Been producing a lot of supergraphic grade photographs for recent massive mural installations at super high quality, for close viewing distances.
We specialise in this work by shooting high aspect ratio panorama files from numerous high resolution files stitched together. A recent one was 26 metres long – an aspect ratio of 1:11 height to width! That’s dealing with the top of the pyramid of images – very few files can go this size. Luckily we have many panoramas in stock that can, often made from 6+ high res files stitched for maximum quality.
Here’s the crazy 26 metre wide install (link to the original photo). Photo file was well north of 1000MB in size:
And a beautiful HUGE boardroom graphic (original image link here):
Another huge supergraphic scale mural install – this one at 13 metres wide. Again very few files can handle this high width to height ratio. You definitely wouldn’t want to take a traditional format file and crop it to this aspect ratio, throwing most of the data away, before having to enlarge to massive size – more top of the pyramid file selection needed here. This one was shot on medium format digital camera with multiple frames stitched. Both of the above were printed and installed by the folks at Frosted Glass by Design. Here’s a link to the original file
And an interesting recent install onto a boardroom sectional door for a maritime based company. You can’t see here, but the whole decor of the wider zone hangs off the mural hues.
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.
My latest assignment for New Zealand Geographic Magazine. An in-depth look at the Predator Free 2050 initiative to rid NZ of introduced predators – being such a huge national initiative this was one of the largest articles the magazine has commissioned recently.
Recently spent some time photographing our rare native Giant Kokopu fish, a secretive seldom seen species, and therefore, unknown to many. Here’s a video that Forest and Bird put together as part of a drive to increase awareness of the species, which shows some of the efforts to try and film them in their natural habitat. Grab a coffee and have a look at:
Have a look at more of our native fish here.
Many thanks to Forest and Bird for giving this species, and their plight, a big push.
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.
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
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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:
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
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.
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
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
First of our 2015 calendar creations have arrived. Here are 13 different titles we’ve done with John Sands New Zealand – part of a 17 year relationship we’ve had creating quality New Zealand calendars together. You’ll find them in most book shops, post offices, supermarkets throughout New Zealand. We never get tired of seeing them together, hot off the press.
Auckland City Hospital’s Motutapu Ward, the new Northern Region Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, is using over 20 of our large murals.
The stunning facility has been co-designed with patients and has a range of unique features which have set a new standard in patient centred care. Former leukaemia patient and fundraising ambassador, Molly Rowlandson, says the new ward has exceeded all her expectations. ADHB press release
More research is showing that quality images of nature are important to our well being, and important in our lives. We enjoyed working with Klein (Architects of Specialised Environments) to get the best images – not only in subject, but in size and proportions to get the best quality reproduction.
There are three aspects for quality large reproductions: 1) Original image size before interpolation – i.e. the more pixels from the camera the better!, 2) reproduction size, how big is your mural going to be, and 3) viewing distance – how far is the view from the print? Viewing distance is often much neglected in consideration. E.g. a phone photo will work for a billboard size reproduction if the viewing distance is 100 metres away, but on a wall at a close viewing distance it will fail badily. If the print is viewed from a few metres then there is no substitute for professional files
We work really hard to provide image files that can go large, with close viewing distances. In fact, we’ve just invested in the new Pentax 645Z camera and full set of lenses, a camera of 51 megapixels per image. Professionally stitched image panoramas will make amongst the best image files for murals available anywhere.
My job was to communicate Bryce’s varied roles in one image. This was a formidable task as CEO of the NZ Fish and Game Council his is a complex and varied role. Primarily, Fish and Game is a statutory organisation concerned with the rights of anglers and hunters, and advocating for improving habitat.
The portrait needed to capture that variety. I wanted to focus on his advocacy for anglers and freshwater quality for all of us, but also how his day can stretch from political halls of the The Beehive, to the bank of a river. Here’s what I got:
The shot was fairly complex, it required a wide angle underwater photo to catch the habitat around Bryce and called for a balanced mix of underwater strobe, above water flash and ambient natural light. I used a slave trigger that fired the topside flash whenever the underwater camera strobe fired – one underwater strobe lighting Bryce’s legs, one flash pointing upward towards the softbox flash, and natural light toned down to give a sombre background to delineate Bryce’s from.
We’ve been working with Kai Hawkins on some interesting projects lately. Firstly we completed the new Blenheim i-SITE visitor centre, and today we got photos of new bus shelters we’ve supplied some luscious large high quality images for great looking murals. Take a look:
Filming the Molesworth Station Book video. A blog post explaining the adventure is here. Have a read, then watch this (Caution: it contains hard work, adventure, some skinny dipping, some excitement, a lost dog that gets found in the end, and a great watch):
“You should come on the May autumn muster to Lake McRae.” said Jim Ward, Manager of Molesworth high country Station.
What an invitation; for those that know Molesworth Station you’ll understand the significance of such an invite! For those that know Lake McRae (see map at bottom), many will regard this as a holy land of sorts. To join in on the annual cattle muster to push 400 cattle over the Inland Kaikoura Ranges to their traditional winter pastures is epic. Not only is it regarded as one of the highest cattle musters in the world (at over 1400m/4700ft), but it’s also one of the most remote seldom visited spots in New Zealand. With three stockmen & horses involved, and small backcountry hut, it’s also a very few lucky folks that have ever participated in this 100 year tradition. More folks have climbed Everest than been here. This is not a commercial trip, but a unique rare opportunity to join the stockmen on part of their annual work programme in the high country.
For the last 18 months I’ve been working on a book about this historic high country station with Harry Broad. Lance McCaskill wrote a seminal book about the first 50 years of Molesworth history. We’re bringing the history of this fascinating iconic high country run up to date. It’s New Zealand’s largest farm at 500,000 acres and sits nestled amongst mountain ranges between Blenheim, Hanmer Springs and Kaikoura.
Back at my office in Wellington, Nina, my Business Manager, was excited. She’d grown up with horses and rode professionally back in Sweden. On weekends she trains riders and horses. You will be fine, I’ll teach you she said.
Learning: my horse riding crash course on Red. Photo & teaching by Nina Tötterman
So started a wonderful bi weekly programme designed to advance me from newbie to competent horse rider in less than a month, but most importantly to toughen up my softer spots. Each Tuesday and Thursday we shut the office at noon, headed for Wainuiomata and climbed on horses. My third lesson as cantering bareback. They pushed me hard to learn on the crash course but I’m very grateful now. Luckily I apparently picked things up fast, learning I think more about animal behaviour and psychology than staying on Red, Ray, or Teddy, the three boys I learnt to ride on. Bruce and Kelly’s property in Wainuiomata had a great variety of steep hills and trails to explore between flat work. Things started to arch and hurt in places you’d normally only see with a mirror; apparently a sign you’re doing it right. Weird that.
Nina, my Bus. Mgr & horse whisperer controlling an over excited high performance F1 hot blooded 'Shaka'
One Sunday night the phone went; it’s Jim. “Can you get down tomorrow? We’re bringing it forward due to weather”. I hurriedly finished my GST tax return, a quick pack and assemblage of equipment and I was on the ferry heading for the South Island.
I arrived late evening, got a bit of gear organised, hit the hay around midnight, to be up a 4.30am for breakfast with Jim & Tracey and the three stockmen that I’d be riding with for the next 3 days, Andy McLachlan, Cory Hollister and Tom O’Sullivan. Nine months before I’d met these guys on their first week on Station as they learnt horse shoeing from visiting farriers so they could look after their horses in the remote out stations through the year (a skill we’d rely on later…
I’ve been photographing a book about Molesworth Station; New Zealand’s largest station at 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres!).
The dramatic changes in landscapes, colours and seasons are imperceptible to our human time scale. I’ve just compared 3 photos taken 5 months apart and watched the richness of colour fade out to a stark reality of a barren winter landscape. Beautiful.
Molesworth Station seasonal contrast. Click to enlarge
That time of year when our calendar publishers unveil there collections. Here are a few dedicated Rob Suisted titles and covers you’ll see in all great stores around New Zealand:
This year would be one of the best looking line ups of retail products we’ve done. Rob is very happy with the quality – they look really good. The New Zealand Panorama title is especially delicious – full of his heartfelt favourite panorama images.