Recently, photographer Sue Flood was awarded two first place wins at the prestigious 2009 International Photography Awards.  She won first place for the Special Finalist Pro category and first place for the Travel/Tourism Pro category. The International Photography Awards conducts an annual competition for professional, non-professional and student photographers on a global scale, creating one of the most ambitious and formidable competitions in the photography world today.  Her first place wins gives her the opportunity to compete in IPA’s top award of International Photographer of the Year.  Sue is one of eight finalist that will be competing for this award, which will be announced in October 2009. We had a chance to catch up with Sue and hear her story behind her images, what she has been up to, and how she became a photographer.

Before joining Getty Images I spent 11 years as a wildlife filmmaker with the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol, England.  In 2005 I moved from producer to freelance photography, and my life as a wildlife and travel photographer now takes me all over the world on assignment.  Along with some wonderful trips to Africa in the last few years, I’ve spent lots of time in the polar regions – a combination of filming trips for the BBC, Disneynature’s Earth movie, and working as a lecturer for Quark Expeditions, who run adventure travel trips to the poles.  It’s just as well that I like the cold!

Last fall I spent three months on board the Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov, on an incredible trip to the emperor penguin colonies of Snow Hill Island, and then on to the Ross Sea.  This included the awesome experience of standing on the world’s largest ice barrier – the Ross Ice Shelf, and visiting the historic huts used by Shackleton and Scott.

I was thrilled to hear last week that a portfolio of images from my Ross Sea voyage has been selected as one of the eight finalists for the title of International Photographer of the Year – The Lucie Awards, which will be announced in New York in October 2009.   My favorite shot was the image of passengers standing on top of the Ross Ice Shelf – like tiny ants on the vast icescape – that I managed to grab as the helicopter flew out to pick them up.  However, my favourite subject from the entire three month trip had to be the emperor penguins – the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen in my life (apart from George Clooney!).

I’m looking forward to another three months in the Antarctic starting in October, but I’ll have a chance to thaw out on a three week shoot to Tahiti and Easter Island in September – I can’t wait!  It will be great to be able to pack for a trip and not include thermal underwear in my pack…

- Sue Flood

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TURIN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 20: (L-R) Kim St-Pierre #33, Charline Labonte #32 and Sarah Vaillancourt #26 of Canada celebrate after their 4-1 victory over Sweden during the final of the women’s ice hockey on Day 10 of the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games on February 20, 2006 at the Palasport Olimpico in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

In honor of Fête du Canada (Canada Day), we’d like to celebrate all of our Canadian filmmakers, musicians and photographers for all of the hard work, dedication and creativity they bring to work each day.

To celebrate this special occasion, we’ve put together a gallery of Canadian imagery for you to enjoy. These images capture the spirit of the country and were all created by Canadian photographers – even the music featured was created by a local artist!

For more information about Getty Images in Canada, go to www.gettyimages.ca.

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New York Magazine, our neighbors downstairs, wrote a lovely piece on photographer Ron Galella.  Emily Nussbaum asserts that Galella gave birth to modern American celebrity.  We couldn’t agree more!  The depth and breadth Galella’s documentation is stunning and we are honored to represent his work.   From New York City disco culture of the 70’s to the Kennedy family, Galella has earned the title of “the godfather of American paparazzo culture”.  Check out a teeny little sliver of Galella’s contribution to our collection here.

All photos: Ron Galella/WireImage/Getty Images

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Photo by Philip Toledano

Something to share with you today, a beautiful, more funny than sad journal by photographer Philip Toledano about his 98 year old father: http://www.dayswithmyfather.com/

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