I always love to see my images on the walls.
I have said it once and I will say it again, images are only good if they are used. Showcasing your companies people within your marketing will only enhance the story you are trying to tell. People take notice when it’s people they know.
#miningphotog #minesafety #mininglife #vale #miningpeople
Back again, the Jumbo Drill, one of my favorite machines to photograph. This image was captured this past fall deep underground at Island Gold Mine just outside of Wawa Ontario Canada and was recently used displayed in Social Media. https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/industry-news/mining/wawa-area-mine-plans-for-expansion-2024459
Just like the mining industrial industry I am constantly learning and testing new technology within my business. It could be monitoring a content post (just like this one) to see if it gets a higher reach to prospective clients or it could be a new app to increase post production efficiency. You should be constantly trying new things within your environment to see if it can be improved by any marginal percentage.
I have a saying “It’s not that I am smart, I just try things until I get it right.”
You learn from failures as well as success but only if you try new things.
This image was created for MacLean Engineering at the Agnico Eagle Laronde Mine in Quebec. I used a balance of ambiant lighting from the machine as well as 2 external strobes to add a bit of shadows where needed to draw your attention to the operator
An operator uses a RRC (Radio Remote Control) to maneuver this scoop while maintaining a safe distance from an elevated platform.
I get energized when I walk into a site and see images I have created over the years still being used in the companies personal marketing and branding materials.
Stock images usually don’t have the same look or feel that employees are familiar with and so the message of the poster can get lost or skipped without a second look or thought.
Personalized images have that immediate attention grabbing impression that holds the viewers interest so that your message gets noticed, read and reflected which is the main goal of any marketing material.
Note: Always go with the smiling image for the poster. 🙂
I was underground at Vale’s Coleman Mine just outside of Sudbury Ontario to update their photography for their marketing materials and photo library.
Once the shotcrete sprayer is in operation I have a few seconds to capture the image before the location fills up with particles covering the whole scene in airborn dust. With a slower shutter speed I removed my camp lamp so it would not add any ambient light to my scene which caused a single ray of light to be captured in front of the operator.
This image took 3 minutes to capture but I remember thinking about the scenario for a good 20+ minutes scratching my head to come up with something that would have “Visual Impact”. It’s always difficult when you are facing a wall for the capture. I try to get some depth into the image by accentuating the available light, but in this setting the only light at the moment was the overhead fluorescent lights. By simply turning on the diagnostic board and rotating through the different lights I used the main brake light to frame the subject and then brought in 2 other lights to fill in some shadowed areas. With the final crop being used in a diamond shape for their marketing materials we cut out stencil so we knew the image would fit the parameters, and it did – Cambrian College Heavy Equipment Technician
I come from a family of greenthumbs. My Grandfather tended a wonderful vegetable and flower garden throughout my childhood, my mother always has fresh greens to give away when I am visiting and my Sister created a gardening tool for the garden industry www.pinchpruner.com. So when I find myself in the greenhouses on the mine sites I always take the time to browse around, ask questions and see what the different types of plants and trees they growing for reclamation. I have photographed fish stocking, tree planting, vegetable harvesting, hay cutting and bee keeping all to regenerate, rejuvenate and reclamate past mine sites and some grand scales it’s mighty impressive.
This gentleman is what I call the “keeper of the Kiln” as he tends to the furnace while it rotates throughout the day at the Menchin Mine in Maracás Brazil. A few clicks and then we had to back away from the kiln as the hot air was blowing out the furnace door. Just a few of the many images I created for www.largoresources.com last week while I was on site.
Be sure to check out my other “People Portraits” in the mining industrial industry by clicking The People tab at the top of this site.
