The Two Truths (aka Maati)

I went to Edinburgh Zoo again... with Alex, Kate, and Sod... I took with me only one lens... can ya guess which one it was?

Please click for more piccies!

(... that'd be the Zeiss 135mm F1.8 ZA :op)

For the past two days I have had the joy of owning, and using a Sony 135mm F1.8 ZA.

It is sublime! ... and ... it puts my Sony Alpha 100 to shame, which just adds to my eagerness to get the new Sony Alpha-700.

I will not be posting test photos up just yet (gotta wait until the weekend) - but - I assure you this is worth every penny spent on it.

( ... )

So, the Alpha 700 is out at last (dpreview).

A lot of reviewers have had their hands on pre-production bodies, and the general consensus is that the camera handles smoothly, the ergonomics are spot on (esp the vertical grip), and the camera performs excellently in even very dim lighting.

It features virtually everything that I had expected in it, plus a few bits and bobs are a tad more than I had hoped (e.g. clean images up to ISO 1250, *almost* two stops better than the Alpha-100!)

It is probably a very good thing that it will only be available from 31st October, because for a starting price of £1k I would otherwise be sorely tempted to buy one before Samhuinn.

Price should have dropped to £850 in time for Beltane...

Did I mention how two of my photos of Amanda Palmer are featured on her Myspace?

...and...

Both giving credit due, which is nice :o)

I was invited back to shoot Amanda again. This time, I went for a seat near to the piano rather than in front of the main stage. When I say "near to", I mean I could touch the piano.

Please click to see the full set.
(Now up to a total of 60 pics; 30 from Saturday, 30 from Thursday.)

( about last night... )

Well, true to the Dresden Dolls' word, one of my photos appeared in the Festival Review section of the Scotsman today, in print and on the web-site.

Click here to see this in the web-version of the Scotsman article.

( What I mean by the title... )

Poll #1037923 Photogenic / Photosocial Reaction
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 16

Scenario A. You are at a private event, where you know there be a photographer taking photos. You know that photographer well, probably have taken a good look over his or her work, possibly you have even been photographed by them before. You see the photographer about to take a photo of the room you are in... Do you...?

Scenario B. You are at a public event, where you know there be a couple of photographers taking photos. You have heard of one of those photographers before, and might have seen an image or two that he or she has taken. You see one of the photographers (you cannot tell which) about to take a photo of the room you are in... Do you...?

Scenario C. You are at a public event, and you discover that there are several photographers around. You do not know any of the photographers. You see one of those photographers about to take a photo of the room you are in... Do you...?

Update from my last post;

1. They want full-res copies, one of which will be published in the Scotsman tomorrow!

2. They want me back to do some more!

Update again;

3. Spiegel Tent want me to shoot for other shows too!

Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls
performing at the Spiegel Tent


Thanks to Cutter for the tip-off!!!!

This is Buckie...

Buckie Festival 2007

... and this is Leith...

Leith Festival 2007, Tattoo and Parade

Next up... Lughnasadh (last week of July) and the Edinburgh Cavalcade (first week of August)

For photography at Beltane; the best lenses of the night were all primes. We knew that there was advantage in using primes over zooms, however, we never knew how pronounced it would be.

( About primes... )

( Focal length break-down... )

In total; we had around £10k worth of glass on the hill, and the vast majority of it was in primes rather than zooms.

Click to see the larger version, on black.

Beltane Fire Festival 2007

Everyone is slowly uploading images to the Gallery at beltane.org.

So; it has been one year exactly, today, since I joined flickr...

... was the first image I uploaded, along with a few other ones on that day.

A lot of people really don't like flickr but I think its pretty okay. I wouldn't say ti was great but its better than anything else of its kind, I think, and is paving the way forwards in a lot of ways.

John's Supernatural Birthday Party

Arabic & African Dance

Spring Equinox Party

This is the real deal!

Two new bodies. First is a semi-pro, to compete with/above the D200/K10D/30D, higher res, better ISO noise, presumably using the 12MP CMOS from the Nikon D2Xs. The second is a pro; entirely new sensor, higher res again.

Five new lenses this year ... plus three more early next year ... the first three are Zeiss 24-70mm F2.8 plus a couple of improved kit lenses. The other five include a couple of big white ones (500mm F2.8 and 200mm F2.8?)...

Organised...

• Recruitment - Check! (phew) - Stuart
• Red Men Photography - CHECK!!! - Joe
• Super Tele Lens Rental - Check! - Ove
• Photoshop Workshops - Check! - Tom
• Draft Photographers' Route Plan - Check! - Stuart & Joe & Adam
• Map of the Route - Check! - Pete
• A Better Map of the Route - Enroute - Joe
• Exhibition Space - Check! - Stuart & Tim etc
• Cloak-making Workshop - Check! - Alex House
• Beltane.org Gallery - On schedule... - Matt

Still To Do...

• Shooting Fire Practises...
• Shooting Torchies Practises...
• Darkest-Dark Shooting Practises...
• Tripod for 6kg Super Tele Lens...
• Guard to protect Super Tele Lens...
• Elementals...
• Whites...
• No-Point...
• Processional Drummers...
• Crowd Handling Training...
• Cloak materials...
• Eye Emblems...
• Photographic archives...
• Exhibition prints...
• Print framing...

Lorena and her Heart Balloon

Despite my flawed attempt at taking this shot, with numerous errors, it's still been viewed nearlyover a thousand times on Flickr. That puts it as my most popular piece on that site (whilst "The Illusive Goth Lass" is still my most popular piece on deviantART).

It is a frequent misconception that people believe they have the right not to be photographed. In fact, in the UK, this is totally untrue. If it were true then we would have no CCTV.

Rather; in public places, photographers have the right to take photos. Any individual has the right not to be misrepresented in a publication, whether in writing or imagery. A photographer should seek permission before using an image which depicts a (clearly identified) person in any way other than purely factual. Also; owners of private property may request that a photographer not take images whilst on that property, or else leave.

However; it seems that, now, our government wants to restrict who can or cannot take photographs in public ...
so; please sign the petition against this legislation.

UPDATE: Opps! I eventually looked into the actual legislation which the petitioners was against... I found this page on his website... where he basically says there isn't any... he was just being cautious! Grrr.

PLEASE NOTE: Please refrain from replying to this post with personal insult or abuse. Otherwise; please comment away!