Ahhh the joy of copyright infringment

I've just had my first dose of dealing with DMCA takedowns and dealing with mis-use of images I own the copyright too, and I can say, it is actually a very fascinating experience. When you remove yourself from getting emotional about the fact that somebody is using your hard work for their own gain, and look at it from a entirely analytical viewpoint, the concept of copyright infringement is really quite fascinating. In the past, when photos were taken on film, and the MASTER as it were resided in one place and one place only and any subsequent copies were obviously 'copies' things were simpler, also, it was almost impossible to have a copy every be as close in quality as an image printed from the master. However, now with all cameras pretty much Digital, and the MASTER image being able to live in literally countless locations, what really is the MASTER image, if two people have a copy of that file, how does one really argue who owns the image. 

Putting the emotional cap back on, as a photographer, I have an investment in every photo I take, some more than others, there are photos I have taken, that honestly I couldn't give two hoots about if somebody wanted to use, then there are others, that I feel are so close to what I feel for me is perfection, the concept of somebody else using that image for their own gain makes me ill. And then there are photos, that I personally don't care for any more, for a variety of reasons, images that are archived on a hard drive in the cupboard in a locked Pelican case, and if I have my way, will never see the light of day every again, however, that is what I want, that they are never viewed again, by me or others. To see those images used just makes me angry. Luckily, and I can say this for the first time, with corporate America being so proactive in terms of removing digital media from websites when they are used illegally, the actual process of reporting an illegal use is surprisingly easy. Letting my temper settle, takes a little longer.

Rant off.

Assorted

I havnt posted any images for a little while, it's not that I havnt been shooting, I just have been a little, shall we say, preocupied. But here are a few images that really pop in my mind.

This is the from my first roll of 120 Film in a Yashica TLR. Taken at about 6 am on Chapel Street on a public holiday, there were literally no cars on the street, which allowed me to stand in the middle and shoot almost an entire roll. I still think I need to do some more work on the scanning side of things, but the exposure is pretty spot on, not bad considering the light meter is broken in the camera, and I had to use a Lightmeter App on my iPhone.

This image was actually taken by a friend using my Leica M8, on a road just outside of Woomera, he had me standing staring off into the distance, hoping that the very occassional car wouldnt just decide to come at the wrong time. The web image doesnt really do it justice, I have had this printed on a giant canvas and it looks amazing hanging up on the wall.

This one was snapped on the fly in a cab in Shanghai (crazy driver was weaving in and out of traffic so much we were convinced we were going to die). The lights are actually oncoming traffic. I really like this one, because I didnt have time to focus or set the exposure, I just guessed and it came out amazingly well, capturing the oncoming headlights that were lighting the passenger as they rushed towards us.

Final Day in Chile

The Port of Antafagasta

Fishing boats next too the Port

The lovely Rafaela at a kids soccor camp

One of the 'stars' pf the camp

A far more serious player :)

The poorer districts of Antafagasta

And the view from my hotel room

A brief moment of downtime to do some emails

I look so serious in all my photos these days ?

Antafagasta

The Atacama Desert, really does look like Mars

A short break between shots

Mist burning off in the morning sun

Jason Wingrove playing around with my Leica M8

The cameraman doesnt like having his picture taken, how weird

Unlike the georgeous Rafaela

The colours of Antofagasta

The requisite sunset shot

Quick post on Quick Release

Just a short one, one of the things that I dont see a lot of discussion about on DSLR forums etc. is the small little device called the quick release. It seems that most people are happy to use whatever Quick Release plate their Camera Support Rig comes with, and to be honest so was I, for a while.

The most common mount I have seen people use is the Manfrotto 357 Sliding Plate Adapter. 

This is the most common QR plate by a long way, as far as I can tell it is standard on ProAim gear, RedRock, CPM Film Tools to name a few. Now, I have a lot of these plates and I do mean A LOT, and I can honestly say they are just about the worst QR plate in the history of QR plates (for DSLR anyway), lets discuss the main negatives, 

1.The length of the plate: Pop one of those on a DSLR, it either sticks out under the lens or back out the end of the camera, now try and hold it up to your face, you have a giant plate sticking into your chin. You can do what I did, cut them in half and then they fit OK under a DSLR but it is by no means a sollution.

2. The side locking mechanism or screw: OK, who designed this, put it on any tripod head big enough to handle a DSLR rig and you are in for a world of hurt. The plastic bit has to rotate clear 360 degrees to allow you to lock the plate in place, but it will innevitably get fouled on any tripod head that is wider than the base plate, which is pretty much any decent tripod head in existance. I have tried everything cutting the plastic tab off, then it is hard to tighten enough to hold the camera, increase the height of the plate off the tripod head to add clearance, but then it becomes unstable. It's just plain annoying.

So, I had been thinking I wanted to change QR plates for a while, but I knew I only wanted to do it once, because apart from the significant investment, it would also mean I would have to mount the new plates on my rig (which have custom mounts so I would have to tap new holes). So I just left it for a while, then during the Phillip Bloom DSLR sessions held in Australia, I noticed that Phillip was using a plate that seemed to be nice and large (read stable) made a good sound when they clipped on and off (meaning it was a solid unit) and as far a I could tell he had the plates on a  variety of heads, and he was taking cameras on and off with ease. So in the break I had a chat to him about it, and apparently he has been meaning to do an article on these for a while but hasnt had the time. He was pretty happy with them, which was good enough for me. So off I went and ordered one to see if it was going to work for my rigs. The model is a Manfrotto 394 , it not only allows you to put the plates on pretty much any head without the release lever getting blocked or stuck, but the size of the plate means it wil take a camera with a decent amount of weight. They have two levelling bubbles to complement the one you probably have on yoru tripod and the additionale plates themselves are quite cheap, so once you have bought a base for every tripod head you own etc. you can add devices to the tripod for just the cost of a plate. So now that I have replaced all the plates I can clip my camera into my cage rig, and mount the cage on my tripod, or pull the camera out and pop it straight onto the tripod without the cage (for when I want to use a fisheye or wideangle that that cage doesnt support etc) all in a second. I have also added plates to the supports mounts on our tele lenses, and am in the process of adjusting my cage to have the shoulder support clip on and off of the cage with the same QR plate so that I can go shoulder mount just as easy. But that is for another post, once I get the new Cineroid LCD mounted.