I really enjoy editorial photography projects. They used to be nearly all of my work – mostly in magazines. Then the kids came along and the long adventures to collect the stories didn't have quite the same appeal. I missed a few key milestones during their early years so deliberately limited my travel to be there for those moments.
Now they're in their late teens I can more freely chase editorial projects again, but a lot has changed in the past 15 years in the media world. The budgets are way smaller than they used to be and many magazines run on the smell of an oily rag.
So last week was quite special for me as I had a handful of fun assignments to link up throughout the North Island. They came on the back of a day photographing the world's rarest whale being dissected by an international group of scientists, including some from Doc, the University of Otago and TÅ«hura Otago Museum. That was for the Associated Press – one of the biggest new agencies in the world with incredible reach. Then the following day I photographed the advancing dissection for The Guardian – also one of the biggest news outlets in the world.
I then flew north completing four different assignments over four days of shooting and adventuring. That was a very big week. In between I managed to capture some cool moments for this week's edition of Box of Light. One of my favourites is the image of River and Zack Mutton – both Extreme Kayak World Champions (Zack in 2023 and Rivi in 2024). Their dad Kenny and mum Mandy are absolute legends and have inspired their kids, and others, to live the life of their dreams. I'm all about that.
See you at the beach ... Derek
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