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Well it made me laugh!

The Life Magazine archive has been launched on Google. There are a host of classic images on  there, but it can be a bit hard to find them.

For those too young to remember, Life was a publication created by Henry Luce in 1936, with a strong emphasis on photojournalism. Life appeared as a weekly until 1972, as an intermittent “special” until 1978; and as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. Some of the most famous photojournalists from the twentieth century worked for the magazine, including W. Eugene Smith, Robert Capa and Margaret Bourke-White.

The search facility on the site seems to be a bit hit and miss at the moment. Search Tip: Add “source:life” to any Google image search and search only the LIFE photo archive. For example: eugene smith source:life

Amongst the gems to be found are the page layouts for Eugene Smith’s classic story  A Country Doctor . I will post other links as I find them.

There is an excellent example of a Soundslides presentation over on the Guardian web page. Jonathan Freedland narrates a half-hour documentary tracing Barack Obama’s remarkable journey to the White House, from his childhood in Hawaii, through his education in Indonesia and at Harvard. Accompanied by contemporary and archive pictures, plus reports from Guardian correspondents around the world.  Check it out.

Following on with the help theme, I am currently shooting pictures for a new project called, ‘Aging in the UK’.

The finished work will consist of a series of portraits, that illustrate both the positive and negative aspects of aging in the UK. I would particularly like to find people who are ‘catching up on lost time’, making the most of the time they now have after retiring. I am also looking for people who are having difficulties with things like, care or health.

Another area that I am keen to explore, is projects that make a positive contribution to peoples lives. These could be self help schemes or charitable organisations.

If you know anyone that would be happy to be photographed, please send me their contact details.

Thanks Martin

I am desperately trying to buy some books, for a course I am running. If anyone has copies of the following and would like to sell them, please contact me.

In Soccer Wonderland - Julian Germain

White Peak, Dark Peak - Paul Hill

The Guardian online, has an interesting video introduction to the current exhibition ‘War in the East, War in the West,’ at the Barbican by Critic Geoff Dyer. The exhibitions explore conflict through the eyes of photojournalists Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, as well as contemporary photographers and film-makers documenting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I have to admit that since going 100% digital I have become obsessed with backing up my images. I still get an income from images I took on film, over twenty years ago. So I understand the importance of preserving my pictures. Using software SyncBackSE I have now automated the process.

I recently built a new computer, so decided I wanted to take the luck out of making backups. In the past I have manually copied files, but sometimes I was not as diligent as I should have been. With my new PC I have three hard drives. One for programs (System), one for images and important data such as Adobe Lightroom catalogues (Data)  and one that just mirrors the Data disk (Backup). So at any given time I always have at least two copies of images on my computer, as well as DVD backups that I make. The Backup drive is also in a caddy and removable, so that if I am away from home I can store it off site.

The backup process can be initiated from a keystroke or is automatic on shut down. The software is very easy to use and has been completely reliable. Available for Windows machines, with a 30 day free trial! Mac users may want to check out Time Machine.

Being a Pocket Wizard user I thought I would post this handy video to show how to set them up.

The Pocket Wizard is a radio, flash or camera trigger with an amazing range. Useful for getting rid of those trailing wires that I always manage to trip over!

This image of winding wheels at Marine Colliery was taken at night with two off camera flash units, fired with radio triggers. The furthest was about 70 mts away from the camera position (located behind the front wheel).

UK-based photographer Nick Turpin, has posted an interesting video which illustrates, how he shot a series of portraits of thriller writers for Arena Magazine.

Nick Turpin shoots Portraits of thriller writers for Arena Mag from Nick Turpin on Vimeo.

As he often shoots in cities, he tends to use assistants rather than lights stands to hold his flashes (sometimes refered to as VALs voice-actuated lightstand)!

Check out the images on his website.

Lightroom Version 2

Adobe have recently launched an upgrade to Lightroom. Whilst there has been a beta version of the program for some time, the new release offers even more functionality.

Lightroom is a program that allows you to manage your photographic collections on your computer and edit them.

Whilst I used the first version,with this release the software has really come of age. New features include:

• Local adjustment brush
• Enhanced organizational tools
• Volume management
• Multiple monitor support
• Flexible print package functionality
• Streamlined Photoshop CS3 integration
• Enhanced output sharpening
• 64-bit support for Windows® and Mac OS

It’s not often I get excited by a new software release but I have to say this program has become invaluable. I probably used version 1 for about 40% of my output compared to Photoshop. However this has dramatically changed, it probably accounts for at least 85% of my output now. I would go as far as saying if you are considering buying editing software, go for this before you buy Photoshop.

Two gripes though! For the program to become the complete photography tool it needs softproofing. Also the upgrade price for Europeans is up to 50% higher than in USA.

If you are learning Lightroom there are some excellent online resources:

Lightroom Killer Tips

Photoshop User

Scott Kilby’s Blog

Sean Mcfoto

For a free guide to Keyboard Shortcuts check out Victoria Bampton’s site.