NZIPP PRO Report October 2016 by NZIPP NZ Institute of Professional Photography

Report BE INSPIRED, BE SUCCESSFUL, BELONG

NZIPP MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2016

NOT A MEMBER OF THE NZIPP YET? As an accredited member of the NZIPP you have the support, networking opportunities and camaraderie of your peers within your industry. It also adds credibility for your clients that you are a professional photographer. Belonging to an institute that represents all areas of professional photography in New Zealand, and through our focus on education, advice, and a wide range of membership benefits we will help you improve the success and vitality of your business. Your accredited member benefits will include: · · · · · · ·

Epson NZIPP Iris Awards (member rates) Infocus Conference (member rates) Meeting and Networking opportunities Professional Development Membership Discounts PRO Report eMagazine Scholarships

Come along to your next regional meeting to check out what becoming a member is all about! Contact info@nzipp.org.nz

MISSION STATEMENT To champion, embrace and communicate excellence and professionalism in photography.

CONTACT NZ Institute of Professional Photography (NZIPP) P O Box 133158, Eastridge, Auckland 1146 New Zealand W: www.nzipp.org.nz E: info@nzipp.org.nz

We welcome your feedback and thoughts. If you have something to say, send it through to:

Cover Image:

info@nzipp.org.nz

ROSE Image © Adam Buckle FNZIPP

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CONTENTS Executive Updates 05 Presidents Report 06

NZIPP Regional Photographers of the Year

10 Auckland 12 Wellington 14 Waikato/BOP 16

Adam Buckle FNZIPP

Directors Report

NZIPP News 09 Accreditation Programme 10

Member Profile

Central Districts

18 Canterbury/Westland

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s In My Bag...? 50 Jenny Siaosi MNZIPP Events & useful links 58

Get Clicking

Regional and National Sponsors 59

Thanks to our Regional and National Sponsors

20 Otago/Southland Regional Updates 24

Auckland / Northland Region

Wellington Region

Waikato / BOP Region

Canterbury / Westland Region

Otago/Southland Region

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EXECUTIVE UPDATE

Presidents Report Katherine Williams FNZIPP IV– and AAIPP

The seduction of a career in photography holds many of us tight and often grows rapidly from when we first discover it. Seduction versus reality comes into play when we turn our passion into our career. And whilst that element of seduction continues to exist, develop and deepen, the reality of life as a professional photographer is one that encompasses a diverse job description. Predominately, for most photographers the craftsmanship is actually a small element of what we do, but is the critical element that consumes a lot of our thought process and learning. A professional who takes their career seriously should ensure continuing professional development through whatever forms works best for them (conferences, workshops, online resources, personal projects, engaging a mentor) as an essential part of keeping their offerings both current and skilled. More and more photographers recognize the value of personal projects in their creative development and there’s currently a wonderful opportunity open, I’d definitely encourage photographers to seriously consider applying for. The Canon ‘Show us What’s Possible’ open brief for photographers. It’s fantastic to see this offering $10,000 and a EOS 5D Mark IV and EF 24-105 to bring the project to life to the lucky recipient. Consider having a mentor. Your mentor should be a person who has a breadth of knowledge and skills you admire greatly and strive to obtain, someone who will challenge you and push you to be better – and often out of your comfort zone. It’s more than just feeling accountable – as that is a relationship you can have with a professional colleague or friend. An effective mentor is someone who will push you to grow rapidly and reach closer to your potential. As small business owners, and overwhelmingly in New Zealand we are one-man bands, in many cases we are responsible for a vast number of tasks in addition to our primary role as photographer including anything from stylist, post production, marketing, website, social media, brand development, quoting, converting prospects into clients, accounts and tax, selling, teaching and

presentation skills, emptying the rubbish, general dogs body and everything in between. Our job description verges on ridiculous when you consider what we expect of ourselves in order to achieve great results for our businesses. For most of us the running of our business component is significantly more time consuming then the photography component. There’s an immediate imbalance that appears for many of us, and that is that we often neglect to focus enough or any of our continuing professional development on aspects of our business that don’t excite us creatively. When it comes to continuing professional development for our diverse range of required skill sets I believe it’s valuable to look at learning specific. Consider identifying a few key areas of your business that you feel could provide significant benefit if you raised your skill level on them and see what additional learning opportunities are out there. Check out places such as your local Chambers of Commerce and networking groups for worthwhile educational courses. If your confidence speaking in front of groups is lacking try joining Toastmasters to dust up on your skills and eloquence in speech. There are many places and spaces to improve your skills. Plus, you never know what business opportunities may present themselves to you along the way with the people you meet. It could be worth getting a business mentor to redirect, refocus or refine your business skills within the specific needs of your business – try Business Mentors New Zealand. The reality of learning and mastering anything is that we get good at the things we practice, and if we are continually practicing a skill in a way that isn’t best practice we are training our brains to continue practicing in a way that may be detrimental to business. And if that part of your business is not for you, fire yourself to free yourself. It may be more cost effective, or profitable to have someone else take care of the less loved areas of your business for you anyway. Less clutter in your photography business life will certainly provide greater creative freedom.

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EXECUTIVE UPDATE

Directors Report Clinton Lloyd FNZIPP

“Those judges can take their $%!#ing opinion and shove it up their talentless $%#* they wouldn’t know art if it smacked them in the $^%*ing face. “ Muttering under my breath as the image I thought was my strongest barely limped into the bronze category in the 2016 Iris Awards. Don’t get me wrong, it could have been worse… like two of my other images later that day that were thrown into the proverbial scrap heap of professional standard. I’m not trying to be a pretentious dickhead but I am a professional photographer so I don’t enter awards to be told that they agree with that. So before I come across as a complete twat let me explain that the entire premise of this ramble is to explain how I have got to this opinion: The best thing about the awards is quite possibly not the awards. So back to my story. This was the fourth year I’ve entered; my first year I saved up and entered two images and nervously sat watching the judging and felt like a rock star when both were awarded bronze. Here I was not even a full time photographer and yet I was award winning. Haha how little did I know about anything. (Interestingly looking back now I wouldn’t even enter those images.) In my second and third year entering I did remarkably well, much better than I thought I would and with a couple of gold’s ended up as a category finalist in a wedding category each year. I was never the “bride” but quite stoked to be “bridesmaid” next to some of my

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photographic heroes and friends. And then there was 2016. The year that I thought I had my strongest entries yet…and the judges disagreed wholeheartedly. (I am dramatizing this slightly as I did get a silver and silver with distinction that I was very happy with so I’m not trying to minimize that.) Offense. Anger. Pity. Denial. Disappointment. Embarrassment. Rage. The emotional rollercoaster read like a psychology textbook and felt akin to teenage angst all over again. Thanks to the strange wonder of people that choose to process their emotions on social media I can feel that I am at least not alone in these emotions. Some people sounded like they were going to throw it all in and put the cat and camera in the microwave for a few minutes. But the thing I found with these feelings….You can ride them “up” or ride them “down.” Down is the path to bitterness. When confronted with others opinions of your work that are contrary to your own you can either get offended, get bitter and I think I’ve come across a few people that have taken the path of bitter. They are quick to point out what they see as failings of the system, why awards are terrible, how judges aren’t qualified to critique their images the list goes on. Look, I’m not saying that the system is perfect, we’re talking about a system that tries to objectively judge something that is blatantly subjective, of course there are going to be challenges with any method! I have actually spent a bit of time thinking about other

ways that might be better, but the reality is I ended up agreeing that the checks and balances applied to the awards are pretty bloody good. So if that’s the path of offense what is the other option because that one doesn’t sound that great. It’s to take all that hurt/anger/frustration and direct that into growth. Yep growth. Not at all something I was thinking about when I heard the score of my favourite image and muttered my own scathing review of the judges but something that has been a result of my reflections after the initial disappointment wore off. This is why I can say that “The best thing about the awards is quite possibly not the awards.” It is the chance to get offended at the opinions of others, to be upset, to be euphoric, to feel strongly about your art and to feel deeply the intense vulnerability that comes with putting yourself out there on a platform to be critiqued and judged by your peers. Because all of these feelings can result in growth as a person an as an artist if you let them. They force us to acknowledge some of the assumptions we might have about ourselves, and look at our work not through the eyes of the clients that love us or the Facebook likes we so desperately seek. Instead it directs us to look through the eyes of our peers that have confronted similar scenarios in front of their camera over decades of combined experience, centuries of the art history tradition and the lens of the collective worldview of five judges. Looking at our craft in this way opens the doors to opportunities and ideas that we never would

have considered had we not had the disappointment or joy of the award system. It would be easy to discount my thoughts as simple “loser justification” except for these facts. 1. The growth in myself as an artist through this process hasn’t inspired me to “lose better” but rather to become better at what I do and why I do it. 2. It hasn’t diminished the value of winning these awards. Because heck, how awesome would that be! It’s been so cool seeing the press coverage that Photographer of the Year (and awesome el presidente) Katherine has got, and that coverage along with the prestige of achieving that level of recognition would be amazing. So yep, I will be back, and no doubt over the years I will fall into the pit of “professional standard” or below again. But one thing is for sure, I won’t allow myself to stay there!

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“In 30 years I’m still going to look back on this past weekend with NZIPP as life changing.” -Kalen Acquisto

15 -19 JUNE 2017 SHED 6.WELLINGTON NZ

15-18 JUNE 2017 Discover a world of visual creation in a vibrant, interactive program of workshops, live shoots, exhibition, industry tradeshow and more.

15-17 JUNE 2017 Join us for the live judging of the NZIPP/EPSON Iris Professional Photography Awards, entry available for all professional photographers, entry opens Autumn 2017.

18-19 JUNE 2017 Be educated and inspired by world class presenters in NZ’s premiere photographic conference for professional, aspiring and student photographers.

Say no to fomo...lock in the Infocus 2017 dates now! Infocus speaker announcements coming soon www.infocus.org.nz

NZIPP ACCREDITATION

Accreditation Programme Sarah Beaufoy MNZIPP and Mel Waite FNZIPP Accreditation Coordinators

ACCREDITATION

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The strongest path to assured success, is togetherâ&#x20AC;?

We are very passionate about NZIPP and adhering to the professional standards of the organisation and industry as a whole. It is important for you to become Accredited, which is a recognisable professional business standard and is valuable for your ongoing growth as a professional photographer and NZIPP member.

Sarah, Mel, and welcoming Shar Devine to the Accreditation Team

While Accreditation is a certification process, a large part of becoming accredited is around continued education and support networks within your local photography community, as well as the wider photography network. Where possible we encourage you to attend and network at regional meetings and coffee catchups. Our next accreditation round is 3rd of November 2016 and will be limited to 10 folio submissions, including resubmissions PRE-ACCREDITATION CHECK If you are a new or provisional member you need make yourselves known to your Regional Chairperson who will put you in touch with an Accreditation Advisor. This enables them to view your work and guide as to when you should be submitting to be assessed.

For any questions please email nzipp.accreditation@ gmail.com and follow the notifications in the Accreditation Q&A Facebook Group https://www. facebook.com/groups/107239679301077/

AUCKLAND REGIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR Ilan Wittenberg FNZIPP II Bare Truth is a captivating collection of portraits of New Zealand men who are humble, courageous and vulnerable. Their photographs expose and reveal who they really are. Their edgy portraits are presented in monochrome to emphasize their shape and form. The simple background eliminates distractions so the viewer can focus on their body language and facial expression. The combination of using a soft, directional light while adapting a special post-processing technique, enables me to enhance their features so the images are raw and crisp. They look directly into my camera so there is always a highlight in their eyes. The idea of creating portraits of men who expose their chest evolved gradually. The biggest challenge was finding the first man to agree to pose. After a few rejections and setbacks, I created a portrait of a close friend and became really engaged with the look in his eyes. Many cultures portray men as strong, physically and emotionally. This stereotype sometime leads to dire outcomes when considering how poorly typical men treat health symptoms, depression, stress and anxiety. One of the goals of this project is to raise awareness; give men freedom to express their feelings and connect to their emotions. This fresh look at men is an eye opening opportunity to see the real people without the 'shield' of clothes. We are all flesh and blood and we are here on this planet for a short period of time. This project simply reminds us of how fragile we are. It takes us just one-tenth of a second to judge someone and make a first impression so it’s fascinating to see how quickly we form our opinion based solely on physical appearance. It’s been said that photography is the easiest medium of Art to be competent in but it's the hardest medium in which to have a truly personal vision. It's very much like talking: everyone can talk but very few have something to say. In creating this collection, I aim to demonstrate a clear style, to tell a story while being imaginative and thought-provoking. My goal is to present work that is strong and distinguished with a clear narrative sense. I wish to inspire people with images that are crisp and sharp, to be creative and artistic, to evoke emotions and to show a personal vision. At the beginning I asked only family and friends to participate. After gaining valuable experience and formalising a consistent style, I expanded the portfolio and became confident in approaching total strangers. Having a small folio helped in overcoming objections, until the project gained a critical mass with dozens of portraits. I focused on capturing a variety of ethnic groups, poses, age groups and body sizes. It’s the set of photos that make the collection engaging. Once the portfolio increased in size, I became more selective and started approaching men who had a more interesting appearance; those whose face tells a story. While some men are very comfortable with having their portrait created, others feel this is completely outside their comfort zone. The collection was chosen to be exhibited as an Associate at the 2016 Head On Photo Festival in Sydney as well as at the Signature programme of the 2016 Auckland Festival of Photography.

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Â© Ilan Wittenberg

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WELLINGTON REGIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR Amber Griffin The idea for this image was born on the evening of my first solo exhibition opening in Wellington last year. My sponsors for the exhibition, Jackson Estate, were so taken with another image of this stunning ballerina, Alayna, that they suggested she could grace the bottle of their soon to be released and extremely limited edition, Pinot Rosé. This dream project became an incredible amalgamation of so many of my personal passions; art, dance, wine, garment construction and of course, photography! Jackson Estate were brave enough to give

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me complete creative freedom to produce a dancebased artwork inspired by their 2016 Pinot Rosé varietal and it has become the most joyful project I have ever undertaken. The feedback from the judges at the Iris Awards was exceptionally positive and I was thrilled to receive my first ever Gold with Distinction. Because the image was created first and foremost as an artwork, I am now able to release a fine art print edition

of the piece. Since the Iris Awards, there has been so much interest in the image that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve chosen to release the work as a time-limited print edition (as opposed to a limited number edition.) Several years ago, when I was a young and struggling newbie, desperately trying to find my niche in this difficult industry, I purchased an Alexia Sinclair print in much the same way. This print now hangs above my bed as daily inspiration and a constant reminder to remain focussed on my goals and dreams. I feel as though this print has guided my direction over the

last few years and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s value to me has grown the longer it has been a part of my life. The other benefit of releasing a print in this way is that it becomes more affordable for collectors or anybody who falls in love with the artwork. If you are interested in this time-limited print edition of the Alayna RosĂŠ, please visit http://ambergriffin.co.nz/alayna-rose/ for more information. The print is available until 31 October 2016.

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WAIKATO / BAY OF PLENTY REGIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR Mark McKeown FNZIPP IV, AAIPP

Most of my career has been in photojournalism and has pushed me towards the role of getting out and experiencing life, capturing mainly moments and emotions. I want my audience to see and feel what it was like to be there, and most of all capture the purity. Photographing what has happened and when it happened is a huge part of my work - ‘carpe diem!’ When seeing and arriving at a possible scene or situation to photograph, I often get a type of ‘sixth sense’ of knowing when the perfect moment is going to happen, before it actually happens, so my intuition plays a great part in what I do. Being knowledgeable of my Canon tools of trade after decades of long and unstructured hours, tight deadlines and working mostly independently - has given me solid and sound training to create work that conveys my purpose and style. I still have a passion for photojournalism, but I now find myself moving into other genres of photography – landscapes in particular. For me knowing when to snap, how to frame the image, where the light will punch and which slant works best is all part of a successful image with purpose. I tend to be drawn to scenes that contain graphic elements and a dynamic mood. It’s all these conscious and subconscious details and decisions that make it more than just an image for me to hoist it into fine art.

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As I approach or contemplate a situation, I maintain an intense curiosity about the way in which I want my message heard. No matter how many times I have photographed a power pole, a tree or a wedding dress, I still try and appreciate the small moments or angles I never saw before, from the immediate situation in front of me. Although my 2016 Iris award images tend to be quiet moments in time rather than the action filled moments of my earlier career, they still reflect the truth that I love to bring to an image – the stillness and moodiness is what fascinated me with these scenes.

Â© Mark McKeown

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CENTRAL DISTRICTS REGIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR Richard Wood GMNZIPP

FETUS FAMILY I had acquired these foetuses around three years ago and had always wanted to use for an image. However it took three years to create an idea and spark up the courage to actually use. I placed the foetuses on a dolls house chair I had purchased. This took quite some time balancing the animals. Luckily their claws were nice and long which helped cling them together. Seeing all their eyes closed I started to feel a bit of a ‘Three Blind Mice’ feel come through. However there were four and didn’t want to remove one of them. From here I also pondered the ‘Hickory Dickory Dock, three mice ran up the clock” theme. This inspired me to use quite a steam-punk, clockwork type feel. I photographed elements of a Di Vinci clock that I owned and combined with some interior imagery of Versailles Palace in France I had also photographed. All put together with some colour grade, some atmosphere and eyes which I photographed off a model head I have...produced my gold award. This image was a bit of a wild card entry for me but seemed to intrigue the judges enough to make it successful.

GODDESS In this image, I was simply excited about creating an image of the often seen ‘blue’ Gods or Goddesses seen within the Indian culture. I could not find one particular God or Goddess that I completely wanted to create, and therefore made up my own combining several into what I imagined for the image. The portrait was shot in three stages with arms in different postures and then put together. The flowers in the background are painted onto a small studio backdrop I have. Then a piece of jewellery I had collected for the shoot was also layered into the background.

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YOUNG PRINCESS This image shows my daughter dressed as a young French style princess (inspired by the famous sail boat headress of Marie Antoinette). She sits in water while the breath of her ancestors blow wind into her sails. A metaphoric look at a young person having to walk the steps of people before her and thejourney that’s to come. This image took a lot of stylist prep and one very patient little girl.

SIREN & SAILOR This image depicts what at first looks similar to Disney’s ‘Little Mermaid’. However, becomes quite a dark scene as the shipwrecked sailor, completely side-tracked by the mermaid or siren, does not notice the dead that the creature has lured in before him. Sirens were mythical creatures that lured sailors into shipwreck with their song and would then devour them. The background was created by using a series of long exposures of sea and rock I photographed one evening out at Ocean Beach in Hawke’s Bay. The ships are old model ships I found at an antique store. The ships, background, woman, tail, the skulls and the sailor were all photographed on their own and then placed together.

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CANTERBURY/WESTLAND REGIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR Katherine Williams FNZIPP IV I just love to embrace impromptu opportunities when present themselves and during a trip to Queenstown in Autumn Roger Wandless mentioned he was going to Skippers Canyon I hastily said “I’ve never been there…. and I’d LOVE to go” so the invitation came my way and off we ventured. Totally content in the knowledge my arrival back to Christchurch would now be in the small hours of the morning instead of dinner time! After many roadside stops we ditched the car and walked a few km’s…I left Roger capturing a picturesque copse of Autumn trees being clipped by intense warm light and walked on. The next bend in the road left me standing in awe on a precipice looking towards a steep face covered in pines. I literally breathed in deeply and said wow, wow, wow. It was so beautiful and I felt so connected to what I was seeing. Working my composition I focused on creating interest with a solitary copper tree breaking the unity of the rest of the tress and the road cutting through the forrest. This photo is one of just a handful photos in the 100-ish I have entered in the Iris awards over the years that has not been client work. In the treatment and printing I wanted the magical feeling I experienced whilst standing on that precipice to shine through, so enhanced the warmth, slightly rounded the corners to complement the shape of the road and selected Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Satin which to me gave the feeling of the forest coming alive. Awarded Gold with Distinction here in New Zealand and recently Gold in Australia, creating this photo successfully in the eyes of others further inspires me to continue develop my skill base and expertise beyond what I do day to day.

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OTAGO /SOUTHLAND REGIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS OF THE YEAR Nicola Wilhelmsen FNZIPP I had entered a lot of personal work in last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Iris awards and it had done well, I was so glad that this year that personal work is starting to show in my work for clients. I think that was the ultimate goal for me. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always had a taste for everything vintage and I love that classic look. The photo that received a gold with distinction in the creative wedding category was from my first same sex wedding. It was at Larnach Castle here in Dunedin, it was also the first same sex wedding for the castle as well so I really wanted to make a special image just for them. They loved it.

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PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP Â© Nicola Wilhelmsen

OTAGO /SOUTHLAND REGIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS OF THE YEAR Jackie Ranken GMNZIPP II This in camera multiple exposure of the Temple of Heaven was my way of expressing, what I was looking at and how I felt about being in this place. This in-camera capture is made from two exposures made with my Canon 7DMKII while in Beijing last year. One exposure is a close up capture of a sculpture relief that shows mountains (that symbolize earth) and the sky and clouds (that symbolize heaven). The second exposure shows the Temple of Heaven, with people going about their tourist activities.

When the two images were blended together in the camera it showed the people at the bottom of frame on earth and involved in earthy pursuits with ‘heaven’ stretching above

It pressed my button and I was glad that the judges liked it to.

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ÂŠ Jackie Ranken

I have submitted all the frames as separate shots so that you can see how it came together. My camera will save each shot as singles as well as the final multiple exposure capture. I chose to make the print, monochrome to make if feel complicated.

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REGIONAL UPDATES

Auckland / Northland Region Words by Chris Traill FNZIPP

The legendary album production company, and close friends of NZIPP, Queensberry were our hosts last month. Queensberry have just come off the back of a big shift of their printing lab facility from Pukekohe to their Glen Eden premises which has developed into almost an entire block. Thank you so much to Ian, Stephen, Michelle and others in the team for the tour of the engine room and the in depth conversation and analysis of photo finishing, post production and album design, that left us all totally impressed by the pride, integrity, and professionalism you put into your craft and the wonderful family/team spirit that Queensberry is. We also awarded Ilan Wittenberg with the NZIPP Auckland Photographer of the year trophy. Congratulations Ilan. 2nd year in a row. Also thanks to Nikon for putting on a great bash the other night at The Generator in Aucklands CBD. It’s always great to see what the big brands are up to and get blown away by the latest technology while sipping on a drink or two, compliments of Nikon. Andrew Graham of Lacklands/Nikon and Julie Kimpton, Nikon Manager of Markets Australia made selling/demonstrating an art form. Then the evening was topped off with an entertaining presentation by specialist forensic photographer Gale Spring. Next months meeting/event, Oct 12, will be an extremely interesting one and goes to prove what great value being a member of nzipp gives, where these sorts of opportunities are available to us. There will be a presentation by Diane Stoppard, who is a specialist in pinhole photography. She’ll give an overview on her craft and speak of Camera Obscura, which is a project building an 8 metre sculpture and housing a monster pinhole camera inside of it. She has been championing this project for the last year. It’s the

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cover story in the latest Photographers Mail. Also on this evening we will be given a presentation by photographers Andrew Hales and Dave Sanderson and an insight into their job of photographing The Auckland War Memorial Museums entire collection. So far they’ve shot 50,000 images of 14,000 objects. This event will be at the new premises of Lacklands. See you all there. Chris Traill (FNZIPP. Auck Chair)

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REGIONAL UPDATES

Wellington Region Words by Catherine Cattanach FNZIPP II

We kicked off August’s meeting with the presentation of Wellington Photographer of the Year to the hugely deserving Amber Griffin. Amber not only represented New Zealand in last year’s World Photographic Cup in France, but took out the Highest Scoring Print award in the global competition. She continues to go from strength to strength, winning NZ Commercial Photographer of the Year in 2016. We figured she deserved at least two trophies, so as well as the flash new glass trophy for regional photographer of the year, which she gets to keep, we presented her with the gorgeous camera trophy that Wellington has used in previous years and will keep in circulation. Congratulations again, Amber! Then it was on to our guest speaker for the evening, the amazing Richard Wood. Richard was giving a series of workshops around the country and kindly organised his dates so that he was available to speak to us while he was in town. It was fascinating to hear the back-story for Richard’s images; he talked us through from concept to detail to execution and post-production. There’s so much thought that goes into each image! I was struck by how often Richard incorporates symbolism and historical detail in his portrayal of famous figures, and also at how philosophical he is about the fact that often much of this bypasses the judges at the Iris Awards. I guess all Iris entrants experience that to some degree, and it just makes it all the sweeter when the judges ‘get it’. Richard’s presentation included some videos showing the images’ evolution in Photoshop, and unsurprisingly this led to a couple of last-minute registrations for his

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workshop the following day, at which he was very generous with his post-production secrets. At our evening meeting Richard also gave a talk about his incredible experience of going through the catacombs beneath Paris. It was fascinating to hear the history of these tunnels, which house the remains of millions of people, and to hear just much the reality in most of the tunnels differs from the tidy bone-lined crypts that are were opened to the public as a tourist attraction. That was quite a shock for Richard too, but as he said, once you’ve lowered yourself down a fissure in the earth, not knowing who else you might meet down there, the only way out is to keep going forward. Even when you have to physically clamber over human bones to get there. It was just amazing, but I am holding Richard personally responsible for my terrible sleep that night.

Â© Jenny Siaosi

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REGIONAL UPDATES

Waikato / BOP Region Words by Jacki Key, MNZIPP

What an amazing weekend of inspiration and camaraderie was had at Solscape, which was an inspiration in itself with yoga, earth huts, cute wee caboose, a beautiful view, and healthy snacks to keep us alert. Genevieve and Rob from Canon arrived with the latest 5D Mark IV and a range of lenses, and Greg from CRK brought very cool cordless Profoto lights for the lighting workshop and Lume Cubes for night play. Thanks guys! We were treated to a presentation from guest speaker Johannes Van Kan, who generously shared his knowledge taken from experience, success, andinterruptions in his career. Johannes told us of the ‘three why’s’, how he gets couples relaxed with games of kiss tag, location verses moments, and plenty of photographic industry and valuable business information. Bob Tulloch showed his skills and charisma with family posing and use of natural light, followed by Craig Robertson’s outdoor lighting workshop shooting tethered with lessons on how to problem solve weather or sunlight conditions. One thing about turning an industry retreat into a family occasion - you have plenty of spare models. To demonstrate Profoto B1 abilities, Luke Stamatakos kindly performed flips for Craig, and his brother Aiden braved up to bursting and having water balloons thrown at him. Great fun all round and great skills! Thanks Bob and Craig. Free time means play time! Canon 5D IV Who doesn’t like pizza, Alana arranged a pizza truck that caters for gluten and dairy free – low calorie and yummo!How they achieve that is anyones guess. Pizza, salad, ice-creams, a few drinks, a game of cards, that was interesting to say the least. Some dancing? I think it was dancing? It wouldn’t be a Waikato-BOP party without some shenanigans –

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What happens at camp - stays at camp! That’s all I’m saying. There may be some footage somewhere, there were a few photographers floating around. Happy hour and chit-chat with some fire-poi and Lume Cube experimenting. It seems some people just don’t sleep - some try to, but it’s a tad difficult when your hut is being light painted after midnight – Lume Cubes are fun though. So morning was a bit slow after all the late night antics, but it was worth the crawl out of bed to be treated to a landscape shoot with Harry Janssen. Once again we were spoiled with the generosity of an experts knowledge. Winding up with a last talk from Johannes which was both funny and inspiring to leave Solscape feeling just a wee bit warm and fuzzy. Thanks and well done Alana, and her Team of merry minions, Sarah and Craig!

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REGIONAL UPDATES

Canterbury / Westland Region Words by Juliette Capaldi FNZIPP

The Canterbury/Westland meeting for September was all about celebration. We had lots to celebrate! First we were celebrating that although Photo and Video in Merivale, Christchurch have changed ownership, it is still going to be the great Photo and Video we know. Same place, same great staff and dedicated service.... so we celebrated this on the shop floor, where they not only sponsored our Regional photographer of the year, they keep the hunger at bay with great nibbles. Any thing else to celebrate...of course! Lots of our members enjoyed a great Iris Awards, we had fresh Associates, Masters, Fellows and Bars to Fellows, along with excellent results for first time entrants, and newly we have newly qualified members, and new members. But of course the biggest celebration of the evening was the awarding of the Canterbury/Westland Regional Photographer of 2016. It went to Katherine Williams, who won NZ Classic Wedding Photographer of the Year, NZ Creative Wedding Photographer of the Year, also NZ Photographer of the Year. It was great to see the smiles again, as she accepted the award (and it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t broken, but that is another story), and she thanked all of us! Well done Katherine, we are all so proud of you.

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And so we wanted to celebrate some more, and onto dinner we went, to share a few more stories, have a laugh, and celebrate 2016 so far.

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REGIONAL UPDATES

Otago / Southland Region Words by Nicola Wilhelmson FNZIPP

The Front Room Gallery in Queenstown hosted our annual post Iris exhibition again this year. We had images from all across our region represented in the space with most participants displaying two awarded images each. There was a great turn out for the opening on Friday night including some reporters from various media outlets. Mike Langford spoke about the judging process at the Iris Awards. I also spoke about my first experience being on the judging panel and how difficult I found it judging my peers. This year was the first year that the Otago Southland branch was awarding our regional photographer of the year. We were in an unlikely position of having two first equals, (the exact same score). Jackie Ranken and I were the winners and it was presented by Mike Langford at the exhibition opening.

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Â© Anthony Turnham ANZIPP

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Â© Adam Buckle

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MEMBER PROFILE

Adam Buckle

FNZIPP

www.adambuckle.com

How long have you been a photographer? And was it landscape photography that got you hooked from the start? To be fair to say, I recall no time or place that I would say that I had become a photographer. It was a hobby of my late father. He had a very small darkroom at home. He would decant film from the 100’ rolls, process and print, amazingly using a home-made condenser enlarger, constructed with plywood and a large food tin. I have no idea when he started. I recall him telling me once that he used to do contact prints from his glass plates under gaslight. The pressure of gas pre-war was always fluctuating, which gave unscientific exposure times and results. As I grew up, there were copies of Amateur Photographer and the like always about the house. Back in the early 1970’s images from all over the world , mainly monochrome, were embedded to my memory. To this day I cannot perceive why anyone would want to photograph a leaf of cabbage with a camera the size of a TV set and produce a prints the same size. Unfortunately this simple process still baffles me. How can the end result of an uninteresting subject be transformed into something that I find mesmerising. Surely this isn’t normal. By the time I was in double figures I had a Zenit B and a hand held meter. My older brother was given a Zenit EM, the one with the on-board meter! I wasn’t bothered too much, my hand held meter had a leather case. From then on I always had a camera about me, capturing images of all things right from the off, not necessarily landscapes, but everything including some very odd stuff. I was exposed (pun intended) to the works of Ken Duncan and Charlie Waite in the 1990’s, to people

who sold landscape images. I felt that I could do that too. Before I moved to NZ ( I wanted Australia, the Ex wanted Canada) I spoke to Charlie Waite and told him I was moving to NZ and wanted to do Landscape photography. His reply was something like “ sounds like you know what you want to do, just go and do it”. I guess the answer was obvious really…but my self-doubt created the question. I don’t see a difference between amateur and professional, so it’s difficult to say when I became a photographer, I don’t ever remember saying, “ hey, today I am a photographer – yesterday I wasn’t.” How would you describe your work to someone who has never seen it? I have various styles of work, I guess like everyone. The work for others that brings in money, then there’s images for me, as well as images for the Iris awards. The images for me are few and far between, the awards system images are a mixture of work for myself and creations just for Iris. I don’t know how to describe my imagery, just semi natural with a polish in Photoshop. I’m not a major creative / illustrator, probably closer to the cabbage leaf of my youth. I produce landscape images of Taranaki, well not really, it’s more like images of Mount Taranaki. I never wanted to get into doing that, I just wanted to do coastal images. As there is an unexplainable obsession with the mountain in the region, the majority of my work for sale is the mountain, funny that. The only issue is that it has to be captured from the correct side, as I’m not from here, I assume that’s from the outside. I have been full time since about 2001 and by about 2003 I had acquired an Epson 7600 and was printing my own large canvas prints. These have sold from a number of outlets in the region. At that time I was capturing images with a Fuji GX617 so my prints were very similar PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

Image © Michelle Phillips

to the transparencies on the lightbox, hopefully made better in Photoshop, but not always. Nowadays I would have about five hundred pieces of work around the region for sale at any one time. I’m so over it, the mountain seems just a symbol of hardship to me now, but it brings in money, a tough one. My personal images that I like to produce are generally monochrome, not that I am crap at colour – which I am, I guess it’s what I grew up with as what photography is. I love very long exposures. It’s a settling period while I wait for the image to capture. I find it takes me away from photography and allows me to be where I am photographing. I sometimes go for a walk during a very long exposure to look for another composition. Once the image has captured, the scene may have changed so much during exposure that the second frame is nothing

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like the first. You never really know how an image is going to fall out of the camera, which is probably why I find it so fascinating. So the image isn’t how I see reality, a natural way to condense time into a single frame. My work for Iris comes from everything or anything. This year just gone I photographed a mouse that was running around the house at night, which ended up immortalised just for the awards, but unfortunately would run no more. What’s the most important thing you want potential clients to know about you? I have a natural, possibly unhealthy desire for perfection. I guess I let perfection get in the way of a great result. But hey, that’s me, I do the best I can when it comes to photography. I guess I don’t strive for ordinary. I am always trying to better my abilities, yet I rarely feel proud of the images that I produce. I don’t want my images

I guess I don’t strive for ordinary. I am always trying to better my abilities, yet I rarely feel proud of the images that I produce. I don’t want my images used for chips the next day, I want them to be around for ever. - Adam Buckle PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

used for chips the next day, I want them to be around for ever.

inspiration. I know of many photographers worldwide and indulge on their tutorials.

What gives you ideas and inspires you to create such amazing imagery?

Occasionally the images that I create for the awards just seem to happen. I really don’t know how, sometimes it just feels like fate, maybe a tap on the shoulder from my guardian angel.

For my images of Taranaki, the weather and snow fall is a big thing. I sell very few images of a naked mountain. For my main work there isn’t much in the way of ideas or inspiration. I capture what’s there, yet even that I can find difficult to achieve great images and to be really happy with the results. I wouldn’t say my images were amazing, however I have pulled a few rabbits out of the hat over the years, but I wouldn’t say it was the norm. I just look for the light and hope it makes the image. My personal work is totally different. I spend a lot of time thinking about and researching images that take my fancy. The internet is a great source for ideas and

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Other times the creativity part appears like really hard work. I wonder if it is that as I haven’t had any training in the arts that I don’t actually know the calibre of what I do. It often seems like a fluke, as I always want to produce a better quality of image. What type of session do you look forward to the most vs what type of session you most often do? Funny, who wrote this question. Maybe it’s me, I’m the odd one out, perhaps I’m misreading this, oh well, joviality aside and down to business. Image © Ross Clayton

I look forward the most to using the camera, going out exploring, being given amazing scenes, perfectly lit and just there waiting for the shutter release. Just being out there. I also love researching an area online, it’s so easy now to see other people’s images of a location, visit it on google earth to see where to park, check maps to see where the foot paths are, before going to see what a place is really like. Once all that is done and I have visited and looked around there’s further planning to get back at the perfect time, weather, tide time etc for what is in the mind’s eye. Sometimes the images captured on the first visit can not be bettered, other locations I have revisited a place over a number of years and I still don’t feel satisfied with my results. In reality my other sessions, which probably is my main sessions in business. Being on the computer in Photoshop, printing, framing, self-education, accounts, wondering

how to pay bills, wondering why I do this malarkey, searching jobs on seek. Ha, if only. I don’t do sessions, photography is my life at the moment, (well probably all my life has been photography in some description), apart from selling my work. I have other people do that for me. If I had to do that too, I would probably give up all together. I enjoy creating minimalistic landscapes with long exposures, but they are not the great sellers. How important is Photoshop in your final images? Very, it’s the bit between capture and print. I wouldn’t like to relearn what I now know, or perhaps I would teach myself totally differently, to how I have bounced along over the years. It isn’t really the program or other programs for that PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

matter, but how it is used. To me, it’s a mode of transport that moves the image from one place to another. That final place may or may not be where it was initially destined, but arrived there by luck rather than judgement. With my experience I see destinations clearer. If Photoshop were a car, would it take Nana to the shops or win V8 championships. It’s not the car it’s the driver, in conjunction with intention, desire and skill. I use it to better the image, not to correct fault with capture. I try the utmost to get the best capture. Photoshop is used to stitch, blend, balance and emphasise. Then send to print. Nowadays I use Photoshop like a rally car, ha you know, steering right to turn left, totally unlike the manuals of the student. What would be one piece of advice you would offer up to others finding their way in the world of photography? Why, why, why. Oh, that’s more than once, but it’s a big thing to think about. “The world is your oyster” cold, soft and squidgy, nestling in a hard shell. Hey, I don’t write them because if I did I would say “the world is your pearl”. And that doesn’t sound right. But really when you find that pearl it makes it all worthwhile. I think Photography is such a general term it cannot be generalised, as everyone is so different. I ask myself often why I do what I do. I have no real answer. Logically it’s not a good choice for me. Financially it’s a disaster. I could fairly easily walk into a

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well-paid job, yet I still find myself as a photographer. Why I have no idea. I think the answer is in the question. The “world of photography” should really read the “business of photography”. If you wish to make money in photography do a course in business. It’s not how good you are at photography, but how good you are at business. What is your favourite image you have shot recently? Ah, the mountain. Mount Taranaki from Eltham Rd. I’ll find out in a few years how much it has earned me. It’s very strange for me, a very difficult existence. You see the past dozen years have been very painful indeed, personally, like a divorce etc. The process of capturing images of a mountain that I don’t actually gel with, or grew up with for that matter, I only photograph it because my images of it sell. I love photography so much I’ll photograph anything, imagine if I photographed something that I enjoyed that wasn’t a symbol of pain. The income helps me continue with my passion. I recognise this image as a current favourite only for its commercial value, I don’t have a love for it, there is not a place for it in my heart or on my wall. It does fit the category however that it was recently shot. What has been your most memorable assignment and why? When I first started in New Plymouth I was approached to capture some images of a gentleman’s motorcycle. He

had written an article for publication and was seeking images to accompany it. I listened to his request, thought about it and suggested the best course was for me to shoot a roll of 36 and we agreed on a location, date and time. During the shoot, I did a number of very different compositions, landscape and portrait. His Harley Davidson was in pristine condition, full of chrome and very shiny indeed. During the shoot I may have mentioned “front cover” and “centre pages” a couple of times, as I distinctly remember his doubtful response even today. I considered the shoot to be well handled and I was sure I had it in the bag, so to speak. With the film roll finished I felt great and went over to my car to take out the roll of film and change lenses. I remember putting my lens down to change it. As I fitted the other lens to the body, I heard the sound of breaking glass. My heart sank. I hurriedly checked the lens that I had put down, it was safe. To this day, that moment was a long one. I turned to the Harley and was shocked to see it had mysteriously morphed from being pristine and vertical into something horizontal and broken. He was straddled over it trying his hardest to right it. I asked him what happened, almost a Forrest Gump question, He mentioned the stand or something. I know it wasn’t my fault, but I really felt guilty about the event. When the images came back from the processors he

chose which he preferred for his article and I scanned the negatives, tidied the backgrounds on the images and sent them to him. Quite a number of weeks had passed when the phone rang. He told me that all was good. The insurance was paying for the repairs and parts were on their way from the States. He also mentioned that he had a copy of the publication. His bike was on the front cover, not only that, it also adorned the centre pages. I don’t think that he actually believed it was possible. He was over the moon, totally wrapped. I was so glad that I was able to deliver, I knew this wasn’t about me, it was all about him, his pride and joy, that very shiny Harley Davidson. You’ve been a finalist in the Creative and Landscape categories at the Epson/NZIPP Iris Professional Photography Awards a couple of times now…and have had a lot of prints awarded with silvers and golds… can you describe one of your favourite images you’ve entered in to the awards I.e: its creation in regards to location, lighting, composition etc… and what the image means to you? A Thousand Words (My typewriter image.) I surf the internet seeing what images are out there that I relate to, locations etc. I found a few images of old typewriters and thought that a still life kind of style was different enough to what I normally capture. I searched Trade Me and there was an old typewriter for sale locally to me in New Plymouth, so before I realised it, FORREST - GOLD AWARD © Donna-Marie Stark PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

I had purchased it. When I picked it up the seller asked if I was a collector of old typewriters.

I have been recently thinking that more should be done in this area.

My reply was that my intention was to photograph it. His expression said that I was nuts, well maybe, but this article is about images and not mental health.

If not a photographer you would have been?

I left the antique machine a while to let the creativity flow and ideas to collect. The saying that a picture is a thousand words comes to mind, so what does that convert to in mega pixels? What are the words, where would they be, what would they say? Far more questions than answers, so time had to pass to allow the answers to come to me. I had thought of actually using one thousand words on the image – well maybe a no to that idea. The generic paragraph in Latin used in web page design? That also received the N word. I was listening to Frankie goes to Hollywood’s Welcome to the Pleasuredrome album. There is over speak on it based on work by a Russian Poet. This was more in the direction of where I wanted to head. The writing that I was producing wasn’t right, however the NZ Post advertising on TV with Charles Dance in the barbers at the time was also favourable, You Can. That was it, perceive, believe and receive. Setting your mind to something and you can. Toying over a poem for a day or so, based on using photographic terms and the Law of Attraction until it came right. I printed it on a sheet of A3 using an antique type font downloaded in to Photoshop so it looked like it was typed out. This was inserted into the type writer which was photographed outside, with a sheet behind and then clear cut. The back ground was of a church wall, captured when I was in the UK last, for my Mum’s 90th birthday. The image that came together, the final result looked nothing like the images I had seen online that gave the initial concept. The image and poem was totally my creation. Aspects during the creation process that came to mind, were that if I placed the typewriter on its back it would resemble a modern printer, in that how the paper and image appear from it. The spools gave the appearance of eyes, hence a face. Therefore the script is ejected from the mouth, the spoken word, or tongue. It’s funny, that a modern printer makes a chattering sound when it prints, well mine do anyway. I feel this chatter in some strange tongue, could easily be those thousand words that come together to form the image. If it weren’t for the awards I would have never created this. What it achieved in the awards, to me, is totally immaterial. What’s the main way you market Adam Buckle Photography? I guess I don’t really. My work sells from quite a number of outlets and galleries around Taranaki and has done so for over a dozen years now. I have a small web presence that I should spend more time on, as well as very occasional Facebook postings.

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A tough one, yet again. By the time I was nine I wanted the Army, by the early teens I changed my sights to the Air Force. As I have older siblings I was helping out on their cars’ mechanics as a teenager. I probably changed my first engine by the time I was twelve or so. If it were assembled my man I can usually sort it. Since then I have always worked on my own vehicles. This area of my life included an off chassis rebuild of my 1967 Triumph TR4A car, welding in new inner panels to the body as well as chassis repairs. I owned that car for eighteen years and drove it all over the UK and neighbouring countries on the continent. From the age of seventeen I started a long career in the RAF as an armaments technician. This lead me to be stationed around UK and Germany. I was employed on aircraft weapons systems, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, small arms, aircraft guns and ejection seat systems, you know all that stuff which airlines doesn’t require, but gives frontline aircraft, teeth. So I’m in very high demand here then. I emigrated to NZ in the nineties as an aircraft engineer, not that I have done that here. Initially I worked / trained as a marine technician of which I have since worked for several Yamaha / Mercury Marine dealerships on all areas of pleasure craft. I worked a summer the other year in the Taupo area in a dealership. It’s that time of year again, so on trade me jobs there’s plenty of positions available around the country, without looking at marine positions around Australia. Since I started full time photography around 2002, I also have quite a few years under my belt there too. With all that I have done through my life, I can easily fall back on an engineering position somewhere or anywhere for that matter. However my passion is photography and probably always will be. I don’t know if there is anything I would rather do, it will all come down to finances in the end. So to answer the question, I have been, now I feel like a has been who’s starting to look like Mr Bean. What projects are you working on now? Do you have any upcoming, exciting plans that you would like to share with us? I was using a print house to produce my work for a few years, so I could operate anywhere in the world, however the large overheads and low profits unfortunately put a stop to that. So last year I went back to printing and framing stretched canvases again. Something I started over twelve years ago. As an additional range of work I have just invested in a

Â© Adam Buckle

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framing guillotine and under-pinner to see if a different approach to displaying images would generate profit. I was producing framed images when I first started. With the current financial crisis in the region with dairy and oil sectors down, I am also considering a more pro-active approach, with markets or fairs, but I’m not really a front man. This approach was to generate a combination of direct marketing as well as additional sales, as well as probably offering my abilities in Photoshop, canvas printing and framing. However solid plans are, life can throw a curve ball just when you least expect it. My mother passed away as I received the request to do this article, so it is being written around the world. I photographed her when I was in the UK to attend her 90th birthday party two years ago. I submitted an image of her into the Iris awards and was hoping to get it to the AIPP APPA awards as well. Unfortunately finances couldn’t support that intention, oh well. So plans have gone for a bit of a burton, but with camera in hand I now find myself on the east coast of England. Peaceful, open beaches, full of different things to draw my eye and mind during this time. Just me and my camera, looking for images of opportunity. The hardest part of your job?….and the easiest part of your job? I think the hardest part of what I do is producing images that I am truly happy with, I am my own worst critic. I always feel they are not quite good enough or that they could be better. I’m sure that they could be, in time my abilities will be different, or I may lose some of my critical thoughts of what I produce. As for what is easy, I don’t really know. Pressing the

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button on top isn’t too difficult, after getting the camera in the right place first, of course. If you could shoot with another photographer who would it be and why? Where would be your dream destination to shoot? There are many photographers and destinations worldwide. To choose is way too difficult at present. So the short answer is that I’ll blur these two questions together. I think I’d like to be a member of a larger team helping to feed a nation or induce aid to those in need. Not in a paparazzi sense, but using my images to make people aware in a larger campaign way. I’m not quite sure what I am saying. I guess I’m just over pretty pictures for the wall. Perhaps I saw too many Robert Capa images when I was younger. Perhaps I opened too many magazines with the yellow rectangle logo.

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*Terms and conditions apply. Brief submission cut off is 25 November 2016. Winner must submit final personal project by 30 June 2017. See canon.co.nz/personalproject for full terms and conditions.

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WHAT’S IN MY BAG

Jenny Siaosi MNZIPP www.siaosiphotography.com

If you looked up ‘gearhead’ in a dictionary. My face would certainly never appear anywhere near the definition! I keep it simple and I like to travel light. A couple of my favourite quotes of all time: “it’s not what equipment you use, but how you use it” and “it’s not what you photograph, but how you photograph it”. As a self confessed wedding and lifestyle photographer, I prefer to photograph everything on location using natural light wherever possible. I‘ve been through a wide range of equipment and (finally, only took about 10 years) feel like I’ve really nailed the best combination for my current purposes. Here’s what’s in my bag, it’s a short list: Cameras: 2x Canon 6d’s and my back up is the Canon 5d Mark II.

You usually find me running around with these two lenses, and the 6d’s, strapped on with the help of a couple of Jobi straps (though I literally just purchased a Blackrapid dual camera sling strap and will be switching to that). I have two old 50mm f1.8 (nifty fifties). I use these for freelensing mainly, and one in particular has the best lens flare money can buy. I had a sigma 50mm art lens which was super sharp, a beautiful lens, but there was next to no lens flare so I sold it. For weddings, I also hire the 85mm 1.2, there is something about that lens… but it’s slow to focus so generally only use it during the preparations and location/ bridal party photos. Then there’s my baby, the lensbaby it’s an old ‘control freak’, crazy looking thing, which is great as a conversation starter, people don’t see them very often. Flash:

Lenses:

1x Canon Speedlite 580EX. I need a new one, but it does the trick on the rare occasions I have to actually use it.

My go to combo: the Canon 40mm f2.8 pancake lens It’s discreet, light weight. Helps people feel more relaxed in front of the camera, is ridiculously sharp and has a fast AF. Marry that with the L series Canon 135mm f2.0. Another great lens, I can hang back with it, and people don’t realise or forget I’m there, a must for receptions.

I have a tripod which hardly ever sees the light of day, ‘cos I only use it if I need to do long exposures, for fireworks and the like. Oh yeah, and a Canon Remote Switch RS-80N3 (not pictured). Also not pictured is my reflector, it doesn’t actually fit in the bag.

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And that’s all folks.

“ ”

A couple of my favourite quotes of all time: “it’s not what equipment you use, but how you use it” and “it’s not what you photograph, but how you photograph it”. - Jenny Siaosi

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