Pointless vanity project of the former Tabascokid

Another year, another political party conference. This time, it again saw me heading to the Labour Party conference. All of my previous years of conference work have been in either Bournemouth or Brighton so heading to the sunny climes of Manchester was the new twist on familiar photographic territory.

As a little background for anyone outside of the UK (or just uninterested in current affairs) the governing Labour Party are currently having a few problems. After years of solid economic stability and the glitz of Blair, his somewhat less media sparkly successor Gordon Brown is having the pleasure of dealing with the global collapse of banks and worldwide recession fears while avoiding potential leadership threats from his cabinet. All of this comes at the same time as his PR staff attempt to train him not to do that odd thing when he breathes and learning that, if used in a certain way, the muscles in the cheeks can form the mouth into what’s known as a “smile”.

While some of the residents were happy to see the Labour crew, including the personally terrifying Hazel Blears below, descend on Manchester..

..others weren’t so happy.

To make life easier, there are always certainties to every conference;

1. The Sky News Top Trumps cards (top of page) always make an appearance in the media room at some point with everyone scrambling to get a shot of this year’s key players.
2. The photographers will all do their utmost to make the words on the stage spell out insulting words about the speakers.
3. The politicians vs. media football match always takes place on the Sunday morning. This year as I joined Eddie Mulholland of the Telegraph and Charlie Bibby of the Financial Times in both having a hangover and needing to cover the match, the challenge was set of trying to get a shot of the Schools Secretary making contact with the ball using his head, therefore allowing assorted tabloids to use the headline “Ed Balls Heads Balls”. Nothing like a stupid challenge to get the brain clear in the morning.

The odd thing about conferences is that, as far as I can tell, not much happens but everything apparently changes. It allows politicians of whichever party is gathering to stand up and say how well they’re doing and how badly their opposition is faring, it allows local government campaigners to get two minutes of fame as they get applause for being councillor for “Little Bunting-on-the-Nork” (Population 6) and it allows journalists to marvel at how well it’s all going or gloat at the impending collapse of the party, depending on their employer’s political leanings. Nothing seems to really “happen”. My lack of spark could well have just been down to the present situation though as in previous years, Cherie would say a few controversial words, Blair groupies would walk around covered in badges and stalls would be handing out Gordon Brown hemp shopping bags but this conference was a very different affair.

Having just come from Cuba, where the only English-language station we could receive in our hotel room was CNN, it was clear just how different the political landscape is from our American friends. While analysts complain of the lack of voter motivation in this country, you only need to look at how similar the policies are in this country to get an idea of why the population doesn’t feel the need to get excited about politics. Yes, there’s the obvious clichés with Labour raising taxes, Conservatives cutting services and Liberal Democrats never making their mind up but when it comes down to it, a voter in the US has something in their party that they can get emotional about. Imagine how easy it is to feel passionate when one party says “Yay!” to abortion and the other declares you a murderer. Imagine how strongly you’d feel if one party told you that the gun you had in your house was your constitutional right and that there was a strong case for arming school teachers while the opposition suggested putting strict control laws on guns with occasional hints at an outright ban. You can start to understand why people in America are pictured in tears during their party leaders speech while in the UK, the sobbing only comes from the photographers crouched at the front who want it to end so they can stretch their legs properly. I could go on to ramble about my support for a legal requirement to vote, even if it’s just to spoil your card but then this would be straying even FURTHER from a photography blog so I’ll shut up now. ANYWAY…

With Alistair Darling and his amazing dancing brows making possibly one of the more sensible speeches of the week (essentially “If you want to get through a credit crunch, stop buying plasma screens on credit cards..”), it was over to David Miliband for what was expected to be one of the crucial events of the week. With metres of column space filled with speculation that he’s gunning for Gordo’s job, the media were dissecting his every word as he spoke. The lovely set designers gave us a nice opportunity to do the obligatory wordplay game and his incredibly exaggerated hand gestures every few seconds only added to the opportunites.

With Miliband out of the way, it was time for El Gordo to take centre stage. Ushered into the hall an hour before he was due to appear, the scramble for a decent spot took it’s usual course with everyone eventually settling into their 3 sq cm of floorspace. For some reason, while they spend so much on designing the sets and making everything run as smoothly as possible, the one thing that always blights these events is the light; 1600ISO at f3.2 and 250th on a 400mm lens does not make beautiful pictures. While other agencies are using the wonderfully sensitive Nikon D3, I’m still on Canon mk2n bodies that are really beginning to show their age. My 5d was brought out as it’s better in the dark but then I lose the ability to fire rapid bursts to catch kisses and unexpected gestures. The first reader to quote Cartier-Bresson and “wait for the Decisive Moment” at me gets a digital slap. Modern news photographers are PERFECTLY capable of capturing the decisive moment, thank you very much. It’s simply a case of deleting the other 9 frames from that second to locate it… *cough*

Well, the speech seemed to all go down reasonably well with no-one really able to criticise anything too much and thanks to his famously media-shy wife Sarah taking to the stage to introduce him, the next day’s papers were full of kisses and smiles and hugs. I’m guessing they’ll probably be reasonably happy with that.

As is often the case in news and particularly politics, a big story can come from a completely unexpected angle. On the final day, traditionally a quiet round up with a light-hearted but rousing speech from the deputy leader of the party, I was woken by an SMS alert of breaking news about Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly’s resignation. Shaking off the remnants of the media reception the previous night, new energy had to be summoned to head back into the hall to capture anything that could illustrate the rumoured unhappiness behind the scenes between Kelly and the boss. Thankfully, I managed to grab this frame which ended up in a few papers the following day. A nice end to the week.

If only I’d got Ruth to sign her Top Trumps card for me..

Going on holiday to Cuba during the hurricane season may not have been the wisest move but Kirsten and I always enjoy a challenge.  As the holiday got closer and the news channels talked of the damage from Hurricane Gustav and the impending impact of Hurricane Ike, we duly packed out flip-flops and headed to Havana.

First of all, Air France to Cuba.  Old planes, no in-seat screens for the 9.5 hour flight and tiny seats.  Travelling in cattle class on most airlines has improved to the point that it’s normally a bit squashed but acceptable but this was decidedly grim.  As Virgin is an option, I advise anyone making the journey to go the Branson route.

Havana is incredible.  All of the cliches are true but once you’re there, you realise that it really doesn’t matter as it’s so exceptionally cool.  With every second car being a 1950s classic, paint peeling from the retro architecture and a friendly population, you may try to resist falling into the groove of reshooting the old classic photos but I can officially say, it’s virtually impossible.

As the country is so poor, there is inevitably an issue with both begging and hassle from street traders.  With general rules such as never buying cigars or exchanging currency in the street, you also find that if you try to take a picture of anything, somebody somewhere will find that it belongs to them and, as such, you will be expected to pay them a peso or two.  Where a peso is currently only worth 60p, it should be remembered that the average monthly wage out there works out to be around £8.

Things to do:

• If you’re only staying briefly in Havana, the orientation tours operated by the hotels are worthwhile as you get to see various points and places on a quick tour so you’ll know where to head back to later.
• The Parque Central hotel is in a great location, is reasonably priced and has a roof-top pool.  Bingo.
• Take a ride in one of the classic American taxis (Grand Cabs) that are parked outside the Parque Central.  They cost slightly more than the regular cabs but come on, the choice of travelling in a stuffy peugeot or an open-top Chevrolet Bel-Air is a no-brainer..  The official cabs have blue licence plates.
• Have a meal at the Los Nardos restaurant near the Parliament building.  It may seem a bit dodgy as you climb the stairs once you enter, you realise you’re in a very popular and cosy restaurant.  My only word of advice once there, if you want a rare steak, go for a medium and so on.
• Head to El Floridita for a Daiquiri (but watch out for the expensive food) and Bodeguita del Medio for a decent mojito.

Things to avoid:

• The Parisien cabaret show wasn’t quite worth the £60 that we paid.  Considering what that converts to for the locals, we weren’t that impressed.  Plenty of other people there seemed happy enough but I guess it’s just not our thing.
• Be aware that if you take photos of the old men and women in the street with huge cigars in their smiling mouths, be aware that they’re there for your money so expect to get a few pesos for their troubles.

Heading down to Varadero, we moved to the all-inclusive Sol Palmeras hotel.  Now this is where I think, with hindsight, we would have gone for a different choice.  This isn’t because the place is terrible, more that it wasn’t really our kind of place.  The hotel aims at the kind of person who doesn’t plan on leaving the complex area  for their holiday and is happy to sit by the pool and learn all of the staff names.  Varadero is purely a hotel area so even if you do leave the area, there isn’t any particular town to go to.  Our opinion may have been different if Hurricane Gustav hadn’t recently blown through, churning up the sea, resulting in murky water at the beach.

After a few days, the warnings began to come with greater frequency on CNN and the hotel started to roll out it’s defences.  As the windows were boarded up and the coconut trees were trimmed back, we were given our warnings to keep away from the bedroom windows and settled in for the show.

When the time came, we ended up getting off rather lightly.  As the southern coast was washed away, we watched as our windows bowed in under pressure but thankfully held out.  Within an hour of Ike finally hitting, power was lost and we were soon running on the reserve generators.  With the air-conditioning out of action and a lockdown on the hotel for three days, cabin fever was held at bay by the new experience of watching the windows rattle in their frames and rain water running into our room.

A few days later and we could emerge from our smoky prison and continue our holiday with a catamaran trip to the white sands of Cayo Blanco and a quick dip at a dolphinarium in the middle of the sea.  Rather like something from Waterworld, we had the chance to desperately tread water as the dolphins wandered past us, occasionally close enough to touch.  My concerns for making sure it wasn’t going to be a dolphin-unfriendly kind of place seemed to be unfounded as the dolphins were allowed to swim away from us if they were feeling threatened or uncomfortable.

Before we knew it, it was time to head home.  Certainly an unusual holiday, Cuba provided some beautiful moments with some rather new experiences that weren’t advertised in the brochures!  In conclusion, I certainly advise anyone who’s considered heading out there to get to Havana as there’s no guarantee that it’ll remain the unique place that it is for many more years.

SO.. Earlier this evening I was pleased to be invited to Canon’s showroom in London for a preview of their latest offerings. While I had a look at the new 24mm f1.4 mkII lens and the Canon G10 powershot (much improved over my aging G7), the star of the evening was the new Canon 5D mk2.

First impressions are slightly underwhelming after such a build-up as the exterior design is very similar to the original version. However, putting on my best Clarkson voice, it’s what’s under the hood that matters.. (cue heavily grad-filtered shot of camera on a wet runway)

First up, upsides. The video function looks VERY good indeed. Thanks to the new improved screen on the rear, it really does look crystal clear. Never having moved to the mk3 body, LiveView is a new experience for me too. Anyone with a point and shoot camera will be surprised to find that not having to look through a viewfinder is a new experience for higher-end cameras but it’s only in recent releases that the function has been included. Handy for setting up shots from positions where you can’t get to see through the viewfinder such as over your head or mounted on a clamp/bracket. Anyway, back to the video, it is incredibly clear and sharp with no signs of fringing or digital distortion. This is one of the features that really excites me at the moment (steady on..)

Improving the burst rate from 3 to 3.9 frames per second may seem a small amount but I have to say it makes more of a difference than you would imagine. While I still maintain that 5 or 6 fps would have been perfect, 3.9 is definitely not a problem. While it’s too slow for sport, it now is a usable news camera rather than in the original version where the emphasis was more on portraits and less volatile coverage!

One of the features that I was interested to test for myself was the new uber-ISO range. Never seen on Canon before, the 25,600 ISO setting has made it’s debut on the 5dmk2. Shooting on the unfinished pre-pro models still proved impressive as very little noise was evident but I must say I was staggered to see a direct comparison with Nikon’s D3. In the test, it was clear that at 25600, the Canon retained more image detail than the Nikon. I didn’t imagine that the D3 would be nudged out of the way on ISO so quickly. While the Nikon is 12MP, the Canon holds more image detail on it’s 21MP chip, even on the pre-production unfinished model. Wowzers.

As these were all early pre-production models, I wasn’t able to take frames on my own cards to bring home and inspect. This is perfectly normal with all manufacturers at this stage so anyone wanting to throw doubts on possible problems will have to wait for the final release in November! Damn you, naysayers..

With this in mind, it’s impossible to give a full opinion on image quality aside from to say that it’s looking like it’ll shape up into a very interesting option.

Now, there are a couple of downsides to me but nothing really major. This centres around button placement. For one point, there is a button (fourth up on left, above) that is purely for quick access to the picture styles selection function. Having had a 5d for over two years now, I’ve maybe changed my “picture style” three times in that whole period. Placing a button in such an accessible spot is a wasted opportunity. My suggestion was to allow that to become a multi-function button so that the much-needed “image protect” button can finally reach the 5d series. Fingers crossed for a firmware addition..

Secondly, when shooting video currently, the camera must be in LiveView mode so the viewfinder becomes redundant. To start and stop the recording, the Set button (centre of large wheel to lower right of camera) must be pressed. From the regular camera holding position, this proves a little awkward but it may be something I could get used to. As autofocus is technically possible during video but not the best option, I’d be tempted to get a firmware option that reassigns the AF-ON button to be the start/stop function button for video use.

Both of these are minor issues that I may forget once I start using it but if they were easy to address through an update, I’d certainly be interested in the adjustments.

During the evening, the issue of a control lock was raised by some photographers but as I’ve never found this to be much of an issue, I can’t say I’m unhappy that it’s not been included in this new model.

In conclusion, I’m very interested in trying one of these out in anger when the time comes. Canon have still to address the need for a reliable fast sports camera that can rival the D3 but for everything else, I think we may have winner on our hands, people..

ADDITION 19-09-08

Following a few questions that I’ve received, I can explain that the video function looks set to be very handy but there are limitations. Aperture cannot be adjusted during filming manually but the camera will open out as wide as possible if needed during filming. It was suggested that if I used an old manual lens with an aperture ring plus a converter, it would be possible but I can’t see myself doing that really. During filming, if something happens that requires a still frame to be taken, pressing the shutter button will temporarily pause the video, take the frame then continue the video recording. The whole process takes about a second but once you finish the recording, the video file is not broken by your still capture as it remains one long file. Hope that answers some of the questions!

Having only just returned from my holiday in Cuba with my girlfriend and a hurricane, I’m mid-picture edit but thought I should post about this morning’s announcement of the new 5dmk2. Having totally changed the field of digital photojournalism on it’s initial release, the 5d’s successor has been the subject of miles of online debate, requests and conjecture for months now with today’s release seeing some proved correct with others WAY off the mark..

The new model is confirmed to have the following new features;

• ISO 50-25600
• Full HD 1080p video
• 21MP sensor
• 3.9 fps
• Larger 3.0″ screen
• Integrated cleaning system
• DIGIC 4 processor

Full information is included below but my first impression based on the details released is that it looks to be a fantastic camera if all goes well! 3.9 frames per second is a little slower than I’d hoped for as it won’t be usable for sport but the inclusion of video certainly makes up for it! 25600 ISO will be incredibly useful having used the high ISO on the Nikon D3 during trials a few months ago.

For those wondering about the sudden inclusion of video in the Canon and Nikon range, apparently Canon were considering putting video into the mk3 until they were told by the Olympic committee that if they did, photographers would be banned from trackside during the event as video was not allowed in the photographers area. They decided against it as they’d rather have their cameras used. It’s only after the Games are over that both Nikon and Canon are now releasing their video-enhanced new toys. Hope that makes sense of the situation to you.

I’ll be trying one out tomorrow so will hopefully have more of an opinion soon! If it’s as good as it could be, I think I know what I’ll be asking the boss for..

If you’re not into new toys, normal service will return soon..

Full details can be found on the Canon site here.