I just finished the underground portion of my week long stay here in Northern Saskatchewan and I am surprised I didn’t get my new digs a little more dirty. I finally had the chance to wear my new high vis overalls that I got from my friend Anthony Gilin of www.minesafetysolutions.ca. If you are need of some new safety gear like gloves and work wear be sure to check out his inventory. You might even recognize some of the images I created on the website.
I remember my father getting annoyed with me when I would use something and put it away (in a place other than the place I retrieved it from) and as I got older I understood why. Clutter wastes time. Even if it’s a few seconds looking for a tool, over time, those seconds accumulate into minutes and minutes into hours. An organized workstation is an efficient workstation.
Whenever I am in a shop now I always pay attention to the organization and cleanliness of the area and this maintenance bay at Coleman Mine did not disappoint. Everything had it’s place and these individuals took pride in their work as well as their work environment.
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
One of the more difficult pieces of equipment to photograph in action the Shotcrete Sprayer is easily photographed before the nozzle starts projecting it’s contents onto the entire area.
Deep underground at the El Mochito Mine, the humidity hung in the air softening the lighting from the jumbo drill and our cap lamps which added some great backlit illumination to the overall scene.
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 captured this image of Mr. Lopes as I liked the composition this vantage point created overlooking the project that Lopes Ltd (www.lopesltd.com) was spearheading. Felix mentioned to me that it would be a great overhead view of the project and once I captured some installation progress images I took advantage of the scene to create this portrait.
There are some big vents pushing and blowing air underground and you don’t necessarily get an appreciation on how large these are until you are up close to one of them. Putting someone into the frame gives scale to the size of the vents.
Custom photography isn’t the foremost thought for most when it comes to the mining industry until the need for a professional photo is required. In today’s social media world the majority of a companies marketing is showcased online and this includes news articles and magazine editorials. My clients have dozens to hundreds of high impact images to be used at a moments notice for whatever marketing platform they require. They are not scrambling to provide the media or submitting sub par low quality images that the graphic designer cringes when they try to add it to their designs.
But why hire a professional mining photographer? Professionalism and experience with photography as well as safety in the mining industry. Been on site for more than 20 years has allowed me to become efficient with my photography to create the variety of images needed in the time span allotted with the working conditions available at the time. I’ll get the job done.
Having a complete library of all your operations and corresponding processes allows your marketing team to better showcase the company within the mining industry and in turn create an online presence that is unique and branded to your company.
Image below www.puregoldmining.ca photographed at their Madsen Project in Red Lake Ontario
