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