Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
On December 20th, 2018, a winter storm in the City of White Rock, British Columbia, Canada made for some dramatic photos and resulted in the helicopter rescue of one man.
The event started out as a photo walk with my adult daughter. Waves were crashing against the shoreline as we walked along the promenade which is a pathway usually busy with walkers. The wind was blowing in strong gusts and picking up water with it.
I’ve seen some pretty close calls when it comes to motorsports and photographers, but this has to be one of the scariest. A collision during the Formula 3 race at the Macau Grand Prix between drivers Sophia Flörsch and Sho Tsuboi sent Flörsch’s car flying through the air, smashing directly into the Lisboa corner photographer’s booth at around 170mph.
It’s a scary incident to watch, but it must have been terrifying for those working in the booth. Those include photographers Minami Hiroyuki who suffered a concussion, Chan Weng Wang who is expected to stay in hospital for about 10 days due to a lacerated liver and race official Chan Cha who has a broken jaw.
We have seen a few sad examples of what happens to natural wonders when they become too popular. In this video, Vox explores just how much geotagging your images on social media increases the destruction of nature. What happens when nature goes viral?
It’s sad but true that nowadays it’s hard to imagine our social media feeds without selfies. And what’s even sadder is that people get killed while trying to capture the most like-worthy snapshot of themselves.
The selfie as a phenomenon has already been a topic of studies, and a recently published one explores the issue of fatal selfies. A team of researchers has published the results, exploring the numbers of selfie-related deaths, as well as the main reasons behind these tragedies.
Last week in Zimbabwe, a German tourist was trampled to death by an elephant when she tried to get closer and take a photo of the animal. The officials said that the 49-year-old woman was attacked by the elephant, and she later succumbed to her injuries.
We have heard of many accidents that occurred because of a selfie. Sadly, another one happened on Wednesday when an Israeli hiker was found dead in Yosemite National Park. Reportedly, the young man fell to his death while trying to take a photo of himself.
We have certainly seen all kinds of dangerous stunts for the sake of photography. A recent video published by New York Post shows one of the crazies I’ve seen so far. Underwater photographer Ken Kiefer took three models to crocodile-infested waters for underwater shots – and the women got face to face with the fierce animals. What’s more, the team even used lionfish to lure the beasts near the models.
As we’ve seen before, someone’s tripod and the camera can get confused for a rifle. This is what recently happened in south Kerry, Ireland. As a Cork-based photographer started setting up a tripod in Derrynane at Caherdaniel, a passer-by noticed him. The man thought he was a sniper and notified the police, which led to a dramatic and almost comical response from a large number of armed policemen.
I’ve always said that I love street photography so much that I would die for it. However, I didn’t expect the Universe to call me out on it.
Getting that one shot almost got me killed once…
The job of a photojournalist is difficult and surrounded by danger. Still, we often argue about the ethics of photojournalism. The opinions vary whether they should be taking photos, or help those in need when things get tough.
Photographer and activist Abd Alkader Habak made his decision last weekend, when a bomb hit a convoy of buses carrying evacuees from besieged Syrian villages. 126 people were killed, and the blast briefly knocked out the photographer himself. But when he recovered consciousness, he didn’t take photos. He took action instead and helped the injured in the explosion.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
Find my work on My website or follow me on Facebook or My page
