So, I'm walking down past Downing Street and, well, (you heard it here first!) those "wacky" guys from Fathers 4 Justice have got themselves all dolled up for action again and had climbed out on the wall of 10 Downing Street (which meant that Downing Street was blocked off which meant I couldn't meet someone outside 10 Downing Street as we'd arranged, which annoyed me a little). Cause, y'know, it worked so well the last few times.
I don't know the individual merits of these dad's cases but....is it wrong of me to want to see one of them take a mis-step and go plummeting to his doom? Does that make me a bad person? That'd certainly get some media focus on the issue.
These guys need a new trick. How about this: Instead of just, y'know, standing about on buildings looking fat- why don't they actually go around like, thwarting crime and helping people and beating up mothers dressed like villains? That'd be entertaining AND helpful.
Anyway, I thought I'd take this opportunity to perform an experiment to establish something I've always believed about digital zoom, but would be fun to confirm.
Now, here is an excerpt from the picture above (can you believe a phone-camera has such awesome res? Everyone should have one), where I've zoomed in (well, cropped out the dross) on the three men on the building.
Now, below is a second picture, taken on the scene, using the digital zoom built into my phone camera.
Do you see what I see? Has it come to you, as if a fireball has exploded in your mind?!? Digital zoom is functionally useless! You may as well take a photo at minimum magnification, and then zoom in later on to get the best border possible. The only time you'd want to use digital zoom is if you had to send a close up of whatever you were looking at RIGHT AWAY. And even then it'd be a bit crap.
You probably know this already. But imagine if you weren't quite sure! I'd have expanded your mind a little. I'll pretend that I have. We all go home happy.
d
This is a 
Everyone knows all that digital zoom does is crop the photo, and then enlarge it (badly)
A few years ago their was a women on a bridge (mayb have been in Seattle) jumped after everyone got pissed off that it was slowing down traffic and yelled at her to jump.
Well, all digital zoom does is exactly what you did, it basically crops off the edge and closes in a bit. My camera has 3x optical and 3x digital zoom, but I always always have it set so the digital zoom doesn't ever happen. Coz it doesn't really do anything. In fact, it kinda gives you a worse picture than the one you would get if you take the picture at minimum magnification, as with most cameras it tries to make the picture as sharp as if you hadn't (digitally) zoomed in, and fecks up the whole thing as it does.
You're FAR better off just taking the pic at normal magnification, then cropping it on your computer and sharpening and tidying it up with whatever lovely photo-manipulation software you happen to have (I use serif photoplus 6.0 as it's free, and quite good too I'll have you know).
Well, not everyone knew that. Everyone suspected it, but then everyone tried it out, and everyone blogged it. Now everyone knows for sure.
If everyone just asked me, they would know.
This just in: Some people don't even know what digital zoom is. This could, y'know, provide a clue.
Presumably the 'Seattle jumper' was suicidal, not trying to promote some kind of cause. It's only funny when you don't mean to do it.
Everyone also ought to realise that it's the photographer that takes the photo, not the camera. So while technically insignificant, digital zoom can play a useful part of the creative processes of photography. Such as when trying to take illicit photos of the unsuspecting, for instance.
That aside, I think any of the above photos would be great entries for a caption competition. Everyone loves a caption competition.
The Metro didn't even mention Fathers 4 Justice this morning! I thought I'd like, y'know, scooped them. Turns out they don't even care. Which is great, but does this mean that London's monuments are just coated in superheroes and I remain oblivious?
Caption competitions require, y'know, a readership to compete with one another. Nothing more embarassing than launching a competition and having no takers. Give it time!