Vision-21 – A Personal View

Text and Photos by Paul Whitham LPSNZ

After being convention chair for the 2019 National Convention in Lower Hutt, I looked forward to Vision 2020. At the 2017 and 2018 events, I had been more focused on planning for 2019. And then, in 2019, I was too busy running the event to truly enjoy what we had on offer.

2020 was going to be a year when I could essentially rock up and enjoy myself. I had even managed to secure spots in all of the workshops that I wanted to get into. It was, therefore, a bitter blow when the convention was cancelled.

After all the disruption brought about by COVID-19 in 2020, there was a lot of uncertainty when approaching Vision-21.

1. Would people want to gather in large numbers?

2. Would there be a reluctance to register early?

3. Would COVID rear its head again?

When Council met with Convention Director Ian Walls FPSNZ in September 2020, the country was just coming out of the August lockdown. I had never seen the airports, or Christchurch city, so deserted.

Between Council and the COC, a plan was hatched should COVID reappear, and planning continued. Obviously, with borders closed, there was no way that international speakers could attend, but there was a cunning plan to get around that issue as well.

As it turned out, when registrations opened in January 2021, there was no hesitancy by members, and the registrations poured in. Maybe I have the luck of the Irish or quick on the trigger, but I again managed to get the workshop options I wanted and, while I was not standing for President, I was determined to enjoy myself thoroughly. COVID was still the deciding factor, and so there was a mild panic two weeks before the start when a notification came up on my newsfeed that an unexpected news conference had been called for 1.00 pm on a Saturday. Oh no, I thought - here we go again.

Fortunately, it was not an announcement of another lockdown, so we flew to Christchurch.

For members of the PSNZ Council, the year’s final meeting is held just before the convention starts. Council members were staying at the Pavilions Hotel on Papanui Road, really handy to the convention venue. It was so close that the walk from the school gate to the hall was longer than the walk to the school.

Council started on Thursday morning with the final Council meeting of the year. This meeting is always a bittersweet event as we say farewell to any Council members that have decided not to carry on. However, this year, it was even more sad than usual as a councillor for events, Colin Kropach, lost his battle with cancer and died earlier in the week. Colin had been the primary liaison between Council and the convention committee and had been really looking forward to attending.

Convention started with the usual pomp and ceremony in the main auditorium. Following the earthquakes, this part of the school had been extensively rebuilt, and it was an excellent venue.

One of the things you learn when organising conventions is that you have to roll with the punches when things go wrong, and the opening night was definitely an example of that. Shortly before the convention, their opening night speaker pulled out. He was replaced by Loren Heaphy from the Christchurch City Council.

She talked about how Christchurch was developing post-earthquake and what the Council was doing to encourage development in the city. While the talk was interesting, I’m not sure how relevant it was to a photographic convention. She kept hinting at these tremendous photographic opportunities in the city but never actually told us where they were.

To be honest, I’ve never gone to a PSNZ convention to listen to the speaker programme. The reality is that we tend to have speakers on genres that, while I can appreciate, I don’t shoot.

It was very much the same with the Christchurch programme. While I enjoyed each of the speakers, apart from the Zoom session with Julieanne Kost, I really can’t say with honesty that I remember what they spoke about. The one thing I do remember was that there was a common theme of finding your passion. There was no doubt that they were all exceptional photographers and artists in their own right.

Julieanne was scheduled as the main speaker for the 2020 convention. When the convention was rescheduled, she couldn’t visit in person. Fortunately, the technology that we’ve become familiar with came to the party, and she was beamed into the main auditorium via Zoom.

In many ways, it gave the impression of her being there. She spoke about personal projects, and the one that resonated with me was what she referred to as Springboard. In this project, she took either a photograph or a piece of art that she admired and then tried to recreate it. Once she had mastered that, she took the techniques learned to spring forward and create a piece of her own. It is certainly something that I plan to do, although I haven’t managed to find the time yet. The main reason I go to conventions is for the workshops and the field trips, and, as I said before, I was fortunate to receive my first options.

The first one on Friday was dog photography with Craig Turner-Bullock. I had met Craig previously at NZIPP events, so I knew something of his personality. When we got to the classroom, his dog greeted each of us. As the participants arrived, we all compared registration numbers on our tags, as this had been one of the most popular sessions. For the record, 36 was the highest number.

After an introduction in the classroom about his approach to photographing animals, we headed outside. Craig’s dog became a willing model, and later we were joined by two greyhounds from the Greyhound Rescue Association and, towards the end, a couple of chihuahuas. Most of what Craig talked about is very similar to the approach needed for photographing children. Get down low and shoot at the animal’s level.

On Saturday morning, some intrepid individuals headed off for a dawn shoot on a day when the dawn never arrived while the rest of us stayed in bed a little bit longer. One of the things I enjoy about conventions is when they put items on the programme that enable you to shoot in otherwise inaccessible locations.

Such was the case with the Industrial Imagery workshop, held in a civil engineering workshop. There was a bit of fun on the way to the location when our bus driver got lost, but fortunately, with GPS on our phones, we were able to help him navigate.

The three guys from Ewing Engineering couldn’t have been more obliging. I think the guy on

...Vision-21–A Personal View

the gas cutter was enjoying producing the maximum possible quantity of sparks. One of the shoot locations was planned to take part inside a large steel pipe at the back of the yard. As it turned out, the heavens opened and, rather than force us out into the rain, they went and picked up the pipe with a forklift and brought it so that the end of the pipe was sitting in the loading bay. The workers’ efforts meant that we stayed dry, and the guy inside the pipe was also not subject to the weather.

Everybody in this workshop appeared to enjoy themselves and managed to get some really good images. Also noteworthy was that with the limited participant numbers, we didn’t have people wandering in front of other shooters (which frequently happens at PSNZ events).

The final workshop I attended was a sports workshop with Kevin Clarke on Sunday morning. This workshop was somewhat shorter than the other two at only two hours and meant that going to a sports field was out of the question. So, the group headed off to Hagley Park to photograph runners.

The sight of a large group of photographers standing there waiting to capture people’s photos was off-putting for the runners. After seeing several runners change direction when they saw us, Kevin went down the path and talked people into helping out. The participants included a large group heading to a game based on their gear. They willingly took part, much to the amusement of their partners waiting on the path.

For many, especially those who have achieved their PSNZ Honours, the highlight for the convention is the CR Kennedy Honours Banquet. This year it had an added attraction of being held in the Transitional Cathedral, more commonly referred to as the cardboard cathedral. It certainly was a unique venue, and the decorations added a certain ambience to a very interesting structure. As a Council member, I was in the privileged position to

have a table at the front. For me, this meant that we could hear the entertainment provided in the form of a barbershop quartet, unlike the people down the back who clearly couldn’t and therefore continued to talk during their entertainment.

It was an enjoyable evening with a nice meal and good company around the table. Towards the end of the evening is the point where the President’s chain is passed on. Traditionally, presidents say a few words after they’re handed the chain.

However, knowing that both 2020 and 2021 Honours were being presented, I figured it would be a longer than usual evening. In addition, I thought that nobody would want to listen to me by the time they got to the transfer of the chain. So instead, I produced the video, which was sent out to all members. As it turned out I was correct, and it was 10.30 pm before the actual handover of the chain occurred. Before we knew it, the convention was over, and people headed away back to their respective parts of the country, some with new skills and some with new gear bought in the trade area which appeared to be busy throughout the convention.

Now, we look forward to the next event – the regional convention at Taupō.