Lock down, again

We’re back in lock down again. It’s not quite as strict as the last time but lock down all the same. Restrictions on meeting people and visiting other households have been tightened as have restrictions on selling alcohol. Restaurants, bars and coffee shops are permitted to sell only takeaway food. Some have simply closed.

The Coronavirus infection rate, the R rate, is over one as I think it is in most countries in Europe. The news bulletins carry information on rising hospital admissions and more worryingly, sadly some deaths. People are beginning to realise this may go on much longer than was originally expected. Thoughts are turning to Christmas with possible travel restrictions and social distancing preventing family and friends gathering.

These images with the exception of the last one, are from Cathedral Quarter on a Saturday afternoon. Usually a busy time with bars and restaurants crowded with both locals and visitors to the city. There were few people about. A guy with his young son, seeing me taking photographs, stopped to say how strange it felt. Autumn leaves on the outside tables at 2Taps, a usually busy restaurant and bar tell it all without words.

Hill Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Hill Street, Belfast

Duke of York Bar, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Duke of York Bar, Commercial Court, Belfast

Duke of York Bar, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Duke of York Bar, Commercial Court, Belfast

The Merchant Hotel, Belfast, Northern Ireland
The Merchant Hotel, Belfast, Northern Ireland

St. Anne's Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland
St. Anne’s Square, Belfast

2Taps, Wine bar, Belfast
2Taps, Wine bar, Belfast

The Dirty Onion, Belfast, Northern Ireland
The Dirty Onion and Yardbird, Belfast

Two girls wearing masks walk past Revolucion de Cuba restaurant, Arthur Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Two girls wearing masks walk past Revolucion de Cuba restaurant, Arthur Street, Belfast

Not taking stock

I’ve reduced my output for stock even further over the past month. I’ve sent a few images to Alamy but that’s about it. I’ve been taking photographs of things, people and events that attract my attention with no aim in mind other than improving my processing skills and enjoying the images.

The government is introducing another lock down because of the pandemic although it’s being called a circuit breaker this time. It doesn’t sound to be as severe as the first lock down and hopefully it won’t last too long.

The weather recently has been much better than we expect for this time of year and this helps to keep peoples spirits up.

These photographs are from one of the not so good days although as you can see people still manage to get into the water and enjoy themselves.

Seat in the rain
Seat in the rain

Ballyholme, Bangor
Ballyholme, Bangor

Pay telescope
Pay telescope

Taking stock

I haven’t been getting out and about so much recently, mainly because of the pandemic and this means I’m not producing as much as I’d like. It’s partly because there’s not as much going on as usual but also demand for stock images has reduced drastically and this has dampened my enthusiasm.

In the previous post I spoke of selling images on Fine Art America and I’m now finding that this has nudged  me very much away from producing images for stock and towards images more suitable for hanging on a wall, be it an office wall or a wall in the home.

I’ve said earlier my stock images are mainly destined for the editorial market and were not altered.  Producing images for print is a very different game as I’m allowed artistic licence. I am still sometimes reluctant to alter the scene too far from reality but I imagine with time this will change.

What also caught me unawares is that sometimes people expect information on the artist who they buy the picture they are going to hang on their wall from. I may well have to give up my stock shooter’s anonymity. Along with this I find myself fielding questions on the best paper to have an image printed on, frame design and the size of print suitable for a particular room and the like. I’m learning fast and enjoying it but these are questions that I just didn’t have to think about when selling stock images through an agency.

I like to produce images from the city and have been concentrating on these. I’ve tried my hand at landscape photography but I’ve found I prefer photographs with an urban theme. For now anyway.

Some recent images are below.

Titanic Memorial Garden in the grounds of City hall
Titanic Memorial Garden in the grounds of City hall

Titanic Memorial Garden in the grounds of City hall
Titanic Memorial Garden in the grounds of City hall

Lagan Weir Bridge, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Lagan Weir Bridge, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Albert Memorial Clock, Belfast
Albert Memorial Clock, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Photographed from Queen’s Square with fountains in the foreground

Ornate light on the Queen's Bridge, Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Obel Tower is visible in the background
Ornate light on the Queen’s Bridge, Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Obel Tower is visible in the background

Shipyard crane behind apartment blocks, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Shipyard crane behind apartment blocks, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Imagination and Images

With mostly shooting images for stock its rejuvenating to take some time and produce photographs to be printed and displayed on a wall.

I sell prints on Fine Art America and its a different type of work than I would send to a picture library.

Most of the work I send off for stock is destined for the editorial market. Editorial images can’t be altered so other than adjusting the levels, straightening the horizon if needed and some cropping they’re as is. Selling photographs to hang on walls is very different. You have the freedom to change things, even if I don’t avail of it as much as I probably should. People and objects can be added or removed, the sky can be changed, sometimes the final image owes little to the original photograph. Even with this freedom I’m reluctant to change much in a photograph. I’ll remove telegraph poles and the like that jar with the composition and even doing this can leave me with vague feelings of unease. I envy those who can produce images that come from their imagination as much as from their camera, but I’m too used to dealing with editorial images to start adding fake moons and alien skies to photographs.

These images are from an afternoon walking around aimlessly, mainly in the area of The Big Fish and Clarendon Dock. Other than removing the odd telegraph pole or light and processing them in black and white the scenes are pretty much as I saw them.

Lagan Weir Bridge over the River Lagan with the Custom House is on the right. The bridge connects Donegall Quay with Queen’s Quay and replaced the previous bridge that never really felt permanent.

The Obel Tower sits on Donegall Quay on the River Lagan near to the Lagan Weir. The tower is the tallest storeyed building in Ireland

Lagan Weir and Lagan Weir Bridge with one of the giant Harland and Wolff Shipyard cranes in the background

The Obel Tower sits on Donegall Quay on the River Lagan near to the Lagan Weir. The tower is the tallest storeyed building on Ireland

Sinclair Seamens Presbyterian Church was designed by Charles Lanyon and opened in 1857. The church was built in memory of John Sinclair a local born businessman, whose family made donations to build places of worship.

The Royal, Bangor

It doesn’t seem like six years ago but the Royal Hotel closed in 2014. I sometimes had lunch there and coffee when it wasn’t lunch time. I didn’t know it then but the hotel dated from 1773 although it had been rebuilt in 1932. When people said it had old world charm they weren’t making it up.

Rumours talk of it being developed into apartments but then that’s often the case when a large building such as a hotel closes. There’s a ‘To Let’ sign above it offering four restaurant/cafe units but unfortunately with the current Coronavirus pandemic and the expected economic consequences things don’t look good for the near future.

The small fenced off area in front of the hotel with tables and umbrellas is for patrons from the Rabbit Rooms restaurant nearby. The pavement outside the Rabbit Rooms is fairly narrow and many diners, sensibly with the threat of Covid 19, feel more comfortable outside so they’re using the space outside the Royal. Outside dining of course depends on the weather – always risky in Ireland.

Royal Hotel, Bangor detail

Tables outside the Royal Hotel, Bangor
Tables outside, Royal Hotel

Tables outside the Royal Hotel

Race to the bottom

Shutterstock, an Image licensing platform has drastically reduced the commission rates paid to photographers from 1st June to as little as 15 percent. Contributors can increase commission rates depending on sales but the sting comes every January when everyone resets to the 15 percent base rate and has to start climbing the commission ladder all over again.

It would be fair to say that this decision was never going to be received well. Contributors were told by email on 26th May that the changes would take place just five days later on 1 June. That they had to tell contributors again as the first email contained errors, hinted that more care could have been taken over a decision that may well impact some people’s livelihoods.

The emails were not a happy read for contributors who vented their fury on the forum. One of the staff, giving an undertaking that commissions would not be less than 10 cents, didn’t do much to calm things down. 

A petition was organised asking Shutterstock to reconsider and a Facebook group formed to resist the changes. There was little or no further explanation or engagement from the company.

I jumped on the microstock treadmill in the days of Istock many years ago. Istock was the dominant force in those days but I joined others including Shutterstock.

I stopped contributing after a few years and shortly afterwards removed my images because of the poor commission rates for photographers. For whatever reason I didn’t remove my images from Shutterstock.

A couple of years ago I started to dabble in video. Alamy, where I was now submitting images, didn’t do video so I returned to Shutterstock where my account was still open. I happily licensed a few video clips through them and as Alamy had reduced commission rates I uploaded some images as well to see what would happen. Commissions even then were derisory but sales volume made it worthwhile.

I think it was shortly after I started to submit video clips complaints started to appear on the Shutterstock forum about clips being licensed for very low amounts with the contributor often receiving as little as 60 cents. As usual there was little response from Shutterstock in the way of explanation.

The complaints didn’t really register with me until I was on the receiving end of a 60 cent sale then another for $1.80.

The future does not look bright. There are reports on the Shutterstock forum of many sales at 10 cents and most of my sales are  at 10, 11 and 12 cents. This is not economically viable. I would have to licence up to 20 images to buy the newspaper in the photograph above.

There is also much talk on the forum and elsewhere of portfolios being removed and content withdrawn from sale. Some chose to sell their content solely or mostly through Shutterstock. The new rates will hit them disproportionately hard. Having said this Shutterstock did licence a lot of work and was the main earner for a lot of contributors. Indeed even with these commission cuts they may well still generate more cash, through volume of sales, than some competitors.

I have no issue with Shutterstock’s rates. They provide a service and It is for contributors to assess whether that service is worth the cost. It is simply a platform to licence images and there are other places that will offer better terms. I think they should take less, as the middle man pocketing up to 85% seems excessive, but new content is still being submitted so others either don’t think so or don’t care. Management must run the business as they see fit and they are answerable to shareholders not contributors. Shutterstock doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Adobe Stock, taking market share and well thought of by contributors, looms large. Its integration with Photoshop is a convenience that should not be overlooked.

Where I think some people would take issue is the lack of consideration shown or sliver of support offered by Shutterstock in giving a mere five days notice to contributors of commission cuts, that may well cause financial difficulty, during a worldwide Corona virus pandemic.

While I was drafting this post Shutterstock licensed some of my video clips for 26 cents and some for 34 cents. I have stopped submitting both images and video and have removed my video clips from sale.

On a more positive note lock down is being relaxed week by week. There is talk of bars, hotels and even hairdressers being allowed to open early in July and social distancing is being reduced to one metre.

Bangor is still very quiet but getting busier every day.

Cyclists, Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland
Cyclists, Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland


Unity, Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland
Unity, Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland


Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland
Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland


Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland
Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. A lady examines stones, some marked NHS on Eisenhower Pier. I believe these were placed as a tribute to front line NHS staff and other essential workers during the Corona virus crisis. I’m told there is a larger example at Donaghadee.

How much is that camera?

I hark back to the days of film when you bought a camera and used it until it got broken beyond reasonable repair or it was worn out.

Now some camera manufacturers bring out a new model every couple of years. I think Canon and Nikon work on a four year cycle which is a good sign. It shows they expect the likes of the EOS 5D MK4 or the Nikon 850D to last for four years professional use. Many last much longer.

Although not used professionally (but not treated very sympathetically) my EOS 5D MK2 is still going strong and I bought it in 2012 when the mark 3 was released.

You can save a lot of money by buying the camera before the current model. You can save even more by buying it second hand although look out for cashback’s and discounts on new cameras. Some photographers like to have the latest camera and buy it as soon as they can, trading in their old model. This keeps the second hand market buoyant. Buy second hand from a reputable dealer and you can get a very good camera at a keen price. Cameras don’t hold value well and depreciate at probably around the same rate as computers and cars.

The photographic internet is waiting with eagerness for the release of the Canon EOS R5 which is due out soon and by some accounts is a remarkable camera. We know some of the specifications but not the price or resolution. We know that it will record 8K video and is rumoured to have probably a 44 megapixel sensor. It may be over specified for many. To me, the lack of price rings alarm bells. I’ve found that when an item is well priced the amount is usually displayed prominently.

The amount of $10500 Australian was released on an Australian website some time ago. It was later said this was a placeholder amount to facilitate comping. If you are cynical you may well think it was Canon testing the market.

Many will be hurting financially after the crisis and reluctant to part with money to upgrade their current camera, that is more than likely still working just fine. Also I’m not convinced everyone is as eager to dump their DSLR to go mirrorless as some YouTubers would have us believe.

It has been suggested that the R5 will be priced similarly to the EOS 5D Mk4 when it was released. That would price it at about £3500. This pricing estimate seems to owe much to the fact that both cameras have a 5 in their name. It may well be wishful thinking. The Canon 1DX Mk 3 is around £6400 so we can be fairly sure it will be less than this. In a post Coronavirus world what photographers will see as a reasonable price is anyone’s guess. There is also talk of an EOS R6 with lower specifications and a lower price.

Most of us believe that lenses are more important than camera bodies and Canon photographers, who choose to buy a Canon mirrorless camera, may well want to keep their ‘L’ series lenses to keep costs manageable and ease into the new model. Lenses for the Canon mirrorless range, although very good, are expensive. Both current Canon mirrorless cameras, I believe, come with adaptors allowing EF lenses to be used so I imagine the EOS R5 will too.

I’m looking forward to seeing it.

I walked into Bangor yesterday and saw that children had attached artwork to the railings of the Presbyterian Church to say thank you to front-line workers during the Corona virus pandemic. As well as images of Doctors and Nurses and NHS staff, Taxi Drivers, Police Officers, Pharmacists, Supermarket Workers and others were depicted. It was good to see.

Bangor, Northern Ireland, 29 May, 2020: Drawings and art from children thanking frontline workers in the Coronavirus crisis attached to the railings of First Bangor Presbyterian Church, Northern Ireland

The new normal?

Yesterday I walked into Bangor town centre. There’s a lot more traffic on the roads than even a week ago although most shops are still closed. There are more cyclists than usual, many on shiny new bikes and some of them looking a bit shaky.

At the marina there was some activity with boats being tidied in anticipation of the restrictions being eased. We haven’t been given much freedom back so far but people sense the end of the lock down approaching and are moving towards whatever the new normal will bring.

Conversation is turning to life after the pandemic and what the future holds. There is insecurity over employment and Brexit, as always, looms in the background. Whether for or against, it adds to the uncertainty.

There is much discussion about when and how the lock down can be eased. Although it reduced the spread of the virus we have yet to see the full cost with domestic violence, mental health issues and possibly the murder rate increasing.

Many with serious medical conditions have had treatments and procedures postponed or cancelled because of the pandemic. Attendances at Accident and Emergency Departments and referrals for specialist consultations have dropped away as people avoided hospitals. Some dental treatments have been put on hold. There will be a lot of catching up to be done.

With the gyms still closed I’m doing more walking than usual. Proper walking, tramping the roads rather than tramping on a treadmill. I used to walk the roads every day but reduced the road walking when I joined the gym. I’d forgotten walking roads is harder on the feet than walking on a sprung treadmill but it is more interesting. I see people on bikes, jogging and walking and most greet me. When I’m on the treadmill all I can see is the car park.

As far as photography goes I’m constantly on the lookout while I’m out walking and if that doesn’t work there’s always the garden.

I’ve been meaning to get a decent photograph of First Bangor Presbyterian Church for some time. There’s a striking  willow tree at the front but it’s not quite in leaf yet. Maybe in a month or so and with a wider lens.

First Bangor Presbyterian Church
First Bangor Presbyterian Church

While on churches – I noticed this sign for Drive in services. They are possibly common enough in some places but this is the first one I’ve seen.

I’m left wondering if face masks and drive in church services will be part of the new normal.

Drive in Church Service sign, Bangor
Drive in Church Service sign