I’m sure all of the HNs who had the joy of my Theory class on Tuesday will be entertaining family and friends with tales of  Elves carrying tiny little buckets of photons around the inside of your camera and hurling them into the dreaded Bit Depth chasm. Well, just in case you need a refresher let me remind you of the notes in the Photo Downloads section. digi-imaging-tdaly.pdf

For the NCs we have updated fun tales about the relationship between ISO, f-stops and shutter speeds if you want a laugh with your pals – Camera Stops rev and good, detailed notes from Kodak on using Portable Electronic Flash.

If you haven’t looked for a while it’s maybe worth having a wee wander round to see if you’ve missed any other recent uploads. Lots of stuff on metering and camera handling, lighting and digital imaging.

Can’t always promise elves but there are loads of pix(el)ies…

(Sorry, that was bad!)
Dave

Hi all you budding photographers, hope you enjoyed your trip to the Tron? However I now request you to reflect upon the photographs in the Tron.

What did you learn about photography from the exhibition?

Which was your favourite piece of photography and why?

Analyse your chosen photograph – lighting, subject, paper, colour, ect.

What did you think about the exhibition area/centre?

Enjoy reflecting …………………..

Julia Murden

I hope you enjoyed the visit to Trongate 103 today. I thought the ‘Hoppy’ exhibition was great and the historical context was really interesting, especially in light of the Nick Griffin and ‘Trafigura’ stories from the past few days. Let’s hear what you thought.

If any of you are interested in reading any more about it Rachel has kindly sent in a ‘further reading’ list. John_Hoppy_Hopkins_BIBLIOGRAPHY

I also found ‘Hoppy’s’ web site. http://www.hoppy.be/principal.htm

Did anyone spot the shot of a young William Burroughs in the exhibition? A bit different from the Leibovitz portrait discussed a few weeks ago. What a difference  four and a half decades makes!

Dave

NC and HNC Media classes have new notes from Joe to download. You’ll find them in

Media Downloads>Video Production

Dave

Microsoft are offering big education discounts for students. Office Ultimate is also available for Mac users. You’ll need to activate your JWC email address to participate.

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/education/studentoffer/

Dave

*** Note – This may only be an ‘Upgrade Offer’. Trying to get more info.

New uploads in the Media Downloads > Discussion section about last weeks big ‘Trafigura’ story, but here’s a few other stories to get you going…

First up we have Charlie Brooker’s full-on teeth, fang and claw attack on a Jan Moir article in the Daily Mail last week (includes a link to the original story) -

Why there was nothing ‘human’ about Jan Moir’s column on the death of Stephen Gately

It generated a massive response and brought the PCC’s (Press Complaints Commission) website down for most of the day. It subsequently also brought a response from advertisers in the Mail -

Marks & Spencer asks to pull ad from Mail article on Stephen Gately’s death

I have to say, having watched the way the Mail has orchestrated a succession of attacks against the BBC it’s wonderful to see it on the receiving end. The Mail’s Editor, Paul Dacre, also happens to be Chairman of the PCC so it will be interesting to see whether the complaints that one of his columnists has blatantly contravened at least three of its guidelines will be upheld…

Just as a little background here’s another little piece on how much the Mail is loved by someone who knows what it’s like to be in the public eye -

Campbell on the Mail: it’s the media equivalent of dogshit

Don’t forget to read the Comments on all these stories as well. It all adds to the story. Interesting one on the above suggesting that the Mail could be charged under the new Scottish Hate Crime legislation… Where does that take us, I wonder?

While this is all good, shouty, polarising stuff what is it doing for journalism? I think Charlie Brooker is great, Roy Greenslade is a hugely respected figure and the Guardian is the epitomy of integrity and yet you get the sense that everyone is just loving the chance to give the Mail a good kicking. Do we lower ourselves to their level by using their own tactics? It is a bit mob-handed, after all…

Mind you, what’s not to like!

Lest we get too carried-away, however, this Thursday sees the next major media event when Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, appears on Question Time. This raises fundamentally serious ethical and moral issues for all of us. It will be very interesting to watch how it gets covered and the comment it generates.

The right to be heard?

BBC 1 Thursday 10.35pm. Don’t miss it!

Dave

There are a lot of Assessment deadlines coming up after the break so you need to make sure you stay ahead of the game ‘cos if you start slipping behind it requires double the effort to catch-up. The course doesn’t stop! You’ll keep getting new work and new deadlines and it can start to feel like you have a mountain to climb.

The nature of SQA Assessments is that you need to produce ‘evidence’ demonstrating the knowledge and skills covered in each unit. That means presenting work in a way that might often seem a bit pedantic but we need to see the detail. ‘Winging-it’ won’t be enough. All the courses get externally moderated by SQA to make sure we stick to the National standards so there’s no way round this.

Try to arrange regular ‘study hours’ at set times in the week so that family and friends get used to the idea that you’re not available. You’re investing the time in your future and people will learn to respect that. You’ll all quickly get into the routine and it will allow you to keep on top of the report writing and theory. Spending a little bit of time each evening reflecting on what you’ve covered in class that day is also a good habit to get into. It helps you sort out information, make connections and think of questions you might want to ask.

If you can do that and keep the work/course balance reasonable then you’ll do fine, learn loads and enjoy the experience of the course. If you take on too much you’ll just be chasing your tail all the time, do shabby work that neither you nor your lecturers will be pleased with and it will all become stressful and unhappy. I’ve seen it happen many times over the years to very able people that just underestimated the amount of work required on a full-time course.

A full-time course requires commitment and it can be really tough sometimes but it is manageable. It’s much tougher out in the big wide world so make the most of your time on the course, be brilliant and enjoy the learning experience. It’s one of the best things you’ll do!

Dave

Just to prove how influential this blog is,  Germany’s most popular women’s magazine has banned professional models from it’s pages. It will only use ‘real women’ from now on. The Editor is sick of ‘fattening girls up with Photoshop’. Your comments on Janet’s earlier post, “Nobody’s perfect”, obviously triggered this. brigitte-german-magazine-bans-models

The Waitrose chain has pulled advertising on the UK transmissions of Fox News carried by Sky over racist remarks against President Obama. This is as a result of Waitrose customer complaints. People Power can have an effect! waitrose-drops-fox

Here’s a link to a fantastic Public Safety advertisement. Amazing concept and execution! government-fire-safety-ad

Finally, here’s a link to the strangest observatory you will ever see. The shot looks like the building’s designer spent all his waking hours playing ‘Half Life’ or ‘Quake’ and needed a few bob quickly.  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/space/article6861092.ece

Let’s hear your views on these things and, remember, you can fire in ideas for posts, links or uploads whenever you want.  randomjwc@yahoo.co.uk

Dave

I emailed the competition organisers for clarification on the use of submitted photographs and received this reply:

Hi David,

Yes, you are correct. The copyright of the photo remains with the photographer. Whenever a photo is used for marketing purposes (directly related to the photography contest), the photographer’s name and location will always be included. There would be no other use of the photo – only in promotion of the contest.

So, it would seem the ‘catch-all’ statement in the rules is to cover ‘wee accidents’ and prevent any possible litigation in the future. If they are true to their word it sounds like it’s worth a go.

Dave

Here’s an opportunity to pick-up some goodies. The ‘Grand Prize’ is a Nikon D90 but there are Focal Press books to be won along the way.

http://www.focalpress.com/photographycontest.aspx

One thing to consider with any of these competitions is their policy on Rights. For this competition the rules contain the following statement:

Right to Use Entries.  By entering the Contest, entrants grant Sponsor a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide right and license to reproduce, publish, display and otherwise use their submitted image(s), credited with entrant’s full name and city and state/province/country of residence, online and in print or any other media for purposes of editorials, exhibition, advertising, publicity and promotion of the Contest and Sponsor’s publications and products, without additional compensation or permission, unless prohibited by law.

Basically, by submitting an entry you are giving them the right to use your image in any way they wish for as long as they wish without  payment. For a very low outlay, they get loads of images for their many publications. However, it doesn’t give them the Rights to the image so they can’t sell it on or exploit it outside of their organisation. You can still sell it and use it in whatever way you wish but you can no longer offer exclusivity to a potential buyer.

At the end of the day it’s up to you. Submitting an entry gives you a chance to get goodies and free publicity and a winning entry is good to have in your portfolio. Are you going to make any money on the image any other way? What are you potentially losing?

The full Rules and condition of entry can be read here: http://www.focalpress.com/photographycontestrules.aspx

Dave