Fieldays 2018 murals

July 17th, 2018 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Fieldays 2018 was on Rob’s agenda this year, and well worth a stop in. It was awesome to see so many of our photographs printed as large murals.

We have a large selection of stock images that work well at massive sizes (shot on medium format digital and professionally stitched into massive files) which are suitable for quality exhibition backdrops, and branding displays.

Rob does commissioned photographs too, and we did a couple of massive murals for Honda Power & Marine this year. Can you spot the celebrity in one of them?

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NZ’s first man of fishing checking out boat’s while Rob checks out a mural we created to sell outboard engines to commercial users

Nope, not Clark Gayford, although Rob let him know he wasn’t stalking him, he happened to be in shot of one of the professionally stitched panorama’s we did for Honda. Kate the Corgi made her debut appearance, a little know fact outside the breeding clubs, Corgi’s are a cattle herding dog breed.

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Kate the Corgi – Rob’s fearsome cattle dog was added to the frame – a great distraction for kids while mum and dad talk gear, at Honda Power and Marine’s Fieldays stand

NIWA’s stand was very eye catching with their clever use of one of our large panorama files:

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NIWA’s simple but beautifully designed stand created with an image we created to fit dimensions. Simply cropping a photo to shape and enlarging just ‘doesn’t cut the mustard’. Here we worked with the designer to create a huge image file to fit ratio specs – thereby minimising cropping and maximising output resolution

 

We had some great feedback from The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), who were very happy with the quality and feel of our images. It was great to work with Adam from Station Creative on the MPI stand this year, he’s very much into quality too, so a successful Fieldays for 2018 across the board.

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Check out feedback we’re recieved from some of our mural clients.

A nice surprise. Serendipity, cash, and Sir Edmund Hillary

April 4th, 2018 § 4 comments - add yours

Was sorting through some of my late father’s (David Suisted) belongings and came across a school project he did on Edmund Hillary, a kid’s school note book full of newspaper clippings, as he followed the climb of Mt Everest in 1953.  I found a hand written note, inside that old school project, to my father from Sir Edmund Hillary – written 29 years later on 29th July 1982, saying: “To David, Aim High! There is little virtue in easy victory. Ed Hillary“.

My dad's school project from 1953, signed 29 years later by Sir Ed Hilliary

My dad’s school project from 1953, signed 29 years later by Sir Ed Hilliary

Then I found another gem – a crisp new $5 note with the image of Sir Ed.  It was signed for me ‘To Robert, Ed Hillary’. Wow, Dad had asked Ed to do this in 1994.  Pretty neat to have this memento from such a figure in history, and someone who has been an influence and hero in my life.  It took a few moments for this to sink in. Then it dawned on me – the Reserve Bank approached me for about 20 photos to be used on the new bank notes back in 2016, and they used one of these (of Aoraki Mt Cook) to face up beside Sir Edmund Hillary.  That mountain, with my name written over the top, has now been replaced by a photo taken by my own hand and eye.  That seems pretty neat.

Clearly Dad had a huge man love for Sir Ed.  He crossed paths with him a few times, especially while Sir Ed was the NZ high commissioner to India, as Dad was involved with foreign aid development work throughout Asia and India.

Looking back now it seems my father really took Sir Ed’s words, written in his childhood project book, to heart as he went on to be a well known and much loved champion of the arts (especially acting) in NZ, where he helped many others aim high and conquer their own ‘Everests’, including some of our best known and loved actors and directors.

I suspect Dad is also pretty chuffed that Sir Ed now looks at my version of our highest peak Aoraki Mt Cook every day in my wallet.

 

NZ Geographic feature done – NZ Land use

February 15th, 2018 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Been a manic but terribly exciting week on the F800GSA around NZ shooting another feature for New Zealand Geographic Magazine on land use in NZ.

Rob Suisted, Nature's Pic Images

I’ve learned a heck of a lot more about our big picture agriculture, appropriate land use, precision farming and adding value to our exports to get out of our traditional ‘commodities from the colonies’ history. Stay tuned for the next issue coming very soon – in fact real soon – I had to ride like the wind from the Manawatu late tonight to make deadline for press!

NZ Photographer of the Year Awards

December 22nd, 2017 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Success in the NZ Geographic Photographer of the Year awards.  I entered a few in the aerial category and managed two finalists.  Last week in Auckland, one of these won the big prize!

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Rob Suisted proudly accepting his trophy from Richard Greasley of DJI / Lacklands, award sponsors. Photo by Richard Robinson

Here’s the image that won the award this year

An early winter sunset cast warm light over the landscape as Rob Suisted travelled past Mt Ruapehu. Suspecting the foothills might reveal interesting textures and forms when seen from above, he pulled over to capture the scene with a drone—a spur of the moment decision aided by familiarity with the landscape.

DJI AERIAL WINNER: ROB SUISTED: An early winter sunset cast warm light over the landscape as Rob Suisted travelled past Mt Ruapehu. Suspecting the foothills might reveal interesting textures and forms when seen from above, he pulled over to capture the scene with a drone—a spur of the moment decision aided by familiarity with the landscape.

If you’re in Auckland, it’s very well worth your time to go visit the beautiful NZ Geographic Photographer of the Year Awards Exhibition, prior to 25 Feb 2018.

Great to see my image HUGE inside Auckland Museum heralding the beautiful back lit exhibition by NZ Geo

Great to see my image HUGE inside Auckland Museum heralding the beautiful back lit exhibition by NZ Geo

Splashbacks – adding nature to our homes

December 8th, 2017 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Sharing a few recent client photos of installed splashbacks in kitchens and bathrooms. Especially love the NZ kelp seaweed cell structure image used in a shower splashback (bottom left). Click on image for a closer look:collage_w

New book out this week

November 30th, 2017 § 1 comment - add yours

Excited to see our latest book project land in bookshops this week – our 17th book so far.

NZ_Rob-Suisted_cover_WWe’re giving one away FREE here if you’re keen ($55.00 value, and we’ll sign it too)?  Check out more detail (or get yourself a copy) at our publisher’s website here.

Foxton’s Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom. And our murals

November 28th, 2017 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

We were commissioned to create large murals for exhibition use at the new Foxton experience, Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom. Given the large size and close viewing distances, we created specialist large files by stitching multiple medium format digital camera files to make truly huge files for stunning reproduction values. Here are some of the images used. Visit https://www.teawahou.com/Home. We worked with Workshop e, and they have photo credit for these images….

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Office Murals – therapeutic workplaces

October 30th, 2017 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

We do a lot of office murals. Research shows* that people looking at images of nature, get almost the same therapeutic benefit as people actually being in nature. It’s no surprise we supply a lot of murals to the health sector, but some smart clients are catching on in the work place too.  A few examples below:

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You should consider using us for large murals as we’ve always invested in making the largest image and panorama files possible. Many of our files are over 1Gb in size, and panorama files are made from multiple files professionally stitched together (other sources often derive from heavily cropping and then enlarging – a crazy bad double down image deterioration).

We work with some of the best in the industry to create and output the best possible murals. We pride ourselves on the quality of the final product, and will work with you to navigate dimensions, ratios, cropping, dpi, colour matching etc, normally at no extra cost, to get the best outcomes.  Drop us a line sometime.

Update: just seen a new install of very large murals into the Greater Wellington Regional Council offices.  Kerri worked closely to get the right images to represent the region, but importantly, massive high quality files that would reproduce in a quality way at close viewing distances.  The Wellington-Tararua Range image is stunning in detail – the benefit of multiple medium format digital SLR frames professionally joined. Have a look:

Our work covers health murals, decor murals, trade murals, office murals and brand murals.

* = Research shows: https://www.sciencealert.com/just-looking-at-photos-of-nature-could-be-enough-to-lower-your-work-stress-levels  & https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4690962/

The day I nearly killed Winston Peters by accident

October 24th, 2017 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Back in 1999, as a young keen photog working on my first book, I wrote to Doug Kidd (Speaker of the House of Representatives) seeking permission to photograph MP’s sitting.

I had to don suit and tie to drag camera equipment and tripods into the Speaker’s Gallery.  Some Minister’s of Parliament played up to the obvious arrival of a photographer.  I also carried a heavy bag of medium format Bronica equipment, on which this photo was taken. BUT, then an event that still haunts me today happened…..

The Day I nearly accidentally sconed Winston Peters. The year was 1999.

The Day I nearly accidentally sconed Winston Peters. The year was 1999.

As I finished and turned to leave, I shouldered my heavy medium format camera bag.  The shoulder strap ripped off and the bag landed heavily on the handrail, teetering, before falling forwards to my feet.  It could’ve gone the other way, and fallen 20 feet onto Winston Peters.  It would have sconed him and probably made a thorough job of it.  My blood ran cold as I headed off.

I sometimes wonder how things could’ve been different today.  OSH hadn’t taken root then, so accidents were still happening in NZ; some could have even seen this as a good accident.  One thing for sure would’ve been the publicity my book could’ve got – ‘the book that floored Winston’.

Exhibition: “Aotearoa New Zealand – The Story of New Zealand’s National Parks”, Beijing China

October 24th, 2017 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

A huge project has taken much of our time lately. This remarkable exhibition about NZ’s National Parks has opened in Beijing, China, carefully created by Landscope DesignLab at Lincoln University and driven by Dr Mick Abbott

The Story of New Zealand's National Parks, China Exhibition

Over 60 of our images were used in the exhibition, and many of them produced in large mural dimensions.

We work hard to create massive image files for large murals like this, from medium format digital cameras, often professionally stitched to make very large image files that are far superior to normal files.  It’s a terrific honour to have those efforts recognised like this:

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Shots from the opening are below (btw, that’s a photo of me by the tent, freezing bits off to get the dawn):

Check out feedback we’re recieved from some of our mural clients.

PHOTO CREDIT: The Museum of Chinese Gardens and Landscape Architecture.

Tough breaks – my Great Great Grandfather’s interesting story – Geo Suisted

September 12th, 2017 § 1 comment - add yours

Having a bad day?

Consider my Great Great Great Grandfather’s interesting story. I recently found this small church publication about the circumstances to him finding God.  It’s one heck of an early life:

George Suisted (b. 1855) was the 14th child of Charles Eberhard Suisted (originally Karl Eberhard Sjöstedt – Swedish Sea Captain b.12 may 1810), who arrived in Wellington in 1842.

Charles Suisted (approx 1840)

Charles Suisted (approx 1840)

Charles owned Barrett’s Hotel before sailing south with Johnny Jones (Otago Whaler) to North Otago. Charles established Goodwood Estate in 1848, farming 200,000 acres from Goodwood (just north of Waikouaiti) to Oamaru.

Charles Suisted’s 6th child James, said the final decision to leave Wellington in 1848 and sail south was made, ‘…because of the earthquakes…I have heard my father say, that during those earthquakes the ground was almost in continuous motion for 35 days.’  The 1848 Awatere fault earthquake, m7.4.

Charles built a large barn at Goodwood, prior to building his homestead, and those stables still stand on private land today. They’re the second oldest farm building in New Zealand and this article covers more of Charles Suisted’s story. Images here.

 

 

Furthest South by ship – EVER

February 9th, 2017 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Just returned from an amazing southern journey to the Ross Sea, Antarctica. This year had a twist though; we broke the furthest south a vessel has ever navigated on earth.

Futhest South by ship ever - MV The World, Bay of Whales, Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Furthest South by ship ever – MV The World, Bay of Whales, Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. 78°43•997´S, 28 Jan 2017. ©Rob Suisted /EYOS Expeditions / MV The World.

Capt Dag H. Saevik, Master of MV The World, concentrating on furthest south record

Capt Dag H. Saevik, Master of MV The World, and Rob McCallum, concentrating on furthest south record.

Rob Suisted did an interview with Radio New Zealand, via satellite from the Ross Sea. The full interview:

Other noteworthy experiences included seeing Ross Seals (the least seen seal on the planet, and the first seen by Rob in 18 trips south), and an abundance of Emperor Penguins on the pack ice this year.

Rob Suisted was assistant expedition leader onboard MV The World, the world’s largest private yacht, working with expedition leader Rob McCallum of EYOS Expeditions (who specialise in creating cutting edge expeditions around the world).  You can see a few of Rob’s tweets relating to the voyage here.  Or, have a look at Rob Suisted’s extensive Antarctica photo library.

Rob Suisted on ice. A smoko break from driving zodiacs amongst pack ice, Ross Sea, Antarctica

Smoko time. Rob Suisted enjoying a break from driving zodiacs amongst pack ice, Ross Sea, Antarctica

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Country Calendar Book – a 50th Anniversary project finished

December 16th, 2016 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

NZ’s Country Calendar TV show is the 2nd oldest TV programme in the world after Coro Street.

It was an honour to be commissioned to photograph the official 50th anniversary book to commemorate the milestone for TVNZ. It’s been a full on 6 month photographic journey, twice around NZ, poking my nose into so many interesting stories, and meeting lots of passionate interesting people around NZ. Country CalendarBook Rob Suisted

Firstly, if you haven’t got a copy of this iconic book, get yourself along to my publisher and order a copy – you won’t be disappointed. I’m very proud of the quality of the photos created to tell each of 15 stories, and Matt Philp’s writing style is brilliant at capturing the tales.  Here are a few favourites from the many images

The job wasn’t easy – turning up to live with complete strangers 24/7 for up to a week, while seeking their confidence to document their stories and poke a camera into their lives. It was stressful for them and me, but without exception everyone was incredibly hospitable and obliging which allowed me to tease out their stories and capture it within 8-10 frames.

Each image had to earn it’s spot, and often illustrate at least 2 concepts. Such as the photo below, it needed to be a portrait, talk of wetland restoration and Stu’s Kaitiaki role and his love of whitebaiting. It took some doing: Stu Muir runs a dairy farm, but is passionate about wetland restoration in the Waikato River Delta.  This is what I came up with:Stu Muir, wetland restoration. Photo by Rob SuistedAnd here’s how it was done – 2 days of planning/executing, screening water flow, and a lot of time coaxing shy whitebait within 50mm of my wide angle lens (the little guys take fright at their reflections and the tiniest vibration), while trying to hold a punt in the current (with 10mm free board), and keep the good natured Stu Muir from getting too bored. It was a success and a frame I’m proud of.Rob Suisted filming whitebait for Country Calendar Book

 

In my sights – a controversial portrait

October 29th, 2016 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Jamie Steer questions the status quo around introduced species to New Zealand. Its fair to say his views are controversial, but he’s willingly made a target of himself.  I was commissioned to shoot his portrait.Janie Steer portrait, by Rob Suisted 55485QF00_w

Playing around with the idea of hunting introduced species, and how Jamie is happy to be a target for debate, this is the work I did to make a very strong literal ‘story portrait’ to illustrate the interview for NZ Geographic Magazine:
And here are a few of the options supplied for the editor to consider:Janie Steer portrait, by Rob Suisted

Large murals – Quality NZ Natural Imagery for the relaxation effect

September 13th, 2016 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Research shows* natural images, especially nature landscapes, reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure and increase feelings of well being in people.

Our need to connect with nature is inherent in us (Rob gave a talk about this recently at the Environmental Defence Society’s annual summit – video linked below).

Our health industry clients recognise this, and we’ve worked with them to bring NZ nature scenes to people who need the benefit of nature in their facilities.

The Auckland DHB have just used around 30 of our natural landscape images to produce super graphics for wards and treatment rooms, the feedback has been great:

New Auckland Hospital murals, by Rob Suisted

New Auckland Hospital murals, by Rob Suisted

The Waikato DHB have also recognised the healing value of nature photography, and several of Rob’s images are now in use in their radiation treatment rooms, link below

Waikato Hospital murals by Rob Suisted

Waikato Hospital murals by Rob Suisted

We specialise in professionally stitched panoramas for large graphic reproduction, which maintain integrity and quality when reproduced as large murals. We invest in quality equipment that provides better quality files than you’ll get from most places, for large reproductions. Drop us a line if you’re planning a stunning big mural. See some more of our murals here.

You can take that from us, or take it from the Waikato DHB newsroom…..

“On the wall in front of you is a huge photo of a New Zealand forest, with majestic tall-trunked trees so real you feel your mind can go for a walk among them. The feature wall photographs are a beautiful forest scene by Rob Suisted, award winning New Zealand photographer”.

And here’s Rob’s opening address to the EDS Wild Places conference, talking about wilderness, the importance to the human condition, and some great NZ images. Grab a coffee and take a look:

Rob Suisted, Photographer from Environmental Defence Society on Vimeo.

* = Research shows: https://www.sciencealert.com/just-looking-at-photos-of-nature-could-be-enough-to-lower-your-work-stress-levels  & https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4690962/

Addendum: Here’s a new hospital mural by Rob Suisted, installed in an operating theatre at Churchill Hospital – an image of Fitzroy Bay on medium format digital. We think it looks stunning:

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Check out feedback we’re recieved from some of our mural clients.

National Radio Interview – Rob Suisted & NZ bank notes

July 8th, 2016 § 4 comments - add yours

Had an enjoyable interview last night with Brian Crump on Radio New Zealand. He was keen to talk about my photographs on the new New Zealand bank notes (shown below).  Listen to the interview here. We’ve had lots of nice feedback about it, thanks.

NZ bank notes, showing some of the photos by Rob Suisted

NZ bank notes, showing some of the photos by Rob Suisted

Click to listen to Rob Suisted's Radio New Zealand interview

Click to listen to Rob Suisted’s Radio New Zealand interview

There were some photos we talked about during the interview shown below… > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

I shot Gareth Morgan for you

June 15th, 2016 § 3 comments - add yours

Plenty of folks would get in line to shoot Gareth Morgan I’m sure, but it’s not that easy – I can attest.

Gareth Morgan is a man of many interests, passions and opinions, whose strong desire to get good things done can certainly polarise - take his cat control views (which have gone global) for instance.

Gareth Morgan and 'Plan B' - face mask and snorkel. There is no Plan B with climate change. On melting ice, Antarctica. ©Rob Suisted, for NZ Geographic

Gareth Morgan and ‘Plan B’ – face mask and snorkel. There is no Plan B with climate change. On melting ice, Antarctica. ©Rob Suisted, for NZ Geographic

So I was certainly keen when NZ Geographic Magazine commissioned me shoot Gareth for a portrait profile piece.  Serendipity intervened again, as I discovered that we were to be on the same ship in Antarctica the following month.

Gareth Morgan is a strong climate change campaigner and author of a book on the subject, so a bit of creative dreaming arrived at a strong metaphorical image to capture the man’s character and one of his important messages.

This was my 17th trip to Antarctica. I drive boats and lecture, as a break from professional photography.  So, we took a boat on Xmas day, out into flat water behind Plenneau Island, borrowed a face mask and snorkel, and dropped Gareth off on the best piece of ice we could find to represent the melting ice of climate change.  The casual holding of the face mask and snorkel in normal business attire was designed to represent the foolish notion that many people carry, vis, that we have a ‘plan B’ somewhere for climate change. Plan B isn’t an option – just as a facemask isn’t here.

I’m proud of the result – strong metaphorical frame that captures Gareth Morgan in a striking way – no trickery, no post production work – simple.  BUT check out the pile of comments on Gareth Morgan’s facebook page.  It’s galling when some people, from the comfort of their home, suggest a great photo must be ‘photo-shopped’.  *Cough* – THAT photo is the combination of skills learnt over a long time as a professional photographer, planning, a good creative process, and qualifications and experience operating boats on over 20 polar expeditions! Everyone is a cynic, a critic, or blimin both…

Rob Suisted polar guiding and boat driving

Rob Suisted polar guiding and boat driving

Anyway, here’s the NZ Geographic Magazine article the image was used in: Out in the Cold.  And Gareth was a bloody good sort, keenly signing up to the idea, and willingly being marooned on a small ice floe while we (I and his family) drifted off without him, in the frozen middle of nowhere. Shot with a Pentax 645Z and DFA25mm lens.

NZ National Fieldays – the Big Pictures

May 27th, 2016 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

NZ National Fieldays is the largest annual farming and agricultural trade show in New Zealand, and maybe the Southern Hemisphere.

Every year at Mystery Creek, Waikato, hosts over 1000 exhibitors and around 120,000 pairs of boots over a 4 day event (and presumably, the occasional dedicated pair of heels).

It has a rich history and tradition for over 45 years now (http://www.fieldays.co.nz/factandhistory ), and prizes are awarded to the best exhibitions.  We have a strong connection supplying large high quality image files to exhibitors.

Word is getting around that we have a great selection of rural photography, especially since the release of Rob’s 17th book ,the official 50th Anniversary of Country Calendar and the award winning Molesworth Station book, and that we carry a huge collection of panorama files for murals.

Westpac Bank lined their marquee with 3 massive panoramas that were stitched together beautifully, totaling 41 metres of murals:

Fieldays 41m mural by Rob Suisted

We worked with some notable stands in 2016, including a 25m x 2.4 metre single image for Husqvarna (a 6Gb image file!)… > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

The most beautiful Kauri tree in the land

November 25th, 2015 § 5 comments - add yours

NZ Post commissioned me to shoot the covers of the NZ Stamp Collection (an annual book containing all the year’s new postage stamps) again this year.  The theme is ‘Take a Closer Look’, and follows on from the previous 3 covers we’ve done together. This year Kauri Trees were our focus.

The most beautiful Kauri Tree (Agathis australis) in NZ

The most beautiful Kauri Tree (Agathis australis) in NZ

I was fortunate that last year I was taken to a very beautiful Kauri Tree, by a remarkable man called Kevin Prime.  I was commissioned to shot his portrait for a book project, and wanted to photograph this humble man against the might of the majestic Kauri.  Kevin knew just the tree and he introduced me to it.  A minute after we arrived, in the peace of the calm forest, a quiet whirling sound started up, and got louder.  What was it? Suddenly the tree’s seeds started landing on my head and shoulders.  It’s had cast it’s seeds out onto us.  The hair stood up on my arm as Kevin said how auspicious this was.

So when NZ Post wanted a kauri for their annual stamp collection book, I knew exactly which tree I wanted to showcase to the nation.  Never before have I seen such a distinctive bark pattern on a Kauri Tree.  The hammered texture of this one is very striking, and almost appears as an embossed surface on the book box set.

NZ Post's The NZ Collection, annual stamp book covers by Rob Suisted

NZ Post's The NZ Collection, annual stamp book covers by Rob Suisted

If you’d like to see more of this beautful tree, or get a closer look at the distinctive bark patterning, have a look at our Kauri Tree photo collection.

Imacon Scanner and Firewire card hassles with Windows 10 upgrade: solved

August 29th, 2015 § 2 comments - add yours

Imacon Scanners, Firewire PCI card and Windows 10 upgrade – what a hassle!

Just built a fast PC tailored for Lightroom and photoshop work, loaded with good things like Samsung 950 and Intel NVMe drives.  BUT, came to install a firewire card to run my Imacon Scanner and Flexcolor software – and it won’t work.

After hours of searching for solutions and switching cards, I discovered the solution to getting Imacon scanners (343, 646, 848 etc)  to work with Windows 10 (Win 10):

1) Install your PCI firewire 1394 card. Some suggest that some have had better luck with Texas Instruments chipset, but my old vanilla flavour card did fine…. > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

Portrait of an environmental guardian

July 29th, 2015 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

I’ve twice been commissioned to shoot Dr Jan Wright’s portrait while she was the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.  I like making strong ‘story portraits’ – images that capture the essence, work, passion, or message of the subject.  Dr Jan Wright was a perfect subject for this style.

Here’s the ‘official portrait of Dr Wright while in office. I wanted to put Dr Wright into nature, not just make it her back drop.  The colours are very pleasing to my eye:Dr Jan Wright portrait by Rob Suisted 52859QF00_w
New Zealand Geographic commissioned me to record her portrait for the magazine. Here’s Dr Wright in her natural environment, with a carefully placed nod to the halls of government power, to signify the relationship and influence of her role. Here’s the link to the article.Dr Jan Wright portrait, by Rob Suisted 49002QF00_w

Tui Black photo success

July 9th, 2015 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Congratulations to George Bettle and his family; their house was a finalist in Home Magazine’s Home of the Year competition.  Clearly a lot of remarkably good design went into it, and we’re chuffed that they selected one our images (Tui Black) to grace the main living space.

Tui Black in Home of the Year finalist, 2015. Photo courtesy of Simon Devitt & Home Magazine

Tui Black in Home of the Year finalist, 2015. Photo courtesy of Simon Devitt & Home Magazine

The photo was is a result of harsh side light and dark forest behind, and a bit of luck.  It’s a stunning frame and has created a lot of interested, so clearly George Bettle is a trendsetter, finding it first.

Tui Black ©Rob Suisted - www.naturespic.com

Tui Black ©Rob Suisted – www.naturespic.com

Thankshome-magazine-cover200 to George Bettle, Simon Devitt and Home Magazine for the opportunity to showcase some of the large mural work we do.  Due to the interest, we’ve now made it available as a high quality artwork that can be ordered here: http://www.robsuistedoncanvas.co.nz/new_zealand/canvas_print.asp?id=7441. Check out feedback we’re recieved from some of our mural clients.

Pentax 645z – 9 months of 51MP big pixel goodness in NZ

June 18th, 2015 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

About nine months back in invested in a Ricoh Pentax 645z camera body, and purchased nearly every medium format lens available (from super wide 25mm (approx 19mm in 35mm equiv.) to 400mm tele) for this wonderful new camera. I thought it was time to talk about the joy I’m getting from the amazing output quality I’m seeing.

Pentax 645z used by Rob Suisted for last 9 months

I used to shoot medium format film cameras up to 6 x 9 colour transparencies.  Shooting 35mm full frame digital is great, but when Ricoh Pentax brought out this camera I felt it was time to jump up.  Sure, Canon has recently unveiled 50MP 35mm camera bodies, but to be honest, they won’t come close to the performance of this.  The file sizes might be comparable, but the pixel size with the Canon is so small now, that the quality of output will be miserable in comparison.  Check out the photo below for a large copy (which is 1/10th the size of the original by the way) – click on it and make sure you’re viewing at 100%.  As you see, there’s no shadow detail.  Infact, I’m finding I can shoot the Pentax 645z at 3200 ISO and the files are better than the best Canon 400 ISO files I’ve seen.  It’s just luscious to shoot with and I still marvel at the results every day.

Incredible image quality - click for full screen view - make sure you have 100% viewing

Incredible image quality – click for full screen view – make sure you have 100% viewing

It’s been a big investment in equipment, but as we specialise in very large reproductions (especially doing a lot of giant murals for clients) and have always aimed for the best quality output.  It’s why we also maintain a top of the line Hasselblad Imacon Scanner for sucking the best out of our back collection of quality transparencies.  The feedbck we’ve had from clients is very rewarding.

Pentax 645z in action. Rob Suisted, Kaimanawa Forest Park

Pentax 645z in action. Rob Suisted, Kaimanawa Forest Park

Canon Media Award success! Best Portrait 2015

June 3rd, 2015 § 1 comment - add yours

Travelled to Auckland for a great evening with New Zealand’s finest news media folk, at the 2015 Canon Media Awards, held at Sky City.  I entered the best photographic portrait category,…and won.

Happy photographer! Best published portrait in media - 2015

Happy photographer! Best published portrait in media - 2015

Entry to awards is limited to published work in newspapers or magazines, and there was stiff competition amongst working professional photographers.  The image (below) that won was commissioned and published by New Zealand Geographic Magazine.  The back story to it’s creation has been written up.  Thanks to Canon New Zealand for sponsoring this huge event.

Bryce Johnson portrait, NZ Fish and Game Council CEO

Best Portrait winner - 2015 Canon Media Awards: Bryce Johnson portrait, NZ Fish and Game Council CEO. By Rob Suisted, for New Zealand Geographic Magazine

Snail Back Story to todays News Story

December 4th, 2014 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Today’s news carried an article on my photography work on the NZ Stamp annual, NZ postage stamps, and the NZ bank notes just annouced. Full story here.

Wellington photographer Rob Suisted, whose work features on stamps and on the newly designed New Zealand banknotes.

Wellington photographer Rob Suisted, whose work features on stamps and on the newly designed New Zealand banknotes.

The article by Dave Crampton mentioned I’ve done previous NZ Post annual stamp book covers, so here’s some of the back story to those covers.

NZ Post annual stamp book covers by Rob Suisted, urging us to take a closer look at our native fauna

NZ Post annual stamp book covers by Rob Suisted, urging us to take a closer look at our native fauna

I’ve worked with Nicky Dyer of Strategy Design in Wellington on these for several years now.  The 2012 cover used one of my favourite images, and the last couple of covers have been very interesting.  2013 cover involved filming rare NZ native geckos on a black background which involved an afternoon wrangling this cute little joker.  2014 proved to be much tougher.

Nicky called me and said they’d like to do a stunning cover focussing on our rare and little known giant carnivorous land snails, Powelliphanta.  Jeepers I thought, it’s winter and they’re not going to be very mobile in the cold.  Always up for a challenge I accepted.

The job involved setting up a makeshift macro studio in the back of my jeep, talking to snail experts, before heading across on the interisland ferry for a few days.  Of course that night turned very cold, meaning that snails would not be active.  Luckily I’d managed to get out at dusk and spend a few hours searching for snails.  It took about an hour to find my first, and several others shortly after.  I was fortunate as overnight a good dusting of snow meant searching become impossible.

Freezing cold, rare snail hunting

Freezing cold, rare snail hunting

These unique snails require warmth to be active, and luckily with the sunny day, and black surfaces, it was enough to coax one out of it’s shell despite the cold air temperature.  It did take about 4 hours though (mostly moving on the spot to warm my feet), and I got some stunning and unique portraits to do these giants proper justice.  The textures, colours and form are beautiful and I enjoy looking at them.

New Zealand Hochstetter's giant landsnail (Powelliphanta hochstetteri). Threatened NZ native terrestrial mollusc

New Zealand Hochstetter’s giant landsnail (Powelliphanta hochstetteri). Threatened NZ native terrestrial mollusc

Have a look at more photos of these rare carnivorous giant landsnails (Powelliphanta sp.).  For a closer look at the new New Zealand bank notes, check this out.

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