CNN coverage of the Cape Farewell Youth Expedition

Some of the images from the Cape Farewell Youth Expedition have been used on CNN's website. Check it out

Cape Farewell - Off tomorrow

A quick post from my hotel room in Iceland. Tomorrow is the official start of the Cape Farewell Youth Expedition 08. As some of you know I have been engaged to cover this expedition for the British Council of Canada and we embark tomorrow night for Greenland and then on to Baffin Island before stopping in Iqaluit. It is going to be an incredible journey teaching and learning about climate change as 28 students from around the world come together on a ship to spread the message about climate change through a unique interaction of Art and Science.

Please check out the daily images and blog here. Image gallery is located on the left of the screen.
Talk to you in a few weeks.

Canadian Geographic goes to Paris

A few of my Paris images were picked up by Canadian Geographic to illustrate their story on that lovely city. Available in Canadian stores or check it out here. (The two images on the right page are mine).

The view from the estate

Here it is, the view from the family estate on the red Isle. Of course, most of the time it isn't toned like this. Off to Toronto in a couple of days and then to the Great White North.

North America Bound

Off again!
On the way to my previous hometown, Montreal, Quebec. I will be away from Europe for two months, spending time in Montreal, PEI and in the Arctic working with the British Council of Canada on their Cape Farewell Youth Voyage. A wonderful opportunity to work with inspired youth in an incredible part of the world on an issue that affects everyone.

From their website.

Cape Farewell’s sixth voyage, in September 2008, is the first to originate in Canada. Its expedition includes Canadian youth from high schools representing every province and territory in Canada, as well as a number of international youth.

In addition to the 16 students from Canada, there will be students from the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, and India. Joining these 28 young students are 18 adult mentors, scientists, educators and staff. Moreover, the ship’s master and crew of 30, including a doctor, are active members of the expedition and highly experienced in Arctic voyages.

Cape Farewell, an innovative program designed to raise awareness of climate change, is the brainchild of British artist David Buckland. He has led five highly successful expeditions to the high Arctic, including four for artists and scientists and the inaugural youth expedition in September 2007.

Scotland

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.