The trip will be a mix of travel and some assignment work.

Despite Japan being known for telecommunications and digital everything, I’ll be dropping off the internet grid for most of my trip. This means no blog posts until July (sorry) and probably only once a week email checks.

Can’t wait to wander through the culture, colour and people of Japan.

Expect loads of high quality travel imagery upon my return.

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This weeks photo from the archive comes from Baa Atoll in the Maldives.

I was in Baa Atoll for a 36-hour visit to Six Senses Soneva Fushi Resort, for Bangkok Airways Fah Thai Magazine. Six Senses are one of the first resort companies in the Maldives to offer guests a luxury sea plane service with their provider, Maldivian Air Taxi. After I disembarked from the sea plane in this photo, myself and the other resort guests’ were transferred to a dhoni for the short 7-minute ride to the resort.

This photo really sums up sea plane travel in the Maldives. Beautiful turquoise waters, lots of open ocean space and a small floating dock for passengers. When I look at this image now, I just think ‘so Maldives’.

License the image by clicking on it.

More Maldives photography is available for licensing at my stock library and Aurora Photos.

Embed and share at your own site by clicking the triangle in the lower right hand corner.

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]]> http://thomaspickard.com/blog/2010/05/from-the-archive-maldives-tourism/feed/ 1 http://thomaspickard.com/blog/2010/04/huvafen-fushi-resort-maldives-2/ http://thomaspickard.com/blog/2010/04/huvafen-fushi-resort-maldives-2/#comments Sat, 24 Apr 2010 06:05:49 +0000 Thomas Pickard http://thomaspickard.com/blog/?p=1512 Earlier in the year, I was fortunate enough to find myself back out at the wonderfully luxurious Huvafen Fushi Resort in the south-west corner of North Male’ Atoll.

I had been granted a day and one night at the resort so I could produce some imagery for an article I had previously written on the resort designer, Mohamed Shafeeq. Working to such a tight time frame meant I had to have a very clear shoot list. After an initial scout of the entire resort, I sat down and worked out a game plan with the help of my resort contact. Arranging resort staff to model for various shots helps enormously in producing more dynamic and salable imagery.

While having a game plan and a schedule is important, I always look for anything photographic that may pass my way. Given the time and effort to get out to a place like Huvafen, it is important as a photographer to maximize my shooting time while on-location.

Below I have provided a sample of images from my 36-hours at Huvafen Fushi. If all goes to plan, some of these images should be appearing in a magazine article later in the year (I’ll keep you posted).

License any image by clicking on it.

See the full Huvafen Fushi Resort gallery at my stock library.

Embed and share on your own site, by clicking on the triangle in the bottom right hand corner.

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A week after arriving back in Bangkok from a month shooting in the Maldives, I picked up my first job with Wonderful Machine.

While I can’t show any outtakes or discuss who the client was, I can tell you that it was part of a global campaign and I was just one of many photographers assigned to it. My brief was to photograph a CEO on-location at a factory site outside of Bangkok. All went well and I hope to post some outtakes in the coming months.

Big thanks to the crew at Wonderful Machine, especially Jess Dudley.

If you haven’t heard of Wonderful Machine before, make sure you check out their site. They have a great roster of photographers, spanning the globe.

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For now, two photos from the recently opened Shangri-La Resort, Maldives.

Shangri-La Presidential Suite, Maldives.

The old and the new. Resort staff motoring past a dhoni.

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I first visited Soneva Fushi on assignment for Serendib Magazine in 2007. It was during that first trip that I met many of the wonderful staff at Soneva Fushi and learnt first hand how the resort was changing the  way it runs things, all in the name of the environment.

This trip was for a commission with Bangkok Airways magazine. As the article hasn’t been written, or even published yet, I can’t talk about the subject matter. Instead, I thought it would be a good idea to provide a run down of my two days on the island, just to give readers an idea of how busy some of my resort visits are.

Day 1:

11.15 am: I meet good friend Ahmed Zahid at the Airport Jetty, for the 10-minute trip to the International airport. A photographer in his own right, Zahid offered to assist for me with the portrait shoots.

11.45 am: Picked up at the International airport and driven to the sea plane terminal, a 7-minute shuttle.

11.52 am: Escorted to the VIP lounge; complete paperwork; quick drink; then escorted to Twin Otter sea plane.

12.18 pm: Sea plane departs for Soneva Fushi, with a 10-minute stop at Soneva Gili Resort to pick up some passengers.

1.16 pm: Arrive at floating dock in a lagoon adjacent to Soneva Fushi. The water is an incredible turquoise blue. Just stunning!

1.21 pm: Transfer to a dhoni (traditional Maldivian boat) for the trip to the resort.

1.32 pm: Arrive at Soneva Fushi. Straight to lunch.

2.15 pm: Shown to villa. Settle in; repack equipment, then off to first interview and shoot.

2.30 pm: Interview, then portraits.

3.30 pm: Back to villa.

3.45 pm: Back to the main dock for boat trip with staff to the nearby sand bar for afternoon/evening cocktails.

4.05 pm: Arrive at one of the most spectacular sand bars I have seen in the Maldives. Photograph staff setting up.

5.15 pm: First guests begin to arrive from resort by speed boat.

7.30 pm: Leave the sand bar, returning to the resort.

7.45 pm: Sit down for dinner with the GM and other guests. The food at Soneva Fushi is superb!

9.00 pm: Finish dinner, then back to villa. Download the days photos; do a rough edit; check schedule for the morning. To bed at midnight.

Phew. A busy day. Great to be back out on the islands with Zahid again and to reconnect with some of the people I had previously spoken to at Soneva Fushi. Day 2 tomorrow.

A few favourite photos from the day.

Beautiful abstract reef patterns near Soneva Gili Resort Maldives.

Sea plane transfer with Soneva Fushi Resort, Maldives.

Approaching a sand bar, Maldives.

Soneva Fushi Resort staff setting up on a sand bar, Maldives.

Guests enjoying evening cocktails on a sand bar, Maldives.

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Aerial view of Chaaya Lagoon Hakuraa Hurra Resort, Meemu Atoll, Maldives. Thomas Pickard / Aurora Photos

Just a note to let people know that I will be returning to the Maldives during January 2010 for some photography work. I am in the midst of sorting out logistics for locations, timings etc..

For PE’s and AD’s with Maldives photography requirements, please contact me with your requirements. As a former resident, I have extensive knowledge of the country and loads of experience travelling throughout the country. Portfolio here.

For couples’ looking for some lifestyle portraiture, drop me a line as soon as possible. Don’t forget to include your resort name (url is great); preferred date and contact details. Portfolio here.

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Thomas Pickard / Aurora Photos

Earlier this month I wrote a blog post titled Southern Thailand Photo Assignment. At the time I couldn’t divulge the client or even what the shoot was about. Today though I can.

The client was Ocean Conservancy and the job was to document the International Coastal Clean up Day in Thailand. The job was arranged through the assignment division of Aurora Photos, Aurora Select. Ocean Conservancy teamed up with Aurora to provide 25 photographers around the globe to document the clean up as it happened.

It was a great job, in part because as a surfer and sea kayaker I am passionate about the health of our oceans. Having spent a great deal of my life in and around the water, it breaks my heart to see so much rubbish dumped in our oceans and waterways. Sometimes I can’t help but think that there are too many people with an ‘out of sight, out of mind attitude’ in this world.

What really surprised me at the Thailand clean up, was just how much tiny plastic was pulled off the beach we were at. A vast majority of it was plastic bottle tops – the perfect size for a turtle to mistake for food and to swallow.

To learn more about the current state of our oceans, I encourage you to have a look at some of the photos from the International Coastal Clean Up Day that was on Saturday the 19th September.

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To give non-photographers and people wanting to get into photography an idea of assignment work, I have provided a break down of the more memorable moments of this trip below. Unfortunately I can’t give the client details; shoot specifics or even post photos from the shoot at this stage, though I have included some general photos relevant to this post.

Two Days Out

- A flurry of emails finalising the details – where I am suppose to go to; who I am suppose to meet; the final shoot list etc…

One Day Out

- Book return airline ticket; arrange accommodation; speak with my local contact about area logistics and how the day is suppose to unfold

Day One

- Convince the local taxi driver that I do want to go to the domestic airport in Bangkok and not the international airport (they are two separate places)

- Get pinged in security for carrying a water bottle filled with water

- Hour and ten minute flight from Bangkok to Trang in Southern Thailand. Terrible food, but friendly staff.

On approach to Trang, Thailand.

- Get ripped off at the airport for the ride into town. Charged three times what I should have paid.

- I catch a mini-bus from Trang to the coast – a 45-minute trip. Driver drops me at coastal town, but won’t take me to the resort I am staying at. I find the turnoff and decide to walk to the resort. Friendly local on his scooter stops and asks if I want a lift – I take a look at the scooter with him, his wife and daughter on it and ask myself ‘where would I fit?’. I decline and enjoy the 3-km walk along the overgrown road.

- Arrive at resort. Resort is a stretch. Nice, quiet motel is more like it. It is late afternoon, so I grab my cameras and go for a walk around the local village and along the beach. Meet some very friendly locals and enjoy 15-minutes of spectacular light as the sun goes down.

- Dinner is chicken cashews on rice. Ask for it spicy, but it is lost in translation as it served with zero spice in it.

- Phone local contact and agree on time and place to meet the following day.

Day Two (Shoot Day)

- Up at 6.45. Meet contact at 7.30 and drive to location. Job is essentially event coverage. Over a breakfast of rice, I talk with contact about how the day will unfold & discuss some possible photo ideas that I would like to shoot.

- Go for a walk to the shoot location to check out the light and take some photos. Early morning light is good, but it won’t last as the sun gets higher in the sky.

- Shoot from 8.30 till midday. Lunch is an unbelievably spicy vegetarian dish. It is so hot, even some Thai’s won’t eat it!

- Things slow down after lunch with the heat of the day. Spend time waiting for things to happen and cross-checking what I have shot against my shoot list. I go for a walk and find a local lady that is relevant to the subject I am shooting. Spend some time talking with her and photographing her.

- Late afternoon things are winding down. Photograph last shots and catch a ride back to the resort. Shower and then walk around local village with cameras. Light is terrible, return to resort. Speak with resort contact to arrange ride from my location to Trang airport. Price I am quoted is terribly expensive. I ask if there is a local with a car that wants to make some quick cash. He directs me to the ‘reggae man’ down the road. Ten minutes later I have a driver and a great local contact.

Friendly local boys on the beach.

- Back to room. Download all my cards onto my computer and begin editing.

- Dinner. Ask for spicy and I get spicy! Long chat with Thai local who is practicing his English. Friendly guy.

- Back to room. Continue editing. To bed at 11.00

Day Three

- Up at 6.00 thanks to local dogs that will not stop barking.

- Muesli bar for breakfast, take some photos of surrounding area in beautiful early morning light. Meet reggae man, who takes me to the airport (35-minute drive).

- Check-in at airport, then grab a coffee and continue editing photos for an hour.

Trang airport, Thailand.

- During the plane trip back someone is smoking in the toilet – plane stinks of cigarette smoke, but no one seems to care. Same terrible food – if you could call it that.

- Taxi home, then a home-made brunch at 11.00.

- It is a Sunday, so take the afternoon off.

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