MINDSTREAMING

Women's Hoofdklasse Results Sunday April 3rd 2011

2011-04-03T06:54:00.000-07:00

Amsterdam overtake SCHC and are now third in the Rabo Hoofdklasse league with a 4-0 win courtesy of two goals from Fieke Holman on three minutes and 58 minutes plus one from Elsmiek Groen on 13 minutes and Kelly Jonkers sealing it with eight minutes left on the clock.

Elsemiek Groen
Rotterdam eased their worries with a convincing 4-0 win over Hurley under their new coach and rise above the relegation line.

Fieke Holman
KZ will be relieved to have drawn with Kampong one each.

League leaders Den Bosch beat SCHC 4-0 with Laren beating HDM 4-2. Newly married Laren striker, Kim Lammers got two and so did Carlijn Welten. Oranje Zwart

Kim Lammers

So now just four points separate the top four teams with top club Den Bosch on 38 but with a 37 goal difference with fourth placed SCHC on 34 points but a goal difference of 37. Oranje Zwart and Kampong have a game in hand but are well adrift on goal differnces -4 and -17 respectively.

League table courtesy of http://www.hoofdklassehockey.nl/ beat Pinoke 2-0.

VAN AS STAMPS HER MARK GERMANY MARKS ITS STAMP!

2011-03-25T06:59:00.000-07:00

The Dutch Hockey Federation (KNHB) maintains a player ranking system , a kind of barometer of player effectiveness in their Hoofdklasse Rabo league games.
Ex KZ , Laren’s Naomi van As , in her first season at her new club has had a relatively quiet season hovering just outside of the top twelve with SCHC’s Argentine international Sole Garcia undisputed queen. This week three players maxrd it with thirteen performance points each, Garcia , Maartje Paumen (Den Bosch), Wieke Dijkstra (Laren) but Naomi took twelve points to put her seventh in the overall rankings.
Check out the latest rankings of your favourite players here For comprehensive official news , in Dutch, check out the vibrant ,regularly updated official KNHB news website here hockey.nl
Also don’t forget to visit the most comprehensive independent Duth Hockey website here HoofdklasseHockey.nl

EURO CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011

RANKINGS

German Finance Miinister, Wolfgang Schäuble, has announced that on Wednesday four new sports postage stamps have been launched featuring the beautiful game to help raise the profile of the European Championships for men and women in late August 2011 in Mönchengladbach . German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, has on Wednesday launched four new sports stamps. The European Championships for men and women in late August 2011 in Mönchengladbach will be represented in the series. Folllow this link to view the original story reported on the Hoofdklaasehockey.nl website EURO HOCKEY POSTAGE STAMPS

Follow me / join me here TWITTER and or here FACEBOOK

Image courtesy of Deutsche Post

SOME COPYRIGHT ADVICE FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

2011-02-17T16:41:00.000-08:00

REPORTING UNAUTHORISED USE OF YOUR IMAGES ON FACEBOOK

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act ( and intellectual property issues for photographers)

There is an automatic online system which enables Facebook members to report a range of complaint issues most of which are in the form of a simple tick box . Most , I think , are responded to with a warning from administrators in the form of temporary suspension of an account, for example for being abusive or spamming.

These can be found in a list when you click "report" to the left and directly under images you are viewing on other people's face book. This illustration shows the access point to the form to report intellectual property theft or misuse.

But, the issue of copyright infringement / intellectual property theft is taken very much more seriously by the Facebook owners. Thus there is a separate link , at the bottom of the column of tick boxes that takes victims of intellectual property theft ( copyright infringement) to a pro-forma.

Here , in what in what becomes a legal statement , the owner of the image ( or their agent) records evidence of infringement that meets the criteria outlined in the new DMCA ( Digital Millennium Copyright Act) This is USA legislation to which Facebook and therefore users of what is an American owned medium are bound to abide (regardless of nationality, ) to avoid possible litigation. It is an extension to and complimentary with existing international copyright legislation embodied in the Berne Convention.

My guess is that such complaints are stacked ( there must be many of them) and then dealt with gradually- Facebook , when the investigate. I believe they make the “alleged” image thief aware that an infringement complaint has been filed against them. This should indicate to the thief the actual gravity of their transgression and potential consequences and is or should be , more effective than a range of polite messages that might be exchanged between the two parties.

Both photographers and users of social platforms are aware of the rules, terms and conditions and laws , but professional photographers, (that is photographers whose living depends, in the main, on the sale or sale of licensed usage of their images) , also accept the pitfalls of publishing images in particular on social networking sites and the internet and the possible consequences. Many photographers take no action against infringements and are unconcerned about copyright infringement since images are heavily compressed during upload ( and automatically stripped of any embedded captioning or EXIF data) and allow unauthorised usage either from altruism or because they see it as self-promotion/ advertising. Some , for artistic reasons do not even visibly watermark their work, folly really as it is rare for facebookers to acknowledge their source. They are further aware that Facebook actually now facilitates both legitimate and unlawful downloading of images through the new image viewing system.

To overcome this weakness in the interface, photographers who object to unlawful downloading are wise to only publish very low resolution versions of an image and ensure that a very visible copyright watermark is positioned in such a way that it cannot easily be cropped off or removed.

Facebook also has no effective safeguard to prevent copyright images being uploaded and also, there is nothing in place to prevent someone using a copyright image for profile picture use. This is a particular problem where so many fans of stars in various fields wish to endorse their heroes or in some cases pretend that they are that person.

Of course anyone, phone camera snapper, amateur or professional owns the copyright of any image they take but the net is a vast" free for all" image data base of easily accessible images which we have no rights to upload, reproduce , alter , use in any way without the consent of the photographer/ owner of the image.

Photographers with any ambition to turn professional have to come to grips with copyright issues and be assertive in challenging any unlawful use. Professionals have a responsibility to fellow professionals because giving away images and not protecting copyright affects all other professionals and degrades the value of everyone’s work. Aspiring professionals who undermine the industry in this way will not be welcome to join professional supportive organisations and a history of this kind of behaviour will affect their ability to network with other professionals.

AMATEURS AND WOULD BE PROS BEWARE!

I come across many great amateurs who ask about how to proceed to become a professional photographer and make money from it. Typically they are hobbyists, may have had the odd shot published in a magazine or newspaper and almost always have never asked for or expected any payment. Being a professional is nothing to do with the quality of your photographs , it is all about marketing and taking images that sell and fulfil a demand in the market place. If they have a history of giving images away they have contributed to the ever diminishing returns within the market for all photographers. The digital revolution has made it o much harder to make a living from the job and find paying markets for images however good you may be.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act ( and intellectual property issues for photographers)

AMATEURS AND WOULD BE PROS BEWARE!

Some amateurs ( that is photographers who do not seek to earn all or part of their living from photography but may wish to in the future) often have professional standard digital equipment through income from a separate source ) and are happy to give away images for the recognition / kudos it brings or altruistically helping organisations, groups or individuals they have an interest in. Frequent editorial image users, especially low budget , modest circulation magazines and e-zines, happily make commercial profit from such misguided amateurs and frequently offer no payment whatsoever. “We don’t have a budget” itseduce you with the offer of what is known as a credit or by-line, that is you will be credited as the author/ photographer or if you have one, they might offer a link to your website. Since image theft is so rife on the net in what is a free-view culture, from such a worthless credit or by- line, you might get a temporary spike in visitor traffic but it is almost guaranteed that virtually all those visitors will be nothing but perpetual window shoppers. For me, a by line in such cases is the equivalent to giving away the keys to your house or your car.

FOUR NATIONS : ARGENTINA SHOW THEIR CLASS

2011-02-10T10:25:00.000-08:00

FOUR NATIONS : ARGENTINA SHOW THEIR CLASS

On the first day of the Four Nations at Mendosa, Argentina, current world champions gave the USA, currently world ranked 13th , a master class in competitive international hockey with a convincing 5-0 win.

Report/photographs JOHN COXON

(You do not have permission to download any of these images without my written consent.)

With three local Mendoza girls in the team, Silvina D'Elia, Macarena Rodriguez and Marcela Casale, at the province's hockey stadium , Las Leonas thrashed the U.S.A. 5-0. Goals, all in the first half , came from captain Noel Barrionuevo after just seven minutes and Rocio Sanchez Moccia ten minutes later. Carla Rebecchi made it three ,scoring on twenty five minutes. Carla Dupuy hit in the next on the half hour mark and then again three minutes later.

The United States came out in the second half with a more positive attitude, but had little offensive weight. They rarely penetrated the Argentine circle and Belen Succi dealt well with what was the Americans one real chance of a consolation. Argentina continued to attack and challenge the USA goal but without adding to the score.

Australia, currently ranked 6th , and playing their first international under new coach Adam Commens, made a positive start to their four Nations, recording a 1-1 draw in Mendosa against Gemany, currently world ranked third with both goals in the first half. Germany's Eileen Hoffman found the net on eleven minutes with the Australian reply coming eighteen minutes later from Jade Close,( in this only her seventh international appearance for the "Hockeyroos",) both with field goals from open play. The Australian squad included seven new players, a very different looking team to the group that won gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. It was a narrow 1-0 win back in last September when the Germans put and end to the Australian's World Cup ambitions in Argentina confining them to a 5th and six place play off against the Koreans.

Mendosa hosts the first of two separate Four Nations tournaments in Argentina with separate finals. The four international teams move to Rosario for the second competition from 16th - 20th February. Next up at Mendosa , Australia will play the USA and Argentina take on Germany.

Such is the confidence in the Argentine camp with the new enlarged squad's strength in depth confirmed in the South Africa series of friendlies last December , both the coaching staff ( led by Carlos Retegui) and the CAH have allowed two of their most experienced and gifted players, Luciana Aymar and Soledad Garcia exemption from training for and playing in this series. Both stars return to full training with the squad in April with an eye on the first major prize of the year, defending their World Champions Trophy crown in Amsterdam this June.

Relatively early after their World Cup triumph in Rosario last year, Argentina announced plans to ensure they retain their status as the best in the world. This included raising the levels of game specific fitness with the expertise of the newly appointed fitness coach Alejandro Labonio. CAH/ Coach Carlos Retegui were quick to announce a series of new selections to add to their squad and get them bedded in and training together but also playing competitively outdoors with established players at CENARD Buenos Aries and, for example in a series of friendlies against South Africa at the end of last year.

Even in the new year Carlos "Chapa" Retegui was one of the first international coaches to get their squads back in training outside and that included a punishing schedule of two week's intensive multi-training work before these Four Nations. Elsewhere, in Holland, last year, former Argentine international Max Caldas was finally appointed to replace Herman Kruis as coach and began the process of integrating new additions into the national squad but it appears they haven't had as much opportunity to train together as Retegui's players have or to enjoy the same level of competitive games. The Dutch select returned last week from a two week training camp in Alicante, Spain which a friendly against Belarus and a series of games with the squad divided into two teams playying each other from which Caldas saw many positive developments. In Holland and England some national top club hockey was seriously disrupted by the weather although indoor championships offered some close skills practice for key players, but not of course on synthetic grass pitches.

ARG 5- USA 0

ARG : Belen Succi, Giselle Kanevsky, Silvina D'Elia, Noel Barrionuevo (c), Daniela Sruoga, Mariela Scarone, Josefina Sruoga; Macarena Rodríguez, Carla Rebecchi, Rosario Luchetti, Delphine Merino.
subsititutions: Jimena Cedrés, Carla Dupuy, Rocío Sánchez Moccia, Victoria Zuloaga, Marcela Casale

Argentine player profiles here :- LAS LEONAS

USA: Jaclyn Kintz, Lauren Crandall, Kayla Bashore, Claire Laubach, Caroline Nichols, Michelle Kasold, Kathleen O'Donnell, Keli Smith, Shannon Taylor, Rachel Dawson, Kathryn Evans. Coach: Lee Bodimeade.

GER 1- AUS 1

GER:- Frank, Yvonne; Platten, Kim; Brockmann, Anke ; Frank, Eva ; Geyer, Lina; Haase, Lydia ;Hasselmann, Nina ;Hauke, Franzisca ;Hoffmann, Eileen ;Karwatzky, Julia Krüger, Hannah ;Mävers, Marie;. Müller, Julia ;Müller-Wieland, Janne ;Plass, Jennifer . Pütz, Jennifer ; Schütze, Christina ;. Sehlmann, Mia ;. Steindor, Luisa;. Wilde, Celine

Australian player Profiles :- HOCKEYROOS

Current FIH World Rankings

More Argentine player images here :- LAS LEONAS

(WARNING :All images are copyright -you do not have permission to download any of these images without my written consent.)

Argentina's Las Leonas Ahead of the Field?

2011-01-28T17:26:00.000-08:00

In my profession as both a photographer and journalist I have to try and remain neutral but I can hardly contain my respect ,admiration and affection for Argentina's Las Leonas, current World Champions.

It just grows and grows , because of their work ethic, that celebrated heart and passion that is at the core of their successes and consistency , the way they work as a genuine team, how natural and nice they are as individuals and because they are now working even harder to retain their dominance rather than resting on their laurels.

And they have a number of fresh members of a large squad and are not dependent on a dominant core of seasoned , experienced players. The pool of talent from feeders clubs ensures squads will emerge of the highest quality , a vibrant national scene at all levels with strength in depth and a great youth devlopment policy . I believe their approach has them ahead of the rest of the world in terms of their preparations for the Champions Trophy and indeed the 2012 Olympics.

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Here is my rough translation from the original Spanish) from a recent report on the ESPN website of their current activities.

"En mi profesión, tanto como fotógrafo y journlaist tengo que tratar de mantenerse neutral, pero casi no puedo contener mi respeto profesional y personal, la admiración y el afecto de Las Leonas de Argentina, actuales campeones del mundo. Sólo crece y crece, debido a su ética de trabajo, que celebró el corazón y la pasión que es la base de sus éxitos y de su coherencia, su forma de trabajar como un equipo auténtico, lo natural y agradable que todos son como individuos, y porque ahora están trabajando incluso más duro para mantener su dominio en vez de dormirse en los laureles. Y tienen un número de miembros fresca de un escuadrón de grandes y no dependen de un núcleo dominante de los jugadores veteranos y con experiencia.

Carlos "Chapa" Retegui y su personal, incluso tienen la confianza en el bamnd conjunto de las hermanas para que tanto Luciana Aymar y Soledad García permiso de larga duración y también la creencia de que los jugadores, dos de los mejores jugadores del mundo, puede assimualte de nuevo en el equipo en abril, en el período previo a los preparativos para el Trofeo Champiosn, a raíz de la piscina del Torneo Cuatro Naciones month.The de talentos de los clubes de alimentadores garantiza escuadrones surgirá de la más alta calidad, una vibrante escena nacional con fuerza en profundidad. Creo que en el planteamiento de ellos tiene por delante del resto del mundo en términos de sus preparativos para el Trofeo de Campeones y de hecho los Juegos Olímpicos de 2012.

Aquí está mi traducción aproximada del informe froma original española reciente en el sitio web de ESPN de sus actividades actuales.

BUENOS AIRES - After a week of fitness work in the gym and pool exercises with the new physical trainer, ex Pumas , Alejandro Labonia, Las Leonas began Monday in the CENARD the early work for pitch based field hockey in 2011, ahead of the tournament Four Nations to take place in Mendoza and Rosario next month.

With an almost complete squad, ( just missing Luciana Aymar and Soledad Garcia with the permission of the coaching staff until April ) Carlos Retegui returned to training with the team on pitch in the run up to the Four Nations clash with Australia, Germany and U.S. next month and then the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, and the Champions Trophy in Holland this summer

"The goal of this team is to be confident to take any title from the above. So we have a base of 70 players, to convey that the new Las Leonas team is a considerable force to be reckoned with " said Retegui at CEard after the first round of training began with 8 members of the Rosario World Champion squad of 2010 and the newer girls who are part of the 2012-2016 Olympic projection groups.

"Today we also have to add to the current 27 Leonas select 30 Olympic and 28 players from the Pampas 11 screening project. This gives us the possibility of having a large squad to choose from many players who have individual and group responsibility, taking the entry level into the actual team even higher, "said Retegui.

Meanwhile, Rosario Luchetti, commented that " Getting back to training it seems a little unusual that we are no longer seeing a squad dominated by older well known established and highly experienced players . While we have still "Lucha " Aymar and "Sole" Garcia, coming back later , in time the newcomers will be the majority following new replacements, fresh talented players joining the squad. This is good because it illustrates the positive growth of hockey in the country and girls who have made the selection from its seeds of earlier development work "

And also talked about the year ahead: "We have happily taken on a lot of additional preparation work, including friendlies to stay in rhythm and match fit. It's very tough competition these days with near-professional hockey now in Argentina and the rest of the world, and we will fight even harder now to defend our position, because otherwise we will lose our place at the top and nobody wants that. "

The players who showed up today on court "Adriana Acosta" at the CENARD were : Belen Succi, Laura Aladro, Julia Simonassi, Silvina D'Elia, Noel Barrionuevo, Mariela Scarone, Daniela Sruoga, Delphine Merino, Carla Rebechi, Giselle Kanevsky, Rosario Luchetti, Carla Dupuy, Josefina Sruoga, Marcela Casale, Rocío Sánchez Moccia, Jimena Cedres, Ana López Basavilbaso, Victoria Zuloaga, Natalia Del Frari, Martina Cavallero, Maccari Sophia, Macarena Rodríguez, Florence Habif, Rocío González Eugenia Canda and Garraf.

The team will train in double shifts in the CENARD but on Monday February 7th, the campus will start in the afternoon due to Mendoza to begin the skills and stay in Rosario during the selection will arrive in Italy to play with the projection equipment.

Then the activity will continue in March in preparation for a tour of New Zealand and Australia, and in May, when the team travels to San Diego to face a test series against trhe United States, their rival to beat for the Pan AM crown.

This England (2)- Canals- the waterways system

2010-12-14T08:52:00.000-08:00

I have just added a series of great images from my huge collection in the waterways section of my transport photograph archives on my Flickr here:-English Waterways Images

(The images in this blog entry have been further greatly compressed from the originals so visit my Flickr to view them larger for greater effect ( although the Flickr versions are 80% reduced quality from the high quality originals, all of which are available to purchase.)

I now live in the North West of England, cradle of the Industrial Revololution living within the City of Salford which embraces the old borough of Worsley, birthpalce of of national waterways system.As a result of ground breaking ideas from the Duke of Bridgewater , an 18th century wealthy land owner and the ability of Engineer James Brindley to impliment those ideas we have today a national system of waterways , a network of canals. The orange colour of the water in this canal is the signature of this original part of the national waterway system from the Bridgewater canal whose sourse is at the Delph ,Worsley in Salford. The colour is due to iron oxide leeched out of coal bearing limestones during rainy spells. Underground coal mines were a feature of the Duke of Bridgewater's estate. The waterway idea was Bridgewater's solution to reducing the high cost of getting coal from his mines to Manchester by pack horse.

At one time these waterways were the principle way in which manufactured items and materials such as coal were distributed across the country and indeed whole families lived and worked on the canal boats. Originally these boats, called narrow boats in the North West where I now live, were not motor driven but were towed by heavy horses and the golden age of this sytem was in Victorian times. The decline of the system for bulk transport was due to the development of the railways and motorised transport which had the adavantage of being faster.

You can still see evidence of the use of ropes to tow narrow boats as the stonework of the walls of various bridges over canals bare the signs of wear as in this example art Lymm in Cheshire.

These days , much work has been done, by British Waterways , to restore the entire canal system but principally for recreational and leisure use and narrow boats and these canals enable you to crusie ,at a leisurely pace, powered by a quiet diesel motor through some of the most picturesque scenery in the country.

The canals are punctuated by a number of locks, essentially two giant heavy doors in pairs to provide a kind of step down or step up so gradienrs could be navigated. The first lock was opened and the narrow boat moves into the lock. that lock is then manually closed and the bottom lock gradually opened until the water level and the narrow boat was lowered to the level of the water at the next section of the canal. that lcok was themn opened and the boat proceeded on its way. At stages their were small cottages where the "lock-keeper" lived and where , when the watrways were busy water highways , it was soemone's job to operate the locks on your behalf. Here is an example of a lock keeper's cottage right in the heart of the City of Manchester, a city that is criss-crossed with a series of canals and related canal basins.

As mentioned, although many people lect to live on narrow boats as an economic alternative to dry land based residences, the majority of narrow boats these days are for leisure use. Here is an example how the urban industrial landscape of Manchester , from Victorian times, is still in use today. the canal is in harmony below a wonderful victorian brick built railway viaduct. This particular area of the City, at Castlefields , is a veruy popular spot with a number of new bars and coffee houses and restaurants canal side. In this area is also both the Science Museum and the Air and Space Museum as well as a number of other popular tourist attractions and within a stone's throw of the main shopping area of the city.

This gentleman has his home in a narrow boat, pictured passing the village of Astley bearing towards Manchester. Originally the working families lived in very cramped conditions in the small; cockpit area at the back of the narrow boat and the majority of the length of the boat was used for carrying bulk. these days the entire length of the boat is living space embracing clever space saving interior design. It is not however free to cruise the system and a series of licences have to be bought to allow you to access different sections of the national network.

This is image was taken at the wonderful Elmesmere Port Boat Museum and illustrates the way that space was utilised in the working days of such boats. Elmesmere Port was once the terminus for the North West Canal system where goods manufactured inland were transported and then transferred to ships for export.

This image was taken from the back of the Race Course near Stratford on Avon in Warwickshire "Shakespeare " country. It shows the English countryside and leisure/ recreational use of narrow boats.

Again the orange hue of the water indicates that this is the Bridgewater Canal with Worlsey Basin in the distance. You can also see the black and white mock tudor splendour of the Packet house in the Worlsey basin from whence pasengers and mail embarked to travel to Manchester and beyond. Moving ahead here and bearing left would take you onto the Leigh Canal and on in the direction of the Leeds- Liverpool Canal section.

Another view of the wonderful living Museum at Elesmere Port Boat Museum , part of whose work , beyond the preservation of this series of locks and buildings and boats in the exhibitions, indoors and out, (so well worth the day out to visit) is on-going restoration of historic waterway vessels and the presevation of exisiting exemplars and related objects.

I have huge respect for the Victorian age and their inventiveness and their ability to find simple but effecti8ve solutions. How do you for example, keep the traffic flowing when the canal sytem is frozen over ? Here was their solution, ice-breaker boats !

.Notice how heavily constructed these two ice-breakers are. They were simply towed forward by pairs of heavy horses onto the actual ice and the sheer weight broke the ice ; then the process was repeated , again and again ,along that frozen section of the canal to ensure goods could be transported all year round.Here again, at Elesmere Port Boat Museum.

2010-12-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

Salford -Dirty Old Town ?

At the heart of my photography is the belief that everything is beautiful in its own way, however ordinary and I feel it is my job, vocation if you will, to find the good in everything and everyone and record it with my camera.

Some people are uncomfortable and self-conscious in front of camera and I sometimes hear a protest, when a hand goes up in front of the face, “I don’t take a good photograph.” Trust me , I reply, “You just have met a lot of bad photographers and I only take good photographs- let me show you what I can do!”

I elected to live far away from home, up here, away from the beautiful Dorset Jurassic south coast where I lived in my formative years . My adopted home, the City of Salford, was notorious and had a reputation for not being a very healthy place to live but the reverse is true I found. it was the inspiration for Ewan McColl, (father of folk singer Kirsty MacColl) song, Dirty Old Town . In fact my city, while it does ,as all conurbations do , have its grot spots, it is in fact 60% green land and has some amazing places that are a paradise for a photographer.

Within walking distance of my home, close to a Victorian mill and terraces of working class homes is a huge Country Park, at Clifton , formerly a “ wet coal” mining area and thus unsuitable for housing development . Added to that, at its focal point, a huge fresh water lake which is the result of a happy accident in terms of local geology. The area is in the outwash plane of the River Irwell , which snakes past the park’s eastern perimeter.

Thus its geology is of shingle and sand from way back in time. When the M60 ring road and trans-Pennine motorway were being constructed, huge deposits of sand and gravel were excavated at Clifton producing a rather large hole, similar to that in the River Mersey basin, South of Manchester that formed the basis of Sale Water Park which was artificially filled with water. At Clifton, because of a fault line , the huge void left by excavations for sand and gravel naturally filled in.

Even at this time of year , such places can be stunningly beautiful.

In the warmer weather there is always something to surprise you as you walk around Clifton Marina for example the resident water birds.

Canada geese are regulars as are mute swans, tufted and mallard ducks. Even the ordinary can make spectacular photographs.

Of course it is essential that a photographer treats all wild life with the utmost respect. It is particulalry important not disturb nesting birds. Here I avoided disturbing this coot using a long lens and she wasn't even aware I had taken the shot.

Nearer to home there is more open space at Clifton and Wardley Moss. These are park land straddling the northern section of the M60 motorway. It is essentially wetland bog and therefore again not suitable for building development but a great place for family walks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVUZuVZWHkk

LYING DOWN ON THE JOB - ENDURANCE RUNNING PHOTOGRAPHY

2010-12-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

This lovely scene, taken from high up, on a remote coastal pathway on the South coast is from one of a series of five endurance running events I was hired to cover by an international events company, Ambition Events. The project stands out as the most enjoyable, rewarding and yet most demanding commissions I have had in my career.

Endurance running events involve a special brand of person ; runners who want something more challenging than ordinary cross-country or road race based marathons. A simple twenty six miles or so just doesn't tick all their boxes.

In all five big events I photographed for the company, they ran two or more marathons back to back over varied terrain most of which was not conventional road surface and rarely was it flat! They managed in fact with very little sleep and , ever vigilant and not wanting to miss a thing or miss recording even the achievement of the last finisher in the very early morning, I slept when I could , in my car, but only for a couple of hours. each time.

At times the porject was sheer joy like here in a small village outside Stratford -Upon- Avon where I arrived by car, set up and waited several hours for all the runners to come through. While waiting there was always plenty of fresh and interesting things to photograph.

By the very nature of the sport of Endurance running, is in so many ways an indiviidual challenge with athletes digging deep into their reserves of stamina, mental strength and courage. It is a battle with the self to push to your limits and beyond. Although several of the events took place in awful weather conditions, and one , which found me high up on Pennine trails ( which I reached on foot, having gotten as near to a pre-planned map point as I could by car), got so bad with storms and torential rain in the wee small hours , was so bad that only one of these hardened individuals, who had both a mountian bike ride marathon plus a running marathon to complete ,actually completed the course.

My mission in life is to always do my best through my photography and always give whatever it takes to give my clients the best. I do a comprehensive job every time. I share the event managers priorities, the sense of duty of care and recognition of what this kind of event takes. In short I also became one of the support team out of choice, always more just a snapper.

The first one home deserves a record in images of their triumph, yes, but the last one in, often very late, one or two in the morning or later , is in many ways more deserving because you know, first hand , just how tough it had been for them, that they dug in and braved it through to the end. I made sure I didn't climb into my sleeping bag until I had photographed the last in at every event and managed ,like these guys did , on hardly any sleep.

The events meant that I drove as near to a check point as I could get, set up and waited often for hours (We were communially fed early in the morning and late in the evening) but I had to be self-sufficent those long hours away from the base camp. Here is a view of the back of my car, my " mobile home" with the essentials. (I powered my laptop via the car battery and a converter, editing photos and internet access.) I also always carried a lot of extra water bottles- the athletes had to carry a certain amount themselves, but in this type of event, they could never have enough so I was a welcome watering hole as well.

Here is great low angle shot from the longest of the five endurance races I covered. I'd had long steep climb and lugged my camera kit and two big water bottles up to the peak. I was there some eight hours and it was dark before I came down. Not everyone wanted just to drink from the bottle. I didn't expect this guy to have a cold shower with it but was ready on the ground to get the shot! Classic!

I know as well that, since inevitably many of the runners became detached from the field and there were often big gaps of an hour or more between runners, the sight of my car and me, always Mr Cheerfull , day or night , was a welcome break to the grind and I always did my best to try and help lift their spirits as they came into site and encourage them onwards.Shared my hot Bovril and a banana or two from my stash too on ocassions!

Here we we are out in the country, middle of nowhere , in the very late evening the runners picked out in the pitch black by my flash and (car headlights !) as their cross-country route was about to cross a country road briefly and pass me.

Here is a photograph I took in the Malvern "Hills" ( It exhausted me just getting up there on foot - felt like mountains to me ! ) from very high up on the first day and leg of the Marathon of Brtian, 2007 without a doubt the toughest race in the UK for endurance athletes and the most demanding event I have covered so far. Five consecutive days of five back-to-back marathons over often the most unforgiving terrian and gradients and in daylight rather too warm for comfort.

By this time after a series of four I had covered nationally at different locations , the project had taken on a new dimension. And I took it lying down!

This image gives you some idea of the challenge for the athletes and also shows that it was up to me to get on top of this series of long ridges to get the best shots, and that was with my camera equipment rucksack. I am too old for "yomping" but that is what was needed. It makes my legs ache and my lungs too just looking back over this series of images and I didn't have to run it !

When I say lie down, I meant it. Between the event director and myself we decided that I'd abandon long zoom lens images and focus on the use of a wide angle 18mm - 35 mm lens to increase the impact of images. That meant lying down as runners came past me, between a rock and a hard place a lot of the time! It certainly did the trick and made the runners look like super humans as indeed they were !

The idea was that Ambition Events ,as a successful company, had ambitions that they needed me to help fulfil . Naseba International were interested in expanding their portfolio and my images were needed to help in a marketing presentation to the board of Naseba. This image , of a fully laden runner coming near to the top of a huge climb is one of the stand out images from my opus used in that presentation ( successfully I might add- Naseba bought the company out as a result )

The scene in Nottingham near the castle was electric as I waited for all the runners to come home. amazing scenes ! Even Robin hood here gave them a wink! Hugs from family and friends, a beautiful medal , phone calls home, and a welome beer or two and pub grub after a rub down.But the real reward for completing the Marathon of Britain was that, base camp packed away in a couple of transit vans, we all were booked into a really nice hotel in Nottingham and had the bliss of a hot shower , a proper meal and then a feast, the award ceremony , and the marketing presentation.

The marketing presentation was really impressive and my photogrpahy work played its part , did the trick it turned out- Naseba happily embraced Ambition events and thus they went global with my help. Great to see my work seen large on screen!

Finally, the standout endurance athlete, Stuart Power from my part of the world , who was streets , valleys and hills ahead of the rest of the field , winning each of the events I covered, usually by a considerable margin. A legend and a nicer, more modest bloke you could not wish to meet. We have been friends ever since and I am proud to know him. I know that both he and his family really appreciated the detailed record in hundreds of great images that I managed to get.

Footnote: There has been an explosion in emerging event management companies, nationally, and a growth in new local events to cope with the growing appetite for new challenges in the growing life style and leisure industry , especially in running and cycling related events such as triahtlon .

Some such comapnies are disguised cottage industies and whilst most are ethically run and not simply for profit , one of the areas the poorer companies tend to fall down on is skimping on prizes and goodie bags for competitors!

Typically, a speech mention , on a PA system if they have factored thaT COST IN, often no certificate or medal for all and a " cost effective " recyclable trophy and bottle or two of usually of cheap plonk or a pack of beers for podium winners . The cop out is often a "goody bag" for all, and that's usually very low value mraketing freebies from sponsors and retailers of associated products.

Such events have a number of hidden costs but of course athletes pay a non-returnable fee. sometimes it is a lot, to particpate but I know that some have , in a few cases, been really annoyed, had felt ripped off and vowed not to come back for another tilt.

From my experience I know that skimping on rewards and small items of recognition is always self-defeating and false economy. Anything is better than nothing, and , at the very least , a certificate isn't going to break the bank and just requires the thought. Such grumbles do filter through to thgrapevine broader community and always affect future choices and the reputation of the event and the company running it. It wouldn't be that big a deal to come to some arrangement with a photographer so that prints even DVD's could be made part of it to set the event appart from others.

Gone are the days when freelance professionals like myself tur up on spec to mass events , with the organiser's consent , usually at the cost of merely providing a few chery-picked shots for future marketing and website use. This in the hope of capitalising from post event sales of prints to competitiors. It is no longer economically viable, the return is always negligible. It still makes sense to hire a pro for general coverage of an event because the event website generates future business and DIY shots give out all the wrong messages in what now is a competitive and crowded market. Freelances like myself are more than willing to share copyright of images if the fee is right.

Ambition events was a professionally run company and the director had more experience than anyone of other people's marathon events as the world record holder in terms of sheer numbers he had completed . Consequently the award presentation was more like a family get together and rewards were worthwhile tokens and trophies , good quality event tee-shirts and other awards covered a wide range of categories including some humorous ones. I was even given a special cup to recognise my efforts. All that takes commitment and planning.

At the Marathon of Britian , Stuart's achievement was immense, the pinnacle of another year of triumphs but the trophy he received from Rory Coleman is the most special I have ever seen from any event. He was awarded this beautifully crafted engraved full size replica of an English broad sword, "Excalibur."

Contact me any time if I can provide this sort of support for your event or project. I belive I sytand out from the crowd rhe way I provide services and thus am more than capable of helping you stand out for your market and target audience through great photography. did I mention that my skill range doesn't end with editied images? Here I used my images and journalism to complie my own report which was great PR for Ambition Evnts and Naseba and appeared in the prestigious Tri247, the official results and information website for British Triathlon and related events. Here's one of the shots from my endurance series that was published with my expertly written report one of many that i have had published in this area of sport for my clients.

http://www.tri247.com/article_2226.html

My modest but greatly prized little trophy!
.

Thoughts on my livelihood, copyright and respect

2010-12-03T05:52:00.000-08:00

I have been asked several times about the issue of copyright law in respect of photographs. I have been thinking of a way to simplify it for people, especially those who use Facebook or have some sort of website, especially those web sites that provide a service or support for a sport without a view to profit. Club websites and hockey associations are two examples.

In the example above I have effectively "spoiled" that great shot to make my ownership of the image completely obvious (and make it less liekly to be ripped off by internet users!. Other times I chose to have my "watermark" more discretely some where on the image, ( usually bottom right) , but even then, try to place it to make it a little harder to crop off easily. This should tell people that the image is a product of mine, offered for sale and which has a value i.e. as in © in the word "costs !" It cost me to produce items like this so reasonably , there is a cost to anyone that wants it.

My watermark is usually "image/photograph ©johncoxon" and it contains this symbol © the internationally recognised symbol for copyright.( in other languages this often more obviously expressed / translated into the phrase "rights of the author."

Whether you are a professional or amateur photographer, under a set of international laws in the "Berne Convention" , the author or artist owns all rights to his or her "intellectual property" that is their painting, a poem, a report, a book or any photograph they take . Thus their work, whether for profit or pleasure remains their property , unless they give their rights away and those rights are protected in most countries in the world who are signatories to the Berne Convention.

It should be understood, that, even if a photographer does not mark their image with their name and the copyright symbol, they still own the copyright of any of their images and you have no rights to use that image anywhere without the owner's permission. That includes anywhere on the internet including Facebook. Facebook terms and conditions are in line with international law. You can only post images that are yours or those you have a right to use. You cannot, for example, lift an image from say a singer or players website, even if it is watermarked, on your Facebook , without having the permission of the copyright owner. It is a common fallacy that anything published on the internet is in the "public domain" and therefore fair game. On that basis anyone would be free to walk into a public high street shop, take what food they want , and leave without even expecting to have to pay!

All images on the internet are owned by the person who took them with their camera device and you are only free to use them if , for example, the photographer has expressly given permission for a use or any use of their work, for example on so called "royalty free" image websites.

I am frequently asked to cover games or supply images from games to clubs, teams, players and associations "free" of charge and often the owners / administrators of those websites agree to give me a mention as the photographer. This is sometimes known as a "credit" or a "by-line" in the press. Typically those people are running web sites on an amateur basis on behalf of a group or organisation as an unpaid volunteer and typically those websites technically are "not-for profit." as their group or organisation cannot afford to buy in professional photographs.

In fact, anyone who thinks that a mention of the photographers name, their website for example, has any real value to the photographer, is sadly mistaken! Kudos is not an international currency and is unbankable. A photographer with a website has , ultimately, to pay for any increase in visit traffic through increased use of bandwidth. In the main visitors will be window shoppers not paying customers.

Images that are used in print and other media that are actually paid for tend not to be marked with a copyright watermark, and indeed I usually have to insist that newspapers identify me as the photographer as it is not always normal practice to automatically credit the source with a by-line. Increasingly print media uses images under licence from one of a handful of major world image agencies like Getty Images and AP.

Typically , for example , Getty images have their watermark discreetly bottom right af all their images. Usually as well, the newspaper will include a vertical caption along the edge of one of those images which also identifies the photographer. Getty do not own any of those images, the photographers submit images to them and take a cut of any income Getty, as an agency , can get for them.

Now then, how many images do you see on people's Facebooks that actually are Getty Images? Hundreds and thousands. What's the harm in that? It is free advertising the myth goes. Trust me, Getty images do not need to advertise. They do however, occasionally hit some poor innocent who abuses their copyright and take them to court for unlicensed use of images.

Some images have great value to the photographer and it is not uncommon for one great image to bring in say a couple of thousand pounds in a year. This is especially so when one great "generic” image has very broad appeal and can be put to good use by a variety of clients. One such image was one of an estate agents sign which had ivy growing around it. This was a great icon for the down turn in the housing market given the direct implication that that particular house had been on the market so long ivy had grown over the sign.

I have thousands of images in my collection and most have little potential value other than to the people who are in them. Even this fantastic hockey photograph has no real value. The player jumping has no wish to actually own the image, and that of course is a matter for personal choice over which I have no control. Essentially I am guardian of some great moments from the game at all levels.

The only value to me with "keepers" like this ( outstanding images from the sport amongst large numbers of relatively ordinary action shots ) is that it confirm I am a rather hockey photography than most as you rarely get images like this by accident! ) Great photography is about capturing the moment and more important being experienced enough to do it consistently. A professional with nearly forty years experience should , at every occasion, whatever the subject, guarantee that the majority of their images will be top drawer.

In the main, most of the images from the game you see of mine, and I include around the world here, were used on websites and in newspapers without any payment , but used with my permission . That is me making a conscious choice to help out and support the game or a particular team.

I have for example, never received any reward from the not-for-profit ezine, Women Sport Report.com for any illustrated report (on any sport) I have contributed there. This is not just a flash in the pan thing, this is over a number of years and there is, by now, quite an body of my work there. The two founders run that site in their own time, at their own expense, are on a long term mission I share with them, and , event though doing that would be a full time job anywhere else, both have to do day jobs to keep the site up and running.

So there we have it. My name goes on my work because I am proud of what I do. You know it mine. It also flags up that I value my work and if you want to use it there is a cost unless you can persuade me to grant permission of use at no charge!

You should know that I do not take pictures like this at no cost to myself and nor do any of my professional colleagues . Quite apart from l, overheads, including maintenance of professional photographic and associated IT equipment, the running costs of my office etc , runs out, on average, between £80-£90 for tax purposes. (Accepted Inland revenue rate for car travel expenses , associated with your work, is 40 p a mile currently!) That £90 is not a week, I should add , but per day! so when say, a "pro" agrees to cover an evening birthday bash for £100, all in, the return isn't that great!

Getting back to the copyright issue, I do now understand the market and know all about recession and struggling to make ends meet. What I do professionally is a luxury that people can't afford everyday and you can always find photography cheaper from somewhere else, maybe even find a mug who will do it for nothing, although no professional will so it is at your own risk.

All I ask is that you respect my work , my livelihood after all, and the situation I often find myself in ,and do not use my stuff without at least asking me first. Maybe you might like to think of the © symbol next to my name on all of my work as "c" for consideration or consequences?

Please note I have no affiliation with either Bowdon Sports Club , Bowdon High Town Women's Hockey team , its officers and officials and none should be implied or is intended. The image is included to illustrate one of the issues, informally discused here, namely where a photographer allows one of their images to be used on a voluntary, not for pofit basis, that is free of any charge, and where that generosity is acknowledged by the media making use of that image.

MINKE SMEETS RETIRES

2010-12-02T08:49:00.000-08:00

After a very successful hockey career of 15 years, Minke Smeets is ending her international hockey caree. Minke Smeets expecting her first child in June 2011. she will continue to play for Laren this winter and is yet to decide she will play on in thr Rabo League sometime in the future.

Minke Smeets, vice-captain of the Dutch women's team captain and from Laren, played 312 international games, scoring 23 goals. Smeets is the first and currently only Dutch women with more than 300 international matches behind her name an internationalrecord. For thirteen years Smeets was part of the Dutch women's team, her career highlighted by the World Title in 2006 and 2008 Olympic gold in Beijing. Smeets played for the Dutch national team in three Olympics, four World Cups, five European championships and just missed a Champions Trophy (2005) due to a cruciate ligament injury to her knee.

Rhe Technical Director of the KNHB Bert Bun , congratulated Minbke and her husband Tjerk for their fantastic news. "The hockey federation," he said , " Was very grateful to Minke for her contribution in the Dutch national team. With her relentless efforts, she was a model for many. " He affirmed.

DUTCH SENIOR WOMEN'S SQUAD 2010 ANNOUNCED BY CALDAS

2010-12-02T08:38:00.000-08:00

Fresh from his appointment as the new coach of the Dutch Women's team, Max Caldas , former national assistant coach has announced his prelimiary squad of twenty seven players and three keepers. In January 2011 Caldas will start preparing for the Rabo Champions Trophy at the Wagener Stadium (June 25-July 3, 2011). Caldas has yet to finalise his coaching team.

The full list reads as follows and includes two players Caldas knows well from his days as Amsterdam coach, Fieke Holman and Kitty van Male.

The full list inlcudes:-

Name	Club
Marilyn Agliotti	Oranje-Zwart
Naomi van As	Laren.
Ireen van den Assem	Den Bosch
Willemijn Bos	Laren.
Wieke Dijkstra	Laren.
Carlien Dirkse van den Heuvel	S.C.H.C.
Floortje Engels (K)	Amsterdam.
Renske van Geel	Laren.
Margot van Geffen	Den Bosch
Eva de Goede	Amsterdam.
Maartje Goderie	Den Bosch
Fieke Holman	Amsterdam.
Ellen Hoog	Amsterdam.
Kelly Jonker	Amsterdam..
Kim Lammers	Laren..
Caia van Maasakker	S.C.H.C.
Kitty van Male	Amsterdam.
Emilie Mol	Den Bosch
Maartje Paumen	Den Bosch
Sophie Polkamp	Amsterdam
Michelle van der Pols	S.C.H.C.
Minke Smeets	Laren.
Joyce Sombroek (K)	Laren
Marieke Veenhoven	Amsterdam
Claire Verhage	S.C.H.C.
Floortje Verheul	S.C.H.C.
Inge Vermeulen (K)	S.C.H.C.
Vera Vorstenbosch	Den Bosch
Carlijn Welten	Laren
Lidewij Welten	Den Bosch

Live Local History ; original Victorian hearse still in use after restoration.

2010-12-01T13:23:00.000-08:00

From my equestrian photograph archives I pulled this one for a Facebook Group which is associated with what it calls classic photographs of the City. I have a huge collection images taken around the City of Salford as I have a great, life long, interest in Local History and a desire to preserve it through my camera for posterity.

This picture was actually one of the more unusual commissioned projects I have been booked to do. I am natrually documentary-minded and in fact photogrpahed this hearse in very fine detail as well as getting the marketing shots the client wanted to promote his funeral service , or rather the hire of this wonderful coach and shires. I did three shoots as the owner and coachman here, Peter Whitter , had three classic horse drawn hearses, the other two were lighter , reproductions he imported from Poland, and pulled by pairs of Gelderlanders. This one is some three tons and it was carried to the funeral venue in a large van in tandem with the big horse box Peter drove. Once at the venue he would go through the quite complex routine of harnessing the shires to the coach.

In fact there were originally two coaches presented to the City of Salford by Cooks the Funeral directors when they began to use the early motorised hearses. One was destroyed by careless workers when pushed from a loft, the other moth-balled at Weaste bus depot until Peter rescued it. It was in a very sorry state but Pete spent a year lovingly restoring it. At the time we had our own horse stabled at Clifton House Farm and we rented stables from Peter. That's where I discovered I had an affinity to horses and was the begining of ading horse portraiture to my repertoire.

He had been manager at the Farm when the Council owned it . They announced it would be sold off to save costs and Peter bought it on a negotiated lease to ensure the farm was not bulldozed and he ran it owth income from livery. Peter's wife , sadly, became very ill and he was forced to sell the farm, retire , and move to a smaller house nearby. He spent a year or so trying to teach harnessing and coachmanhsip to the new owner but unsuccessfully and eventuially, the present owner sold the two reproduction hearses and the heavy horses. I am not entirely sure what happened to this coach as it was in trust to the council although Pete had done the restoration complelty self-funded.

I took this shot for Peter and a series at Rochdale Cemetry. Here, having harnessed the coach on a nearby car park , he is on the way to picky up the deceased before the funeral and internment. I have also been asked on other occasions to cover funerals for Peter to help the berieved in the grieving process. This required great tact and sensitivity of course.

Fine detail of etched glass end panel of the Victorian hearse.