Beyond the obvious

In view of my comments in my previous blog , this is an interesting articl e. Danish judges in a prestigious competition have rejected a photographer's images as being over processed from RAW. The images were changed dramatically from the original versions. The judges have raised an interesting debate about RAW processing, especially regarding photo-journalistic images. Read the article here and see the images for yourself. Cheers, Paul www.indigo2photography.co.uk Follow me on twitter

When I visit just about any photo sharing website I am confronted with all manner of photographic horrors that induce in me anything from mild irritation to out-loud swearing. Everyone has their own taste. Overall my blog is nice and warm and positive in tone but for once I’ll let out the dark side and tell you which types of photographs I hate and why. Within each category there will be exceptions of course, because the first rule of photography is that there are no absolute rules except the first rule. In no particular order then... Bad HDR Over 90% of HDR images are absolute rubbish. They’re flat, lacking in contrast and it often looks like someone has smeared black pixels across the highlights and mid-tones. HDR generally looks unnatural and cartoonish. It produces bland pictures with no sense of light; without mood. Everything is on display, depriving the image all quality and character. In contrast (no pun intended) non-HDR images do not give up all their secrets. The viewer ...

Police helicopter keeping an eye out for trouble in the city. I photographed this through our studio skylight. What is copyright? Despite numerous articles spread across the internet, discussion in books, on TV and in magazines some people still do not seem to understand copyright. So in a non-legalistic jargon free way I am going to explain it again - because judging by how many pictures get stolen many people still do not seem to get it. How do you get copyright? The moment you take a picture you automatically own copyright to that image. You do not have to register it. You do not have to do anything at all. It is yours. There are no exceptions. But you can choose to give up your copyright by for instance signing a contract with your employer, an agency or an individual to pass copyright over to them. The point is you have to enter, or have entered a legal agreement, to give up your copyright. What does having copyright mean? It means that nobody can copy your image and use it witho...

Bedouin with camels. Well I don't know if he was smoking Camels but he certainly had camels with him. Met this chap along the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba while on assignment. There are some really great blog posts out there and I'd like to refer you to a few which I've enjoyed recently. Joe McNally is one of my favourite photographers. He's not only good with a camera, he can write very well too. This blog post touched me. Read the story at the end of the post. Chase Jarvis wrote a post which every editorial photographer should read. This is sound advice. Push your art director . Comedian turned photographer, David duChemin shares the parallels between being a comedian and being a professional photographer. His portfolio is also well worth a visit too. Lots of smiling faces guaranteed to cheer you up. I'll be back with more soon. Thanks for the great reception to my previous two posts and the emails. Feel free to comment too! Do we violate people when we photogra...