Time for a bit of blatant self promotion and cheesy sentiment, so if you’re offended by either of those, look away now.

Thank you Flickr.com ….

I’d like to say thanks to all the people who follow my s0ulsurfing account on Flickr and who having seen my pictures from around the island over the last few years said that i should be working for the tourist board. People mostly say nice stuff to each other on Flickr (its like the opposite of magicseaweed), so i don’t like to get carried away with any praise, for many its a social network first and serious photographic appreciation second, but many of my contacts on there are awesome photographers, and i do value their judgment, and their words. So without getting carried away, i also know that sometimes i can produce decent work, and the feedback I get is genuine.

So encouraged by those words, I eventually wrote to all the various parties responsible for isle of wight tourism, mentioned the comments and suggested that they might like to use some of my photos to help promote the island. And to cut a long story short, the good people at the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce (who are now responsible for publishing the islands tourist guides) responded positively,  and a few meetings later, here it is, my photos are in this years official 2010 ISLE OF WIGHT accommodation guide.

60 of my images have been used in total, including the two on the front cover, and you can take a look yourself at the interactive brochure here http://www.gowight.com/brochure/

I’ve followed the debate about the merits of the brochure design over on the ventnorblog website (http://ventnorblog.com/2010/01/18/interest-in-tourism-guide-strong/), some islanders have liked it but its not been universally well received here, some dont like the colours and feel of the cover, but personally i think its a great piece of design by the talented local designer Aaron Rudd, and the IWCC report that its creating lots of interest and orders are strong (which is what really counts).

Not all of the images are mine, but i think there are 60 from me, 3 from my good friend Paul Blackley and the remaining 26 are from either Steve Thearle or Tom Stroud. I’m talking about the ‘editorial’ images here, the ones used to illustrate island locations, not those of the hotels etc.

So thanks again flickr, this wouldn’t have happened without you, and i’m writing about it here on soul-surfing because following on from the positive coverage that island surfing got during the ‘wight surf history‘ exhibition, its a surfing image that’s made the front cover, and some people reading might recognise Andrew Swinton posing on his longboard on a lovely summers evening at Compton Fields last year.

Summer longboarding

I didn’t tell Pacey he was on the cover till this morning, i think he might have been getting a bit of stick for it

Having said it was cool, and of course being thankful for the exposure it will give to the exhibition and the www.wightsurfhistory.co.uk project,  I do have a gripe. The whole artistic intention of the shot has been lost in translation and the tighter crop used on the cover. It was meant to be about capturing the surfer in, and celebrating his natural environment, and to me (and most people who see the original) its the dynamic cirrus clouds and foreground details of the waves on the beach that make it work as an idea. I’m not usually very precious about stuff like that, and of course you could say that it all goes out the window the moment it has the ‘weekender’ branding splashed across it too.

On a different note, its also ironic to see Pacey there with the word ‘weekender’ above his head, because he is about as far removed from the idea of a  ‘weekend warrior’ surfer as it is possible to be. He lives and breathes surfing, and is out in all conditions and weathers, all year round, i dont think i’ve heard him say no to a a surf session yet, snow on the ground, big gnarly waves, he’s always there.

As for the picture of Me & Paul, the first one to mention ‘right said fred’ tribute act is in trouble

IWCP weekender cover

It’s that photo again, this time i found it in ‘Professional Photographer Magazine’. It’s being used in an advert for ‘Canon Pro Photo Solutions’ (Thanks to Miss HP for letting me know about this one)

Professional Photographer Magazine

Light Waves

Amateur Photographer - October Edition

Found my “Light waves” image being used in an advert for ‘Canon Pro Photo Solutions’ in Amateur Photographer Magazine (its the top centre image, taken at Freshwater Bay during a big storm in March 2008).

Obviously i’m really pleased at being chosen to represent Canon, and i’ve also been very pleased to be selected & represented by Getty (who licensed the image) but its not as financially rewarding as you might imagine (Getty only pay 20% on ‘royalty free’ images from the flickr collection) and is nowhere near as exciting as the feeling of catching a good shot like this in the first place. Just as well i do it for the love first then!

Naturally Active skincare

This shot of Lee Webster surfing at Freshwater Bay in March 2007 was used to promote the ‘Naturally Active skincare’ range for the Liz Earle website, newsletter and printed brochure

I was asked if i would contribute a photo to the “It’s a Beautiful World” project run by the inspirational Sophie Addison. The book will raise funds going towards research for a cure for MS, and directly helping individuals and families touched by MS.

I agreed, and donated my ‘light waves’ image.

The book is now available via

www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/506626

I have my copy and can testify that its a wonderful collection of beautiful work, and if you do buy one you will be contributing to a great cause, you can read more about the project here..

flickr.com/photos/sophieadd/3124755831/

It's a beautiful world

Emerging - Unknown Bodyboard rider at Porthcurno, Cornwall

‘Emerging – Unknown Bodyboard rider at  Porthcurno, Cornwall’ photograph is published and used for ‘Accurist’ exhibition space.