Commercial and Editorial Photographer » Usage http://www.thomaspickard.com/blog Blog of Photographer Thomas Pickard Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:40:57 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 From the Archive: Gili Islands, Indonesia http://www.thomaspickard.com/blog/2010/11/from-the-archive-gili-islands-indonesia/ http://www.thomaspickard.com/blog/2010/11/from-the-archive-gili-islands-indonesia/#comments Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:54:05 +0000 Thomas Pickard http://thomaspickard.com/blog/?p=2351 ]]> I visited the Gili Islands in late September, during my two week surfing trip to Indonesia. Before leaving Bangkok, I did what I always do with a new destination – I check out what photography already exists.

I went online and looked for ‘Gili Islands’ imagery at Getty Images, Corbis, Lonely Planet Images and Aurora Photos.

I did this for two reasons. One to give me a visual idea of what the place looks like. And two, to give me an idea of where the image gaps are.

Despite being reasonably well known, there isn’t a lot of available imagery of the Gili Islands. The search results at the time I did my searches (mid-September), bought back these results:

Getty Images: 48 photos

Lonely Planet Images: About 40 photos.

Corbis: 20 photos

Aurora Photos: 5 photos

Though I wasn’t on Gili Trawangan on assignment, I still took some photos of the island – it is just what I do.

A tight edit of these images are now online and available for licensing for magazine usage. Hit the following link to view all 77 photos:

Indonesia | Gili Islands at Thomas Pickard Stock Archive.

Some favourites photos:

License any image by clicking on it.

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

Related Posts:

Indonesian Portraits

Beach Creativity

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]]> http://www.thomaspickard.com/blog/2010/11/from-the-archive-gili-islands-indonesia/feed/ 2 Published in Newsweek http://www.thomaspickard.com/blog/2010/03/published-in-newsweek/ http://www.thomaspickard.com/blog/2010/03/published-in-newsweek/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:59:40 +0000 Thomas Pickard http://thomaspickard.com/blog/?p=1266 ]]> Copyright Thomas Pickard / Aurora Photos

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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]]> http://www.thomaspickard.com/blog/2010/03/published-in-newsweek/feed/ 0 Free Photography http://www.thomaspickard.com/blog/2010/02/free-photography/ http://www.thomaspickard.com/blog/2010/02/free-photography/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:08:30 +0000 Thomas Pickard http://thomaspickard.com/blog/?p=1244 ]]> I recently received some requests to provide specific photographs for free. In one instance, the person asking works for one of the largest providers of natural gas in the world (guess economic times are still tough!).

For the people that have asked me to date and the people that will ask me in the months and the years to come, the answer is NO.

I do not provide imagery to companies or organisations to help promote a product or add value to a product, without remuneration.

Why?

It is how I make a living as a photographer.

If I just license imagery for free, then I can no longer make a living as a photographer (this isn’t rocket science folks).

Here are just a few immediate problems that I have as a working photographer with giving away imagery for free:

It does not put money in my bank account.

It does not put food on my table.

It does not help me pay for this computer that I am typing this on; nor does it help me pay for my photographic equipment; nor does it help pay for my marketing costs; nor does it help me pay for…the list is almost endless.

Now that I have cleared that up, let me add this – I have heard all the ‘good’ reasons why I should license my imagery for free.

My absolute favourite is ‘we will give you a photo credit’.

Sorry to burst your bubble and state the obvious, but a photo credit – while important – does not put money in my bank account. It does not put food on my table. It does not help me pay for this computer that I am typing this on. Do I need to explain it again?

Now if you have seen one of my photos and you just know it is THE perfect photo for your product or project or what ever it is that requires some imagery and you are tempted to ask for a free license, then this is what you have to prove to me.

Prove to me that every person working on your project is doing it for free. This also includes all the service providers – printing shops; creative agency; etc – that you may be using.

If – and only if – you can prove to me that everyone is doing this project for free, will I even remotely consider your request.

After all, if everyone else is getting paid, why should I be the one that provides a service for free?

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]]> http://www.thomaspickard.com/blog/2010/02/free-photography/feed/ 1 When the well runs dry, we will understand the true value of water http://www.thomaspickard.com/blog/2009/08/when-the-well-runs-dry-we-will-understand-the-true-value-of-water/ http://www.thomaspickard.com/blog/2009/08/when-the-well-runs-dry-we-will-understand-the-true-value-of-water/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 04:49:23 +0000 Thomas Pickard http://thomaspickard.com/blog/?p=184 ]]>

Aerial view of people relaxing pool side, Bangkok, Thailand.

Aerial view of people relaxing pool side, Bangkok, Thailand.

I never really thought much about water until I met my wife-to-be Jane. It just so happens that Jane is a trained Hydro geologist, which basically means she has a very real understanding of water; where it comes from and how precious a resource it is. A big part of her job is implementing sustainable, small-scale water solutions for small communities throughout South East Asia.

Not surprisingly, Jane’s knowledge about water started to rub off on me and one day I picked up and read a book called:

“When the Rivers Run Dry | Water – The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century”, by Fred Pearce.

This book is a serious page-turner. I couldn’t put it down. The chapters on China’s proliferation of dams and the downstream affects of these, is beyond scary. The chapters on America’s use of dams and the impact this has had on the country’s rivers, makes for compelling reading.

By the time I finished the book, I realised that some of the wars to be fought within my lifetime, will be water wars. No doubt about it.

Being a photographer, I naturally started to photograph anything related to water. While I am not sure where this body of work will go, I now feel compelled to document the subject of water and how we as people interact with it.

At the same time, I started collecting articles and bookmarking links to great water related imagery on the Internet. I have listed a few of these below.

Photo Essays:

Aurora Photos Photo Essay | Water, Our Most Precious Resource

Magnum In Motion Photo Essay | World Water Day

Articles:

New York Times | China’s Reach The Trouble Downstream

Pulitzer Gateway | Water Wars

If you know of a great photo essay or article on water and water usage issues, then please feel free to post the link in the comments section. I will continue to add to this list over time.

Additions via the comments:

Steve McCurry | Water Gallery (Go to Gallery titled ‘Water’)

Steve McCurry | Monsoon Gallery (Go to Gallery titled ‘Monsoon’)

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Further additions:

Trent Parke | The Seventh Wave

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