The Vanishing Hand and Other Tales

Always check your gear ... and ...
A well-known international magazine that specialises in amazing images of natural features wanted to show some of the heroic work of the fire fighters as they battled the wildfires in the western US last year.A photographer was assigned to cover the story and, as well as having him work on the ground, the magazine also wanted him to take a selection of shots from the air to show the extent of the blaze. So a light aircraft was chartered to fly the guy over the area. He was told to report to a nearby airfield where the plane would be ready and waiting for him.The photographer, running late, arrived at the airfield and s

Another Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams, one of the world's great photographers, is famed for his breathtaking photographs of American landscapes - Yosemite in particular. He was a man who loved the wilderness and nature, and that love shines through in his images.But there was another side to him. What is less well known is that, during the Second World War, he took a stand against what he believed to be the unjust treatment of the Nisei, American citizens of Japanese descent who, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, were suddenly uprooted from their homes, farms, factories and businesses and placed in an internment camp at Manzanar.Ansel Adams decided to use his

Are you a real photographer?
Ask yourself these 10 questionsDo you roll your eyes in exasperation when you see a blizzard of tiny photo-flashes twinkling amongst the crowd at some humongous great sports stadium?Do you know what ‘bokeh’ is?Do you genuinely wince in pain when an elderly relative asks you if you’ve taken any good ‘snaps’ lately?Do you always carry a spare battery? Charged?Do your friends hand you their cameras when they want a good photo taken?Do you own a tripod? Not one of those diddy little things that slip in your pocket. A real tripod. That weighs a ton.And do you carry it about with you? And hang your backpack from it? And

Madeleine McCann
Madeleine McCann, aged 4, disappeared without trace 2½ years ago whilst on holiday with her parents in Portugal.Here's a message about her from the UK police.She will be 6 now and their video gives information on what she may look like:There is further information here.Please spread the word as widely as you can ... e-mail friends, post this video on your blog, Tweet it, Digg it, Facebook ... use the 'viral' nature of the Internet to get this information to as many people as possible.Someone, somewhere, may be able

Flipping heck!
In her comment to my Bad weather,good photos post, Livia asks if it is " ... possible to get your fisherman on the left side."Easy. Just flip horizontal in Photoshop (or similar).But is it ethical?And is it a better image?I'm not sure. As, in our culture, we read from left to right I feel the