Shack Attack

Police Tyranny in Allentown, PA: Videographer Faces Eight Years for Photographing US Marshalls

I loved my Constitutional Law course last semester, but it seems like every day there's another example of horrific police conduct that makes me question whether our country's government really lives by its founding document:

I arrived at the U. S. District Courthouse at 504 West Hamilton Street in Allentown, PA, at 11:40 am on Tuesday, May 11, 2010. It was a cool and overcast day. I started to pass out the American Jury Institute pamphlet entitled “A Primer for Prospective Jurors.” I was joined at 11:50 am by Jim Babb, who passed out flyers, and George Donnelly, who took pictures.

At 12:10 pm, six federal marshals approached us in a confrontational manner and said we could not pass out literature nor take pictures. They stood right in front of each of us, no more than 6 inches away, so that we could not communicate with passersby. These were 6 of the most obnoxious people I have ever met.
We asked the marshals to identify themselves, but they refused. We would not identify ourselves.

George attempted to take a picture, but they seized George’s camera. He attempted to retrieve it, but they they threw George to the ground. Then they decided to arrest him for assault. They were joined by a 7th marshal.

Donnelly, a videographer breaking no laws and bravely exercising his constitutional rights, faces eight years in prison. The excellent photographer-rights blog Photography is Not a Crime has a more in-depth look at his absurd legal situation, and Donnelly is currently participating in a lively conversation on Reddit.

Donnelly's donation-based legal defense fund has already grown to $4,000, and is still taking donations. The ACLU has expressed interest in taking on his case, but unless and until that happens, he needs all the help he can get to fight this.

Going Hyperfocal on the Panasonic LX3

Panasonic just released a software update that makes my LX3 camera a whole lot sweeter. The extra settings seem simple- they simply added options to remember your zoom and focus settings when you turn the camera off- but they turn the LX3 into an awesome little camera for street photography.

Let me explain: even we talk about focusing a camera to a specific distance, it's really focused to a range of distances, which we call its depth of field (the depth of the in-focus area). A few factors affect this depth, namely sensor size, aperture, and focal length (how far zoomed in you are). For example, on a normal film camera with a 28mm lens focused to 10 feet at f/2, everything from 9.5 to 10.6 feet should be in focus.

Usually we think of bigger sensors as being better in photography, but smaller sensors, such as those in compact cameras, have much bigger depths of field. Using the same settings as the camera above on my LX3, everything from 4.2 feet to infinity is in focus! When everything from an arbitrary distance on out is in focus, a camera is hyperfocal, and you can pretty much just point, shoot, and know your pictures will be sharp. Ever wonder why you don't need to focus disposable cameras? It's because they're set to a hyperfocal aperture.

Unless you've got a big DSLR with a super-fast autofocus system, using hyperfocal settings on cameras is essential for great action snapshots. If I zoom all the way out and focus about two feet in front of me, I'm in focus from 1 foot all the way to infinity. This lets me point the camera at anything, hit the shutter, and know I'll get a good shot. People always whine about compact cameras taking a long time to focus, but most of this time is used focusing. If you're already focused, many cameras have under 1/10th of a second lag between when you push the shutter and when it takes a picture. Combined with a wide lens, you can take pictures in situations where you don't have time to focus and frame your shot.

Anyway, the LX3 could go hyperfocal before, but because it didn't save zoom and focus settings, you would have to spend a second or two focusing each time you switched it on. With the new firmware, it's easy to reach into a pocket, switch the camera on, and pop off a shot right away.

I liked the LX3 pretty well when I got it, but the longer I play with it, the more fun it gets. I made myself a cool little automatic lens cap that solved one of my biggest annoyances with the camera, and I'm working on a flash diffuser for better skin tones indoors. On top of its hyperfocal features, its wide (24mm) lens and ability to take 2+ shots a second make the LX3 is one of the best cameras out there for nailing random, candid action wherever you are. Little cameras like mine may not be able to keep up with SLRs in absolute performance, but the best camera is the one that's with you, and the LX3 is pretty darn portable.

Saturday Afternoon in Ueno Park

My dad's in town, and after I took him to see Waseda today (where an ATM completely ate my passbook), we walked around Ueno park. Only a few cherry blossoms were blooming, but the weather was great, and tons of people were out, so it was a good time.

Full set on Flickr.

Two Perspectives on the Sumida River

I ride along this river coming home every day, but don't stop to savor it as much as I should. Click each picture for the full set on Flickr.

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