Nature’s Pic Images Blog

A science background made shooting the BRANZ Annual Review an interesting undertaking.  Meeting and capturing the work of many of our top building and materials scientists dealing with applied real world issues in the building industry was fascinating, and working alongside an experienced and capable team of in house designers, writers and publishers was satisfying.  The final report we crafted has just been released here.

Below are a few example pages and a brief explanation of the design and photographic themes involved… > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

We specialise in large image files for superior mural reproduction quality, especially in close viewing distance murals.  Here are some recent examples clients have shared with us:

Hospital waiting room mural for calming influence. Awhitu Peninsula. Image ID: 53147

Spectacular glass splashback (printed by Thermaseal, Chch). Image ID: 62829

Kitchen splashback. Otago, New Zealand. Image ID: 63425

Laundry glass splashback. Tongariro National Park. Image ID: 37304

We licensed our third photo for tattoo use recently, and our client shared the result, committing the photo to skin forever.

Original file is here, and the other tattoo photos are here.

We do a lot of kitchen splashbacks, because we’re one of the few NZ image providers that specifically shoot massive panorama type files for high quality large images that can handle close viewing distances like kitchens. Here are a few that customers have shared with us -we love see final use images like these shared. Drop us a line if you need a quote, and we can also often help recommend high quality glass printers and installers.

We do a lot of large interior murals due to our very large file creation processes.

This one stood out today, printed on Contra Vision film (perforated window film often seen on buses) and applied to a large boardroom glass wall.

It looks so realistic that we wonder how many people might accidentally try to walk through it?  Original photo, Nelson Lakes National Park track, at: https://www.naturespic.com/newzealand/image.asp?id=25963

Finalist in the Photographer of the Year again with this frame recently taken to illustrate sea level rise.

“While documenting sea-level rise, Rob Suisted attempted to create an image that showed the built environment under attack at the coast. “Hence the focus on the dynamic battle of textures and energy in the foreground,” says Suisted, “while homes sit above as benign observers seeming oblivious to the changes happening.”
Click to go vote for your favourites amongst some outstanding work now

We do a lot of kitchen splashbacks. Posting this one because we love our endemic native Kea, the true alpine expert, and this was a cool use.

Here’s the original photo file that was used to print direct to glass by Thermaseal in Christchurch with an advanced ceramic printer

Nice interview with Emile Donovan, Radio New Zealand, about recent projects, winning NZ photographer of the year, and a few other things we gassed on about.  Audio link here:

Very grateful to be awarded the honour of New Zealand Photographer of the year in the 2019/2020 NZ Geographic Photographer of the Year awards.

Here are most of the images entered.

Receiving award from sponsor Nikon NZ’s Richard Greasley. Photo Richard Robinson

Being interviewed on stage about my photo entries and the work behind the scenes. Photo Richard Robinson

The full display of winners can be seen here. The collection of best photography in NZ for 2019 – a must view: https://www.nzgeo.com/photography/photographer-of-the-year-2019-winners/

I’d like to give a big thank you to all the sponsors, and to New Zealand Geographic for hosting the give event in the photography calendar.

A full 75% of my single entry images have placed in the NZ Geographic Photographer of the Year awards this year – three making it through.

Have a look through the great collection of other finalists this year. Grab a coffee and vote for your favs at: https://www.nzgeo.com/photography/finalists/

Individual images are

Dairy farmland in early morning autumn light. Dairy cows and herd grazing on lush pasture, Sanson, Manawatu District, Manawatu-Wanganui Region, New Zealand (NZ). (c) Rob Suisted. Image ID: 60985GL00

Canterbury plains agricultural mosaic landscape of dairy farming and cropping. Post wheat harvest stubble burn off, a normal management tool for preparing next planting. Aerial view, square format, Methven, Ashburton District, Canterbury Region, New Zealand (NZ) (c) Rob Suisted. Image ID: 58952GL00

Short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) flying at night, with mouth open indicating it’s using echolocation to navigate (lesser short-tailed bat – pekapeka-tou-poto), Pureora Forest, Waitomo District, Waikato Region, New Zealand (NZ). (c) Rob Suisted. Image ID: 60588LB00

We just received photos of another of Rob’s amazing iconic native NZ Falcon (Karearea) photos committed to skin permanently. We’re blown away how this tattoo has come out, and honoured to have Nick Aston consider using it.

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?

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.

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:

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.

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

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!

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

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

Sharing a few recent client photos of installed glass splashbacks in kitchens and bathrooms that we commonly do.

We especially love the NZ kelp seaweed cell structure image used in a shower splashback (bottom left). Click on image for a closer look:

And currently we’re working on a very large 5 metre wide kitchen splash back that we think is a stunning use of graphics. Can’t wait to see final images of the install. A link to the image is here: https://www.naturespic.com/newzealand/image.asp?id=52320
It’s a massive file, over 190 megapixels, being a join of 5 medium format digital camera files, so will easily go the nearly 5 metre span at a close viewing distance (a critical factor with kitchen splashbacks). Click on image above for a closer look.

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….

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:

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/

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

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:

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.

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

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

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:

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

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

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 > > >

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:

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 > > >

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

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

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.

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

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

Thanks 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.

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

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.

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

The Reserve Bank announced new designs for the New Zealand bank notes today.

I’ve been keeping a big secret for months – my photographs appear on all of them.  I’m very proud about it, as you can imagine, to have you carrying my work in your wallets and purses.  Click on the image for a closer look:

New Zealand bank notes redesigned from Rob Suisted photos

UPDATE: News article about the use of my images on the new currency bank notes, and NZ post stamp annual book cover.

Following on from the Major book award by our Molesworth Station Book, I’m very proud to say that Molesworth Station images taken while filming the Book have just won runner up in the NZ Geographic Magazine, NZ Photographer of the Year awards.

For a look at a large selection of Molesworth Station photos, go here. If you’re interested in purchasing any of these images on high quality canvas art prints, then check this out.

I’d like to thank New Zealand Geographic Magazine for running this great award, and to their sponsors for supporting it.