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GEAR OF THE YEAR
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
N E W Z E ALAND’S LEA D ING PH OTOGRA PHY M AGAZ I N E
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CAPTURING GREAT BARRIER: HOW TO PLAN AN EPIC PHOTO PROJECT CREATE YOUR OWN LENS EFFECTS ON THE CHEAP JOHN MILLER: SHOOTING THE EVENTS THAT SHAPED OUR NATION LEARN THE BIG SECRETS OF SHOOTING INSECTS ISSUE 87
D E C . –J A N . 2019
INCL. GST
$12.99
CONTENTS
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48 72
FEATURES
16 Profile | John Miller 28 Focus | Stephan Romer 38 Assignment | Rod Morris 48 Folio | Guest Stars
HOW TO
56 Find your concept | Chris Morton 64 Creative effects | Esther Bunning 72 Shooting insects | Alan Henderson
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GEAR
80 Gearducated | Moza gimbals 84 Buyers guide | Holiday gift guide 94 Explained | Why full frame?
COMMUNITY
12 Gallery | Your shots 96 Exhibition review | Ngahuia Harrison 98 News| Community news 100 News| Summit 2018 102 Calendar | Upcoming events 104 Last shot | Next issue
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PROFILE | JOHN MILLER
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O N I N TH E S TREE T S For decades, John Miller has been documenting the most important instances of Aotearoa’s population taking to the streets to effect change. The photographer takes us back to one of his earlier protest subjects to tell the stories behind the images WO RD S | Q IANE M ATATA-S IPU
John Miller is a name synonymous with New Zealand social documentary. He has captured this country’s most momentous protests, from land marches and war demonstrations to anti-apartheid events and Māori rights movements. His archives hold more than four decades of Aotearoa history, its people and its landscape. Our interview takes place over a slightly crackling landline phone, the minor reverb mimicking a broadcast interview of the ’60s. We’ve met a few times, and I picture him today sitting at his table, wearing his infamous military-style fitted cap. He already has me engrossed in one of his stories.
Of Ngaitewake-ki-uta, Uri Taniwha, Ngāti Rehia, and Ngāpuhi descent, the 68-year-old paints his black-and-white images with colourful details, vividly recalling names, dates, events, words spoken, and flags flown. “So, are you going to ask me about the exhibition?” he queries, as we get lost in conversation about his first-ever photographs, taken on his father’s “little Kodak camera”, at age 11. One was of a visit to Auckland Zoo, the other a crossing over the Auckland Harbour Bridge. He goes on about his Russian twin-lens Lubitel — “the basic version of a Rolleiflex” — and the Kodak Instamatic with pop-up flash that was bought for £25, the equivalent of his
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II AND PRINCE CHARLES (PRINCE PHILIP AND PRINCESS ANNE OBSCURED BEHIND THEM), 1970 WHARF PICKET WITH US AIRCRAFT CARRIER SAILORS ON REST AND RECUPERATION, JERVOIS QUAY, WELLINGTON, 1970 PROTEST MARCH TO PICKET THE US INFORMATION SERVICE OFFICE IN BRANDON STREET, WELLINGTON, 1970 MULTI-ISSUE PROTEST MARCH TO PARLIAMENT GROUNDS FOR THE OPENING OF PARLIAMENT BY HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II, MARCH 1970 AUGMENTED US FLAG AT PARLIAMENT PROTEST, 1970
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ASSIGNMENT | ROD MORRIS
B ES I D E TH E S E A S I D E Our seashores are teeming with fascinating instances of life, but this aquatic world is one that most of us overlook. With his latest project, veteran nature photographer Rod Morris asks us to look a little more closely
WO RD S | KE L LY LY NC H
MARRAM GRASS (AMMOPHILA ARENARIA), AN INTRODUCED GRASS NATIVE TO EUROPE AND NORTH AFRICA, SMAILLS BEACH, OTAGO PENINSULA
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MUNIDA, OR SQUAT LOBSTER (MUNIDA GREGARIA), A ‘RED TIDE’, JUVENILE MUNIDA OCCASIONALLY WASH ASHORE IN SPECTACULAR NUMBERS IN OTAGO HARBOUR
Rod Morris doesn’t admit to being a natural-history photographer, or even really a photographer. He says he’s “an old-fashioned naturalist”, who uses camera gear to tell a story. However, one glance at his online photo library tells us that he is very modest; his photographs are outstanding. Rod’s collection of stock images began in the early ’70s, while he was working for the New Zealand Wildlife Service. Accessing locations such as New Zealand’s offshore islands, Rod was involved in rescuing wildlife, including black robins, kākāpō, and kiwi. He soon acquired a concentrated photographic collection of New Zealand’s endangered species, and used the photos as an aid in his talks to interested groups. Continuing to tell stories, Rod became a director and producer at TVNZ’s Natural History Unit — now called Natural History New Zealand. Aiming the spotlight at New Zealand’s unique wildlife, he created many wellknown documentary films, a number of them winning both local and international awards.
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HOW TO | CREATIVE EFFECTS
BU DGE T- FRI EN D LY C RE ATIVIT Y Esther Bunning, one of the country’s top creative photographers, shares her tips for experimental photography techniques that won’t break the bank
Getting creative doesn’t always require a host of expensive equipment, and sometimes it’s possible to get beautiful and astonishing results from an eclectic range of tools; things that are easy enough to carry in your camera bag, tuck into a pocket or backpack, and take out on location. I’m a big fan of experimenting and do this for a component of almost every shoot — whether paid or personal work. I particularly love using sunlight to reflect and refract light. There are so many tools you can use with the sun. MINDSET Being open to random things occurring is a prerequisite with this style of shooting. Going with the flow and not necessarily having a set idea of what you hope to achieve is what I recommend. The happy accidents can often prove to be the most interesting.
CAMERA SETTINGS Having a camera that you can use on manual is the key. I’m a fully manual shooter — mostly because of the lenses I tend to use but also the techniques. For example, shooting ‘through’ objects would play havoc with auto focus, but if you switch to manual, you’ll have far more control with the focus and layering. LIGHTING Watching the light is ideal, as it can change very quickly if you’re working with sunlight. Light at either end of the day is the easiest to work with, as it’s less direct and bright. Some form of backlighting, while not the easiest light to work with, often gives the most dramatic results, and you’ll need to consider the light source falling on your creative tools, as well as the light on your subject matter.
SHOOTING THROUGH LEAVES AND BRANCHES IN THE STUDIO
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HOW TO | SHOOTING INSECTS
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ALL TH E S M ALL TH I N GS They make up the majority of life on earth but mostly go unnoticed by us lumbering humans — macro master Alan Henderson reveals the best way to explore the big, tiny world of bugs
Some of us are scared of them, some disgusted, others irritated, and many of us simply ignore them, but invertebrates (including non-insects, such as spiders) play a much larger and more important role in our world than they are generally given credit for. That’s why Australian photographer Alan Henderson has made it his life’s work to raise awareness and appreciation for what he calls ‘minibeasts’ and the work that they do.
“Without these animals, we’d end up grinding to a halt, because they play all these important roles that allow the bigger animals, including us, to do what we do,” he explains.
“Everyone will have some of these animals around where they live; just have a look through the leaves, and you start to enter that world,” says Alan.
Not only are bugs extremely important to the natural world, but they are also endlessly fascinating if you bother to pay attention. That’s why they hold such allure for macro photographers.
The key is to have your camera with you wherever you go. A simple trip to a friend’s house could lead to discovering some amazing invertebrate behaviour in the back garden, ripe for an impromptu macro shoot.
“You get up close and see that detail through the macro lens that you don’t see with the naked eye,” says Alan. “It transports you into another world.”
Of course, it is not unknown for an insect shoot to be less than natural. Bugs will sometimes be moved onto backgrounds and sets to achieve a certain effect. Alan even offers a wrangling service for various film productions. But if you’re going to be moving a minibeast, you have to be careful both for the animal’s safety and for the sake of your shot.
IN THE WILD One of the great things about shooting insects is that you are never very far from a wealth of subjects. Living in the rainforest-based village of Kuranda in Queensland, Australia, Alan is more than spoiled for choice when he wanders his backyard in search of interesting bugs — but that’s to be expected when you run a nature centre like Minibeast Wildlife. But even those of us in less abundantly wild locations have access to plenty of minibeast action.
“When you’ve worked with these animals for 20-odd years, you recognize what is natural and what isn’t,” says the photographer. “I see quite a few shots that just obviously are not — the bugs are clearly out of their element: legs and arms sort of caging under itself, or it’s half-dead.”
PEPPERMINT STICK INSECT, CANON 5D MARK II, 100MM, 1/200S, F/16, ISO 100
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