Darren Hector
Darren founded PhotoLegal in early 2009 and is a photographer specialising mainly in wildlife and nature. He has a particular interest in species that are considered as pests by humans, and is particularly fond of wild canids (foxes, wolves etc), starlings and hyena. In 2008 he trained as a scuba diver and now photographs both under and over the water. He founded the PhotowalkLondon group and organises a monthly walk in different parts of the UK capital as a social opportunity for photographers to meet up and take pictures. Outside of photography, he is a keen fan of Formula 1 and has recently started playing the tuba again after a fourteen year gap.
PhotoLegal asks Home Secretary to drop s44
I’ve written asking her to drop the appeal against the European Court’s decision and to abolish or reform s44 to make sure we can all go about our lawful business of taking photographs in public places without fear of harrassment.
S3, No. 1: Educating James – photography tips and tricks
Your chance to listen to “James’ stupid questions” – makes a change, it’s usually the rest of us asking them!
S2, No. 5: Weddings with Tim Collins of Plinkk Photography
Welcome to our latest episode. Even more technical gremlins meant that not only were we unable to broadcast live to the world, but we were also one presenter short. James was unable to join us, possibly due to the ‘Prince of Darkness’ messing around with his computer, or more likely, due to his beloved netbook deciding to pack up at the most inopportune moment.
Photo Competition: Freedom – Results
The competition has now closed, and we’re pleased to announce that the winner of the canvas that has been generously donated by canvasRus is Kelly Cole. Congratulations to Kelly for her image ‘The freedom of an empty beach and the open sea …. pure bliss!’.
PhotoLegal presenters witness unlawful stop and search
PhotoLegal presenters Darren Hector and Phill Price today witnessed what they believed to be an unlawful stop and search in Trafalgar Square by two Police Community Support Officers.
Have Britain’s Police become an instrument of terror?
The British Journal of Photography has today published the results of 46 freedom of information requests that they made to every police force in the UK asking if the force have requested authorisation to use S44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to stop and search people without suspicion to prevent terrorism.
The exercise has revealed that every police force in the UK has requested use of the powers at some point, with the sole exception of Derbyshire. Even more disturbing is the attitude of some forces to the request, including Cambridgeshire who even had the temerity to suggest that BJP itself could be a terrorist organisation!
S2, No. 1: Competitions and Royalty Free, with Gordon Harrison from Pro-Imaging
Well, that was an adventure! Those of you who tuned in will know that we tried to broadcast this episode live, but despite our best efforts and a full test the day before, technical difficulties meant we had to abandon our efforts and record the show in the traditional way. Every cloud has a silver lining because the recording quality is much better as a result of our efforts, and we’ll look at what went wrong so we can bring you the next episode live on Thursday 17 September at 8.30pm.
Anyway, what’s in the show?
PhotoLegal LIVE! We’re almost there.
In just ten hours time we kick off series 2 of PhotoLegal and we’re putting the finishing touches to plans which we hope will allow us to bring this series to you live!
We’re trialling the system tonight, so the live webcast will be exclusive to just 50 listeners.
Hot News: A new Day dawns for PhotoLegal
Well, we’re gearing up for a second series of PhotoLegal, and we’re really chuffed at the response to series 1 (almost 10,000 downloads).
Series 2 will have a new co-host. Kate Day from the Telegraph, who you will no doubt be aware joined us in episodes 3 and 7 of series 1 as a guest, is joining James, Phill and me to bring you your fortnightly digest of news and discussion about the legal issues which affect us as photographers. We’re putting out a news release today (text below), but wanted you to be the first to know.
Birds can’t count! The Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981
You don’t become a wildlife photographer to get rich or famous. There are far easier ways to to do both than spending your days crawling through guano (which is outnumbered by, and far preferable to, the days you have to spend behind a desk). No, the reason you become a wildlife photographer is to spend at least some of your days in the company of other species, preferably in their natural habitat. It therefore goes without saying that the most important thing to any wildlife photographer worth their salt is not the image they’re about to take, it’s the welfare of the animal they are fortunate enough to be spending time with.
