The price of freedom

I was going to post about 'Converge' which was a great success and a defining moment for the industry in my mind, I'm still crafting(if that is quite the word) that post right now

But I have more pressing matters to share with you

There has been a great deal written in the media of late regarding stills photographers being prevented from taking pictures in public places, sometimes even arrested, under section 44 of the 2000 Terrorism act.

I always thought this was a daft law which would not be an issue for any length of time, as surely common sense would prevail in this fine nation of ours

Notably a campaign was launched to fight for photographer rights

I'm a photographer not a terrorist

The Daily Mail ran a very good article which pointed out the absurdities of the law

People arrested for photographing park benches, chip shops, that kind of thing.

I was hoping that once it hit the mainstream and beyond the realms of whinging photographers (and god knows we do!) that politicians and the Police would sit up and take notice and that common sense would prevail

I was disappointed to see the Met Police's ham fisted wrong headed response to this

Which is why I'm blogging about this

They could have said 'this is something we are looking into'

What they in fact did was to release this to the media

This is their justification for stopping ordinary photographers taking pictures

My friend Jeff Overs of the BBC was prevented from photographing St Paul's Cathedral

Yes, these guys do seem like they were up to no good, no doubt but lest be clear about this, they were never convicted of this, or any terrorism offence

As the report says

'Two men were subsequently convicted of a huge mobile phone and luxury goods fraud scam and deported after serving prison sentences'

And goes on to say...

'The police said the CPS had decided there was sufficient evidence to bring terrorism charges, but it was not in the public interest because they would have received the same sentence as for fraud'

Am I alone in finding this lacks any credibility?

I think these are weasel words

If they are terrorists they should be prosecuted as such

No matter how difficult the prosecution

Period.

If they were terrorist why on earth did the authorities let them out 'back into the wild' ?

Now before anyone gets in touch and talk about danger to the public I have been on the receiving end of a terrorist bomb which killed 2 people, one of whom i knew to say 'hello' to in the mornings when I bought a magazine or newspaper from his store

A terrifying event with awful consequences

The real issue here is the authorities getting better perspective on this, the real issue is not that people are taking photos, but their intent.

Surely sleeper terrorist cells would go about there work in a more discreet manner? Or what about google earth?

If photography is such a danger it should be banned immediately.

Straight away tourists should be prevented from taking photos of Buckingham place, the houses of Parliament and Big Ben, along with photos of their kids at play on the beach (it could be a target, couldn't it?) and yes, those fiends taking photos of chip shops

Democracy and freedom is not worth one jot if we cannot live and go about our daily lives, in fact this means the terrorists have in fact won,for they have changed what we do.


I urge any of you write an email registering your objection to the home secretary Alan Johnson here

I already have.

He seems like a decent bloke, you never know he may even listen?

It will take you a few seconds and will help make this country, a happier free place to live

A New Year beckons - So does a new direction

Next year I will have been a professional photographer for 30 years.

30 Years!

Spalding Guardian Chief Photographer Tim Wilson took this pic of me in 1979...the paper used my pics too, my very first published work

How does one keep anything going for 30 years with passion?

Well for me variety is the spice of life and I have been involved with just about every field of photography over that time, shooting in just about every format there is.

For many years I was not aware of these phases of reinvention

So to the long list of genres of photography I'm adding the moving image

2009 has been a very challenging year for me in many ways, but it was the year I discovered for myself the joys of Canon 5dMkII and shooting HD video

Moving images and me, difficult to know where to begin but for sometime I have felt my work has life beyond stills, particularly 'the forest' series

In fact one of the motivations was  'Europa' (the water buffalo image)

One of the reasons I made the DVD was to show how much of my work is done 'in camera' and not relying on photoshop as 'a crutch for bad photography'

But still as time passed I realised that the vast majority of viewers saw it as a composite picture, even though it wasn't

I blogged about it on the Scott Kelby website, here is what I had to say

Drew Gardner photographed on Polaroid Type 55 by Lucinda Marland

Recently I was commissioned by Nexush to shoot a print and billboard ad for the Suzuki Swift.

It was based around an incident in a tattoo parlour, which goes horribly wrong, the tattooist misspells the
 word ‘respect’ writing ‘resplect’ instead.

To predictable consequences but very funny all the same.

Now this shoot is the most interesting I have undertaken in a very long time.

Why?

Because as well as shooting the ad as a still, my team and I shot it as a short movie for the client too.



How it was used on the Liverpool Media wall......




And a look behind the scenes too.....




A true glimpse into where I believe the industry is heading at breakneck speed.

We shot the still in the morning and decided to retain the same lighting to give the same visual ‘language’ in print and moving images.

It was a lot of fun but there are many differences.

Ok, first the kit………

We used a Canon 5d mk2 on a Zacuto Rig, which puts you in charge of the focus, and a Marshall V-LCD70P monitor, which lets you judge focus so much more acurately than on the LCD, I now mount the Marshall Monitor on my Manfrotto 525MVB tripod with its 503HDV fluid head with a Manfrotto 819-1 Small Hydrostatic arm and 386b Nano Clamp

In my mind the shoot just would not have been possible without the Zacuto and Marshall, those focus pulls with SUCH accuracy

I could bang on about the kit some more but this shoot revealed so much more to me.

For a successful moving image shoot it really is less about one person and more about the team of people around you.

In fact it was like stepping back in time to a pre-Photoshop age for one very simple reason.

Shock horror!

You have to get it right in camera!

Yes folks, if you don’t get it in-camera and have not made provision, it is not there.

I feel this is set to bring back ‘camera’ craftsmanship and will deal a blow to those who use retouching as a crutch for bad photography.

And we all know that there are many of those out there, right?

All of a sudden direction was back in on the shoot, and there was nobody paintively whispering in my ear, “Don’t worry we will fix it in post.”

We either got it or we didn’t.

All of a sudden I felt I had ‘come home.’

Less of the computer stuff and more of the photography.

Which in my mind is what it should be about.

When I’m lecturing I conduct a little question and answer session and I go round the audience and ask…

‘Why did you become a photographer?’

The answers are in the range of…

‘Because I love taking pictures.’

‘I wanted to travel.’

‘To meet people and see the world.’

Many, many others too, but you know what?

Not one person has ever said they became a photographer because they wanted to be a computer operator.

Now I’m not saying I’m against the use of Photoshop, something I use extensively in ‘The Descendants’ series.

But getting it right in the can is way more fun and profitable too.

So enjoy all the post production by all means, but get out there and remember the meaning of the word Photography.

‘To draw or paint with light.’

So there is part of my motivation

I'm really enjoying the unique look and feel of the files from the Canon and those STUNNING 'L' series primes

The Canon 'L' series primes I'm using at the moment...............

Canon 'L' Series 35mm F1.4

The photojournalists favourite, it fits like a glove in your hand, just the right size and weight, tack sharp too

Canon 'L' Series 85mm F1.2

My favourite lens of all time, if there was just one lens I could use for the rest of my life it would be this

Canon 'L' Series 135mm F2.0

A great lens and the cheapest of this lot too

Another prime I'm using at the moment is the......

Canon EF 100mm macro F2.8

OK, not the new 'L' series but it is very good

They make a world of difference, giving my work a cinematic look

Shooting full 1080P HD video at wide apertures has to be experienced to be believed

At the dawn of photography 'the dark art" (for that what it was called by some) split into two

I went to the remarkable 'Collision' conference in LA in August

It was remarkable as it was a forum for Film Makers, DP's and emerging stills-to-video photographers

Now we have a similar event in the UK

As I mentioned in a couple of 'tweets' I will be at 'Converge One' this Friday at the National Film Theatre, if you would like to see where the next step in photography is taking us, see my new mini project and engage in the debate ( not to mention see some of the gear too) do come and join us


So, I hear you ask, where does still photography fit in to my world now? It was my first love and will remain a big part of my life. In fact my still images will always be there, you will just be seeing them move.

Drew calling Ron 'Foley'

A few days ago I put a call for help out to followers of this blog for help with a score for my mini movie (more to follow on this soon!)

'Conrad' got in touch via the blog asking if I needed help with Foley

A Foley artist is, as Wikipedia says 'the person who creates many of the natural, everyday sound effects in a film, which are recorded during a session with a recording engineer. Before the session, a project will be cued, with notes kept about what sounds need to be created during the foley session. Often, the project will have a sound supervisor who will dictate what sounds need to be covered in a foley session and what needs to be created by special (audio) effects, which is generally left to the sound designer.

My project would benefit greatly from this as you might imagine

I was away for the weekend so we did not get to connect

So Conrad do get in touch via my main email drew@drew.it and we can get cracking!

Can you help score my latest short movie?

I never cease to be amazed by the power of the blog

So, I'm trying it again (previously I asked for help with making a TV programme and I received some very promising leads....)

Last weekend I shot a short self funded 60 second movie

For a joke budget - sub $1000

I will tell you all about it in due course but it is being premiered at Converge.One

If you check the line up it really will be well worthwhile attending if you have any interest in the DSLR HD revolution (and it seems everyone does these days)

Which leads me to my appeal

I shot a vaguely period piece at a cool location and I'm now seeking help with the score

Here are some screen grabs from the project








So, is there a musical genius out there who is willing and able to do this?

There is no budget.

At all

But I could work a ticket out for my collaborator, along with a credit of course.

Come along with me on my next shoot too if you like?

The short will be premiered on the 11th December at the National Film Theatre, so my friends, time is of the essence

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! I'M leaving the post up, but I now am receiving help from one of the blog followers! So, no need for anymore help, I do not want to waste anyones time

Thank you

'Strictly Come Dancing' Made Simple

Regular readers of this blog will by now be aware of one of my 'tricks'

Keeping it simple

I was recently commissioned to photograph Ali Bastion and Brian Fortuna of The hit BBC programme 'Strictly Come Dancing'

You maybe aware there has been quite a lot of speculation regarding them in the press

To be quite honest with you I could not care less if they are or not other than to say they were both absolutely charming, lovely people, when I mentioned to Brian that my daughter Georgie, aged 7, was a big fan he wrote her a message, completely unprompted.

We were, as usual working with very limited time.

So, it was a matter of turning in a simple but impressive shot with the very minimum of fuss

The big danger is trying to be too ambitious and simply 'drowning' in a ton of gear that may or may not be useful in the circumstances.

The biggest single leap forward one can make with your art is to........

STOP BUYING ANYMORE EQUIPMENT UNTIL YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR EXISTING EQUIPMENT DOES AND THEN MASTERING IT!

For this shot I used one light, an Elinchrom 1200 style, but with one killer light modifier an Elinchrom Mini Spot



This is an accessory I seldom use but when I do, it is fantastic

A simple solution, giving me the look and feel of the dance floor with a minimum of fuss, and a ton of showbiz 'sparkle' to boot

I shot this with my Phase One P45+ 80mm lens 125th Sec at F9

So a one light solution to what could have been a fraught scenario

It is always good to have an idea just what you are going to use BEFORE the assignment

I have added the Black and White version which I actually prefer, I think

Jazz Voice - Celebrating a Century of Song

Yes, this is generally a photography blog, but it is actually a pretty accurate reflection of what is happening in my world one way or another.

Last night I went to 'Jazz Voice - Celebrating a Century of song' at London's Barbican

I confess I'm by no means a Jazz aficionado (in fact the first full on Jazz gig I have been to!) the only reason I went was to see Natalie Merchant, the incredibly talented singer song writer , as it was her first appearance in London for 10 years. If you are not familiar with her work and would like to listen to something which takes you to some other magical place, do check out her music ( my favourite album of hers is 'Ophelia' )

Needless to say I, nor the rest of the capacity audience were disappointed

But like so many things in life, you go looking for one thing and you find quite another

The line up included Cibelle, Kirsty Almeida, Kurt Elling( who was amazing and as smooth as you like), Natalie Williams, Roachford, Krystle Warren, Sarah Jane Morris, Sheila Jordan and the London Jazz Festival Orchestra (40 piece!) directed by Guy Barker.

The star of the show if there did have to be one was Sheila Jordan aged 81. She has the most beautiful voice and bursting with such warmth, enthusiasm and passion

Something to aspire to

A perfect Winter warmer on a cold rain lashed November night

It is being broadcast on BBC Radio 3 17/11/09

Stay tuned for more photo stuff soon......



PS Went to see her solo a couple of nights later at the delightful venue the Conway hall in London, which holds around 300 people. A more stunning intimate gig it is hard to imagine. Acoustic and soulful. Her new album is out in March and she will be touring the UK again, check her out if you have not done so already

Blinkbid-Software For Idiots

I can almost hear a collective groan go out from you, a blog which is about Invoicing and bidding software and not some groovy lighting trick or about some photo of a naked woman riding a water buffalo.......

Well guys I'm sharing this with you because it has made such a difference to the thing I'm really bad at- the paperwork

Recently I have started to do my own invoicing

I struggled for a day before remembering I had Blinkbid sitting relatively unloved and alone on my hard drive.

What I had been struggling with for hours I achieved in minutes without resorting to the 'help' menu, well not too much anyhow

It does many ,many things including working your VAT out, telling you when you have not been paid, and it looks SO professional

It is funny , we are all about image, yet we often pay no heed to the way our invoices or bids look, it is in-fact another opportunity to show the client we ARE a little bit better than the competition

It is the brain child of a passionate friendly guy called Lou Lesko who is a pretty bloody handy photographer too (well as he says on his own website 'Always serve chilled, safe with most medications')

So, software by a photographer for his fellow photographers

Blinkbid is as he says himself 'Shockingly easy to use bidding and invoicing software for creative profesionals'

In other words, use this software and your quotes will look way proffesional and your invoices like lightning.

Don't take my word for it, here are a few satisfied customers

Leaving you and I, the bleeding heart creatives, with more time to shoot instead of being buried for wasted hours sorting out our paper work

So ladies and gentleman, this leaves me doing my own bids and invoices, and you know what? I actually enjoy it!

Pass the medication.......