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!

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:

IMG_0320_w

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.

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:

Churchill-HA-Jun18-009_w

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

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

Commissioned photography, Rob Suisted, Wellington, New Zealand

February 28th, 2011 § 3 comments - add yours

Commissioned commercial photography is something I really enjoy.  It’s time to make a dedicated website for the commissioned side of my photography business.  I’ve been privileged to work with some top clients, on some truly challenging and great jobs around New Zealand over the years.  This new website showcases some of that work and touts for more.

Rob Suisted commercial photography, Wellington, New Zealand

Rob Suisted commercial photography, Wellington, New Zealand. Click the image for a visit.

I’ve worked across an immensely diverse suite of photographic projects: from remote aerial filmingAntarctica & the Arctic, editorial photographic work for magazines and books, portraits (corporate or candid), travel photography, working with animals and children, and even filmed emotions. 

Experience has taught that the only constant in photography is uncertainty (every job is unique and different)  and that drawing from a diverse range of experience and ‘tricks of the trade’ while adding in fresh ideas is the key to figuring out and excelling at the next photographic challenge.  I love it and will be doing more alongside my Nature’s Pic Images business.

I’d love to get your feedback on version 1.0, or hear any bright ideas you have to make it better.  Thanks.

A new Weta species for NZ? Going back to find today…video added*

October 25th, 2009 § 0 comments, Add the 1st

Two weeks ago I was on Mana Island (a special Island sanctuary for rare NZ creatures) on a wildlife photo shoot for New Zealand Geographic Magazine (here’s a small sneak preview)  for their 100th issue (congratulations to James and the team!) and while out filming past midnight I spotted a very unusual weta species.Weta Discovery Mana Island, Rob Suisted

I got some good photos, realised it was different and contacted the weta experts.  No one has seen anything like this.  There’s a chance it’s a juvenile Cook Strait Giant Weta with odd markings, but then there’s also a chance it’s a whole new species.  Very exciting…colouration and some body features are very different.

So today I’m heading back to Mana Island for the night with 4 weta experts. We want to see if we can catch the insect again so they can determine how significant the find is!  Back Monday evening.

Update 26 Oct 2009: Well, we found the spot I originally spotted the unknown weta (shown above), but strong winds conspired to make the search tough. We’ve marked and will be monitoring it for future developments.

We did have a top night though, finding a couple of Gold-striped Geckos (Hoplodactylus chrysosireticus) and a beautiful pair of Cook Strait Giant Weta (Deinacrida rugosa), some of the heaviest insects in the world – real whoppers! I’ll post a few photos of these shortly.  Also, we saw the first nests of the very endangered New Zealand Shore Plover (Thinornis novaeseelandiae) on the beach.
In fact, this morning I was enjoying a cup of tea sitting in the sunshine on the beach and a pair of rare plover came over and bedded down not far from my feet – how lucky is that! So, not successful this trip in finding the unknown weta, but great to see all these rare creatures.

Update 29 Oct 2009: I’ve just added a video of the Giant Cook Strait Wetas as they make great video actors! Check this out:

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Very rare creepy-crawlies. Mentoring a young photog for NZ Geo Magazine

June 15th, 2009 § 13 comments - add yours

‘We’d like you to mentor a ‘Young Gun’ photographer’ was James Frankham’s request from New Zealand Geographic Magazine.  The ‘Young Gun’ was Spiderman Bryce – a keen young chap from Hamilton who has a penchant for bugs, especially big spiders. Bryce was super keen, and while spiders are not one of my fav critters, I’m always up for an interesting challenge, giving  back to a good cause and something different.

Cook Strait Giant Weta female climbing onto Bryce's hand (Deinacrida rugosa, Stenopelmatidae). Endemic endangered New Zealand insect. Wetapunga. Island gigantism

Cook Strait Giant Weta female climbing onto Bryce's hand (Deinacrida rugosa, Stenopelmatidae). Endemic endangered New Zealand insect. Wetapunga. Island gigantism

NZ Geo magazine have just started a programme where they pair promising photographers with seasoned pros (not sure what my seasoning is yet though). We chose to take Bryce to Mana Island, a Scientific Reserve that is an island sanctuary for some of New Zealand’s rarest animals and plants. Currently Mana is being restored to a pest free island status, which means that the lack of introduced predators gives the local fauna a chance to recover – especially the giant weta and lizards. Kindly supported by the Department of Conservation (DOC), we were collected in the DOC boat and whisked across to Mana Island from Paremata.

Common Gecko licking eyeball while hanging off branch hunting at night (Hoplodactylus maculatus, Gekkonidae)

Party trick. A common Gecko licking its eyeball while hanging off branch hunting at night (Hoplodactylus maculatus, Gekkonidae)

We spent the day checking out Brown Teal, Kakarikiand other creatures (not to mention the volunteer creatures planting trees for DOC) on the before the rain arrived. Sue and Frank, the DOC Rangers on Mana, were very accommodating, pointing us in the right direction to find species and things of interest. Frank took us to a known spot to look for McGregor’s Skink, one of the rarest Skinks in the world. Our luck was in, finding several of these beautiful lizards as the rain set in proper….. MORE…
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