These images have been hidden in the bowels of my website for a couple of weeks now and I figured that it was time they were published on this blog. Earlier in June/July I had the wonderful opportunity to travel through Scotland and England with family and friends. See some of those images here.
Photoshelter – Pro Stock
You might notice a new little widget to the right of this page. I have recently joined the Pro Stock collection of Photoshelter. Photoshelter is a service that promotes the policy of ‘fair trade photography’. Let me explain a little, the last few years has seen a boom in the sales of Royalty Free imagery and microstock agencies. It is no secret that this policy has benefited very few professional photographers and sites like iStock Photo which sell images for pittance turn around and give photographers a pittance of that pittance. The big boys in the stock industry, (Corbis and Getty) have welcomed the huge increase of amateur photographers that are willing to sell their images for nothing, and in the process have effectively cut the bottom out of the stock market and making it much harder to make any money on stock.
It is nothing new that our industry is changing and many of us, including myself, welcome that change. We must adapt and diversify but the microstock and Royalty Free has certainly brought the quality of our work down. A photographer that I respect greatly, Vincent Laforet, has more to say on the state of our industry here.
So we get things like Photoshelter and Digital Railroad. Both which offer photographers the option to set their prices and receive respectful amount of the final sale price (70% and 80%) respectively. It is my hope that more and more art buyers that are searching for stock imagery will recognize this effort of ‘fair trade photography’ and use more of these two services.
If you wish to see what I have in the collection, click on it below or on the right. I am in the process of adding plenty more so check back.
Portfolio 2008
A portfolio process is a long and painful process. Your ego will be trampled to the point where it walks out the door, leaving you crying in a dark room because IT doesn’t want to be abused any more.
The process takes many hours of culling and editing and seeking opinions you respect. Then you spend hours in front of a computer screen working on images. At which point you find the best printer you can find, (Maarten Wouters at M*G!C), the best paper you can find, (Ilford Gold Fibre), and you watch the cash take the same route your ego did two weeks before. Once it is printed you spend more hours fitting it into your book and then removing every speck of dust from the prints as if they were disease.
One of the questions you must solve is, how many images should I put in. Anywhere from 10 – 50 images can be found in a book, but I believe in the saying ‘Less is More’ and my wallet wholeheartedly agrees. Between 20 – 25 images is the maximum. Any more then that and the client needs to be a family member or your best friend because no one else has that amount of patience.
After 8 years of traveling and photographing 5 different continents, what made the cut? See Here.
The Search
While I am searching for the courage to tackle several hundred, perhaps a thousand images, that were created in Scotland I leave you with this new composition.
Tourist Stop – featuring Fraser McCallum
Combining the talents (and antics) of two young men we bring you Tourist Stop.
A bit of back ground. I had the pleasure of traveling with Prince Edward Island comedian, all round nice guy and good friend Fraser McCallum during various stages of his European blitz tour this year. There were many good times to be had, beers to drink (and make) and new countries to discover. A wonderful combination of travel photography from Hungary, Denmark, and Holland with Fraser’s music has given you Tourist Stop. Click Here.
A top finish
My image of Ice Climbing at Pont Rouge in Quebec has placed in the Top Finishers for the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development Photography Contest.
See results here. The third photo from the left, last row on the bottom.
Back from Scotland
I just returned from a wonderful time in Scotland and the UK with family. We explored the highlands, the Isle’s, drank the beloved Scotch and the occasional pint. We hiked the North York Moors and got a close up of the intricacies of the Northern British culture. I still think that they need to get with it, adopt the Euro and move into the new millennium. The time of Colonialism is gone, time to move on folks. The UK has a beautiful landscape, a rich arts culture, and overly large directional signs, (including one where I am sure that Gary Larson designed his Far Side cow from). I look forward to sharing images with you over the next few days here on this blog.
Till then, I leave you with an image that reminds me of methane’s contribution to global warming. A Far Sidesque look at a sobering issue.
2008 Online Art Show – Street Smart Kidz
The Street Smart Kidz program provides free information for parents to help keep their children safe. It was my pleasure to enter their 2008 online Art Show and I was pleasantly surprised to be awarded a third place. See more about this program and the results here.
Editora Globo
A portrait that I created of Mr. Geert Lovink here in Amsterdam for the Brazilian magazine Editora Globo. We live in an interconnected world when a Canadian photographer can take a picture of a Dutch professor and it is published in Brazil. Now if only I could read the text I could tell you what it is about. Remember though, apparently a picture is worth a thousand words. See it here.
Photography – Carnival in Copenhagen
Every year the streets of Copenhagen hop to the sound of Samba and Salsa. The annual carnival is held every spring, welcoming the warm weather and sunshine to this often cloudy nation. Luckily for the parade participants and luckier for the viewers, the +20 degree weather this year meant that the festival happened with full regalia (and minimal clothing). Watch the sights and sounds of the Copenhagen carnival.