Back from Mexico

[David Kilpatrick]

Returned from one week (cut to six days by flight delay) in Mexico - very bad internet options, so not really able to check the forum. Now about 24 hours into 'today' and urgent work to do sending images for deadlines. Feeling very pleased because the UK government bought one of my pix for a report front cover... a pic which it is 'illegal' to take, showing passport control and 'UK Border' entry point where no cameras are permitted. When they need a pic, it helps if occasional rule-breakers are around...

But I did not risk doing further pix on entry today. The A900 is not a stealth camera like the KM A2!

David

[bossel]

But I did not risk doing further pix on entry today.

Glad they let you back in! Having some heavy camera equipment directly makes you a suspect these days Did you take any pictures over there ?

[bakubo]

Welcome back! One arm of the UK government pays you for the photo and another arm shows up to arrest you. Reminds me of the recent story in NYC where Amtrak had a photo contest for people to take photos of their trains and then a photographer was arrested by Amtrak police for taking photos of their trains.

[bakubo]

edit: Not sure what happened, but my post got repeated so there were two identical ones in this thread. I am deleting the second one. I seem to recall that there used to be an icon to delete your own post, but I can't find it now. Am I mistaken about that?

[Dusty]

Welcome back, David. we tried to play nice while you were away!

Dusty

[Dr. Harout]

Welcome back, David. we tried to play nice while you were away!

Dusty

Oh, yes, we were very nice
Welcome to the fo.... I mean, welcome back

[Greg Beetham]

There must be more to that story David, how did the Government persons find out that you had the illicit photo? did you approach some official and say "psssst you wanna buy feelthy airport entry terminal photo"...or did they just straight out spot you being naughty and taking photos in a restricted area? ....and then ask if they could buy your shot, as we don't actually have any ourselves...
Haw! it's almost good enough for the beginnings of a "yes minister" episode.
Greg

[David Kilpatrick]

I just put the image on Alamy. If they want to request deletion, they can. But instead, they bought it...

David

[Greg Beetham]

Wow David, talk about that George Orwell feeling, how many photographs are on Alamy? and big brother found your image in no time...creepy. I wonder if they saw you taking the photo on surveillance and did a full profile on you and had MI6 follow you home etc. They've probably bugged the chicken coop by now...listen for any strange clicks when you answer the phone...
Greg

[David Kilpatrick]

I've had two Government report covers before, in the 1970s. The first was the Met Office annual report for the drought of 1976. There were barriers erected over the dried-up bed of Ladybower Resevoir, cracked mud like a desert, with large warnings not to venture on to the mud (it was a thin crust over several feet of slurry). So I did, I took a 17mm lens and crawled out over the first few feet, and did a wide-angle view with the dramatic cracked mud pattern. I got very muddy shoes and knees/arms but did not get sucked in, and it made big uses in the national papers, then got bought for the Met Report cover later.

I also had one for the annual report of the Dept of Employment around 1975, a snap of two schoolkids with sort of typical 1970s slouched shoulders and flared trousers, seen from behind, unidentifiable, walking past a polished brass Department of Employment sign and a closed door (now they are all 'shops' with big JOBCENTRE branding - not as classy!). These days most photo libraries would reject the image a) no model release b) subjects under 18 therefor I must be a paedophile and should be arrested immediately c) no property release.

Alamy is a fortunate exception, you can simply state no model release, no property release, and they let the client shoulder the responsibility for use. Same goes for my UK BORDER shot, lots of people in it, no model releases. But I'm very careful when shooting to avoid directly identifying people when hunting down shots with editorial stock potential. I shoot a lot of pix from behind, silhouettes, details. Here's an example from last week - one frame, one chance, no question of motordrive firing or chasing the subject - just react very quickly and grab:

Slightly cropped from Alpha 900 28-105mm shot. Dead sharp, fortunately, where it matters on the fabrics. This one will go into Alamy unreleased - suitable for editorial uses. It's not as straight as it looks, logos have been retouched from the insoles and straps of the sandals. Selling points: almost perfect subject - right age, weight, skin colour; couple happened to have chosen co-ordinating colours for their clothing, all of it beautifully clean; no logos or labels visible on clothing; both holding their sandals; good diffused light matching the pastel colours. Finally it's a real shot, not some posed beach model scene, and far preferred by mags and newspapers now to press release type staged pictures. It is probably timeless enough to sell for another decade, and it's a really good quality 22 megapixel crop.

This is how we pay for our travel. This morning, another sale, this time from the Sony Alpha 900 launch in Edinburgh - one of my pix of the Red Hot Chilli Pipers cabaret show got bought. The money is never very much, it is unpredictable and it would be extremely hard to make a living shooting stock 'on the hoof' (I know two or three who do so and they work VERY hard, filing hundreds of shots every week). But it's also a kind of game, it gives you a focus. Some people hunt wildlife or play golf, we chase images. And while like any other photographers, we love to find truly spectacular ones (great landscapes etc) it's more fun when the type of image we hunt down can be found in all kinds of places, any kind of light.

Here's the night before we were flying to Mexico - Radisson SAS at Manchester airport, the beer (Boddingtons) is very regional to Manchester and almost iconic with the curved pint glass:

OK, it's private property (Radisson) but they will never care, and the beer has a logo - but in this case, the logo is vital. I've sold my photographs of pints of beer repeatedly through Alamy, a major Good Beer Guide sources lots of their pix that way every year. I've never sold a studio shot of beer - which is what all the regular stock shooters try to take - or an anonymous shot (which is all that iStockphoto, etc, will accept - no logos!). The beer guide and similar buyers want a real location, natural lighting, and a clear name on the glass.

It is the best excuse around for trying every new beer en route when travelling, I know they won't cost me anything if they come in the right glass, good condition, and a great background!

David

[pakodominguez]

Returned from one week (cut to six days by flight delay) in Mexico...

Mallorca and Canarias last year, Mexico now... are you improving your spanish, David? Like the surviving kit: "una cerveza por favor"?

My girlfriend (peruvian too) suffers NYC's winter and we were thinking about going to Mexico for few days too, but we were bussy and saving for the trip to Peru (Macchu Picchu and Puno/lack Titicaca) next month. When you live in the north you need to runaway from winter...

[David Kilpatrick]

Anytime I try to use Spanish, it's a big mistake - either I say something incomprehensible, which confuses the issue, or I say it correctly and get a reply which I can't keep up with - all in full speed Spanish! I generally don't try to speak other languages, around Cancun (probably not in Cancun itself) the local Maya are very keen to speak English and they much prefer tourists to speak English so they can practice it. I can understand everyday written Spanish, French, German and Italian well enough and follow tour guides if they are speaking in any of these languages - but the only one I can speak, after a few days immersion, is French because it's the only one I learned at school.

I get photo magazines sent to me in Spanish, Italian, Swedish, and occasionally in Greek (not much use!). I usually read the Sony reviews, and the lens tests. I used to edit a magazine edition in English translated from a German magazine, so I know a lot of the German technical terms but these days none of the German publishers swaps magazines with me except Fotoclub Austria. They have a quarterly magazine for Sony Alpha, about the same size as Photoworld. I don't find the contents much use though, nice pictures and some chat about activities (photo schools and trips). If you speak German, the Austrian club does great photo weeks and courses. I have been on two of them in the 1980s. They are still run by Max Wiesenhofer.

We drank a lot of excellent Austrian beer of course!

David

[braeside]

A 100% VF and he still manages to cut their heads off

[Dr. Harout]

A 100% VF and he still manages to cut their heads off

Yeah, and keeping an eye on others' buttocks...

[Dusty]

My girlfriend (peruvian too) suffers NYC's winter and we were thinking about going to Mexico for few days too, but we were bussy and saving for the trip to Peru (Macchu Picchu and Puno/lack Titicaca) next month. When you live in the north you need to runaway from winter...

I remember parts of Peru being rather cold. When you start out in Arequipa, the Mile and a Half high city, and go up into the mountains, it gets chilly.

Dusty