Tiritiri Matangi: A visitor’s illustrated guide

By Martin Sanders LPSNZ

I’ve always admired the volunteers on the many restoration projects around New Zealand. After retirement, I became a guide on the Auckland sanctuary, Tiritiri Matangi, one of the most successful conservation projects in the world. I used my time off to photograph and record the birds and life on the island.

After a few years, it seemed a waste to have so many images sitting on my hard drive, and I decided to put some of them into a book. I spotted a gap in the range of Tiritiri books for a simple, pocket-sized picture book covering the birds and a brief history of the island. I did not realise how long the project would take to reach fruition.

My initial concept ballooned to include photos of birds, vegetation, reptiles, insects, the lighthouse history and some ferry journey photos; also, short descriptions of the walks. A study of Māori was also required, to name and describe many of the illustrations accurately. Starting from cold, I investigated publishing software and publishing houses. I settled on Adobe InDesign as the layout vehicle. Publishing was more difficult, as the firms I contacted required an initial print run larger than I expected (or could afford). I initially used Blurb, the self-publishing app, to make the book. Extra copies became far too expensive so, with more research, I settled on self-publishing through a local printer.

As I’d trained as a newspaper photographer in my youth, I had some idea of layout and presentation. With a focus on telling the story through photos, I had not factored in the time required to research and add the copy, compile the index and proofread the results.

For more details on Martin’s book project visit the Tiritiri online shop by clicking below:

http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/art/tiritiri-matangi-avisitors-illustrated-guide

Nearly two years passed, and we launched the book with a run of 100 copies.

Although it may be ordered through the net, it sells mostly to Tiritiri visitors.

I managed to use nearly 400 of my photos in the 127page book. It was a thoroughly interesting experience and “The more one writes, the more one learns” is a great truth. Funds from sales go to the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi Inc.

I’ve now produced a second edition. No matter how many people proofread the original, eagle eyes soon spotted a couple of errors. Scientists also changed a couple of names and some new species had to be added. We are approaching 1000 sales. I have found Tiritiri to be almost a “one stop shop” for photography. It can provide subjects in flora, fauna, macro, portrait, journalism, night photography and other genres. Tiritiri requires techniques associated with low light and close-up subjects. There is the challenge of moving from strong daylight under a canopy of trees, together with shooting through trees against the light and focussing on the subject and not the surrounding sticks. Birds do not always stay long, so anticipation and the ability to change settings quickly (such as variable ISO) is an advantage.

Extremely long telephoto lenses are not required; a 200-300mm lens is quite satisfactory as the birds are reasonably close. Some visitors with “long toms” have difficulty with their minimum focusing distance of three metres.