[pataagusata]

Very fortunately, last year in London, while visiting the Victoria & Albert Museum we found Princess Ubol Ratana presenting an episode for her 'Princess Diaries' series.

My friend took quite a few minutes of video footage in close vicinity of the Princess, but since we were in London, none of her security seemed to mind. In fact, my wife was delighted to have a conversation with one of the Princess's boyguards later on, with the Princess just a few meters away. This is the second time ive been withing very close range of Ubol Ratana. The first time was in Suphan Buri on her 'To Be Number One' tour. She came right up to our booth and since i was a farang, she gave me a smile.

As you can see in this short video clip i just posted on YouTube, the princess's team are very relaxed when it comes to strangers coming very near. in fact, most of the locals walking by, dont have a clue what's going on:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWaruyw-14w"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWaruyw-14w[/ame]

[VipInoLo]

Next point, all film based photographs that are published in print form have been digitally scanned as part of the printing process to separate the primary colours into small dots. . Major commercial printing companies went digital in the early 80's many years before amateurs started using digital photography.

[UltraSearchs]

This is interesting because just this week I heard one of the local English-language newspapers - not 100% sure but think it was "BP" - got rebuked for wrongly positioning photos of the queen and that Canadian paedo on its website.

Apparently there are guidelines or rules newspapers must follow for publishing news and photos of the royals, and the paper's web people placed the paed's head above the queen's.

[Finanziamento]

I had an invitation yesterday for the Golden Kinnaree Awards. I won't be going as I have another engagement. There will be a member of the royal family there and the invitation I received had the following security notes. I thought I would share them with you.

SPECIAL SECURITY NOTES

On this special occasion, we will be honoured by Royal presence.

This requires certain protocol and strict security measures.

We are sure that you will understand the need for such measures, and will assist us in the security procedures.

DRESS CODE

• All male members of the Press should wear a matching suit jacket and trousers, and a necktie.
•All female members of the Press should wear a dress to below the knees (no pants or slacks).
•No sandals or open-toed shoes.

CAMERAMEN

All cameramen and photographers must have an official press card from the Royal Thai Government Public Relations Department. NO other form of press ID will be accepted.

All cameramen and photographers must undergo a security camera check two hours before the event begins.

After passing the camera check, they will be given a security armband, which must be worn at all times.

CAMERA EQUIPMENT

For still photographers, SLRs (digital or film) are the only form of camera which will be accepted. Smaller digital or film cameras will not be allowed in to the event.

For videographers, all cameras must be shoulder-mount professional cameras. Handicams and smaller digital cameras will not be admitted.

[OGOGOogoloshennya]

# Only an SLR or film slide camera is allowed. Compact or digital cameras are prohibited for taking a royal photo due to their ease to edit for improper use.

The logic behind this escapes me.

A negative or slide from an SLR camera can be digitised in a matter of minutes, and to a higher quality than many current digital cameras, and can then be edited just as easily as one taken digitally.

Also a compact camera is not necessarily a digital camera, there are *many* compact cameras that use negative or slide film.

David

[VipInoLo]

Well no one prevented me from taking a royal photo from my compact film camera in 2002, but they did instruct me to take my sunglasses off and hat off, just minutes before taking the royal photo. On top of this I saw some Thai's at this event taking photo's with there compact camera just like me, maybe the rules have been tightened up on this point since then. Having said that, my photo's are not worth publishing.

[Finanziamento]

Tips for capturing a publishable royal photograph
The Nation

Bumrung Phankaek, a photographer based at HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn's Personal Affairs Division, gives advice on how to capture a photo during regal ceremonies which might be publishable in the press.

Tips for capturing a publishable royal photograph

# Try to capture a moment in the photo while the Royal Family member is showing an interest or focusing on something: a note-taking moment, cooking, having a conversation or walking followed by a row of participants.

# Avoid a photo that might be lower the family member's dignity. For instance, if the royal person is very short compared to someone nearby, take a photograph with both sitting on a sofa.

# A photo of the royal person eating or drinking is prohibited.

# Shoot a photo only at an eye-level angle. It's not possible to publish a royal photograph shot from a high angle because this is considered as defamation of royal honour.

# It is prohibited to take royal photograph during movement from lower and higher ground, such as taking a stair step.

# If you know beforehand the royal schedule and place of visit, it's a better idea to set up your camera at a prepared spot and wait until the family member's arrival rather keep following their progress.

# For a close-up photo of a royal smiling face, always leave some blank space over the top of the photo while taking a shot. This is to avoid missing of some part of the head, in which case you cannot use it.

# You will have to stay at least five metres away while taking a photo.

# Only an SLR or film slide camera is allowed. Compact or digital cameras are prohibited for taking a royal photo due to their ease to edit for improper use.

# Before publishing any royal photograph, it is strongly recommended to ask permission from the royal office.

All the information here came from a recent seminar "How to Capture a Photo to Make News", organised by Mahidol University International College.

Watchara Saengsrisin

The Nation

[Finanziamento]

Yes, the King's picture, and those of monks and Buddha images, must always be at the top of the page. These rules are mainly for newspapers, but webmasters also have to be careful. Of course, with blogs, we cannot easily post a picture of the King as it will soon move down the page.

There was recently a good example of this in the Thai Rath newspaper. They had a picture of a group of Thai students who had just won an international award for a robot competition. Two of the people in the picture were holding portraits of H.M. The King. It was a good story, but the newspaper didn't want to run the picture above the fold. Secondly, one of the students holding the picture was sitting on the floor. Hence, the image of the H.M. The King was near his feet. Other students were standing behind him with their heads being higher. They wanted to run the story so what they did was to photoshop out the picture of H.M. The King. They were hoping no-one would notice. But of course, everyone did and Thai Rath was accused of being disloyal to the monarchy.

I have been at events where members of the Royal Family were due to attend. Everyone around the podium were told that they couldn't take pictures.