It's cold, Roger Hicks and another attack on snappers

24 January

Saturday dawned with a bright sunny sky and we thought about going out. Then Jan went out to feed the birds! Oh dear, far too cold to out on our scooters. I’m sorry to say that the cold really does have an effect on both of us. Jan was always feeling the cold; even a slight drop of a couple of degrees in the height of summer makes her feel cold. Now I feel it a lot too, with my hips feeling the brunt of it. So we are staying in at home, where the warmth and tea is free.

Have you ever heard of Roger Hicks? If not and you’re into photography then I would advise you to have a look at his website … www.rogerandfrances.com  I’ve read a number of his books and each week he writes an article in Amateur Photographer called Final Analysis. This week he looks at a photo by Gary Barat that shows a taxi and a swimmer wearing a snorkel. Well worth read that is. And remaining with AP …

Another article looks at the possible repercussion of a £10,000 award to Paul Weller and his wife over the Daily Mail publishing photos of their kids without permission. The big worry now is that they have started a petition to force publisher to pixilate photos of children before they are published. The House of Lords now has the petition now is looking at it. The repercussions of this if it brought into law is going to have a huge knock on effect on all photographers, and not just the pro snappers the press uses. The Dorktown News for example runs a ‘bouncing baby’ competition every year; that will no longer go ahead. Do you take a post photos of your kids on Facebook? If this becomes law, you won’t be able to. And so on …

Paul Weller is a name, a so-called ‘celebrity’. But why should they and their kids get special treatment? This incident happened in the USA but they took action in the UK because The Mail published the shots. At the moment, here in the UK, everyone has the right to take photos of anything and anyone out in the public. OK, you may need permission to take photos on private property but not in public. Does this remind you of anything?

It does remind of the deaths in Paris the other day where extremist tried to shut down the freedom of speech and expression in the press there. This yet another attempt by so-called civilised people with money trying to do just the same, but using the courts to do so. As pointed out in the magazine article, there is more than enough rules and regulations about privacy as it is, without this one. Enough is enough! We must all fight this one.

Seeing it’s Saturday, here’s my usual history snippet … Fancy a four-pack? Well if you do you can thank Krueger brewery in Virginia for bring out the first can is 1935.

Today’s photo is of part of a sweetie machine at Merry Hell.

           

Today’s funny …

As a first grade teacher, I often hear from my students things going on in their family. Harry’s mother was expecting, and naturally Harry was very excited about it. When one day Harry stopped talking about it I was concerned and questioned him why. “Well”, Harry said, “my mother told me I could feel the baby moving in her stomach, I thing she ate it!”