Amateur Photographer is reporting that more than a third of MPs have now backed Austin Mitchell's parliamentary Early Day Motion (EDM) petition on the right to take pictures in public places unchallenged by officials, winning cross-party support from 231 of the 646 elected members.

Last week Home Secretary Jacqui Smith responded to the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) following reports of police filming photographers and journalists during demonstrations and protests. However, her reply is being seen as giving the 'green light' to police officers imposing unacceptable restrictions on the rights of photographers. The Home Secretary wrote:

'... Decisions may be made locally to restrict or monitor photography in reasonable circumstances. That is an operational decision for the officers involved based on the individual circumstances of each situation.'

Austin Mitchell plans to raise the issue directly with Home Office Minister Tony McNulty, however it now seems unlikely that this will take place before Parliament's summer break.

Amateur Photographer article

I discovered rOllon.in today and whilst it appears its fairly new (I could only find two articles) it does show promise.

The writer on this blog, Rishi, is a very funny guy and the amusing posts seem to be focused (excuse the pun) on taking a particular picture. What is refreshing is that Rishi then takes you through how the shot was composed including birds-eye views of the set up and position of subject, camera, lighting, etc. Being able to see the final picture and how this was set up is great for those wanting to learn more about how to get the best from your photography.

rOllon.in

The Beyond Megapixels website has a good article on exposure basics. For those of you who dare not venture beyond the fully auto mode on your camera now's your chance!

Most of the time I tend to shoot in aperture priority mode but I'm finding more and more nowadays that I'm switching to fully manual to get the creative shot I have in my mind.

The article covers ISO, aperture and shutter speed along with a great explanation of the Sunny F/16 rule. Follow the link below to read the full article.

Going Manual: Learning Exposure Basics

I've been made aware of an issue with the comments form on my site. Apparently, unless you actually clicked the "comment anonymously" link it wasn't showing the captcha form and so when you submitted a comment you got an error.

Well for now I've disabled the captcha at least for the short term and hopefully all you people out there who I know are dying to leave comments can now do so. It will probably result in my getting a load more rougue messages however once I'm back from my travels I'll see if I can fix it properly.

Thanks

Nick

So Canon have announced the launch of the EOS1000D claiming the reason behind it was to make it easier for people to start using DSLRs. In fact Canon Australia's product manager for DSLRs, Chris MacLeod said:

The 1000D is an entry-level model that is packed full of essential features and what this camera enables consumers to do is to easily walk into DSLR. It simplifies the whole process for them and provides them with the essential features to get into DSLR very easily.

So out of interest I used DP Review's excellent side by side comparison feature for the new 1000D and my current camera, the 400D. The difference? Well reading the quote above you'd expect the 1000D to be much simpler. In reality, here are the main differences:

• The 1000D has an Auto ISO mode. The 400D doesn't


• The Flash range on the 1000D is one metre further than the 400D


• The 400D can speed shoot more successive frames than the 1000D


• The 1000D uses SD/SDHC/MMC cards, the 400D CF cards


• The 1000D is 50g lighter, but slightly larger


• The 1000D has live view

These are not exactly massive differences from the 400D and I'm having trouble seeing why the 1000D is more attractive to non-DSLR users. Could this be a case of releasing a product for the sake of releasing a product?

Side by side comparison of the 400D v 1000D

The online photography magazine, Magical Places Fine Art, has an interview with adventurer and photographer Harry Kikstra.

Whilst I love to travel and document my trips with my photography, Harry takes things to an all new level, producing some exquisite shots along the way. Make sure you check out the gallery at the end of the interview to see samples of his work.

In the interview Harry Kikstra covers his personal vision, and those who have inspired him. He also outlines some excellent rules to follow and qualities you need as a travel photographer.

Interview with Adventurer and Photographer Harry Kikstra

I went to the Kite Festival at Harewood House near Leeds today. Man is it hard to photograph kites! As you will be able to tell this is not a kite, but its easily the best shot I came away with today.

For the last couple of years I've wanted to get some shots of the rape seed fields in flower. Today I decided to try a couple of spots I'd previously scouted and although the weather wasn't ideal, the stormy skies contrast nicely with the bright yellow rape seed.