Picture this: ‘Our very own Teva Instagram’

A fantastic story about the Teva Amateur Photographers group.

“I traveled two hours to meet up with nine other photographers at midnight to capture the star trails at Long Beach Island, NJ.” says Amal Ward, a long-time Teva employee whose passion for photography takes her on group expeditions around New York state, armed with her Nikon D750.

Such is Ward’s enthusiasm that at 2:30 am, in below freezing temperatures, she continued shooting at 30-second intervals, ending up with close to 300 photos of the Milky Way. “It wasn’t until later, on my computer, I could see I nailed it,” she says.

The stunning results of her Milky Way, Solar Eclipse and New York Skyline projects are all shared with Teva’s Amateur Photography Group (APG). Ward is just one of over 1,000 dedicated members of the group, who regularly post their latest creative efforts on Yammer, an internal social network used by Teva employees.

Ward’s top tips for all budding photographers include joining a local photography group. “Most importantly, get to know the people in your local camera shop, talk to them. They can be a great source of advice and information,” Ward advises, who has clocked up over 20 years at Teva, working in Clinical Trials Disclosure. 

In addition to posting her own work on the Yammer site, Ward takes a keen interest in the other contributors. She contacted another member, Stacey Walsh, after seeing her photo depicting a crystal ball trapped in barbed wire and asked her for some suggestions. Ward purchased one herself and set it up outside her house. “The challenge is to get the focus in the ball right, everything is upside down and you don’t know what you’ve got until you zoom in.”

Ways of seeing

Walsh explains that the photo in question was the first picture she had ever taken using a glass ball. The image was shot in a forest in Colchester, England, taking 10-15 frames and flipping the image 180 degrees in order to achieve the effect she wanted.

Walsh joined Teva UK as an art worker three years ago and joined the photography group straight away. “I treat it like our very own Teva Instagram, a place to share nice photos from around the world and get inspired to try new things, new techniques, or to travel and see those lovely places.”

She has now upgraded her camera to a DSLR and a year ago invested in a Canon 700D, and says it has taken over her life. “The thing I love about photography is that it is instant. I love painting, but painting can take hours and hours, with photography I can make my art a lot quicker.”

Walsh’s enthusiasm was rewarded when she entered a competition run by a local estate agent asking for pictures of Essex, and her photo at the zoo was picked. “It is exciting to have my photo in print. My friend who works for BBC Essex rang to say he had just seen my photograph on his desk calendar.”

The members of the APG are part of a growing league of snappers. According to estimates by InfoTrends, over a hundred billion more photos were taken worldwide in 2017 than in 2016. And numbers are expected to rise again in 2018.