October 16, 2008
How A $25 Investment Saved A $1700 Lens
It finally happened. After shooting the Caps for three seasons now and many other sporting events I almost broke one of my most trusted pieces of equipment, my Nikon 70-200mm/2.8 VR lens. I use it for practically everything...I can't imagine life without it.
So here is my pearl of wisdom for today. Go out and buy UV filter for every lens you own, put it on and forget about it.
That is what I did until this past Monday when I was shooting the Washington Capitals. No, I did not get hit by a hockey puck. In between periods I was going up the steps to download photos from my card, as I was going up somebody was leaving their aisle seat I sort of stumbled and dropped my camera (also know as my life). Others around the incident gasped, but I tried to be stoic and professional, picking it up and just walking on.
Later as I was alone I inspected the camera to see that it had indeed fallen and landed on the lens and there was a huge crack across the glass of my lens. My heart sunk when I then remembered that I had put on a filter and perhaps it was only damaged. To my relief that was the case, a $25 glass filter had saved one of my most prized possessions.
Some will say that you don't want to add another layer of glass in front of their lens. Intellectually you are right....If I had Nikon providing me with lenses I would be more cavalier. Unfortunately, I am not at that place yet so I am willing to make this compromise.
Posted by Allen Clark at 12:25 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 04, 2008
One third of the The National Press Photographers Members To Lose Their Job This Year
That was the claim by Dirck Halstead, in May's Letter From The Publisher of Digital Journalist, they claim:2008 will go down as "The Year the Newspapers Died." Publications are in free fall due to dropping circulation and falling advertising. Unfortunately, one of the first places the publisher turns to in order to cut costs is the photo department. We estimate that this year, as many as one third of the membership of The National Press Photographers Association will be out of a job.While I didn't see any back-up to that claim, there is some other doom and gloom for photojournalists in this issue. Also, Terry Heaton for the Digital Journalist looks at the growth of the citizen journalist.
Posted by Allen Clark at 09:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 30, 2008
Photographers Rights
Yes, as a photographer you do have some rights.
For the sports photographer this might not be as big an issue as it is for others. But I can imagine that a photographer somewhere might be approached on school grounds while taking pictures of your own child participating in a sport. Photographer's rights is a hot topic right now on several blogs and podcasts. There is some good information and reference material that I wanted to share with all of you.
- Photographers rights for the, the United States.
- Street photographers rights for the, Australia.
- Photographers rights for the, the United Kingdom.
- This is a scary post regarding ads that are running in England, UK Declares War on Street Photographers
- Here is a link to a follow-up post about what is happening in the UK,Photographer's Rights: One More Time.
Posted by Allen Clark at 05:26 PM | Comments (0)