caymanchrisb

Just thought that I would write about a personal anecdote of mine to warn the newbie digital photographer as well as refresh the memories of seasoned vets on what can happen in this wonderful digital age. Four years ago I took my first digital photographs with an olympus 3030 and tetra setup, during a rebreather week put on by the Diveshop I was working for. I was asked to take some fun photos of the guests so that they could have a personal keepsake from the diving that week, I readily did so and provided the guests with CDs of the images at the end of the week. Shortly thereafter some of my photos appeared in commercial advertisements, not only without my consent but also with photo credit given to someone else.... in fact someone in the photo. The first time I saw this I was shocked and a little upset but thought it was some sort of a miscommunique and contacted the magazines & advertisers using the photo. I thought it was a 'one-off' that would be quickly corrected. Since that time I have seen that photo in one page advertising spreads in dozens of magazines including Immersed,UK Dive magazine, Nitrox diver, as well as being used in a 20 foot by 10 foot high advertising kiosk at the DEMA dive show,as well as thousands of cardboard pamphlets used for advertising a product, continuing to give credit to someone else ( the web administrator of the Dive shop Reg Creighton). This individual repeatedly denied having anything to do with the image, saying someone else must have sent it in. His credibility being damaged somewhat because of the fact an additional article he provided to a local touristic publication had the clear markings " Articles and photos by Reg Creighton "; which once again had some of my work showcased. I have spoken with various people on the subject and it seems there is no recourse for such violation(s), the fact that I do not have 'the original' shouldn't really be an issue as the person getting credit for the photo is IN the photo. The fact that I was working for the shop, I believe, shoudn't be an issue because I did not sign away my copyright for outright corporate and international advertising use, merely a personal memory keepsake for the guests. The bottom line I suppose: enjoy the freedom to share that digital allows you, but beware there are some unscrupulous individuals out there looking to take credit for your work. <_<

I believe that the problem is intrinsic in the camera as you found out, what I have seen over time is that some CCDs are more sensitive than others even in the same model camera. In low light conditions the CCD is less able to cope. In Yap with the VX1000 some years ago, I found that the best way of getting WB settings were to : as mentioned before , do it often on the way down and experimenting with pointing at the sand, the sun, a slate.... and for different effects ie. making Mi'l channel green turn blue to try a white balance on the pink/red coral polups.

Sony 3ccd VX2000 in a Gates housing with wide angle port. $4000USD Chris Brandson ph: 345-926-7912 345-949-1700

Aluminum Tetra housing with Olympus 4040z 4.1 megapixel camera for sale with wide angle lense and flat port. $1000 Chris Brandson Ph: 345-926-7912 345-949-1700