Entries from June 2007 ↓

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of joining Raoul and Ligia Pop for a photowalk of Alexandria. We began at the waterfront, and spent the morning and afternoon meandering about the streets of Old Town. The weather was terrific, and we began early enough that we had some time to shoot the waterfront and main streets before the deluge of human traffic. We crossed paths with a number of friendly locals (and animals), were lucky enough to be offered a tour of the John Douglass Brown House, and had a generally enjoyable afternoon.

The biggest boon, from my perspective, was the opporunity to shoot with and learn from someone new. Raoul is an amazing photographer–if you’ve never seen his work, I suggest that you give it a look. I picked up more practical photography tips from Raoul in an afternoon than I have in months (not to mention a little time on his 5D!). And not to be excluded, Ligia is a wonderful personality, and could easily market herself as a world-class spotter (she wasn’t shooting this go around). They’re both good company, and a great team.

For a more substantive account of the event, you can read Raoul’s write-up. Or, you can get right on to the photos (which will probably continue to trickle in over the course of the next few days to a week).

I don’t have time to throw down a really quality rant, but suffice it to say that this sucks. From the New York Times article:

“New rules being considered by the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting would require any group of two or more people who want to use a camera in a single public location for more than a half hour to get a city permit and insurance.

The same requirements would apply to any group of five or more people who plan to use a tripod in a public location for more than 10 minutes, including the time it takes to set up the equipment.”

Write to . . . someone with influence, and complain. What begins in New York ends up in Los Angeles, D.C., etc.

UPDATE 1: As expected, there’s already a decent amount of commentary cropping up on the topic.

UPDATE 2: The permit and related guidelines are available via the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater & Broadcasting. There’s a general still photography permit, and a permit specific to those shooting in parks.

Fox News out of Washington, D.C. is running a piece on harassment and censorship of photographers in and around the D.C. area. This is something that I’ve personally experienced, and am in the process of clearing up right now (more on this to come, soon).

If you’ve experienced an issue similar to that of the photographers featured in this video–or any of the numerous photographers joining the DC Photo Rights group on Flickr–it’s important that you document (and follow up on, to the extent possible) your experience.

I was turned on to the Great Courses last year, by a mention in Richard Bejtlich’s TaoSecurity blog. Unfortunately, the price tag associated with most of these courses is in the hundreds, and I’ve been unable to convince myself pull the trigger and place an order.

During my most recent trip to the Reston Regional branch of the Fairfax County Public Library, I was pleasantly surprised to see a collection of these very courses (as video recordings, I believe) prominently displayed near the entrance. And a quick search of the library’s on-line catalog seems to indicate that they have a number of courses available at various locations. My tax dollars at work!