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From the Archive: Greenland Reflections

Thomas Pickard — Thu, 13 May 2010 02:14:33 +0000

This weeks photo from the archive comes from the west coast of Greenland.

I first visited Greenland in 2007 while working a 3 1/2 month summer on the polar ice breaker the Akademik Sergey Vavilov. Arriving on the east coast of Greenland in 2007 really reminded me of Antarctica. Greenland has the same immense scale and the incredible vastness that I always remember from Antarctica.

Like most polar places, the best light during summer tends to be late in the evening and very early in the morning. If the weather was clear, I would typically stay up late to take advantage of the supreme late evening light. In this instance, I took this photo on a return trip in 2008, this time to the west coast of Greenland.

See more of my imagery from Greenland via Aurora Photos.

I will also be adding a lot more Greenland imagery to my Greenland gallery at my stock library in the coming months.

License the image by clicking on it.

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

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Maldives Stock Photography and Working with Aurora Photos, Getty Images and Corbis.

Thomas Pickard — Tue, 11 May 2010 03:42:35 +0000

If you shoot and license stock imagery like I do, then one of the things you always seem to be doing is editing, captioning and submitting imagery to distribution partners. I used to think there was a way around this, but reality has set in, along with regular stints in front of my iMac prepping imagery.

Working with a good stock library such as Aurora Photos is a great way to get my imagery out into the world and in front of potential buyers. The speed to market with Aurora is incredible.

I regularly have my submissions reviewed within a day or two and once I have provided the high-resolution files, they are made live on the Aurora site within days. Pushing the photos out to distribution partners such as Masterfile and Corbis, takes a little longer, but not that much longer. Some recent portrait work accepted by Aurora is already available for licensing at Corbis. That all happened within about 8-weeks, which is fast!

Working with larger, well established stock libraries works for me as I photograph quite a bit of what I consider general travel photography. If you don’t have a large, niche collection such as Art Wolfe, then leveraging off a distribution relationship with a stock library can make a lot of sense, especially if you are starting out in stock photography.

As I have been developing myself a niche and a client base for unique Maldives photography, I have been busy this year populating my own stock library – Thomas Pickard Stock Archive – with my Maldives photography. Leveraging off technology providers such as Photoshelter, I can now license and deliver hi-resolution photos direct to my existing client base, through my own stock site. This works well, in part because I am developing a niche in Maldives photography and also because I have an ever expanding client base seeking Maldives photography.

Below are just a few examples of licensing sales in the last few months. It never ceases to amaze me which images are licensed.

Licensed via Corbis. Image #: 42-22229345

Licensed via Corbis. Image #: 42-22229424

Licensed via Thomas Pickard Stock Archive. Image #: 08710.

Licensed via Getty Images. Image #: 94979111

Licensed via Getty Images. Image #: 90880255

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Published in Qatar Airlines Oryx Magazine

Thomas Pickard — Mon, 03 May 2010 05:32:39 +0000

Double page spread in Qatar Airlines Oryx Magazine. Published 1st February 2010.

As a photographer there is almost nothing I love better than seeing my work printed full page.

This opening spread ran in the February 2010 issue of Oryx Magazine and was the opener of a six page article I produced, complete with imagery.

The image at left, showing a board walk set amongst turquoise blue waters in the Maldives, can be licensed via Aurora Photos.

The image at right, showing a dhoni travelling along an atoll edge in the Maldives, can be licensed via Aurora Photos.

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From the Archive: Tuna Factory

Thomas Pickard — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 02:49:22 +0000

Three men clad in aprons and rubber boots, cleaning, cutting and disposing of Yellowfin Tuna, at a tuna processing plant in the Maldives, on the 31 October 2007. The Yellowfin will be processed into tuna steaks for export to the European market.

This weeks photos comes from inside a small tuna processing factory on Hulhumale’ Island, just across the way from Male’, the capital of the Maldives.

Many times the hardest thing I do as a photographer is figure out a way to arrange access to specific locations. As a photographer I rely on friends-of-friends as well as people known in the industry as Fixers. As the name implies, Fixers fix stuff. And by stuff, I mean anything that I may need, whether it is arranging a meeting with a person to gain access to a facility, organising transport, translating in the field…the list is almost endless.

The best Fixers are the one’s that become your friends.

In the Maldives I was fortunate to become friends with Ahmed Zahid, who was instrumental in getting me access to countless places throughout the country. Zahid arranged the meeting with a person that knew a tuna factory owner. That person then arranged another meeting for me with the tuna factory owner. I knew that when I met the tuna factory owner that I would have to be bringing something to the table. Rocking up and asking for access to take photos simply because you are a photographer, is rarely a good enough reason.

While I try and limit what I am offering in exchange for access, in this instance the tuna factory owner would only allow me access if I provided a selection of hi-res images for him to use to promote his business. In the end, I negotiated unlimited photographic access to the tuna factory processing floor. In exchange I provided a selection of images for the tuna factory owner to use. They weren’t the best photos, but they were good enough for what the tuna factory owner wanted.

I would later go on to license a number of the images (separate to the one’s provided to the tuna factory owner) to Serendib Magazine to accompany an article I produced on tuna processing plants in the Maldives.

[This photo can be licensed via Aurora Photos. Just double click on the photo to license it].

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Maldives Fishing Part I

Thomas Pickard — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 03:05:14 +0000

When I first arrived in the Maldives in late 2005, I met a Maldivian man who told me some pretty tall stories about the commercial fishing industry in the Maldives. His description of how Maldivian fishermen simply hook tuna and flick them onto the back deck of a fishing boat, felt to me like the stuff of strong national pride. The truth was though, I was interested in finding out more. To me the Maldives represented so much more than luxury resorts set against idyllic back drops. I was determined to find the ‘real’ Maldives.

It was 6-months before I managed to get myself onto a commercial fishing boat. I had taken a regional flight from the capital Male’ to Addu Atoll, the southern most atoll in the country. I met Ahmed Zahid – a friend-of-a-friend – who knew some fishing captains. Not long after I found myself boarding a 30-metre super dhoni (traditional Maldivian vessel), along with 15 or so Maldivian commercial fishermen, all of them strangers.

For the next 24-hours I drank endless cups of Nescafe 3-in-1 (think the sweetest, strongest instant coffee you can find), I slept on damp decks with fish smelling nets as pillows and I dealt with constant nausea from the open ocean swells. In between, I shot 600 plus frames of the fishermen doing what they do.

That day I learnt that even some of the tallest stories can be true.

It was true that fishermen use a barbless hook and they literally hook and flick the tuna onto the back deck of the dhoni. It was also true that they can catch tons of tuna in just one day. This trip alone, the crew pulled aboard 7-tonnnes of Skipjack Tuna.

I successfully sold this story (photos and words) to Sri Lankan Airlines Magazine Serendib, which was subsequently published in the November/December 2006 issue.

In my next installment I’ll recount my second commercial fishing trip, which lasted 5-days. The first, second and fifth image are available for licensing via Aurora Photos. Just double click on the image to license.

Commercial fishermen searching for bait fish at night in a lagoon, Addu (Seenu) Atoll, Maldives, on the 6 June 2006. Commercial fishing in the Maldives is the second largest employer after the tourism industry. The main fishing industry is centered on pole and line fishing for Skip Jack Tuna and hand line fishing for Yellowfin Tuna. The Maldives is a major exporter of tuna to European and Asian markets.

Commercial fishermen sleeping on the back deck of a commercial fishing dhoni (traditional Maldivian boat), off the coast of Addu (Seenu) Atoll, Indian Ocean, Maldives, on the 6th of June 2006

Commercial fisherman sleeping on the back deck of a commercial fishing dhoni (traditional Maldivian boat), off the coast of Addu (Seenu) Atoll, Indian Ocean, Maldives, on the 6th of June 2006

Commercial fishermen pulling aboard a Skip Jack tuna on a commercial fishing dhoni (traditional Maldivian boat), off the coast of Addu (Seenu) Atoll, Indian Ocean, Maldives, on the 6th of June 2006

A commercial fisherman pulling aboard a Skip Jack tuna on a commercial fishing dhoni (traditional Maldivian boat), off the coast of Addu (Seenu) Atoll, Indian Ocean, Maldives, on the 6th of June 2006

Commercial fishermen getting ready to unload Skip Jack Tuna to a processing vessel, Addu (Seenu) Atoll, Maldives, on the 6th of June 2006

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From the Archive: Yellow

Thomas Pickard — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 03:57:09 +0000

A local fisherman travelling by longboat, Pak Meng, Trang Province, Thailand, on the 11 September 2009.

Every time I look at this, I think “I must get a 16×24 inch print made for my wall”.

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The Framnes Mountains, Antarctica

Thomas Pickard — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:44:04 +0000

The last couple of weeks have passed by in a blur of image submissions to Aurora Photos, the occasional photo shoot and the start of some portfolio changes for 2010.

I will be taking parts of my portfolio in a new direction this year and I am already lining up some shoots back in Australia in April and sketching some ideas for Japan in June. Just quietly, I can’t wait!

While putting together image submissions, I came across some of my earliest Antarctic work from the incredible Framnes Mountains in east Antarctica. Wow! What a blast from the past. Seems like a life time ago I was in the Framnes hanging out in the huts dotted around the ranges, with good friends Blanket, Camille and David.

I picked out a couple of favourites below:

Aerial view of The David Range, Framnes Mountains, Mac Robertson Land, Antarctica

Andrew 'Blanket' McPhee photographing a mummified seal about 20-km from the ocean, Antarctica.

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Published in Newsweek

Thomas Pickard — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:59:40 +0000

Old chairs, Vientiane, Laos. Thomas Pickard / Aurora Photos

It always amazes me what images publications and organisations choose. Case-in-point: this photo was recently published by Newsweek worldwide and a week later, by Newsweek Japan. With a circulation of up to 1.25 million, I would have to say that this photo – which ran half page – is probably one of the most viewed photos in my archive.

As for the image, it was taken one morning while walking down a street in Vientiane, Laos last year. The sale was through my stock agency, Aurora Photos.

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Quick Hits

Thomas Pickard — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:38:51 +0000

A few quick hits for this week.

Photography

Jeff Hutchens

If you haven’t seen or heard of Jeff Hutchens, do check out his site. APE described his work as a ‘new aesthetic’, and I’d have to agree. Love Jeff’s ‘China, Dreamt’ series.

Jay Reilly

I came across Jay’s work via Aurora Photos. I love his lifestyle work, which just feels so genuine and original.

Dan Winters

A great article and video interview with Dan Winters, about his portrait work and the challenges of creating a long lasting body of work.

Mentoring

Photographer Craig Ferguson has set up a Twitter account to connect aspiring photographers wanting pro photographers’ advice. Great idea Craig! It’ll be interesting to see how it all pans out. Want to join? Then check out http://twitter.com/togmentor or for Twitter folk familiar with Twitter language, @togmentor or #togmentor

Seth Godin has a new and free e-book titled ‘What Matters Now’, which is going like hot cakes. Get a copy here

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Quick Hits

Thomas Pickard — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:02:34 +0000

Each week I come across great sites, full of great content. Welcome to Quick Hits.

Photography

Peter Steinhauer

Check out Peter’s iconic black & white Vietnam Portraits.

Dave Collyer

Check out Surfing Waimea Bay for stunning and dramatic images of big wave surfing.

Aurora Photos: Connect with Pets

A great collection of photos of people and their pets, from around the world.

Funny

Clients from Hell

Though written by a designer, this site has plenty of stories that I am sure photographers and other creatives can relate to.

Misc

Amazing Notebook Details

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