Welcome to the Paulmp Blog - (Pinned Intro Post)

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(Edited)

Hi All,

I know this has been awhile coming, but here is my delayed introduction post! I've been using steem for nearly 3 weeks now and I'm really enjoying the community... anyway, to the intro!

I’m Paul Pichugin. I’m a dad to 3 awesome daughters, fortunate husband to the best wife anyone could ask for, proud brother to a sister who is doing amazing things, and a son to some pretty incredible parents. I also take photos for a living.

Bec and I Our crazy girlsOur Family

I’ve been fortunate enough to work on travel and landscape photography projects in every state in Australia, 17 countries and Antarctica in the last few years. I absolutely love what I do, I often have to pinch myself and remind myself that this isn’t a dream!

Some of the experiences I’ve had include kayaking and snorkelling in Antarctica, night kayaking amongst the bio-luminescence in Tasmania and hiking through blizzards in the Tasmanian mountains, aerial photography in Queensland, Dubai and all over Western Australia to camping all through Iceland & Norway and with Bedouin in Jordan, riding horses around the Great Pyramids of Egypt.

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I come from a pretty mixed background, my Dad's family arrived in Australia in the 1950s as refugees from China, they are Russians who escaped from Russia into China during the Russian revolution. My mum's family is the classic Australian "bitsa", as in we have a bit of everything thrown in there, including Australian Aboriginal, my great-grandmother was Australian Aboriginal, I think it is pretty cool to have that connection. I was born in Adelaide in South Australia and we moved around quite a bit as Dad was in the Australian military... so I grew up in Sydney and Brisbane, worked and lived in Melbourne and Canberra for a time before moving to Perth and then finally to Busselton (2.5 hours drive south of Perth) in Western Australia. We've been in Busselton for over 6 years now and we absolutely love it, it is home to us and we're part of an incredible community of people here.

Photography started out as a hobby and then a form of "escape" from the stress of my previous career in the IT industry, where I did everything from help desk to programming to systems administration before eventually moving into Project Management for large IT Infrastructure projects. I started photographing weddings on the side about 15 years ago and then when the GFC hit in 2008 and I was made redundant from my role, I decided to go full time into my photography. Initially I focused on weddings, I photographed weddings all over Australia and a few overseas before getting burned out and remembering that I actually got into photography to be outdoors and enjoying the landscapes of the world. Close to 400 weddings later I have stopped photographing them nearly completely, only taking on the occasional wedding if the location is appealing and I think I can do something fresh and different.

I photographed my first few travel campaigns in 2011 and then ramped things up in 2014, since then I've worked on campaigns and projects in 17 countries, every state in Australia as well as a project in Antarctica. I love the outdoors and working on travel and tourism campaigns in particular. I've worked with National Geographic, Conde Nast, Qantas, Jetstar, Tourism Australia, Tourism Western Australia, Tourism Tasmania, Tourism Dubai, American Express, Google, Samsung, Oppo and many other top companies in the world.

Recently I was admitted into the Australian Society of Travel Writers and I'm working on combining my photography and video with travel writing. I'm using Steem as an outlet to practice writing more.

Aside from the commercial work I do, I also am passionate about working with NGOs (non-government organisations) and people I call "Change Makers" in developing nations. That has taken me to some pretty incredible locations and I've seen some of the best and worst of humanity in the process. I'm passionate about documenting the work of the change makers and NGOs, helping them raise awareness and funding for their projects. Further to this I work with an organisation called The Giving Lens, we take groups of photographers on tours / workshops through developing countries, we also volunteer with a local NGO and at the end of the trip the profits are donated to the NGO.

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Hope you found some of that interesting, remember you can click on the photos to view them larger if you want to as well. Feel free to ask any questions, I'll see if I can answer them.

#introduceyourself


Visit my website for more: paulmp.com

Prints are available on Redbubble: Paulmp on Redbubble

Social Media:
Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

All photos posted are copyright Paul Pichugin unless otherwise stated.



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36 comments
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Good to have you here Paul, wish you all the best.

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Thank you, it is great to connect with awesome people like yourself :)

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Great to have you on STEEM! I think you've picked the perfect time to join its next evolution.

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Complete accident... I was driving and had an idea for a blockchain based social network where great content is rewarded with a cryptocurrency and didn't rely on having ads or intrusive data harvesting... did a search when I got home to see if someone else had done it already... actually joined to see if Steem was doing it how I imagined and they aren't too far off. There are quite a few features I'd add, but it is definitely a great start.

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Super interesting “how I got to Steem” story! Would love to hear what features you personally would like to see added.

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I'll go through my voice notes and put some thoughts together :)

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That's a classic story. I was wondering the same question as to who introduced you here. Self introduction is great because it means it might get some momentum on its own. I will send you a DM on insta.

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Interesting story. I haven't don't mine yet. I'm dribbling it out and perhaps waiting until after my 2nd year anniversary. People here like to tag #introduceyourself

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Fair enough! I'll edit it and put in the hashtag, thanks for the tip!

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You really got to me, ever since the post with the Antarctica photos! Glad to see your intro as well.

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Awesome man! Your life really has turned out well, loving what you do and so on.

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It has definitely had its ups and downs, we're in a bit a of a "down" at the moment with very little work happening and nearly no income for most of this year so far, but I'm working on some new products and services to lift the business again. I also skipped over the part where I broke my back at 21, lost everything and then had to learn how to walk again and basically start my life again... I'll probably put that in a post of its own... it's anniversary is coming up.

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(Edited)

I don't think there are many who don't know of your work by now. In the few weeks you've joined Steemit, your content is like a breath of fresh air on the chain!

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Thank you for those very kinds words, I appreciate the support :)

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That your life consists of photography is impressively reflected in your pictures and descriptions. I am always impressed by the number and quality of the pictures. I hope that other creative people will also find their way to the Steem blockchain. Who could do better advertising than you!

Greetings from Germany 🦋

Posted using Partiko Android

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Thank you, I think people forget how much effort goes into being good at something many times and write it off to "natural talent", which is only ever partially true... most people who are good at something have dedicated the time and effort to practice and improve. I'm going to be writing a whole post on that subject down the track. I'm enjoying the Steem blockchain as another avenue to output my creativity :)

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I see we both speak the same language. Often good pictures are reduced to the technique. Many people forget that photography is much more than just technology. The many hours and strains you take on yourself. Getting up early in the morning and waiting for the perfect moment until sunset in the evening requires a lot of patience and perseverance. In landscape photography this is exactly the same as with my macros. We are all hunters of light.
https://steempeak.com/deutsch/@faltermann/lichtjaeger-light-hunter

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Great to know a little more about you and see your beautiful family. So glad to have you on Steem!

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Thank you, it has been great to connect with other awesome people like yourself :)

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Congratulations @paulmp! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You got more than 200 replies. Your next target is to reach 300 replies.

You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:

The new SteemFest⁴ badge is ready
Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!
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(Edited)

Hi Павел Пичугин (your name in Russian)😉,

You have accomplished alot in your life.
I always admire people who can turn their passion and talent into successful career.
Thanks to handful people like you, rest of us can enjoy stunning photographs from places we will never be able to visit.

@paulmp I am looking forward to read more about your travels see more of your beautiful pictures and maybe learn about photography.

All the best from
@cezary-io

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I actually grew up speaking Russian as my babushka speaks mostly Russian, although her English is fairly good too. I've now forgotten most of it, but if I get around people speaking it I can understand quite a bit of it.

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Welcome, Paul. I've enjoyed your photography so far. Look forward to seeing more great shots.

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Thank you! I've enjoyed connecting with people like yourself!

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~welcome to the community!! i'm new here as well! :)

your photographs are pure inspiration

looking fwd to viewing more ~

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Awesome intro. I'm loving all your photos.

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Hello @paulmp, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!

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Thanks for joining mate. We need more photographers here on the platform.

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Wow nice family and excellent photography
Thanks sir
Have a nice day.
$trdo

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Wow! you've had some amazing adventures! absolutely stunning photography too!

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