Steady hand or wot?
I was shooting some stock by Tower Bridge recently when I noticed a ship about to leave St Katherine’s Docks. I parked myself by the river’s edge and waited. After leaving the docks, the ship headed towards Greenwich. I panned with it as it sailed away and took about 3-4 shots.
Afterwards, when I reviewed the shots on the LCD screen, I noticed something really odd. The ship appeared to stay in the same place while the background changed when I rocked the frames back and forth!
Now, I used to have a reputation for a very steady hand (can still carry a cup of coffee filled to the brim up the stairs without spilling a drop!) when I used to shoot film and video but I frightened myself when I saw this pan.
I made a QuickTime movie out of the two frames. To view, click on the image below.
US Supreme Court to consider copyright registration requirements
If you don’t register your photos with the US Copyright Office and need to sue someone in the US for infringing your copyright and expect damages, there may be light at the end of the tunnel at last. Read the full story on the Photo Attorney blog.
Customer support to die for
Here’s a story that should restore your faith in human kind: a photographer used Eclipse cleaning fluid to clean the sensor in his Canon 5D. To his horror, it stripped the tin oxide coating!
He eventually sent the camera to Canon for repair. They phoned to say they would contact Photographic Solutions, the manufacturers of Eclipse, to see if they would pay for the repairs.
A couple of days later, the photographer receives a phone call from David Stone, President of Photographic Solutions, while on holiday in the Caribbean!
He said he used to be a photographer and understood the photographer’s situation and that he would authorise the repair.
Sure enough, about a week later, the camera was returned to the photographer with a new sensor.
Now doesn’t that warm the cockles of your heart?