Lightning Jet decaying beside the A1 near Newark

If you’re unfamiliar with the story, here’s how I recall it, but feel free to add your own comments. The land was originally a scrap yard and the Lightning’s sad fate was the same as many cold war jets – a spectacular, eye catching gate guardian strategically positioned close to the main route to promote the owner’s business. The reason for the skyward angle of the nose was that the engines, radar and pretty much everything else had been removed, shifting the centre of gravity and making the poor jet tip backwards onto it’s tail.

And there it sat for decades. I’m told the owner’s business eventually folded, but for reasons unclear to me, the jet remained on site. Now devoid of any last remaining protection, vandals moved in, decimating the airframe further, adding graffiti and chopping holes.

Like many people with a love of aviation and fond memories for Lightnings taking off, tearing the air apart making a sound like like a silk sheet ripping, I was saddened every time I drove by.

But now that it’s gone, I’m sadder still. For sure, it was beyond restoration, but I’d seen it as a tough old survivor, resolutely remaining despite the local youths best attempts. So it’s probably now gone forever, melted, recycled and forming part of a drinks can somewhere in the world. If you know otherwise, feel free to add your comments, I’d be interested to hear what others thought of it.

Vandalised Lightning jet near Newark

Lightning jet pointing skywards beside the A1M near Newark

This forms the first of a series of blog posts about a personal project I’m calling Dead Metal, which I’ll write some more about this coming month.

Restoring my faith in quality programming - BBC's Frozen Planet

I’m truly blown away by the quality of the camera work on Frozen Planet. The dedication, skill and patience required to achieve the footage can only be imagined. The BBC Frozen Plant website has a whole section dedicated to showing how the programme was made, showing the producers, directors and cameramen who are undoubtedly at the top of their game.

People I know who have no interest in photography, film making, wildlife or cold temperatures have all been talking, without prompting, about how much they enjoy Frozen Planet. And the one thing they all comment on is the quality of the camera work. It’s gratifying to know that in these fast moving times of camera phones and grainy YouTube videos people still recognise great photography.

If you haven’t seen it, Frozen Planet is syndicating it’s way around the globe. Reality television at it’s best.

This video is around 16 minutes long. OK, I know, YouTube viewers get bored after 2 minutes, but watch it right through, it’s good. The video documents what happened when six professional photographers and accompanying videographers set out into London to photograph in a public place.

It documents the two parties that are the bane of my life in my line of work – the Security Suit and the Hi Res Vest Man. Working photographing cars on location and buildings plus working around moving aircraft and helicopters when shooting aerial photography, we encounter this phenomenon on a regular basis. The level of ignorance and suspension of simple common sense beggars belief sometimes, together with throwaway, vague comments using buzzwords and phrases such as “Health and Safety, Mate” and “Terrorism Act, you know about 9/11, right?”

If I really did wish to covertly film a building, there are literally dozens of more discrete cameras than a Canon 1DS or, as one of the photographers in the video had, an 8×10 plate camera.

When I’ve raised this issue with friends and family unfamiliar with the law, the response is often “But surely they have a point? 9/11, July bombings and all that” The average person is quite rightly concerned about their personal security, so they pay little attention when seeing a photographer being challenged by a Hi Res Vest, simply assuming “Photographer = Pedophile / Paparazzi / Terrorist” That sweeping generalisation is right up there with thinking “Lamborghini = Footballer / Drug Dealer”

So watch this video, because there’s some great stuff. The Suits and the Vests are made to look like the ill-informed fools that they are and the Police show that these days they’re well up to speed on the laws on photography in a public place, displaying politeness and professionalism.

Finally, I was at a lovely grass airsrtip in Yorkshire a couple of months ago and I asked if Hi Res vests were needed airside, “No dear”, said the lady. “If you walk into a propellor, it will still kill you, Hi Res or not”.

I removed watermarks from all of the images in my portfolio last year. I’m not a fan, I believe it degrades from the impact of the image and smacks of a petty mindedness on the photographer’s part, a Scrouge-like mentality that EVERY usage must be paid for with a big fat fee, which isn’t what I’m all about. Seeing your work being used, a lot, is very satisfying.

Anoying, distracting watermarks - I hate them...

So why have I re-introduced them?

Sadly, because within a few short months, I discovered my work appearing all over the internet on commercial websites whose owners really should know better. You’d think it a good thing and I should be flattered that my work is used elsewhere, but that isn’t the point, so here’s my viewpoint:

Want to see my work without a watermark? No problem. Want to talk to me about work, but want to see some high resolution images? No problem. Drop me a line and talk to me about your project. I’ll create a selection of work that I think fits in with your ideas and we can get together and work out some figures.

Want to use my work on your company website or your blog? No problem, here’s my rules:

If you’re a not-for-profit blogger, a car or photography enthusiast and want to use an image, I’m very flattered. You’ll be able to find it in my archive. All you need to do are two things:

1. Drop me a line and ask. It’s polite and if it’s a non-commercial use, it’s rare that I’ll say no.

2. Link back to me and credit the image. Simply add the words “copyright Neill Watson’ below the image and link back to me at http://www.neillwatson.com. fill out this form, drop me a line and I’ll send over a watermark-free, web resolution image for you. All I ask is for you to credit me as the creator and link back to my site. To link back, simply copy and paste the code below:

Image – NeillWatson.com

If you’re a commercial company and want to use my work, online or in print, I really appreciate it. Drop me a line with your ideas and we can figure out a usage fee. You can read more about how I price my work on this page. It’s a really simple system that uses a simple formula for a fee based upon the use – Little use = little fee, larger use = larger fee.
If you’re an experiened buyer of imagery, you’ll be totally at home with the system. If you’ve never used photography before, don’t worry, drop me a line and we’ll talk you through it.

Glasgow Rangers football supporter, Manchester 2008

I’d be the first to admit that I’m NOT a football photographer or a football fan. In fact, you can comfortably write on the back of a postage stamp my total knowledge of the game. So when I got a call about covering it, I was dubious.

However, it turned out that it wasn’t coverage of the game that was needed, but scenes of the giant street party taking place outside the ground in the streets of Manchester city centre. The final publication was to be a Scottish celebration of Rangers’ road to the European Cup Final showing the (hopefully) celebrations of victory. So it was to be a long day, with scenes of people arriving, celebrating as the day went on and coverage of the celebration / commiseration at the end of the evening.

So how do you prepare for a long day like that? Well first, I didn’t relish the prospect of muscling through crowds with a Lowepro on my back, so I broke out my trusty belt system from Camera Care Systems. They’ve been making superb kit for photo and TV broadcast crews for decades, but I’m told they may be closing soon, which will be a tragedy. A quick dry run with Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS in a long pouch on one hip, the 17-40 f4 mounted on the Canon 1DS body, Canon Speedlight and batteries, spare camera battery packs and other stuff like Lee Filters distributed into the other pouches on my other hip and I was sorted. Balancing stuff out and trying to keep it close to your hips is the best way to use these systems. It means that you can run quickly if needed. Fix it on your behind and if you fall, you’ll crush whatever is there, on the front and when running, you can guarantee you’ll get a 70-200 f2.8 right in the family jewels when you’re sprinting. Eye watering.

Rangers Football Fan, Manchester 2008

People often say “How do you keep track of which cards you’ve shot in a situation like that?” Simple. Left zipped pocket fresh cards, right zipped pocket, full cards. Sorry if it sounds boring with no funky numbering system, but it always works for me. I’d been warned that it had been many many years since Rangers had had an occasion like this to celebrate, so it was going to be a big, big party. “I’ll be like nothin’ else you’ve ever seen, mate” says publisher Stuart, “You’re gonneah love it…” Here’s how the day panned out:

9.00 am Judging by the traffic jam heading into Manchester he was right. Found a long-stay not too far away from the town centre and started heading in amongst the already building throng of Glaswegians having a breakfast of McDonalds and lager.
10.00 am Hooked up with Stuart for a group shot of his party, dodging the happy hangers on that kept jumping into the shot. Stuart explains that to Ranger’s fans, this is a religion right up there with the most devout. You’re a Ranger’s fan for life. Not only that, there are various ‘chapters’ of Rangers fans that love or hate each other, but still support the club. A bit like Hells Angels, then, but Scottish and with footballs….
11.00am. The square where the cinema sized TV’s will play is filling up. One of several scattered around the city, vantage points are grabbed, fans hanging from the strangest places. Quite how they’re going to remain there for the next nine hours is beyond me.
12.00 There’s been an endless stream of people, mildly drunk, all looking at my camera and saying, “Hey, Big Yin! You Gonnea Take Mah Photey?”

Lunch Break for a Rangers football fan.... You gonna take mah photey....?

1.00pm Time for a Subway and some water, it’s now bright sunshine and bloody hot at mid day, but the fans are happy bunnies, all turning a lovely lobster pink in the sunshine, having a great time. In fact the atmosphere is very carnival – like. Very drunk, but good natured.
2.30pm Head up towards the football ground to try and find some St Petersburg fans, didn’t realise what a long walk it was. Passed through another town square along the way with more large TV screens. Not such a good atmosphere here, for some reason, didn’t shoot much at all and kept walking through.
3.30pm. Made it to the ground. Not much to see for my trouble, what St Petersburg fans that were visible were implausibly well dressed and made it quite clear they did not want to be photographed…..
4.00pm. Head back down into the town centre, disappointed that such a long hike was fruitless and manage to grab a bus ride and rest my legs
4.30pm. Still four hours until kick off. Time to chill out and rest my legs as I head back over to the first location I found. Find a corner and take the load off…
5.15pm. Another Subway (it’s the closest, in the corner of the square) and work my way through the crowd to the photographers pit at the foot of the stage. I’ve no pass, but got the mobile number of Manchester Council’s main organising guy who gave me a verbal nod. Mentioning his name to the security gets me some space behind the barrier and a location to shoot back at the crowd from.
5.30. And what a crowd. There must be over ten thousand people stuffed into the small town square now, bodies hanging from the most improbable places.
6.00pm Some guys from Press association arrive, tasked with shooting the run up to kick off and the first half. They’re chilled out and waiting, we chat about work and how his 3G dongle turns to a pile of plastic scrap as soon as he moves outside of the M25.

For my next trick.... Rangers football fans in Manchester city centre, 2008

7.15pm We’re all shooting crowd scenes as the band plays, nudging and pointing at people hanging from the architecture at implausible angles. I couldn’t get there if I were sober, so I’ve no idea how they made it… or how they’re going to get down…
8.00pm One of the PA guys takes a call on his mobile. “It’s all kicking off around the corner…..” It turns out that in another square, the large screen displays have failed. Disaster. You can only imagine the frustration of 10,000 Rangers fans who’ve waited 20 years to see their team at a European cup final, only for someone to unplug the TV as the game starts….. Trouble is brewing and the PA guys head off to cover it. I stay put.
9.00pm Half time and while the trouble nearby hasn’t spilled over here, it’s not going too well, as Rangers are losing and not looking like really getting into the game at all. I’m hearing constant reports of trouble in the surrounding streets and I’m torn. On one hand, it’s perhaps time to be gone, but on the other, as evening draws in and their team are losing, the emotion on the fan’s faces is making great images. I keep shooting.

View from the losing side....

10.00pm It’s all over. Rangers lost. The fans despair and now it really is time to get the hell out as the more frustrated start throwing glass bottles at the TV screens and it’s now getting ugly where we are too. I’m glad of the CCS belt system as in the dark streets, you really can’t see it, plus I tie my jacket around my waist to conceal it further and slip out of as corner of the square, past riot police waiting up the side streets.
10.20pm Finally back at the car, cameras in the footwell just beside me, I drive out of Manchester and leave the clear up to the police and the city council. Quite a day. Driving home, I get a call from Stuart checking I’m OK. He’d been in the stadium and unable to leave.

Not quite what Rangers were hoping for....

You can see an edit of the day uploaded onto my image archive, now available to licence. It was quite a day and not one that makes me any more of a football fan than I was before hand! Still, it was an experience.

Ok, there’s something strange going on here and I think we should be told… Within just a few days of each other, two leading proponents of independent film making and video DSLR’s have both posted on their blogs about the cost of film making. No big deal, I hear you say, money makes the world go round in film making. But just take a look at those headshots… I think we should be told.

Will the real Vincent LaForet please stand up?

He makes a valid point that many films with huge budgets should in fact, cost not more that £500,000 “In 2010 there’s been a tidal wave of new technology – particularly the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, a camera that costs £1,500 and yields images like 35mm film [used in cinemas]. The digital equivalent would have cost £100,000 only a year ago. You don’t need expensive cameras any more.”

Across the Atlantic, Vincent LaForet’s blog post comes at it from another angle. He warns against the current excitement at making great movies and then proudly boasting that it was made for just a few thousand dollars is a BAD thing. He’s the first to admit that his Reverie video was make in just such as way and that they have a place, but that it’s important to value yourself and not work for food. His final comment makes sense:

Value yourselves as filmmakers. Don’t sell yourself short. Your skills are in high demand, and they are worthy of appropriate compensation.

I’d urge you to read both blog posts in full. Chris Jones has many hard truths about the ‘old guard’ of film making and his blog is full of ways to make and distribute your own movies. Vincent LaForet’s blog has been a mecca for Canon DSLR video makers ever since Reverie signaled the beginning of the change in the ways that video and movies are made. Their views on budgets also make perfect sense, take a read….

Finally, I have no excuse for embedding this after seeing it on Vincent’s Blog. You know that feeling..

My new website design is gradually springing into life over the next ten days with several changes to make it easier for people to see what I do and also several exciting developments to help make it more future proof. Anyone who knows me will know that I regularly design websites for a wide variety of clients, so when it came to my own website, how come I didn’t design my own?
Several reasons, really, so if you’re a photographer / writer out there full of indecision on which way to jump with your website design, my thoughts below will hopefully be useful.
Firstly, as I started looking through my back catalogue of images, I realised that I was actually just scratching the surface of the material I have available and I wasn’t making the best of it. I regularly receive requests for stock images that I nearly always answer and deal with manually. But I knew I was missing business as buyers want to licence and download images immediately. I needed a way to market my work direct to buyers.
Secondly, I’ve been writing features since 2002 and I retain copyright to everything I create. I have an archive of interesting features sitting there. I wanted to showcase more of my writing and syndicate content in an effective way.

So the cunning plan was forming. I’d opened an account with Photoshelter a while ago, but only used it for password protected client areas. I was missing a trick here, as it’s a very powerful tool (The Photoshelter blog is full of really really useful information on both photography marketing and SEO tips, I’d urge you to read it). Photoshelter also have several partners they’ve teamed up with and their partner Graph Paper Press impressed me right away with their WordPress templates.They allow you to create a photographer’s portfolio website out of a WordPress install. You can read over on my web design blog how I made all this come together, but I’m blown away by their designs and the technical support they offer.

I was also thinking of moving this blog across from it’s own sub-domain and incorporate it into the main domain name, but for now, I’ve decided against this. There’s no right or wrong answer on this one, I don’t think, so for now it’s staying here.

There’s a whole range of other things I’ll be discussing on this blog over the next few months concerning photography & video, writing, driver coaching and the thorny issue of self publishing. First, though, I’ve got to finish off that Photoshelter / WordPress integration…… My head hurts.’

Last time I grabbed a Canon EOS 1D4, it was in a winter period when there was little happening on the car photography front, so the test I did back then concentrated on it’s low light capabilities. But I was still interested to see what it brought along to a car photo shoot, where outright speed is not vitally of the essence, but accurate AF and consistent results are what’s needed. I’ve been asked several times for a quick follow up from the original article, so sorry it’s a bit late!




Fast forward to last month when Phil Raby at Total 911 tells me we’re going to be shooting two icons, a Porsche 959 and Ferrari 288 GTO. A quick call to the guys at The Flash Centre in Leeds nabs their demo 1D4 for the days of the shoot, 1DS packed as a spare and off we go.

I’ll write later about the cars, they are simply stunning and thanks must go to Specials Cars in Malton for arranging the access, plus writer Kevin Hackett’s patience at standing around waiting when all he really wanted to do was launch over the horizon on the quiet North Yorkshire roads.

I’ve been using my Canon 1DS for this work pretty much since I went digital. It’s like my favourite pair for trainers by now. If you’re a 1D series user, you’ll be able to pick up a 1D4 and use it without opening the manual. All the main controls are exactly where you’ll instinctively feel for. However, once the newness wears off, you’d do well to download some of the PDFs from Canon’s European website that walk you through the advanced customisation features.

What I was most interested in was the AF performance in tracking shots. Shooting from car to car, with a slow shutter speed for motion blur but a pin sharp car, inevitably has a high failure rate. The 1DS is generally OK, but sometimes the AF will hunt for no reason and then just as the composition falls into place in the viewfinder, you get the dreaded “BUSY” in your eye as the buffer fills and the camera writes out to the card….. Frustrating until you learn to pace your shooting so as not to choke the buffer. Not so the 1D4. No chance of filling the buffer, even at the maximum burst rate. In fact, on tracking shots, the burst rate is so high, it’s easy to have too many ‘similars’. Better to turn down the firing rate slightly and keep recomposing the shot.

As for the AF, there’s no doubt it’s the best system I’ve tried yet, with far fewer failures due to AF errors. This is probably down to the fact that I set the AF to ‘surrounding points’ which takes into account the area immediately adjacent to the AF point you need. On low angle tracking shots, where you’re not looking through the viewfinder, but holding the camera down near the road, there’s no doubt it gives a greater hit rate. Read more about the AF adjustments for the 1D4 on the Canon Europe website.

The only thing I’d be critical of, and it’s purely personal, is that for the first time, I found myself missing my full frame sensor. I always shooting tracking shots at the wide end of my 17-40 zoom and several times, with the 1.3x crop I found myself struggling to get both cars in frame, leaning back into the camera car to try and fit them both in and still give the empty space the guys doing the layouts will need. Canon would do very well with a non-EFS lens similar to Nikon’s 12-24 at a price point of around £500 – £700. They do have the amazing, stunningly sharp 14mm, but at £2500, beyond the reach of many. A mental re-adjustment after the first run down the road and some hand signals to Kevin and it was forgotten.

Static shots we handled using Elinchrom’s Rangers with a Skyport trigger on the 1D4, no problems. Shooting a glossy brilliant white Porsche 959 against the matt black of Yorkshire Air Museum’s hangar doors was a challenge, the black background sucking the power out of the lights, but the more powerful Rangers were able to keep up. My preference is normally for the smaller Quadra, but the Ranger certainly allows the lights to be set further back for a given output, something that can be useful for multi-car shoots.

If you’d like to see the how the shoot shaped up in the magazine, grab Issue 63 of Total 911 or download their new iPhone app to read it on your iPhone or iPad.

The history of our armed forces is a subject close to my heart. Forget the politics, I just appreciate the sacrifice that ordinary people have made over the years. Last week, I was shooting background plates for a new website project for The Yorkshire Air Museum’s new site, going live in April. In the edit, this shot leapt out at me. Not because it’s technically perfect, far from it. In fact it was just a fire-from-the-hip shot and I’ll re-shoot it again later.
But it brought home to me the loneliness of the rear air gunner position in a World War Two bomber. Add in the shuddering statistic of a life expectancy of around two weeks and it made the hairs on my neck rise….