Over-cooking a good thing - the future of nature photography?

October 29th, 2010 § 8 comments - add yours

Recently I helped judge the New Zealand Geographic Magazine Photographer of the Year awards with Andris Apse, Arno Gasteiger & James Frankham. Some interesting things stood out, but one in particular really surprised.

I’d guess 50% of images submitted in the landscape / scenic section had overly heavy use of HDR (high dynamic range) or some other overworked tonal mapping technique. For me it’s becoming the ‘graduated tobacco coloured sunset filter’ of the 80’s; obviously fake, overblown and often used pointlessly. It knocked how I felt about current landscape photography for a number of reasons…

Nature blesses us with remarkable beauty. We should seek to be good enough to do her justice in a photo. Sure, it can be tough dealing with the light she gives us, but we should rise to the challenge and learn how to capture it with strong technique and novel ideas when you’re out in the field, and then maybe touch it up with a light hand back home on the computer. We learnt good field skills before digital was invented.

Now it seems many just bracket shots, run them through an HDR program, wiggle a few sliders and output a terribly… > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

2010 Magazine Cover Awards. We’re a finalist so far

September 20th, 2010 § 3 comments - add yours

UPDATE 29 Oct: WE WON our section! …… We’ve become a finalist in the 2010 Magazine Cover awards! I worked with New Zealand Geographic Magazine to create a special image to showcase our threatened New Zealand Falcon.

New Zealand Geographic Magazine Cover this month

New Zealand Geographic Magazine cover finalist in 2010 awards

I’m very proud of the image and how NZ Geographic treated it. Obviously other people agree and of course, I’d love it to win the title. If you agree it would be great to get your vote here: http://www.themaggies.co.nz/vote-now/ (and there’s a $5 discount incentive on subscriptions). Fingers crossed.
maggies2010

Kiwi with big brains doing good stuff

August 9th, 2010 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Michael Kerrisk contacted us for a cover photo for his new book.  He’s very smart, and he’s a Kiwi doing good stuff in a far off land.  Naturally we thought it great to have iconic kiwi image gracing his book cover and pitched a fresh fern koru image.

Michael loved the idea, in terms of what the koru represented, the clean fresh NZ link, and the obvious fractals pattern association (you’ll need a big brain to understand that apparently).
So here it is - a NZ connection to a new book on Linux Programming.  Judging by the spine, she’s a tome and a half.

Congratulations Michael.  It was a pleasure to help add the finishing touches of the New Zealand connection.

Linux book cover, photo by Rob Suisted

Michael Kerrisk's Linux book. Cover photo by Rob Suisted

Want to see more stock photos of New Zealand fern korus?

A big thank you to some little kids with big ideas

August 3rd, 2010 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

A couple of weeks back I spoke to Evan’s Bay Pre Shool.  Not my normal speaking audience, but it turned out to be a rich experience.  I got more than I bargined for.  The clincher was when Courtney said that “the kids often played at what you do for a job”.  It keeps giving; the kids just delivered me a thank you card. Thanks to you all; I now have it hanging in my office.

Thank you card from Evan's Bay Pre School

Thank you card from Evan's Bay pre school

Have a read about my visit here. It’s got a couple of cute photos and I wrote about why it was such a nice morning.

Rob talking to the kids

Rob talking to the kids
The kids ran their own photo competition and are proud of the results.  Here’s a nice comment.

Kids photo competition

Kids photo competition

NZ Geographic NZ Photographer of the Year judging 2010

August 2nd, 2010 § 2 comments - add yours

I’m judging the NZ Geographic Photographer of the Year Photo Competition, alongside Andris Apse and Arno Gasteiger. 

Entries are open now, there’s $6000 and a bit of fame up for grabs, and entry is free & online.   No excuses not to enter.  Closing date for entries 10pm, Tuesday 21st September, 2010.  Get into it.  Hopefully I’ll be viewing your work soon!  Good luck.

New Zealand calendar season starting already

July 26th, 2010 § 3 comments - add yours

It’s that time already - calendars for 2011 are starting to appear in shops. It seems earlier and earlier each year.

Every year we work with many publishers, designers, companies and printers to create a large range of quality calendars.  Retail calendar have just started hitting shops, and samples are arriving (it seems to get early each year).  Here are a few just in, with one that we particularly like below:

2011 calendars by Rob Suisted, a selection so far

2011 calendars by Rob Suisted, a selection so far

We particularly like the NZ Panorama title.  It was developed with John Sands based on the large collection of quality New Zealand panorama stock photos that Rob has created over the last few years. It’s a large calendar, and with metallic embossing on the front it looks great.
 2011 New Zealand Panorama calendar by Rob Suisted Have a closer look. These should be appearing in stores mid August.  2011 New Zealand Panorama calendar back by Rob Suisted

For your info, we have a massive collection of images perfect for NZ calendar production.  The calendars above are publically available in stores, but we also create numerous specific in house  titles directly with companies, such as banks, insurance companies, supermarkets, consultancies etc.  Please contact us if you have a calendar project in mind; they are a great full year promotional tool.

Into the Wild with Rob Suisted. Wilderness Magazine interview

July 8th, 2010 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

This just in from Wilderness Magazine.  Nice to be recognised by these folks.  Thank you.

Rob Suisted interview with Wilderness Magazine

Rob Suisted interview with Wilderness Magazine, click to read

Had a few covers of Wilderness to date:Wilderness Magazine covers by Rob Suisted

Are you giving something back? It’s the juice of life

June 23rd, 2010 § 5 comments - add yours

“The only way to divine happiness is by helping others” is a saying I heard years ago.

Last week I was asked to talk at a pre-school. My initial thought was that I didn’t have time to prepare and do it, and anyway, being used to speaking to adults, what would 3-4 year olds get out of it? 

Courtney from Evan’s Bay Preschool said, “these kids love playing at what you do for a job - they’d love you to visit”.  I remembered the saying above and reconsidered; and was very pleased I did.

eb01I took along my polar outfit and… > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

South Pole and North Pole. Being bi-polar is a 50 year plan. Inspiration to me

June 1st, 2010 § 1 comment - add yours

I shared dinner with the first man to walk to the South Pole and the North Pole last week!  Robert Swan is a remarkable man in many ways. I want to share a bit about him, his 50 year project and what this meeting meant to me. I can’t believe my luck.

Robert Swan, South Pole

Robert Swan, South Pole

Robert Swan walked to the South Pole in 1986. At 33, he walked to the North Pole (1989). He’s earned a spot in history alongside the heroic explorers of old, becoming the first man to walk to both poles. Incredible. He doesn’t do things by halves, and he’s taken on some Herculean tasks since.

Robert Swan was in Wellington last week and I was invited to a small dinner.  Robert gave a pre-dinner slideshow that set the scene for an inspiring evening, and touched many chords for all of us. 

For me, having been to both polar regions, having some idea of how epic his walks were, and being a student of polar heroic history, it was a big treat sharing his tales, elbow to elbow, at the dinner table.

Robert Swan's final message to us

Robert Swan's final message to us

Robert was inspired by Antarctica and the heroic explorers when he was 11.  He dodged Oxford Uni (much to his father’s chagrin) and in his twenties decided to raise $5,000,000 for an expedition, bought a ship, convinced 25 volunteers to give up 3 years, and set sail to Antarctica, to walk to The Pole.  It took him 5 years to get 1000 sponsors and enough money, before setting sail in 1984 - meeting Capt. Scott’s last surviving expedition member Bill Burton in Lyttelton.  He tracked down original sponsors of Capt Robert Falcon Scott’s 1910-1913 expedition, e.g. Shell Oil supplied petrol to Captain Scott and again supported Robert’s attempt. It’s worth mentioning that Robert had never even been camping at this stage!

The short story is that he walked to the South Pole in 70 days without radios but, upon arrival, discovered that… > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

Circles within circles; serendipity is a good sign in this business

April 21st, 2010 § 5 comments - add yours

This month I gave a speech at the Photographic Society national conference.  I chose to talk about how photography can add to an exceptional life.

Partly I talked about how I’ve learnt that serendipity is a very important index to monitor in life and business.  True to form a nice bit of coincidence appeared while researching my speech.  It’s this that I want to tell you about, and why I’ve found it so vital to have.

Rob Suisted at Photo Soc. National Conf 2010
What is serendipity?  I know it’s fortuitous coincidence, but what is it really? And why do some people have more of it than others? I’m very interested.

My speech was titled: ‘Shooting from the Heart - seeking an exceptional life via photography’.  Of course, photography is my income, but it pays me richly in many better ways;  I’ve been lucky to meet some amazing people, wildlife, visit some special places, and share great experiences so far in my life.  The ‘juice of life’ is what I call it now, and it’s something that should ideally be enjoyed and sought in a pure sense, not driven by necessity or ego.

I’ve found that the more I try to discover this in a pure sense, without selfish interest, the more serendipity or coincidence appears.  It might sound a bit flaky or woolly perhaps, but I can assure you that there is a sensible reason for it, and here in lies what I have learnt so far, and wish to share.

Creative professionals know that creativity comes from an open still mind.  A mind that contains stress or fears becomes closed and creativity suffers.  Same with opportunity, same with serendipity.  I think that we all have similar portions of coincidence in our lives, but an open mind simply sees more of it.  I have the confidence now to use serendipity as a powerful defacto indicator that my mind is more open, and therefore probably more receptive to opportunity and creativity.  Make sense?  Watch out for it and tell me what you think.  Does it happen to you also?  I’m very keen to know more. 

A nice piece of historical serendipity to share

By happy coincidence, while researching my speech, I discovered a little bit more about an ancestor Laura Jane Suisted (1840 - 1903), and an unexpectedly fascinating link between us that spans the globe, and a century, appeared…… > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

Guest Post: Caroline Thomas on working as an Image Researcher in NZ

April 1st, 2010 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Image Researcher!? We’ve worked with Caroline over the years - first crossing paths when she worked for the Guinness World Records when she needed an NZ photo, and now with her living in Wellington we’ve recently worked on the new Zealandia displays. Last week, while sitting enjoying a coffee on the deck here at Nature’s Pic Images we were discussing ‘Image Researching’ with Caroline, and felt the world needed to know of her work & unique profession. So, here’s a guest post from Caroline Thomas, Image Researcher Extraordinaire….

Love it or hate it; think it’s a waste of money or money well spent, the new Visitor Centre at Zealandia cannot be ignored. I spent a couple of hours at the Centre the other day, getting a preview of the exhibition as a result of the small contribution I made, through my job, to its creation.

The job I do could politely be described as ‘niche’; people often look at me nonplussed when I tell them what I do. ‘That’s a job?’, they think and, often, say.

When I first arrived in New Zealand to live, I was uncertain that I would be able to continue to work in the mysterious profession that I had been practising for several years in London. What is this esoteric activity you may ask? I work as a freelance image researcher, sourcing appropriate images for publication in books, newspapers and exhibitions. One of my more memorable contracts was for Guinness World Records where there was always a chance of meeting some extraordinary characters (pictures of the world’s most tattooed man anyone?) (ROB: Whoa, did you introduce him to your Mum Caroline!?). And one of the least memorable? How do you fancy spending all day seeking sufficiently interesting pictures of “nuts and bolts” for an educational textbook.

In the expectation that New Zealand was simply too sparsely populated to sustain a …
> > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

Dominion Post Cover

March 29th, 2010 § 1 comment - add yours

We just got this, this morning, great to see Rob’s image of Meridan Energy’s West Wind wind turbines image on the cover of the Dominion Post.

Have a look at the image below and for more information about Rob’s helicopter shoot also check out Aliscia Young’s guest post as an assistant on the shoot.

Dominion Post cover 29 March 2010 by Rob Suisted … > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

Guest post: Flying high with great beauty and vision with New Zealand’s leading nature photographer

March 25th, 2010 § 5 comments - add yours

Please welcome our guest blogger Aliscia Young, who had a chance to join Rob on a helicopter photo shoot over the Marlborough Sounds.  Aliscia is a very talented New Zealand documentary photographer specialising in nature and fashion photography, and has a BDes Hons 2008 from Massey University.  Rob was interviewed by Aliscia during her study and has watched her work develop.  There was an opportunity for Aliscia to join Rob on a commerical aerial film shoot for Tourism New Zealand.   Here are Aliscia’s thoughts… 

Check out some of her work below. She has exhibited at 5 Stories High Gallery, Wellington and if you’d like to see more of Aliscia’s work or get in touch, please email: lightroom.exhibition@gmail.com. Thanks for the kind words Aliscia!

Aliscia Young Helicopter shoot

The other day Rob invited me to join him to photograph from a helicopter around the top of the South Island. The night before we set out Rob said, “forgot to ask if you’re okay with flying. Doors will be off and it’ll be up and down and all over the place…good fun.” Thank goodness I don’t experience flying sickness, I thought to myself… > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

‘Rob’oCam - The art of spying on birds

March 12th, 2010 § 1 comment - add yours

New Zealand Geographic featured a nice article about Rob’s TankCam, otherwise known as RoboCam (nice touch guys!). If you’re interested in a behind-the-scenes look of the Fairy terns shoot please check out the article here and Rob’s video here.

Let us know what you think, it’s always great to hear your feedback!

New Zealand Geographic RoboCam article

… > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

Have you been KAKAPO’ed yet? Stephen Fry knows what I mean

March 2nd, 2010 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Mark Carwardine and Stephen Fry had the classic ‘encounter’ with a frustrated male Kakapo bird which has since become gold on YouTube. 1.7 million views last count (see video below).

I came across old photos of my own encounter with a friskly Kakapo recently. The famous person around at the time was Don Merton (famous enough), but unfortunately there was no video camera.  Fame and glory were not to be this time, so you’ll have to make do with this image:

Rob Suisted being Kakapo'd by an over enthusiatic 'Trevor' on Maud Island. Photo by Don Merton
Rob Suisted being Kakapo’d by an over enthusiatic ‘Trevor’ on Maud Island. Photo by Don Merton. Kakapo are one of the rarest birds on earth (123 birds), the heaviest parrot, the only nocturnal one, and a Lek breeder.

Remarkable experiences. Conflicting demands. How to make the most of them & life?

I’m lucky in my life, and work, to see and experience some remarkable things.  The trick is not to take this for granted.  It’s easier said than done when the object of the experience usually must be shot with camera.  There are fundamentally opposing demands here and I want to explain a solution I’ve found to this problem….

> > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

Titahi Bay fire last night, impressive but sad spectacle

February 22nd, 2010 § 1 comment - add yours

Came upon this scene last night. Very frightening for home owners evactuated on Gloaming Hill, Titahi Bay. A big loss for conservation too as the fire took out a huge area of regenerating forest in the Conservation area. The fire had the potential to sweep up a final hill into the residential area in the high winds.

Titahi Bay Fire 21 Feb 2010, ©Rob Suisted, www.naturespic.comClick to see the full panorama image detail.  Gloaming Hill far left, yachts moored in Porirua Harbour centre, and lights of Plimmerton far right.  1.5km fire front at one stage.  Teen charged with arson this morning.

UPDATE: Wellington’s DomPost newspaper has just licensed this image to run across a page tomorrow (23 Feb 2010).  Keep an eye out.

Helicopters and cameras behind the scenes in Fiordland, wow

February 8th, 2010 § 11 comments - add yours

I’m doing a lot of commercial helicopter photo work at the moment, mainly for Tourism New Zealand. I want to take you along behind the scenes in Fiordland New Zealand, on a job I just got home from.  Spectacular!  Things don’t go as forecast so it’s an interesting day with some interesting sights and some interesting blokes. You have to watch this:

The day started in a run of perfect weather, but mysteriously a thick layer of fog/cloud filled Fiordland making filming tough for myself (stills photog) and the HD Cineflex video helicopter team to operate. What happens next?

You’ll see a lot of the equipment we use, several helicopters, and… > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

Radio New Zealand National Interview

February 3rd, 2010 § 5 comments - add yours

Radio New Zealand National Rob had a great long interview with Kathryn Ryan on Radio New Zealand National yesterday. Have a listen here to hear Rob speak about his new book, life and some of his great adventures.

audio

Any thoughts? Rob would love to hear your feedback!

Majestic New Zealand Book by Rob Suisted, video preview

February 1st, 2010 § 9 comments - add yours

Just put together a video slide show of Majestic New Zealand book we’d like to share:

***Rob is being interviewed on New Zealand National Radio, 2 Feb 2010 at 10.05am, about this book and his travels. Tune in and listen live, or by archive. > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

Antarctica. Your Fois Gras is OUT. What to do?

January 27th, 2010 § 5 comments - add yours

Now for something completely different….. Antarctica does funny things to people. Executive Chef Lothar Greiner is no exception.

Executive Chef Lothar Greiner on ice

I snapped this shot after a formal portrait session on the sea ice edge near Mawson’s Historic Hut in Antarctica.  An Adelie penguin was running between the both of us and it only took one glance to do the obvious.  With a twinkle in…  > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

What a privilege. Please view this impromtu performance by Terri Crawford and Mere Boynton

January 19th, 2010 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Recently we launched my latest book, Majestic New Zealand, in Conservation House, Wellington, NZ. The Director-General of Conservation, Al Morrison, kindly did the honours and hosted the evening.

Just prior to his speech, Terri Ripeka Crawford and Mere Boynton performed a completely impromtu song and dance performance of ‘Te Kokako’ - a composition by the late Hirini Melbourne, in honour of my book. I want to share this with you.

It was amazing, completely unexpected, very spiritual and moving for people (yes, we saw tears). For me it was a great honour and a moment of complete presence and clarity in the evening which created good memories. Thank you very much to both of you.  I hope my blog readers will enjoy watching the performance, as we did.

‘Te Kokako’ represents the dance and… > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

Coffee is like Photography, I think?

January 8th, 2010 § 4 comments - add yours

I had an ephinany this morning.  I poured my first decent bit of Latte Art.  After months of learning and trying hard, this one just popped out without fanfare or conscious effort.  I’m proud as, and its got me thinking…

Rob's first latte art fern

Rob's first latte art fern

Several things have been drawing coffee and photography together for me over the last few days so I’m going to make a caffeine fueled comparison.

It would be fair to say that coffee has become quite important at Nature’s Pic Images.  Over the last year a brand new Vibiemme Super E-61 group head espresso machine has become a shrine to which morning work schedules often bend around.   Before actually owning a coffee machine of any quality, I enjoyed a good coffee at a fav local cafe (Cafe du Parc), but I had no idea of the skill employed by Georga, Terry, and the team when making a consistently good brew.  There is a lot to know and a lot of variables to deal with.  I now tip my hat to a good barista.

So, why the hedonistic comparision between coffee and photography?

Both are, at the same time, technically intensive, and creatively infused.  It’s an interesting blend and one that I love.  To make the perfect photograph is impossible; to make the perfect brew is impossible.  What do you think? 

I was reading an article (for the life of me I can’t find it now) by a life long barista where he claimed to have only poured about 30 ‘God Shots’ in his career. God shots would be an espresso pour to die for I guess? There was no definition….. > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to you all

December 24th, 2009 § 4 comments - add yours

I’d like to wish you all a very happy festive holiday and the best for the New Year. 

Santa's Post Box in Nuuk, Greenland

It’s been a tough year for some.  Let’s hope 2010 is a great year for all. 

I’d really like thank the people I’ve worked with and for this year.  We’ve done some great things and this year has been a beaut.

I was lucky enough to visit Santa’s homeland this year. I’m standing beside his postbox. Seriously, this is where all letters go that are addressed to Santa in Greenland.

In Greenland, I also managed to visit a spectacularly scenic little town called Uummannaq on the west coast of Greenland, and walked overland to a remote bay where Santa has his summer house, a little sod hut maintained by the locals. Be assured that I put in a good word for you all, and if you’re of the Christmas persuasion, you’ll be blessed with the season’s best.

Kind regards,
Rob Suisted

Shooting New Zealand’s RAREST bird with a TANK

December 15th, 2009 § 12 comments - add yours

TANKCAM (’Rob-o-cam’). Tough assignment to film NZ’s rarest bird - the Fairy Tern for NZ Geographic Magazine.  Less than 40 birds known, they nest in the open and human disturbance may stop breeding.

Solution was to build a remote control ftcam_tvehicle that I could very slowly inch towards the nest over an hour while we monitored the birds’ reaction and leave it set up to capture intimate scenes (very, as you’ll see below!).  So that’s why I built TankCam. We’ve kept the highly successful assignment under wraps until now.  This video tells the story and gives you an idea of three days worth of filming, behind the scenes.  Please view and post your comments - it’s great to get your feedback:

Why not use a large telephoto lens you might ask? … > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

Craft your work around your lifestyle. It’s possible

December 8th, 2009 § 2 comments - add yours

This just out in the Sunday News newspaper. Cath Bennett was interested in what motivates me to craft the lifestyle I have.  It’s makes it all sound pretty glam, but of course there’s a load (a truck load actually) of hardwork invovled, but that’s part of anything we love.
sundaynews_t
I’m really into motivating people to craft lifestyles that they love, so hopefully this article shows it’s possible, regardless of the path you choose. What do you think? Is it possible for most people? Cheers Rob

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