I was fortunate enough to spend two weeks with Christophe Launday on a catamaran sailing from Noumea to Papua New Guinea then visiting the Louisiade Archipelago in the Milne Bay Provence of Papua New Guinea. Christophe is a world-renowned sailing photographer with interests in other forms of photography.
Christophe has lived in Australia for 12 years but he was born in New Caledonia and lived mainly in France before coming to Australia. His photography training was in Los Angeles and his early work was in photography and video with Mondino the French fashion photographer.
His photographs are mainly sold to sailing and boating magazines such as Sails, Sailing World, Offshore, Seahorse, Zielen and lots more. He has worked with global brands such as Rolex, Amstel and JP Morgan. One of his photographs was used in sailing marketing for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. He also sails regularly (and photographs) the Sydney-Hobart race including the ill-fated 1998 one. As well he sells to European stock photographic sites, although he didn’t tell me the names of these. With the stock images sales, he will often put images in sets that tell a story. He also sells from his website http://sealaunay.com/.
I spent a lot of time chatting with him about how he processed his images and at that time (2009) he still used CS2 and HDR and found them quiet adequate for his purposes. He has since upgraded to CS5. He had just bought a Canon 5D Mk2. A lot of his sailing photography is done from the boat he is on so uses a very wide angle lens or even a fish eye as he photographs down the side of the vessel. Of course he also uses telephoto lenses but the photos that have most impact are those he has got close to with a wide angle lens. He often photographs from the water.
He does a lot of photographing with a Canon waterproof case and used it a number of times on the trip. This enables him to get up close and have a much more powerful shot. He does underwater photography including sporting events like triathlons – the photos taken in the water.
At nighttime we did discuss the shots he had taken as well as those I had taken. He was very good with the island children and they would run after him like the pied piper.
What did I learn:
I think the main thing I learnt was about the angle from which he took his photos. He likes to use a wide angle lens and get up close and either be high or low to the subject. Often I would see him with his camera held low to the ground – he has mastered knowing the angle the camera needs to be at so you don’t just get sky or ground. His photos really have impact. He does swear by HDR – something I have yet to master, and he doesn’t overdo it.
It was a great experience.
Note: the two shots I have included below (of his) of the PNG visit were far from his best. He must have sold the best ones! These were from his website with what is left to sell.
References;
http://www.sealaunay.com/about-christophe-launay.html
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