A Year with the 6D.

In June last year I replaced my Canon 40D with a 6D and have seen my photos change dramatically. This change started with a trip to North Berwick to capture this sunset.

 

Once I understood the differences between the 40d and 6d I was off to Somerset for a holiday in August. I was based close to Lynmouth and was able to visit several amazing places.

Lynmouth

The Valley of Rocks

Porlock Weir

Watersmeet

When I returned home I booked a studio session with the amazing Zara Watson and was blown away with the detail available in the photos. I'm sure you'll agree with the results.

Following the studio session I spent the next couple of months taking different photos and not all of them worked out, but on New Years Day I took this photo of Victoria Street in Edinburgh I struck gold.

Throughout January and February I chased the aurora and on the 27th of February I was rewarded. BIG TIME!

In between my aurora hunts I found myself returning to Belhaven Bay and The Bridge to Nowhere

In the spring I was asked to provide a photo of my cousins son for an article on his fencing. This was the chosen shot.

Living in Edinburgh I had become very relaxed to the photo opportunities. However, I decided to make some trips to Newhaven harbour to capture sunsets.

Throughout spring I visited some amazing places like:

Rosslyn Chapel

Fintray Loup

Glasgow Science Centre

The Forth Bridges.

In Fife there is a zigzag shaped pier that is amazing for photos, but on a trip over to get a sunset shot the town of St Monans was the source of inspiration.

At the beginning of August I moved to Inverurie which is 16 miles north west of Aberdeen and then drove 600 miles to Devon for a holiday. I was based just west of Bideford and didn't get a many photos as I'd have liked. the photos I did capture were some of my best.

These sunset shots were taken from the rear of the holiday cottage.

The other location I visited was Hartland Point. This place feels like the edge of the world and when it is receiving the left over wind from a hurricane it truly is a sight to behold.

Since returning to Inverurie I have been out twice to get photos. One was a trip to Bow fiddle Rock to experiment with my 10 stop filter and a high tide.

My second trip was out to capture the local hill Bennachie at sunset.

So, I've had the camera for over a year and I am looking forward to the autumn and winter photographic opportunities in the north east.

Thanks for reading.

Jamie

Knowing your Copyright

Hi, I apologise for not doing a blog in ages (6th of October to be precise), but here I am about to write a boring (it is copyright) post for you all.

Any artist should understand copyright and how it affects them.

Did you know that Parisian authorities copyrighted the lights on the Eiffel Tower and as such any photo taken of it at night when the lights are on infringes their rights and if you wish to publish the photo you need to pay them? Who knew, huh!  http://c4sif.org/2010/12/copyright-and-the-eiffel-tower/

Anyway back to the real reason for this post, understanding your rights when you take a photo, rights grabs (where a competition organiser or news organisation like the BBC asks you to submit photos), payment for photos etc.

What made me decide to write this post? Well, I was on the BBC Scotland website (I will come back to them and their photo requests) and they have a photo gallery of the "winning" photos from the My Place photo competition run by the Scottish Civic Trust in conjunction with Historic Scotland. This competition is aimed at primary and secondary children all over Scotland, so not people who would understand their rights regarding their photos.

This competition like one run by Visit Scotland (this is not a dig at any individuals who work in any organisation) stated that whilst the photographer retained copyright these bodies and their partners ( or selected 3rd parties) were granted rights in all mediums to do as they wanted. In short make money from the photos submitted.

In the case of the Visit Scotland competition, a concerted effort led by Alex Boyd and several other photographers (myself included) persuaded them to change the usage rights to ones in line with the Scottish nature Photography Awards ( http://www.scottishnaturephotographyawards.com/2013/terms/competition_rules.htm ) where a licence is granted to use the photo in relation to the competition and photo cannot be used by the organiser or partners for commercial gain.


This is the reason I do not submit my photos to the BBC Scotland Your Pictures gallery as they also ensure you give them a royalty free licence to do what they wish with the photos.

"In contributing to BBC News you agree to grant us a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to publish and otherwise use the material in any way that we want, and in any media worldwide. This may include the transmission of the material by our overseas partners; these are all reputable foreign news broadcasters who are prohibited from altering the material in any way or making it available to other UK broadcasters or to the print media." (source http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11287381). I should add this is standard on their site for news stories too.


The BBC and other news organisation in the UK are aware of the NUJ accepted rates for freelance photographs used ( http://www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/index.php?section=Photography. However whenever they or any news organisation ask a person if it is ok to use their photo for a credit (having your name shown) they are trying to get round paying. If you have a photo of an incident etc you should be paid by news organisations. I appreciate that not everyone wants paid for the photos they take, but the news organisations should offer the appropriate payment and if it is turned down maybe offer it to a charity of the photographers choice as their actions are devaluing the photographic profession, the skills that have taken years to learn and the vast expense required to ensure  the right kit is possessed and working. I should also add that it is how many people put a roof over their heads and food on their families table.

When people ask for your photos please ensure you know your rights as the photographer.

Anyway here is the link to copyright in the UK http://www.ipo.gov.uk/c-notice-201401.pdf

Thanks for reading and here's a little photo as a reward for making it all the way to the end.

Why it's my shot of the Aurora from North Berwick.