Amateur Photographer – 09 August 2019

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 3 August 2019 15

However,onemustbe
carefulaboutwhata public
placeis asopposedtoa
publiclyaccessibleplace.
A publicplacewouldbe
theQueen’shighwayora
publicfootpath.Buta
footpathrunningacross
NTlandis notnecessarily
a publicrightof waysobe
surewhereyoustand,
literally.If youarecertain
theshotsweretakenfrom
publicspaces,standyour
groundagainstthebully.
TheNationalTrustvery
muchwantstomonopolise
andcontrolwhichimages
aretakenof itsproperties
andwillevendeliberately
confusethepublicas
totheirrights.Herein
NorthernIreland,theNT
managestheGiant’s
Causeway,a worldheritage
site,butdoesnotownit. It
doesowna largeGiant’s
Causewayinterpretative
centreforwhichthereis an
entryfeeandaccesstothe
pathleadingtoit. Butyou
donotneedtopayto
accesstheCauseway.
Thereis a publicaccess,
whichNTlikestokeep
obscuredbutwhich
doesexist.In myopinion,
thisis anexampleof
commercialbullying.
MartynBoyd

I wasveryinterestedin the
letterabouttheNational
Trust(Inbox, 29June).I
haveseveralimagestaken
onorof itsproperties
lodgedwithEyeEmand
Getty,soI suspectI shall
behearingshortlyfromthe
NTStasi.Thispictureof
CorfeCastle(above)was
takenonpublicland.I also
doa linein photosof
plants,forests,etc.,where
NT properties are often a

goodsourceof material,

butmanyof thesecould

betakenanywhere.

Keepuptheexcellent

work– it’snicetoreada

sensiblepublicationand

notseeanymentionof

BrexitorBoris Johnson!

IanClark

The 29 Juneissuehada

letterfromGrahamEasby

highlightingtheNational

Trustinsistencethathe

removephotographsof

CorfeCastle(takenfrom

a publichighway)fromthe

Alamystocklibrary.I sell

photographslocallyand

in stocklibraries,someof

whichincludeNTbuildings.

ThisinstructiontoGraham

fromtheNTis clearly

wrongandI havetheNT’s

word,in writing,onthat

veryissue.I havesold

manyprintsof Souter

Lighthouselocallyand

thisone(below)onAdobe

Stockhassoldfourtimes.

MalcolmBawn

Keeptothecode

WithreferencetoSteve

Wood’sexperience(Inbox,

13 July),I toowastryingto

photographdippersearlier

thisyearonlyforthemto

bedisturbedbysomeone

witha phoneandhi-viz

jacketrunningtowherethe

birds were feeding. Never

mindthatI missedthe

shot;moreimportantlythe

birdsweredisturbed(as

wasSteve’skingfisher).

Atthistimeof yearwhen,

birdsarefeedingyoung,

theimpactonthemcanbe

catastrophic.In anynature

photographythewell-

beingof thesubjectmust

comefirst,evenif wemiss

thatprize-winningshot.

TheRPS’sNature

Photographers’Codeof

Practiceputsit thus:‘There

is onehardandfastrule,

whosespiritmustbe

observedat alltimes.The

welfareof thesubjectis

moreimportantthan

thephotograph.’

Fellowphotographers,

pleasethinkof yoursubject

firstandforemost.

PaulFrancis

Putmoneyina meter

Howaboutanarticleon

lightmetersandtheiruses

forfilmanddigitalusers?

TheExposurePitfallsissue

(AP 29 June)carried

advertisingfor£199and

£649meters.Yourarticles

overmanyyearshave

coveredalmosteverything

butnotmeters.

CharlesWaterson

Keepwaterrealistic

Icompletelyagreewith

RobertKitching(Inbox, 6

July)whoaskswhyso

manyphotographersthink

they’rebeingcreativeby

turningrunningwaterinto

a completeblur.Thishas

beendonetodeath.It’s

boring,clichédandlooks

ridiculous.I preferwaterto

looklikewaterandnot

resemblecottonwool,or

lookasif thephotographer

hasborroweda giantfog

machinefroma theatre.

Philip Cadman

Ian sent us his image of National Trust property Corfe Castle

Souter Lighthouse. Malcolm has more advice about the NT

Back in the day

AwanderthroughtheAParchive.This

week we pay a visit to August 1932

Pictures of the Week looked at prints from beginners

THISis aninterestingissue,andnotjustbecauseof

theBonnieandClyde-esquecoupleonthecover.Why

is therippedgeezerneededat all,asthewomanlooks

a verycompetentwaterskierin herownright?In the

editor’sletter,theredoubtableFJMortimertalksabout

howdifficultphotographywas‘60yearsago’andit

comesasa shocktorealisehewastalkingabout...

1872.Someof thepointsFJmakesarestillrelevant.

‘Yetmanyof thephotographsof earlyworkers,who

helpedmakethepathsmootherfortheamateurof

today,willliveaftermanymodern“snapshots”are

forgotten.Thepresentgeneration...shouldthinkof this

andtaketheirhobbymoreseriously.’Wellsaid,sir.He

thengoesintoa melancholyreflectiononphotographs

of children,andriffson‘theopenfrankcountenance

of theboy,contrastedwithourpresentselvesin

themirror,afterworry,excitement,sorrow,joyand

perhapsshamehavewrittenthemselvesonourfaces.’

Worry,excitement,sorrow,joy,shame...hecouldhave

been talking about our weekly planning meeting!

1932

© IAN CLARK

© MALCOLM BAWN