Photography

I used to do an occasional blog series about photo-blogs that I liked. That, as with most of my actual blogging, died a quick, yet painful death. When I started getting into flickr, I thought that I'd continue the same idea, but featuring flickr users. That didn't happen either.

Maybe this post will be the beginning of a long-running, oft-updated series of blog posts. Maybe...but I wouldn't hold your breath.

Anyway, I saw the above photo today and thought I'd share it with you. He's got some other great macro stuff in his 'plants & things' set, so definitely click through and check it out.

I noted the ongoing crackdown on photography at DC's union station, in LightBoxDC was there and posted about it:

Norton Schools Union Station Management on Photo Rights, Other Issues

Norton also reinforced the fact that Union Station, while hosting a mix of retail and other uses, remains public property. "The overriding public interest has never been in doubt: to provide the public access to a federally owned facility," Norton stated.

...

Station managers said they're working to fix the problem, but Norton branded management's approach "pathetic" and demanded immediate removal of their signs claiming Union Station is private property and that photography can be banned at their discretion.

The LightBoxDC post has links to more coverage. You can view the whole hearing here.

A while ago, security expert and all-around common sense advocate Bruce Schneier wrote the following essay. He posted it to his blog the day before Lori was born; thus the delay in my posting about it.

The War on Photography

Since 9/11, there has been an increasing war on photography. Photographers have been harassed, questioned, detained, arrested or worse, and declared to be unwelcome. We've been repeatedly told to watch out for photographers, especially suspicious ones. Clearly any terrorist is going to first photograph his target, so vigilance is required.

Except that it's nonsense. The 9/11 terrorists didn't photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid subway bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn't photograph the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The Unabomber didn't photograph anything; neither did shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Photographs aren't being found amongst the papers of Palestinian suicide bombers. The IRA wasn't known for its photography. Even those manufactured terrorist plots that the US government likes to talk about -- the Ft. Dix terrorists, the JFK airport bombers, the Miami 7, the Lackawanna 6 -- no photography.

It's quick and a must-read for anyone interested in photography or the erosion of our rights.

This brings to mind a couple of recent cases of security over-stepping their authority at DC's Union Station. First, was an NPR photographer who was testing some new equipment there when he was almost arrested. And then, while doing a report on photographers being hassled at Union Station, the camera crew of our local Fox affiliate was hassled by Union Station security.

Just stumbled upon nature photographer Nick Brandt's website. There's some pretty incredible stuff there. Definitely worth checking out (even if it is an annoying flash site...)

I mentioned in my last entry about working on my photography. If you want to check out some of my latest stuff, you can visit my photo biz's blog or check out my flickr stream. Also, the most recent few shots from my flickr stream are always at the bottom of this blog.