October stock royalties were good, with the image below being licensed for an ad campaign, both in print and web. My other favourite is the China Town street shot, which was licensed via Corbis. [Both images can be licensed via Aurora Photos - just click on the photo].

An Adelie penguin leaps into the sea, Antarctica. © www.thomaspickard.com

People eating Thai street food, Bangkok, Thailand. © www.thomaspickard.com

Aurora Photos introduced the myPhone Collection, which is surely the first collection of phone taken photos available for licensing via an established stock agency.

Personally, I think it is an awesome idea, though from the discussion over on A Photo Editor – Drowning in Photography – it became pretty clear that there is a love / hate relationship with photography produced on mobile phones. I said this in the comments, but I think  it is worth repeating here:

In the same way the Rein II sold for $4 million, there will surely be photo buyers who will find photos taken with an iPhone and license it. The value of the photo, whether you love it or hate it, is created the moment someone is willing to pay money for a license. The rest just doesn’t matter.

The whole iPhone debate seems so…boring. Why care about what tool a photo was created with?

Lastly, Photoshelter released a 48-page guide to Selling Stock Photography, which includes a two-page Photographer Profile on my good self (amongst numerous others).

While I could say so much more about the guide, all you need to know is this: it is free and full of great advice from a diverse group of photo buyers and photographers’ alike. Well worth a read.

Big thanks to Lauren at Photoshelter for the opportunity to share my experiences as one of the profiled photographers.

Switching into ’tilt-shift’ mode requires a bit of a mental shift. The lens is slow to work with, for the simple fact it is so manual. I love how this forces me to appreciate everything about the photo process. While it could be my own thinking limiting myself, the lens does seem suited to photographing certain things in a certain way. I can’t really tell you what that is, but I tend to know it, when I see it.

The funniest thing – I see-saw between loving the look of the lens to hating it!

Either way, it is good to mix up techniques and switch mental gears from time-to-time.

A few photographs from today.

Beach car. Rarotonga, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

Woman fishing, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

Beach palm, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

Church, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

Family on beach, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

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Rather, it is a small island with a population of some 10,000 people and as a result, it just doesn’t have the thriving social scene that a city like Christchurch or Sydney has. Outside of photography, exploring the island’s mountains and spending time in the water, I have found myself reading a lot of books this year.

If there is one thing I love about books, it is this: they inspire me and often give me ideas for things to photograph. Ideas are precious things and when I’m feeling a bit flat creatively a great book can really help fire up my imagination and spark some new ideas.

Below are some favourite books I’ve read this year and last, with affiliate links:

Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity. By Hugh MacLeod

True, I did read this back in 2009, but if there is one book on creativity that I am so happy to have read, it is this book. I know, that is a big plug. In fact, I’ve read it twice. It is that kind of book – a real page turner. Any creative person will benefit from this book, whether you are a photographer, graphic designer, artist…what ever the creative field you are in. A no nonsense, straight to the point read. After reading my copy twice, I sent it to Shane, a friend and graphic designer by trade. It is that type of book – you want other creative people you know to read it.

The Dip. A Little Book that Teaches You When to Quit (And When to Stick). By Seth Godin

I’ve read quite a number of Seth’s books. The guy is a publishing machine and while I don’t agree with everything he has penned, this little book (as he calls it), is all about pushing through those moments when you begin to stall in whatever endeavour you are doing (aka: the dip). At 90 pages it is an easy read. Concise and to the point. Provides an invaluable perspective on pushing through and shipping what ever it is you are trying to finish.

Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (& Rewards of Artmaking). By David Bayles.

Just started reading this. I should have read this in the first year I started photography. I’m surprised it wasn’t on the mandatory reading list where I did my photography diploma. The easiest way to describe this book is with a quick excerpt:

“…to require perfection is to invite paralysis. The pattern is predictable: as you see error in what you have done, you steer your work toward what you imagine you can do perfectly. You cling ever more tightly to what you already know you can do – away from risk and exploration, and possibly further from the work of your heart. You find reasons to procrastinate, since not to work is to not make mistakes”

Yep, it is that type of book. Powerful and almost too insightful. I’m really happy to have stumbled across this one.

The Big Thirst. The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water. By Charles Fishman


You probably never even think about water – right? It’s one of those things that we tend to take for granted. How often do you actually stop and think about where your water comes from? How much you use? How much you pay for it? What is the real cost of water in plastic bottles? How you even interact with water on a daily basis?

Charles Fishman’s book is all about water and our relationship to it. According to the author, the last hundred years have been the golden years of water. And those days are over. Forever.

From Las Vegas, to Australia, to the slums of India, the author provides a comprehensive look at our relationship to water, how we take it for granted and what the future holds for this under appreciated resource. Compelling reading. I couldn’t put it down.

In the Plex. How Google Thinks, Works and Shapes Our Lives. By Steven Levy.

You would only read this book if you are interested in the history of Google and search technology. The author provides an incredibly detailed account of where Google came from, early challenges, the company’s philosophy, mistakes and the more recent battles (Google Book Project anyone?), as Google has become a defining force in Search and online ads.

In places, this book will take you over the nerd edge. This is off set by the meticulous details about Google and some of the cracking mistakes they made along the way. Being a company of engineers can create its own set of problems. Only read this if you have an interest in Google, the internet, search or how online ads came about.

The Times Atlas of the World. 13th Edition.

Okay, you don’t so much read this book as pore over the detailed maps, dreaming, planning and wondering. My wife Jane gave this to me for my birthday and wow!, if you don’t have an atlas, but need one, this is the one to get. Hands down.

The 13th edition was just published, which means it is amazingly up-to-date. This is a huge book, measuring 12 x 18 inches and a hefty 1 1/2 inches thick. Comes with a solid slip case and a A1 size, laminated map of the world to put on the wall. The definitive atlas.

The Wayfinders. By Wade Davis.

What really interested me about this book was the chapter titled ‘The Wayfinders’, which explains how people managed to migrate across the Pacific Ocean (the largest ocean in the world), in the days before global positioning systems and other modern day technology. While such a feat seems…so improbable, the author manages to piece together how it was done and dispel some myths along the way (Thor Heyerdahl anyone?).

Face-to-Face: Ocean Portraits. By Hugh Lewis-Jones.

Though I talked about this book recently on this site, I find myself picking this book up a lot when I’m having a cup of coffee and I want to read something. Beautiful historical photography and present day photography, mixed in with captivating stories behind the people. Beautifully designed, printed and bound. If you are a photographer with an interest in portrait photography and a love for the ocean, it is a no brainer purchase.

A great way to keep track of books you’d like to read (even if you use the library a lot like I do), is to create an Amazon account and keep a personal wish list. I do this and whenever I find a book I’m interested in, I simply add it to my private wish list.

Read a great book recently? Then add it to the comments section or on my Facebook page.

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Antarctica…a remote and other worldly destination.

I hope you go one day and experience it for yourself – it will be etched in your mind forever.

Double click on the image to license it.

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Ask me anything you want about Antarctica on Facebook

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This is an excerpt out of my Winter 2011 Newsletter.

“Shortly after arriving in the Cook Islands, I went out for a surf at one of the local surf breaks. Sitting on my board surrounded by the cerulean coloured waters, I knew I had to get myself a water housing and get into water photography during my year long stay.

Water photography all begins with the type of photography you want to do. Generally speaking, water housings are divided into those that can be taken to depth (scuba diving) and those that can’t (surf photography). The difference centers around the way the housings are made, which also relates to the final cost of the housing.

As I was interested in surf photography, my choice was simple: I needed to buy what is called a splash water housing. Though it is one hundred percent water proof, the housing cannot be taken deeper than about 3 or 4-meters.

Deciding on which housing to buy and what lens/port combination to use, is not an easy thing when you can’t physically look at the housings or rent one out for the day. To help me with my decision, I started by looking at similar work produced by other photographers. In this case, Dave Collyer and Nick Hall. After a long phone conversation with Dave and an email exchange with Nick, I came to two decisions:

1. I would stick with my 12-24 mm Nikon f4 lens and forgo buying a fisheye lens (for now)
2. I would buy a dome without the focal lens adjustment (though these are available, the manufacturers themselves don’t really recommend them for surf photography).

To compound matters, I also bought fish at the fish market and that was put into a new plastic bag. Then there is the hydroponic lettuce we purchase, which is plastic bag free, but it comes with a plastic wrap built into the base of it.

There has been a positive side though.

What I Have Changed
I have said ‘no’ to countless plastic shopping bags at the supermarket. Instead, I have made sure I always have a bag or two with me. In one instance, I didn’t have any bags, so I didn’t go to the supermarket as I didn’t have anything to carry my goods in.

I have said ‘no’ to the lady at the local store where I buy my sourdough bread. In one case, the bread was already tied up in a plastic bag, so I simply untied it, handed it back and said ‘I don’t use plastic bags’. The bread travels fine in my moped’s front basket without any type of bag.

I have stopped buying mixed bags of lettuce leaves, as these come in a plastic bag. Instead I buy a head of hydroponic lettuce, though this comes with a plastic wrapper built into the base. Given the lack of lettuce suppliers in Rarotonga, I’m not sure how I am going to get around that, unless I stop eating lettuce.

I have stopped using a plastic bag as a bin liner. We compost our food scraps and that cuts down on waste from the get-go. Now we just have dry rubbish and that is put inside our bin in the kitchen without a plastic bag liner. As for our larger garbage bin which we put out on the road for garbage collection, I found some heavy duty paper bag liners. We buy these now and put them inside our outside garbage bin. On average we produce one standard plastic shopping bag of garbage a week that isn’t recycled. Our aim is to reduce this further.

Where I’ve Failed
On one occasion I ended up with one new shopping plastic bag. It just sort of happened and I didn’t have the heart to say no. A moment of weakness.

I have purchased fish from the fish monger and this came in a plastic bag. I need to find an alternative.

The Lessons
At the Supermarket / Corner Store:
- Always carry a spare bag.
- Try and buy products which are plastic bag free (lettuce head instead of a mixed bag of lettuce, for example).
- Just say ‘no’ to plastic bags at the checkout. It is that easy.

Household Rubbish Bin:
- Compost food matter as this removes most of your wet rubbish from general rubbish.
- Split out recyclable rubbish.
- Put non-recyclable rubbish straight into the bin without a plastic bag liner.
- If you need a bag liner for the bin you put out onto the street, source a large paper bag liner and put this in your street side rubbish bin.

Change Is Happening In Australia…
Northern Territory Australia Plastic Bag Ban Commences September 1st 2011.
South Australia Plastic Bag Ban Commences 4th May 2009.

Related Posts:
Plastic Bags

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“The world consumes 1 million plastic shopping bags every minute – and the industry is fighting hard to keep it that way.”

From The Plastic Bag Wars via Rolling Stone Magazine.

Before we get into this, just let me say this: though I have drastically cut back on my plastic bag usage over the last few years (yeah, I’m the guy at the supermarket that says “no plastic bags thanks”), I still struggle with not using some plastic bags for our non-compostable household rubbish.

After reading that article, my goal is to get my plastic bag usage down to zero for the rest of the year (and beyond – of course).

The way I see it, there are two simple things going on with plastic bags that need to be changed.

People are using plastic bags at the super market, which leads to producers creating plastic bags.

If we – you, me, our family and friends – totally stop using plastic bags, then the problem is solved.

Simplistic I know. But very true.

Stop using plastic bags and they’ll stop polluting our environment.

Styrofoam container in a plastic bag left on a beach, Pak Meng, Thailand.

Volunteers participating in the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Clean up Day holding up a discarded plastic bag, Thailand.

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I’m on Facebook. Connect

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Miguel Moya, F8 Magazine. Photo by Miguel Moya.

Thomas: F8 Magazine seemed to come out of no where in October 2010. What has motivated you to create F8 Magazine and where do you see the magazine going?

Miguel:  First and foremost I’m really interested in documentary photography and I wanted a way in which I could connect with photographers producing documentary work. In that sense, the birth of the magainze was partly an excuse to contact a wide number of photographers. Putting the magazine together has allowed me to learn more about what a photographer was thinking with respect to a series of images and why they are photographers.

Though the magazine hasn’t been out for long, the content, design and layout of the magazine is beginning to give the magazine a certain aesthetic and character. I think if we continue to source good imagery and the stories behind that imagery, the magazine will serve as an important reference point for such work.

Ultimately, I think the time and effort put in by the F8 Mag team, will be rewarded by a greater readership.

Thomas: F8 Magazine has included advertising by A Wonderful Machine, zenfolio, 52selects.com, Dripbook, Luceo Images, Photoshelter and SmugMug. That seems like a pretty impressive advertiser base given you are only on issue 4 of the magazine. What has your experience been with getting advertisers on board, given how young the magazine is?

Miguel: F8 Mag provides good content and when you look at the companies that advertise in F8 and their products, it is a good match. Being a photography magazine, I naturally looked for advertisers related to photography.

It is important to me that F8 Mag doesn’t have too many ads – there is always a balance between content and advertising. Readers get turned off if they have to go through pages of ads to get to the content of the magazine.

You cover some pretty diverse photographers and subjects in the pages of F8 – tell me about the process you go through to find and select work for the magazine? Is there a particular criteria that you use?

The heart chooses.

I look for photos or projects that stop me and make me ask questions.

In terms of selecting photographers, the most important criteria are the strength of their images. I’m not interested so much in a photographer’s client list – I’m interested in the credibility of the work they produce.

For me a good photographer is one who does not leave you feeling indifferent, whether you love or hate that photographer’s work. If the photographer’s work doesn’t speak to you, you will never remember them or their work.

F8 Magazine provides a great showcase of a photographer’s work – do you know of any examples where a photographer has received an assignment, because they were included in F8 Magazine?

This is a good question. At this stage I don’t know if any photographer has received an assignment based on their work being in the magazine. I would love to hear from any photographers’ we’ve showcased in the magazine and who have received work as a result.

One of the goals of the magazine is to lift the profile of the photographers’ who we feature. If they get work as a result of this, then great!

Right now F8 Magazine is free to download. Despite having some advertisers, I’m guessing this would only cover the cost of production (if that) – do you have a business model to monetize the magazine and make a profit, or are we talking about a labour of love?

We researched various ways to monetize F8, not only for ourselves, but also to pay a commission to photographers – they are the true protagonists. As part of this, we have focused on lifting the profile of the magazine, our reader base and the number of visitors to our web site. We will continue to expand, improve our content and ultimately, our readership.

The big question for us is would a person pay to read our magazine?

I think in the US, that the answer is yes!

F8 Magazine is all about photography – can you tell me about you and photography?

Photography is one of my occupations. In Spain where I live, there isn’t much demand for documentary photography, so I do commercial photography work and try and find alternative sources to fund small photography projects I am doing.

There are some sticky brand names coming out in the photography world at the moment, such as Luceo Images, Prime Collective, A Wonderful Machine. Did you spend a long time trying to figure out the name of the magazine? Or was it an a-ha! moment for you?

I spent about a week thinking about the magazine name. Ultimately, I wanted something short, relevant to the content and it had to work in serveral languages. After ensuring no trademark issues existed, I decided on F8 Magazine.

Checkout F8 Magazine at these links:

F8 Magazine

F8 Magazine on Facebook

F8 Magazine on Twitter

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Editing is going to become one of the most important, sought after skill sets in the next five to 10 years. I think we’re going to see such an incredible amount of data coming in, to the likes of which we’ve never seen before that editors are going to become one of the most important job positions out there.

Photographer Vincent Laforet from an interview with A Photo Editor on The Future of Photography is Convergence

Definitely worth a read if you are in the photography business. Via APE.

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Me on Facebook.

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“The decision making muscle is the muscle that is exercised every time you push that button. This is the element of photography that assisting will never ever teach you because until you’re looking through that camera deciding wether the light is right, the composition is right, the model is in the right position, the wardrobe is spot on, the hair and make up are perfect, everything is lined up right, and everything else that you have to think about in creating a picture is to your liking, etc. You’ll never be actually logging those learned pieces of information into your brain. Making decisions of every element in your photograph is like exercising a muscle, and you learn more with every shot you take. That’s why it needs to be exercised, so that each time you shoot you are making better and better images.”

Photographer Nick Onken in his blog post titled: Exercising the Decision Making Muscle.

What I love most about this post by Nick is this: it applies to anyone with a camera.

And it is true – if you want to take better photos of [insert your favourite subject here], start by actively taking more photographs.

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Facebook me up.

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