Clash of the Titans: Canon Vs Nikon

Who will take the crown of best DSLR; the Canon 1D MkIII or the Nikon D3?

"Being a working press photographer in London, I come into contact with a lot of photographers. Strangely, photographers from competing news organizations are best of friends once the action of the assignment dies down. Even stranger, Canon and Nikon users live in perfect harmony. Amongst press photographers, brand loyalty is perhaps not as strong as amongst other groups of photographers, and we speak quite openly about issues with gear; both good and bad.

For several years, colleagues who have shot on the Nikon D2 series of cameras have constantly complained on its noisy images and the fact that they can’t shoot at anything approaching 800 ASA and upwards. There were also complaints that Nikon refused to look at full frame cameras and kept insisting that the DX format was the best way to go. Canon users on the other hand were worried about their brand new 1D MkIII cameras and shooting in AI Servo mode in bright light. Thankfully for both camps, it looks like the two giants of DSLR manufacturing have been listening".

I have done a hands on review of both these cameras for the BJP (British Journal of Photography) out on July 2nd. If you're interested to read the rest of the article, get yourself a copy. Also in the same issue is coverage of the winning images from PPY (Press Photographers' Year), showing the best of British press photography from 2007.

Vincent Laforet Interview

In 2007 I had the pleasure of meeting Vincent Laforet at the University of Southern California (USC) where we were both part a small group of World Press Photo winners giving a seminar to the students.

I had been a fan of his work before we met and I must say that as well as being extremely talented, he's a wonderful chap to boot. Canon has an interesting interview with him here.

Update: Sports Shooter have a very interesting interview with Vincent which includes his thoughts on the industry - a must read.

46664 Concert: In Celebration Of Nelson Mandela

Lets face it, this is without a doubt the best job in the world. Yes, the days can be long and the stress plentiful; its occasionally dangerous and often unappreciated, however, its still the best job.

I was fortunate enough to cover the 46664 Concert, in celebration of Nelson Mandela's life, achievements, birthday and his charity. It was an amazing experience.

As always, there were some issues. The photographers' area was around 50 meters from the stage which meant my standard lens became a 500mm! The slightly bigger problem was that there were several hundred people in front of our position - which wasn't raised high enough. This brought its problems of trying to avoid the tops of people's heads (there's always someone very tall around in these situations!). It became worst as the crowd put there arms up, and even worst when camera phones and compact cameras were brought into play.

Still, it was an absolute joy to be there and a bigger joy to photograph it. We had two photographers covering it, two runners (taking our CF cards back and forth - many thanks Nina and Eli) and two AP editors back in the press room (Dejan and David - top job gents). Its such a joy to work with professionals. There was even some time for a little bit of fun!

EXIT Gallery Show

The EXIT Gallery private view of "A Looking Glass Eye - 21st Century London" exhibition took place on the 26th of June. Its by far the most unique exhibition opening I've ever been to. The concept of the show is an interesting one; modern day London as a melting pot of all that it is is mirrored in the montage of images capturing the diversity that is London.

What a week!

Its been an amazing yet ridiculously busy week!

I've had three assignments, one of which was the Mandela concert, given two seminars and a full day workshop and had a gallery show opening!

However, as is the life of a freelance news photographer, next week so far has one assignment in the diary!

Digital Photography & Imaging Show

"DPI" is on this coming Thursday and Friday in London. Anyone interested can pre-register for free entry to the event.

Check out the conferences and seminars time table on their web site.

The Guardian's Sean Smith and World Press Photo award winner Vanessa Winsip will be holding conferences at the event.

I'll be giving a seminar on press photography and my workflow on both days from 3.45pm to 4.30pm, part of which will be slide shows of work over the years.

Photoshop Disasters

Just came across a blog with tons of Photoshop disasters. Its got a load of really very funny and stupid mistakes made by retouchers / photographers.

My stand in any type of editorial photography is absolutely no Photoshop work outside of traditional darkroom techniques. The second we start to add or subtract anything from our images, we call into question all that we take with our cameras.

However, some tabloid papers and perhaps all beauty magazines retouch their images; sometimes very heavily, and often in a very obvious way. The Photoshop Disasters blog is doing a great job of showing the extent of this.

A Looking Glass Eye - 21st Century London

Just a heads up on a group exhibition I've got a few pictures in: A Looking Glass Eye - 21st Century London at the EXIT Gallery, above Soho Books, 121-125 Charing Cross Road, London WC2. 27 June to 12 September.

This summer the EXIT GALLERY at Claire de Rouen Books is putting on a group photography show of London in the 21st Century. A very ambitious project for such a small gallery. The star of this show is London, as seen through the lens of both new and established award winning photographers... Stephen Gill, Valerie Phillips, Wassink Lundgren, Simon Wheatley (Magnum), Peter Marlow (Magnum) and Edmond Terakopian to name a few. Just like the melting pot that is London, this orderly mess makes for compulsive viewing. It's free and on for over two months.