Watch This Space - Bookshop On The Move

We don't normally advertise other people's business here at the shop, but here is an exception for our photographic customers:

Boffins Bookstore is in the process of shifting its premises in Perth. It has occupied a position on Hay Street for decades and has established itself as the premier technical bookstore in the state. Actually it has outlasted most of its competitors, but done so by dint of good stock and good service.

I believe it is going to open again in William Street in the central block opposite Wesley Church with larger floor space and more departments. As I pass the site on the bus in the morning I eagerly look to see when it will open. Hurry, guys, hurry...

All this being said, I would encourage all of the Camera Electronic clients to look down the back of our place at the book shelf near the back door. We will be stocking it with lots of odd secondhand titles that pertain to photography. You can get a lot of ideas - some of them good ones - from books, and you can learn far more than the limited attention-space of the internet will present.

Note: I must confess a personal interest in Boffins. My daughter spent years working with them when she was a student and I have spent hours and dollars in there. My bookshelves at home groan with the produce of this shopping. No book has ever been unprofitable...

What's It All About, Alfie? A Photographers Cri de Coeur.

There must be a reason we take photographs, right? A good reason - after all, we're not morons who just run around in a circle on the carpet clutching a DSLR, right? Well, not a small circle, anyway...

I asked around the shop today and it looks as though there is quite a list of reasons:

1. " I can't draw but I wish I could ".
2. " I can draw but I'm lazy ".
3. " I do it to collect the pictures. Once I get them all I'll move on to beer bottle caps ".
4. " I do it to collect the pictures of Edith Cowan that the government prints ".
5. " I do it to get out of the house ".
6. " I take pictures to keep the camera in use ".
7. " I need to take pictures of the children ".
8. " The children need to take pictures of me ".
9. " I want to record the alien space ships that hover above my farm ".
10. " I need to test lenses. So that I will be able to post arguments on internet forums. Do you want to see my pictures? Why not? ".
11. " My father was a photographer ".
12. " I know a photographer ".
13. " A photographer knows me ".
14. " I need pictures for work ".
15. " I need pictures that work ".
16. " I need work ".

I am still a little leery of some of the reasons that we hear for certain purchases...the camera mount that would allow a video camera to be mounted in a sports bag for covert filming was the most recent one that curled my toes.

 I am more than happy to sell beauty dishes to anyone - even if the prospect of beauty is slim. You can always hope, can't you.

Many Thanks

A cheerful thank-you to the phone caller who explained what synch cords are. I have been puzzling about what those things are since 1965. By Golly, you learn something every day...

Apparently these cord things go from a radio trigger to a flash gun. I am amazed, because I normally use lycopodium power spread out in a tray and ignited with a flintlock mechanism to provide the studio flashes. The idea of hooking up one of Mr. Marconi's wireless sets to this seems revolutionary.

Quite how the Packard shutter on the studio Calotype camera operates the transmitting key of the Marconi machine is still unclear. I daresay the young man will explain it when he comes in later in the day.

I hope he remembers to shout into my ear trumpet...

Click On Us - And Get A Surprise

A friend who follows these blogs contacted me via the Facebook system yesterday to tell me that he was getting a surprise when he tried to read the blog - it shuffled him off to a sex site.

Most annoying. And a bit of a professional challenge. After all, how can I compete with the various things displayed on a sex site - busty, dusty, dusky, or damaged - if my resources are limited to the contents of our photography shop. I realise that our staff have their charms but I am hesitant to uncover them...

Please rest assured that the management here have no interest in sex. The sales staff have no interest in sex. The repair technicians have no interest in sex. The writer of this blog has no interest in sex. We are moral and straight-laced and buttoned up to our chins in sensible woolen garments.

The answer will lie somewhere in the complex computer system that runs the web - someone somewhere has thrown the thing in and until the IT chap comes back and exorcises it you might get sex or gambling or cheap medications. And Nigerians. " Hello Dear, This is Precious Imbubu..." All you can do is keep the firewalls up and hope for the best.

Meanwhile, if you are running a bit low on hysteria, fraud, and Grumpy Cat, may I recommend an hour on Facebook? You'll never get that hour back in your life but you will get to see what a lot of your friends have had for lunch.

Uncle Dick

Copy....Right?

Is there anyone out there amongst our clientele who does not know what the orange symbol on the blue ground is? Anyone at all? Good. We all know it is the copyright symbol.

Or was that copywrite? Or copywright? Or coffeeryte?

This sort of doubt does seem to affect some people - particularly some of the people who receive our images. Being confused, they can sometimes attempt to resolve the problem by copying the images and then altering them and publishing them to suit their own purpose. Quite a discovery for the originator of the image to make, particularly if it is sent to him for admiration...a blood pressure sort of discovery.

Having just resolved one of these incidents, hopefully in a gentle manner, I have resolved in future to make sure that each batch of images that goes out will have some indication of what I expect in terms of copyright respect.

1. For a direct delivery of something that has been contracted and paid for like a wedding or a portrait session there will be a statement on the disc:

" Here you go. Yes, that IS you. Yes, you were holding your mouth like that - it's not Photoshopped.
You own the copyright and you can do whatever you want with it. Good luck."

That seems professional enough.

2. For the non-descript sort of job - done for a mate or a mate's mate - or for the social club:

" These images are held within the copyright of the _ _ Studio. Do not copy, distribute, or publish them without the express permission of the _ _ Studio. Really. Don't."

With a bit of luck that should limit the disc burning to a small circle of two hundred and may prevent the most embarrassingly lame images from going viral.

3. For the images that are likely to fall into the hands of other photographers:

" These images are under the copyright of the _ _ Studio. Tempting as it may seem to erase the backdrop of the group shot and strip in another one that suits your ideas, please remember that the image you are altering is backed up by an NEF file with full metadata and a cheap solicitor who is hanging out for an excuse to make trouble. Megabytes of trouble. Take your own pictures."

Of course the threat of legal trouble is nothing but hot air, at least at the prices that the legal profession charges. If the _ _ Studio was working for Ford Motors and the Chevy people pinched images we might expect a real battle but that is unlikely to be the case. The most one can hope for is to at least alert the ....ummm..."derivative artist"...that you are aware of your own work.

4. For the images that are really bad - that hurt the recipient and cause general depression and disgust:

" These images were taken by_ _ _ and their address is _ _ _ _. What are you going to do about it, Loser?"

You can insert the name of any other studio in the blanks. This makes a nice "Welcome to the profession" gift for a new graduate.

Uncle Dick, proprietor of the _ _ Studio