Commercial and Editorial Photographer » Photo

Surfers Surfacing, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

Thomas Pickard — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:01:59 +0000

Despite the overcast skies, I was back in the ocean yesterday, photographing some visiting bodyboarders and surfers out at Socials, off the end of the airport runway here on Rarotonga Island.

You never really know what you are going to get on a surf shoot. Sure, I can see the image on the back of the camera through my water housing, but the images are difficult to see in bright conditions and sometimes you just don’t have the time to look.

The two below made the editing cut. Hundreds didn’t.

Duck diving a wave, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

In the Field: Surf Photography

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A Week of Stock Photography

Thomas Pickard — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 01:17:38 +0000

In between royalty reports from Aurora Photos & Getty Images, the announcement by Aurora Photos of the myPhone collection and the release by Photoshelter, of the Selling Stock Photography Guide, it felt like a week of stock photography.

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.

Published on The Travel Channel

Thomas Pickard — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:15:20 +0000

The Travel Channel recently ran one of my Maldives resort photos in The Daily Escape section of the site. It’s the first time I’ve seen the site and I love the motto for The Daily Escape – A Vacation for your Brain.

The image was licensed via my stock agent, Aurora Photos.

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On Photographing Rarotonga, Cook Islands.

Thomas Pickard — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 01:52:28 +0000

A couple of months back, I was chatting with a woman I had just met through a friend of a friend, when the woman in question asked me: “don’t you ever get bored of photographing beaches in the Cook Islands?”

My reply was “Are you serious?”

To which she responded “Yes”

Her question and response really threw me, for the simple fact that when I walk out the door and go anywhere in Rarotonga, I see so much more than just beaches to photograph.

Case in point – below are 10 photographs from a selection of hundreds taken in the last couple of days. Take the time and you’ll find plenty of things to photograph in a place like Rarotonga.

Po-Po, daughter & dog, Rutaki Passage, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

Two day old piglets, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

Afternoon light on mountain ridges, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

Surfer, slotted. He made it. Avana Passage, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

Fisherman searching for fish, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

New channel marker, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

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

Lone fisherman, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

South Pacific power. Avana Passage, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

Portrait of a spear fisherman, Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

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Quick Hits: Benjamin Lowy; Captain Scott’s Last Photographs & Mount Bromo

Thomas Pickard — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 01:38:37 +0000

Some quick hits to finish the week:

Benjamin Lowy on being a War Photographer

“War photography is easy. A colleague once called it ‘sports photography.’ You’re shooting sports as it happens in front of you and you’re just there to take the picture. If you have the bravery, or some might call it foolhardiness, to do it, then it’s easy. You don’t have to work at it in the same way as a long-term documentary project where you require intimacy from your subjects. You can just jump out of a plane and go into a war zone like Libya and start photographing.”

Just one of the many cracking quotes from Benjamin Lowy, in this short article on him over at The New Yorker site. What struck me about his commentary, was how honest he was.

Check out his Libya iPhone photos too.

Captain Scott’s Last Photographs

If you are a lover of polar photography, then this is a no brainer – go and check these photos out. And if you want the book, head over to Amazon.

Creative Commons

If you’ve ever wondered what Creative Commons licensing is, then this is the place to learn more.

Lastly, my favourite photo of the week is this beautiful photo by Lauryn Ishak of Mount Bromo. Lauryn’s work is also available as fine art prints over at Otomys Art House.

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Close Encounter with a Giant Trevally in the Cook Islands.

Thomas Pickard — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:48:48 +0000

Though I had already spent a day photographing a spear fisherman up on Aitutaki Island, I have been keen to get out in the water’s off Rarotonga Island and continue my spear fishing photo work. Through a chance meeting with a local man simply called ‘Bobo’, I managed to arrange another spear fishing session this week.

We went out at Rutaki Passage on the southern edge of Rarotonga. The passage is one of three that drains the lagoon on the southern edge of the island. Though it is called a passage, underwater it is more akin to a canyon. It has steep walls and drops a good 20-metres or so. For spear fishing it is a great spot as the fish tend to congregate along the walls. And because the passage opens to the ocean, larger fish often cruise into the passage looking for some fishy snacks.

One of those larger fish just happened to turn up while we were out there – a beautiful Giant Trevally or GT, as they are commonly known. Having spoken to people that dive at the mouth of the passage, this guy is a bit of a regular in the passage. Either way, it was really amazing to turn around and suddenly be faced with this monster fish. This GT is about 5-feet long.

At first I was really excited to see the GT and to have the chance to take some photos. About 5-minutes into the encounter though, the GT swam right up to me, clearly checking me out. It was at about this time, I realised that this was actually a really big fish. For a brief moment I even asked myself “do GT’s bite humans?”.

A Giant Trevally (Caranx ignoblis), Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

The GT turned up as Bobo had speared a number of fish and they were on a rope, attached to a plastic bottle. This keeps the fish fresh and allows Bobo to keep hunting. Needless to say, the GT was after a free lunch. So much so, that not long after he first turned up, we ended up swimming back to shore and the GT followed us all the way into the shallows, eventually attacking the dead fish Bobo had on his rope. The only casualty was a dead Black Snapper, which had its tail bitten clean off.

In terms of photography, these two photos were taken with a wide angle lens and neither image was cropped. That right there should give you an indication of how close the GT was to me. In the photo below, I could easily reach out and touch the big guy as he followed Bobo and his dead fish back to shore.

A Giant Trevally or GT (Caranx ignoblis), Cook Islands. © www.thomaspickard.com

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Recent Stock Photo Sales

Thomas Pickard — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 21:00:54 +0000

Below are just some of the images recently licensed either directly through my stock archive, or via my stock agents, Aurora Photos and Getty Images.

One of these images hit a home run, being licensed for $1,000 US. It was used as a double page spread in a travel book.

If you think you can pick which image it was, then leave your choice in the comments section on my Facebook page.

Late afternoon light filters through coconut palms near Dalawela Sri Lanka, on the 6 August 2006. © www.thomaspickard.com

Guests at Kuredu Resort taking first time scuba diving lessons in the lagoon, Kuredhdhoo Island, Lhaviyani (Faadhippolhu) Atoll, Maldives, on the 9 March 2007. The Maldives is a world renowned scuba diving destination. © www.thomaspickard.com

The famous Petronas Twin Towers at night, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the 22 May 2010. © www.thomaspickard.com

People buying Thai street food, Chinatown, Bangkok, Thailand, on the 11 October 2010. © www.thomaspickard.com

Charter boats docked at an island, Halong Bay, Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam, on the 8 December 2010. Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage listed site and is comprised of 1600 limestone islands. The spectacular sceney makes for a popular tourist destination. © www.thomaspickard.com

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On Books: Corey Arnold’s Fish Work

Thomas Pickard — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 09:40:40 +0000

I’ve been buying a lot more photo books this year. Well, given I haven’t bought any in the last few years because I’ve been moving so often, what I really mean to say is this: I’ve actually started buying photo books this year!

My most recent purchase was Corey Arnold’s Fish Work book.

It arrived the other day and let me tell you, this book is why I will always love a beautifully produced book over anything digital.

Here are five things I simply love about this book:

1. It is big, measuring a glorious 15 x 12 inches. This means big, beautiful full page horizontal photos.

2. This book is all about the photos. The design is so wonderfully simple that you don’t even notice it (& that’s how it should be).

3. The binding and print quality is outstanding.

4. The subject matter is just so…different. To say they are just fishing photos is akin to saying photography is just pushing a button on a camera. Corey takes you deep into the Bering Sea fishing experience, to produce a book that is as much about the environment and landscape, as it is about the fishing process.

5. The book cover is just a photo. Not a single letter of text. Then again, when the cover looks like this (photo below), who wouldn’t want to open the book and find out what it is all about?

I sure did.

Transparency: I do not receive any remuneration or in-kind payment for this post. I wrote it because I love this book. I hope you do to. Book photo was taken from Corey Arnold’s blog.

Fish Work – Buy the Book

Fish Work Book – Sneak Peek

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Tilt-shift Cook Islands

Thomas Pickard — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:16:59 +0000

Spent the morning wandering around Rarotonga with my tilt-shift lens set up, looking for things to photograph.

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.

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Tim A

Thomas Pickard — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:02:46 +0000

Tim A. outside his partially built house, Turangi Valley, Rarotonga Cook Islands.

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