Comments for Alistair Scott's PhotoZone

Comment on Ten tips for winning photo competitions by Safa Shah

Safa Shah — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 17:12:27 +0000

Nice . .sort of boosts confidence

Comment on Photographing the International Space Station by Alistair

Alistair — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 05:17:38 +0000

Hi Xander,

Thanks for your comment. Yes, I think a wide angle of that focal length will do the trick nicely, if you find a wide open section of sky with a few trees or things on the horizon to give context. You’ll probably have to experiment with the aperture as you need one which will gather a bit of light from the sky, but not burn it out … whilst recording the passage of the ISS. Good luck!

Comment on Great photographs No.3 – Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California 1936 by Alistair

Alistair — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 05:14:09 +0000

Thanks for your thought-provoking comment Drena. It highlights one of the problems of documentary photographers. It’s almost exactly the same problem for war photographers, and to a certain extent with street photographers. Their job is to record what they see so that a wider world can see it too. The difficulty is – if they get involved it can hamper their ability to do their job.

A similar case is that of the photographer Frank Hurley, on Shackleton’s doomed Trans-Antarctic expedition of 1914. When the expedition was in desperate trouble and everyone was hauling boats or whatever he was criticised for taking photographs. However, he was working just as hard in just as dangerous conditions (if not more so, as he had to find viewpoints, etc) and his photographs now remain as a testament to the extraordinary courage and fortitude of the men. If he had not recorded the disaster photographically I’m guessing it would be far less known today. His photographs show, graphically, what they went through.

Whatever you think about the morality of Lange’s photograph and her means of getting it, the image remains a haunting and salutary symbol of the great depression.

Comment on Model releases by Alistair

Alistair — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 05:00:15 +0000

Hi.

Thanks for your comments. Unfortunately Getty now seem to have put access to their model releases, which were previously freely available, behind a password-protected page. It’s a pity, as that was a great service they provided. I will see if I can locate another source of model releases. Thanks for your interest and I’ll post information about how I’m getting on.

Comment on Model releases by Caroline

Caroline — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 01:58:31 +0000

Hi there,

Great article, however, the link to the french model releasedonot work….
Any other place we can get it??

Comment on Great photographs No.3 – Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California 1936 by Drena**

Drena** — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 05:51:03 +0000

I’ve also read a lot about these photos and about Florence Thompson. I’ve read the interview she gave in the local paper where she mentions that they weren’t there picking peas or anything else, they were there because their car broke down and her husband and son went to go get a part they needed to fix it ( I want to say it was some kind of belt for the tires but I don’t remember at this point.) Anyway the upset look in her face and the fact that the children are hiding their faces was because they were put off by this stranger photographing them. Thompson was afraid that if she was portrayed in this light that the government would take her children away. I think it’s a shame that this image has made so much money and the family of Florence Thompson never saw a penny, while the dishonest Lange got a huge career boost out of it.

Comment on Photographing the International Space Station by Xander

Xander — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 21:05:35 +0000

Great article – I’ll be trying this out as soon as the cloud cover is gone! Do you think 24mm (35mm equiv: 36mm) and f/3.5 will do the trick? Until I can afford a wide angle prime, that’s the best I can do with my 24-85mm.

-Xander

Comment on Great Photographs No. 6 – Guerrillero Heroico (1960) by Alistair

Alistair — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 06:26:12 +0000

Thanks you too Manuela.

Comment on Great Photographs No. 6 – Guerrillero Heroico (1960) by romeo maldini

romeo maldini — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:50:46 +0000

great essay!

Comment on Great Photographs No. 6 – Guerrillero Heroico (1960) by Manuela Bianchi

Manuela Bianchi — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:31:32 +0000

Hi Alistair,

I have seen this picture thousands of times, it has accompained my chidhood, when I did not know who that guy was, it has accompained my adolescence, when I was a home-made revolutionary myself, it was with me during my school days, as a symbol for anticonformism, it was with me in my 30ies and 40ies, to remind me to the old days, it is with me today, rediscovered under a new light: as a masterpiece of photography. Great the comparison of this portrait with the Mona Lisa, it is indeed very intriguing! Thank you Alistair!