The essentials in my photography kit.

Guest post by Sheryn Ellis after her trip to Lake Eyre, outback Australia.

“It was soon apparent what I could and could not live without while travelling and photographing the outback…

The essentials in order of use:
• Canon 5D MII with battery grip;
• 24mm-70mm f2.8L lens: my favourite lens, I took at least 95% of my photos with this lens;
• Circular polariser: used at all hours of the day, only came off for star trails and when I didn’t want to ‘stack’ filters;
• Cleaning cloths: I always had one or two in my pockets at all time and every few shots was checking to see if dust and/or sand had blown onto my lens;
• Blower: used constantly to blow dust and/or sand off both the camera and the lens (used first to avoid scratching when wiping with a cloth). The blower was used every single time a lens change was made.
• Tripod: my Vanguard tripod was my first choice this trip, it’s lighter than my Manfrotto, easier to change from vertical to horizontal positions and I’m comfortable with the ball head. I’ve got to say I used my tripod more on this 8 day trip than in the previous 4 months.
• Lockable cable release: generally it was plugged in so that as soon as I put my camera on a tripod I was ‘good to go’! Definitely a must for star trails.
• LED Cap Light: a gift before my trip from another avid photographer. This is an awesome little light and should take off with photographers as it makes life so much easier once that sun starts to set.
• Second camera: Canon 20D – taken along for Michael to ‘play’ with but I did pinch it a couple of times rather than change lenses in the windy, dusty landscape.
• Lowepro camera bag: plenty of storage room, well padded and zips securely to keep out 99% of dust and debris.

After this trip I have promised myself that I WILL ‘practice what I preach’ – it is truly essential to keep all your kit clean and well maintained – I discovered on day one that my Manfrotto tripod, which has been floating in the back of my car for the last 5 months, had just enough sand in the head for it to have ‘fused’ itself on and it took several hours of frustration, WD40 and a screwdriver to get the tripod back in working condition.

My final tip is for ‘downloading’ on the go: ALWAYS check the number of files that you are downloading from your card to ensure it matches the number of files that actually download to your external hard-drive.

Photograph by Michael Ellis.
Birdsville Track, Cooper Creek detour road.
Sheryn standing on top of the ‘Pathy’ – anything to get that ‘shot’

Photograph by Sheryn Ellis.
Taken during a Wrightsair 2 hour scenic flight over Lake Eyre.
Canon 5D MII 24-70mm lens with circular polariser

Photographers Rights

This is now a serious issue. Have you the time to give and protect our rights as photographers?

Guest Post:
Earle Bridger

 I am organising a field trip to Sydney to take part in a rally that will protest against the continuing harassment and prevention of photographers taking photographs in public places. Read the press release below for details.

The coach will take 48 people from QCA Brisbane and pick up from QCA Gold Coast. It will leave AM on Friday 27th August and return PM on Monday 30th August.

The cost of the coach per person is $140. We will stay in hostel accommodation in Sydney (http://www.elephantbackpacker.com.au/) at $20 per night (including breakfast).

If you are interested let me know by Thursday so that I can secure bookings.

Earle Bridger
e.bridger@griffith.edu.au/

You should also Google details of similar action taken in the United Kingdom at
http://photographernotaterrorist.org/


Rally for Concerned Photographers

Ken Duncan is organising a Sydney rally to raise awareness about the eroding rights of photographers in Australia.

Australian photographers are losing their rights to freedom of expression. And it doesn‟t matter whether they are full-time professional, part-time or strictly amateur, as every person who has a camera can be threatened with unjust laws and regulations.

“We must be the only country in the world where you could get a criminal record for taking a picture of a rock,” said Ken Duncan, the Chairman of Arts Freedom Australia.

“And because of this shameful situation, I am asking photographers and other concerned citizens to protest against the undemocratic regulations which now restrict film-making and photography in many of our public places,” Mr Duncan added.

To this end, Arts Freedom Australia (AFA) will hold a rally near Campbells Cove on Sydney Harbour on Sunday, August 29th between 10am and 12 noon to reinforce its message. “We need to make the Australian public aware of this threat to our freedoms,” Mr Duncan said.

“Because I am sure that they will support our campaign.” Founded in 2004, Arts Freedom Australia is an umbrella body representing Australia‟s major photographic associations as well as many individual photographers. AFA was formed because of an industry-wide concern about government policies that were turning Australia into a land of “forbidden horizons”.

AFA has recently completed a comparative study of legislation and policies imposed on photographers and film-makers within Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America. “The result of this study demonstrates that the rights of Australian photographers and film-makers are being seriously affected by a myriad of rules and regulations that impose prohibitive restrictions, high fees, and bureaucratic application protocols,” Mr Duncan said.

“What we should have in this country are simple rules – like they have in America‟s national parks – which allow photography to be carried out in all places where the public can go.” Mr Duncan began his career as a landscape photographer more than thirty years ago at a time when access to beaches, national parks and other public lands was not an issue. “I was very lucky that I began my photographic career at a time when there were much greater freedoms than there are today,” Mr Duncan said. “But I want the young photographers of today and those who will succeed them in the decades to come to enjoy those same freedoms that I once had.”

Mr Duncan cites the photographic restrictions at Uluru, the “photographic licences‟ required in the national parks of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority Regulation 2006 and the onerous Use of Public Open Space regulations of Sydney‟s Waverley Council as attacks on freedom of expression.

“Australia has been a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights since 1980 and one of the articles of the ICCPR states that everyone has the right to freedom of expression and the right to impart information and ideas of all kinds whether it‟s in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media,” Mr Duncan said.

“However the bureaucrats who have drafted the new regulations restricting photography have clearly forgotten that”. Mr Duncan said that landscape photographers such as Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis helped to instil a pro-conservation mindset amongst Australia‟s people, while other photographers such as Max Dupain had produced iconic images that would be treasured for many decades to come. But he said that unless the draconian laws that were currently in place were not rolled back that all types of photography would be affected and that our society as a whole would be diminished as a result.

For more information or to arrange interviews, call Stephanie Wilson on (02) 4307 8402 or email swilson@kenduncan.com.
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