Category Archives: In the News

Murphy’s Laws of Photography

murphyslaw

Following on from John Tait’s humorous encounter with ‘Prof Murphy and his law’ as outlined in his post on the SSV Corwith Cramer on 7/7/14, the article extract below on ‘Murphy’s Laws of Photography’ was published recently on the DIY Photography site:

MURPHY’S LAWS OF PHOTOGRAPHY– MY NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST

1. If the test shots go perfectly, the real shoot will be a disaster.

2. The greater your excitement about a shoot, the greater the chance that something will go exceptionally wrong.

3. Success happens quietly when nobody is looking. Failure blasts the door off its hinges when the client is watching.

4. You really only need a tripod when you don’t have one with you.

5. The smoother the shoot goes, the greater likelihood that the card will be lost, corrupted, or stolen by werewolves.

6. The best photo ops of animals and children only happen when two very specific cosmic conditions are met– they’re ready and you’re not.

7. Perfect weather lasts only as long as it takes for you to set up the shot.

8. Perfect weather will return as soon as you finish packing up your gear and drive away.

9. The one thing you absolutely, positively MUST have on your shoot will be the one thing you either forgot to bring or is in short supply (e.g., batteries, memory cards, the aforementioned tripod, etc.).

10. The lens you drop will always be the one you could only afford because you stopped eating for six or eight months.

11. You will never drop this lens on a soft, pillowy surface.

12. Long-life batteries actually laugh at you when they run out. Seriously.

13. The one time you leave the camera at home will definitely be the time you miss the shot of a lifetime. Bringing the camera with you will ensure that nothing happens.

14. The lens currently attached to your camera will never be the lens you need for the first shot.

15. If you are the passenger in a plane, train, bus, truck, automobile, or any other mode of transport, the most stunning scene you’ve ever witnessed in your life will be on the other side.

16. You spent weeks, months, years– maybe even decades– searching the world and your soul for the perfect expression of your photographic vision. You practiced. You studied. You tried, failed, and tried again. You found a mentor. You honed your craft. You allowed your camera to become a true extension of both your body and your mind. The guy who just beat you in a photo contest did it in three seconds with his iPhone.

 

See the full article at www.diyphotography.net

 

St. Patrick’s Day, 2014 – Midleton

The 2014 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Midleton was another great occasion with a large crowd turning out to get the best view. The weather played its part too, holding mostly dry for the duration.

ECCG members were out in force to capture the day in photos. Take a look at a selection in the slideshows below. Mouse over the image to access the slideshow controls.

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Now That’s an Image!

wt1gigapan2With more than just a nod to the adventures of Joe McNally and his penchant for getting his camera into unusual (very high) places, TIME magazine’s, Jonathan Woods, decided to make a Gigapan image of New York from the top of No.1 World Trade Center. Here’s how they did it:

wt1gigapanLink to “Top of the World – The making of an image from 1,776 feet”

http://youtu.be/EzNvL_PmnPM

Here’s how Joe McNally reported it.

WWII ‘Kissing Sailor’ Dies

sailor-kiss1The MailOnline has reported the death of the US sailor made famous in the iconic photograph made by celebrated photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt in Times Square, New York on VJ Day, 14th August 1945.

“Glenn McDuffie passed away on March 9 in a nursing home in Dallas, his daughter, Glenda Bell, told The Associated Press.”

“A mail carrier and semi-professional baseball player after he returned from World War II, McDuffie’s life became more exciting about six years ago when Houston Police Department forensic artist Lois Gibson was able to identify him as the young man leaning over the woman in his arms to kiss her.”

Read the full story on the MailOnline

Getting a Different Angle …..

Queen-Mary-2Captain Kevin Oprey stands on the bulbous bow of the Queen Mary 2

Sydney based photographer, James Morgan, took this epic shot to mark the 10th anniversary of the Ocean Liner, Cunard’s Queen Mary 2.

Here’s how The MailOnline reported it:

“The Queen Mary 2 is the largest ocean liner in the world and on Sunday her captain got a fresh view of her size and majesty.”

“Captain Kevin Oprey stood on the ship’s bulbous bow, which protrudes from the front of the 151,200 tonne liner, to pose for a portrait with his ship.”

“The photographs, taken to mark the tenth anniversary of the liner in May this year, were shot while she was docked at a port off the coast of Bali.” 

“It took months of strategic and safety planning to work out how to get Captain Oprey onto the bulbous bow, which helps to stabilise the ship and streamline movement, and dips in and out of the water depending on currents and swell.”

“But it was an idea too good to pass up.”

“‘When I suggested we photograph the captain standing on the bulbous bow, they all looked at me like I was a tiny bit mad, but the fact it hadn’t been done was why we had to do it,’ photographer James Morgan told MailOnline.”

“Mr Morgan was in Sydney last week when he got a call that the conditions in Bali were perfect for the shoot and so he hurried to the Indonesian island to capture the images.”

“However, by the time he arrived the conditions had worsened and he spent a ‘nervous five or six hours on the bridge’, before the weather calmed and they were able to get the captain safely onto the bulbous bow.”

“Mr Morgan said ‘safety was paramount’ and they used two safety boats to transport Captain Oprey to the bow. He took the shot from a small boat floating in front of the Queen Mary 2.”

See more photos on the MailOnline site.

http://youtu.be/36_DbZrEdB0

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