Nature’s Pic Images Blog

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.

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, 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.

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

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 > > >

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

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.

Interviewed by the Hutt News:

How do you sum up Antarctica with one photo?  Tough?  Impossible?

I’ve done over 15 expeditions to the Ross Sea, Adelie Coast and Antarctic Peninsula, but took my first photo last week that nearly captures the essence of Antarctica for me.  Here it is:

Crabeater seals in Antarctic iceberg graveyard. Booth Island

I had about 30 minutes to myself amongst an area of stranded icebergs.  The sky was heavy with no wind.  Magic starts to happen. I had to find it.  Slowly I weaved my zodiac boat amongst … > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

“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.

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

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 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 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 > > >

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

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 > > >

We hope you all enjoyed a well deserved break over the Easter holidays.    Autumn in New Zealand is such a beautiful time, especially in the South with the leaves turning golden, and first snow on the mountains. Rob took this photo of Mount Cook/Aoraki by Lake Pukaki last year.  Awesome!!!

Aoraki/Mount Cook

Don’t forget you can request a quote or order images via the website or by email to photos@naturespic.com at any time, and we will make sure this is followed up as soon as possible. > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

camping

As you can see we have joined the world of blogging, and we hope you will enjoy reading our posts.  Not only will be be showcasing some of our favorite images, we will share with you some exceptional examples of how Rob’s images are used by clients.

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

Had a top season in Antarctica this year, visiting the Peninsula side from Argentina for the first time instead of the Ross Sea. As usual I saw some great spectacles, so as I process shots from the many taken I’ll upload a few here with a short story. This one is the tale of the poor Gentoo Penguin chick whose parent wasn’t the sharpest penguin parent. A Skua collected and killed it, before a great skua fight with terrific flight skills. The camera just happened to be handy…. Read on to see the rest….

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