Its been raining non-stop for almost 7 days and gloom is in the air. Do Scandinavians, Norwegians and polar bears feel depressed and 'slow' like I've been this week? I'd be suicidal if this carries on much longer.......I understand its like this for 2-3 months in Finland.

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We never had to upgrade firmware on our manual cameras....nor do they take on a life and mind of their own. Some comments from users having misbehaving digital cameras (brand name witheld)

Friend Kevin Bjorke sent me an email (as a Canon G5 user) ..."Hey, did you know that there's a fuse in the Canon G-series that will spontaneously blow-out? It's way inside the circuitry and not worth fixing. If yours ever locks up, that's it."

OK so no more holding on to unfilled warranties for me in the digital age...

From a happy (previously) digital camper...."Mine's worse.. first it gets stuck in view mode, can't change to any other mode, then after i took out the battery and put it back in a few hours later, I can go to photo taking mode.. but it's stuck in the motion mode, i can't access menu .. (ok button can press, but can't go into menu and others) .. can't adjust flash..nothing else works. Just can press the button to shoot.

It still stays like that.. then suddenly the macro mode will turn on by itself.. But thank good ness at least can capture photos.. without being able to change to any mode.. so now it stays at P mode.. even i turn the dial to play mode, doesn't work. The only way i can view is to press quick view....In that mode i can't even delete the F******** photo ..."

Followed by new-age advise from another techie....."Please do a check which software version is your camera using."

Whatever happened to "good knock above the prism should fix it" or the mallet?

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Nikon's Coolpix website slogan...... "if the Picture Matters, the Camera Matters" .....the BS one tells to turn a couple of bucks these days...

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After SARS and the recent flu epidemic in December.....it now seems like East Asia's going to be hit by a super strain of the Bird Flu
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The office invited our annual Chinese New Year lion dance troupe to do its thing (dance around and throw vegetables and peeled oranges....generally causing a mess as lions are supposed to do) to evict all bad luck and to invite good fortune into our business. The thundering drums and cymbals at close proximity rocked the hoots out of my underwear as I was quietly going about working on contract details in an adjoining meeting room....first thoughts were "September 11....and...who's going to inherit my cameras?"

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Most people consider a fart as disgusting. A friend from Bangkok married his Thai girlfriend because she'd thought his farting hilarious.......his own account..."...I was stunned and amazed! A woman who thinks farts are funny!!! At that moment I knew I was in love, utterly and hopelessly in love with the lass, and I asked her to marry me the next night...."

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Horsing around aside, I read the latest installation of Shahidul News with great interest.

Feb in Bangladesh will be a month free of censorship in political opinions where the government allows that society a free reign on its people's voices and stands.

Another reminder on the strength of the photograph and its growing dark powers to convince and/or lie...

Quote:

" Photography, more than any other media or art form has influenced culture. Photographs in particular take on the dual responsibility of being bearers of evidence and conveyers of passion. The irrelevant discussion of whether photography is art has sidelined the debate from the more crucial one of its power to validate history and to create a powerful emotional response, thereby influencing public opinion."

"The more recent discussions, and fears, have centred on the computer's ability to manipulate images, subsuming the more important realisation that photographs largely are manufactured by the image industry, one that is increasingly owned by a corporate world. The implied veracity of the still image and its perceived ability to represent the truth hides the ubiquitous and less perceptible manipulation enabled by photographic and editorial viewpoint."

"Not only can we no longer believe that the photograph cannot lie, we now need to contend with the situation that liars may own television channels and newspapers and be the leaders of nations. Given the enormous visual reach that the new technology provides, the ability to lie, is far greater than has ever been before. Photography has become the most powerful tool in the manufacturing of consent, and it remains to be seen whether photographers can rise above the role of being cogs in this propaganda machine and become the voice for the voiceless." end quote

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I had lunch with Jed Wee earlier this week. Jed's an active and voiceferous moderator at clubsnap.org who had recently graduated with a Law degree from the UK. Its been about 4 years since we last caught up with one another.

For the last 18 months, he's been working for a small UK agency based in Newcastle doing what many consider a dream job.... he covers the English Premier League soccer games often feet away from footballing geniuses (and sometimes thugs)

So there we were in the cafe.... a sports shooter.....a 500mm lens samurai on one side of the table... and me.....a street photographer.....a street fighter schooled in the carving of images out of 28mm or 35mm (f2) switchblades/butterfly lenses, on the other side of the table.

Through our conversation over lunch (Char Kway Teow and Wonton Noodles) we didnt talk too much about gear....which relieved me no end. I'd always thought what a great dream to be living out the travelling adventures, shooting sports thousands of miles away from home and getting one's pics regularly in the papers.

Jed put on the reality checks..... the loneliness, exhaustive driving, post processing work and putting up with atrocious weather conditions of northern England..... its behind the scene suffering one goes through is indeed a monumental exercise in dedication and commitment to getting the job done and the images delivered.

We spoke at length on religion and that's where (away from photography) that he opened a little bit of his world to me. Despite having a razor sharp mind of a lawyer (how I hate them) and a trained debater, Jed came across as a genuinely down to earth fellow whose every action and reaction seems grounded on logic and reason but yet bouyed by consideration for others..... this despite his reputation as a white knight for the truth (he's demolished more than his fair share of ungrounded, ill-informed comments as moderator in clubsnap.org)

It just made me wish I was his age again (mid 20s).......he'd followed where his talent led him and doing what he loves..........I'd instead listened to my head and walked the regular path, worked where the biggest bucks were...made the 'right' friends and generally being another of society's clones. Reminded me once again that life's journey is not in reaching its final destination but in savouring and experiencing all the different stops along the way.

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