My Wishlist

I'm going to be turning 40 this year in a month's time. Here are a few photography related books I have on my wishlist. This is for my family and friends who want to get me nice things, but if you want to get me something I wouldn't look you in the mouth :)

Changing the battery on the Phottix Strato Trigger

If you own one of these triggers (Also known as the YongNuo YN-16), at some point you are going to have to change the battery. This moment came quite quickly for me because the button was accidentally held down in my bag and the trigger was completely dead when it came time to start shooting. Fortunately I always carry a spare so it wasn't a disaster.

Changing the battery however can be a disaster. The reason for this is that there is a component called a bastard spring. If it comes lose you will understand why it is so named. The bastard spring is used by the centre pin of the hot foot and once it pops out of its slot it is very difficult to put it back in without breaking the soldered connection to the circuit board. If that happens, the trigger is going to be junk unless you are very good at soldering.

So I'm going to show you the proper sequence for changing the trigger battery without ruining your trigger.

Step One: Turn your trigger face down and undo the screws. Carefully remove the screws without pulling the two halves of the trigger apart.

Step Two: It is crucial that the foot stays attached to the bottom half of the trigger. Carefully turn the trigger face up and with your finger lightly on the foot, pull the front of the trigger off. At this stage it would make sense to put a dab of glue on the foot where it connects to the bottom half of the trigger so that you won't have to worry about it ever again.

Step Three: Change the battery. If you haven't glued the hot foot to the cover, you need to be careful doing this as it is far too easy for that bastard spring to pop out

Step Four: Put the cover back on. The grey button for the trigger needs to have the little tab facing the foot. Other than that its pretty straight forward to put it on and screw it all back together.

There you have it, be very careful and you should have no problems. I'm planning on doing a post at some point on how to modify the trigger so that the test button won't get pressed accidentally. It will probably involve velcro. But you could just leave the test button off completely if you don't use it.

Have Some Pride

Its The Pride London Parade this weekend. Of all the parades I have photographed over the years Pride London is the highlight of them all. What makes Pride London so special is that everyone there actually wants to be there, and not only that, they want to have a great time. Other parades the people are usually there because they are obeying orders or they are obliged because they got flown out from the states at great expense and now they are in cold grey miserable London when they would rather be back at the hotel snorting coke off a cheerleader's tits.

But at pride, no matter the weather, everyone has a blast. The last time I was there it rained so much that my viewfinder and lenses fogged up and I missed the actual parade while I dried off in a nearby pub. Fortunately I had a press pass and got some good pictures in the pit in front of the stage at Trafalgar Square. The highlight for me one year was when I was able to persuade the leather clad conductor of the open topped Motor Sports Club bus to let me on board and I got the above [insert adjective of choice] image.



Sadly the day clashes with so many other commitments of mine that I haven't been able to go for the last couple of years. So I would like you to go in my place this year and bring me back some pictures. The weather promises to be good this year, so you'll see lots more people. Arrive early at the assembly point in Baker Street and you can get some images of people getting ready for the parade. There are loads of characters, but you might have trouble getting any candids as anyone who sees a camera will immediately play up to it. You strobists can take your gear along and do some portraits, you'll find more receptive people than anywhere else. Take your business cards along too because you might sell some prints.

In previous years the parade route has been quite porous, I saw plenty of people without passes walking the route, so you should be able to slip through and get the odd shot. Try to get a variety of shots not just portraits but wide shots that show a sense of place. Shoot the crowd you should get some great reaction shots and there will be a few interesting characters lining the route.

Let me know how you get on and have fun, fingers crossed for good weather. If you want more information about pride London go look at the website