Remembrance Day

Today is the day we all take some time to remember the brave soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom and so much more.

Browsing the Daily Mail website, I fell upon this touching article about photographs that survive from the war.
The photographs collected for the article really highlight emotions and characters that were created by the horrendous time.
You can find the Daily Mail article here.

Take a moment to look through some of these photographs, and if you have any photographs of your own from remembrance day services or events that you attended, do upload them to glopho so that we can all share what we did on this sacred day. We've already had some beautiful uploads from across the world;  these are just two of my favourite.

Time Out Competition

It's competition time again, and this time it's in collaboration with Time Out London.

Since becoming a free publication Time Out has confirmed its' status as the must-have guide to what's going on in London, and we couldn't think of a better way for you all to find the things you want to do, and getting to more events that are making the news. So pick up a copy, work out your schedule, and don't forget to take your camera, phone or camera-phone, and record those goings-ons!

You can win an iPhone 5 simply by submitting your own favourite news picture from the summer. That is to say the picture should be your own, and your favourite one of your own pictures. Most of us have loads on our phones, and they often get so little attention. This is your chance to release them, let them make the news and win you a fancy new phone.

And the winner, to be judged by our own Picture Editor, will get their hands on an iPhone 5 and a photography masterclass in London.

So enter now!
http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/3257/win-an-iphone-5-with-glopho

Shooting fireworks

Taking pictures at night can be a real challenge, but try capturing the bright lights of pyrotechnics against the night sky whilst getting exposure and aperture settings right, and you can get in a right pickle. We're hoping these tips might help you if you want to get some great pictures from a fireworks display this year.

• Try and use a tripod or a solid object, like a table or a wall to rest your camera on and be prepared to Improvise. A rolled up scarf or other props might help get the stability and position you want.

• Bear in mind that fireworks are streams of light. If you want to capture their path, you’ll need a longer exposure time to capture the whole trail of each firework, or of a series of fireworks. You might need 2 or 3 seconds, maybe more to make sure you know how to set this on your camera.

• Turn off the flash on your smartphone, and consider using a specialist app, like SlowShutter, which lets you use long exposures.

• Use a “cable release” button, and if you don’t have one think about using a short self-timer to take the picture. This will allow you to place the camera, and not accidentally jog it when pressing the button.

• Experiment with different exposures. We’d suggest starting at 4 seconds at f5.6 and try changing things from there.

• Try mixing Flash and a long exposure. This will freeze objects and people in the foreground with the benefit of flash, while the long exposure will capture the firework trail.

• Remember it’s not all about the fireworks. Turn around from time to time and you’ll see the delight and excitement in the faces of the spectators, You might even get a firework reflected in someone’s glasses.

• Choose your spot carefully, and be aware of where you are likely to get the best shots as you won’t be able to move much once the action starts. Where are the other spectators, and where are the fireworks expected to be appearing.

• If you camera allows you to, turn off autofocus  to stop the camera constantly ‘hunting’ for focus, and just set the camera to infinity.

• Remember remember: Sparklers make good pictures too! Try using a long exposure again, and you can make lots of interesting pictures by drawing or writing with the sparkler.

• Try using a feature in the landscape as a silhouette to give your image some scale and add to the interest. A tree, a church spire or a group of people if you manage to shoot from a low position.

• And finally, if you're using digital especially, SHOOT LOTS! Because you can.

Is the smartphone killing photojournalism?

We're excited to be hosting a panel discussion during Internet Week Europe 2012. We're going to be at The Hospital Club in London, on Tuesday, 13th November, from 6pm to 7pm.

Book your place now (links to eventbrite)

We'll be exploring the impact of crowd-sourced pictures that are increasingly finding their way into our news, and the effect that is having and will continue to have on photojournalism.

You can expect a lively discussion chaired by Simon Walker, our CEO, Founder who worked for The Times for 20 years as a photographer and News Picture Editor before striking out into the digital world. He will be joined by Roger Tooth, Head of Photography at The Guardian, Eddie Mulholland, an experienced photojournalist working for The Daily Telegraph and Olivier Laurent, News and Online Editor at the BJP (British Journal of Photography). 

Places are limited so please book your free ticket as soon as you can to avoid disappointment.

Is the smartphone killing photojournalism?

Tuesday, 13th November, 18:00 - 19:00
The Hospital Club

Book your place now (links to eventbrite)

And our winners are....

The waiting is over, and the verdicts are in.

We’re very excited to have picked out the four winners, one from each of our categories and one grand prize winner, and contacted them all to let them know.

So who won? Well, glad you asked....

In Celebrity

Andy won with one of his pictures of Queen, with Adam Lambert, playing live. We’ve had a number of live music pictures, and we’d love to see more, but on this occasion it's this picture that proved to be the most popular.

http://www.glopho.com/roger-taylor-adam-lambert-and-brian-may-guyton

In Reality

Pictures of rallies and marches can offer a wealth of photo opportunities, and Kofi’s set uploaded of last year’s Right to Live march proved to be the winner in this category. If you’ve been on or are expecting to be at a similar event soon, big or small, then don’t forget to capture and share it.

http://www.glopho.com/protest-to-live-by-kofi-allen-8

In Locality

Most popular picture doesn’t seem like the right phrase somehow when we received a couple of pictures of a stranded dolphin that had to eventually be put down to prevent it suffering further. But the story of its struggle attracted lots of attention, making sure this local story travelled further than it could have done otherwise.

http://www.glopho.com/dolphin-found-in-surf

And our winner is.....

We received a number of pictures that we felt could have won, and it was only after much deliberation that we settled on our winner. Congratulations then to Greg, for his picture of the Brandenburg Gate during the Festival of Lights in Berlin.

http://www.glopho.com/festival-of-lights-berlin-brandenburg-gate

We loved the way this photo combined an iconic building with a moment of news, and proved to us that it's not essential to have pro-equipment to make the news.

During the voting, we had to sort through a number of notable entries though, and these were some of the others that we felt were worthy of highlighting as they kept us debating the winner for so long:

This distinguished gentleman and his ride at The Dirty Burger caught the eye of the team for it's curious subject matter.

Conor Maynard on-set at E4's crush - great shot, and precisely the sort of thing we want to see more of. Backstage, onstage or on the high street, we definitely want to see your celebrity pictures.

The Olympics provided a wealth of images, and this from Rohan was amongst our favourites for it's capture of an action shot like this, but being such a well-documented event may have counted against it in the end. 

This Cuban man with a chicken was amongst the candidates for our grand prize winner too. It's a beautifully composed image, but we weren't sure if the chicken in the lap of a man was "news" as such in Cuba. Judging by the looks on their faces it all seems perfectly normal to them.

Congratulations again to all the winners, and if you didn't win this time, keep an eye out for more opportunities in the near future.

And of course, keep making the news!

Nearly winning

The winner of the iPhone 5 and the one-day workshop has nearly been announced!

In less than three-and-a-half days, the doors will slam tight shut, all entries will be reviewed, and the golden envelopes will have their secret announcement of victors placed carefully inside. Metaphorically speaking, of course. We will probably announce winners in electronic form of some sort.

Anyway, it's not too late win any of the prizes available, but you will have to upload and share you very best news pictures to stand the best chance possible. (full details here)

And remember, this is not a competition for the most megapixels, so pictures from your compact camera, your mobile phone or your fancy DSLR are all equal as far as we are concerned.

Just join Glopho (if you haven't already) and start sharing those pictures! And Good Luck!

The Final Countdown

We're into the last week of competition to win the fabulous iPhone 5, gloriously unlocked and network-free in anticipation for your SIM-card, along with a full day workshop with an award-winning photojournalist.

And that's not to mention the three other £250 value prizes!

All entries up to midnight on 14th October will be accepted so get snapping and don't hold back! (full details here)