exactly into a 'wide shot' category?!



As we walked back over the reef I was confident that I had some decent pictures. Not many action pictures this time due to the state of the tides but that's the way it goes - the tides will always change. But it did allow me to work some different pictures than I might have done and on the whole I'm pleased with the results.

Tuesday 2 March 2010

Saltburn Beach Clean

Last Sunday saw the 'Beach Clean' take place in Saltburn by the Sea in Cleveland and was well supported by over a hundred people. The event, part of a country wide clean up initiated by the environmental group Surfers Against Sewage (http://www.sas.org.uk/) brought surfers and members of the local community together to collect litter and rubbish from the beach, dispose of it and leave the beach cleaner.

 THE GROUP PHOTO HAS BEEN REMOVED DUE TO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT
Please email for further information on obtaining a copy of this photograph

 The Group Photo

This Saltburn event was organised by Nick Noble owner of the Saltburn Surf School - (http://www.saltburnsurf.co.uk/) and long term supporter of Surfers Against Sewage with money being raised through donations and all proceeds going to Surfers Against Sewage.

The clean up operation managed to collected 65 bags of rubbish, a car tyre and an old fridge door!

Afterwards a barbecue was held and enjoyed by many, and everyone remained in good spirits despite the cold and rain.

Josh Noble tucks into his burger
 
Simon (Poo-man) Palmer

 
Families gathered to collect the rubbish

Beach Clean

 
Gary Rogers on the beach

  
The pile of rubbish starts to build

  
 Old tyre discarded on the beach

These Beach Clean events take place at least once a year in many towns up and down the country and are well worth supporting to help keep our beaches clean from pollution and rubbish and to help protect the environment. Visit the Surfers Against Sewage website - (http://www.sas.org.uk/) for details on this and other events you might want to become involved with.

Copies of the group photo are now available from Saltburn Surf School soon, sized at 15" x 10" and priced at £15.00 with £3.00 from each sale going to Surfers Against Sewage.