Nature’s Pic Images Blog

Fresh in from Auckland today:
I did a range of shots of our rare New Zealand native Falcon recently that I’m really proud of. M&C Saatchi and St Matthew’s Church teamed up and used one of my shots to impress upon Guinea Pig owners (and other pet lovers) the importance of pet blessing.
No Guinea Pigs were hurt in this design! The full technical story of this film shoot is recorded here. Other falcon photos can be seen here. But please check out this shot below – one of my favourites. A click will show it in full size glory.

Had a few nice covers this month to get home to.

First up another cover for Wilderness Magazine, following the winter 2009 cover we did. This one is of sea kayaks pulled up at Abel Tasman National Park. Check out the great shots I got here this year.

Then it’s calendar release season, and you should see about 15 calendars this year of my work – many exclusive. Here are two that just arrived on my desk (one for the Tide Tables, and one a desk diary.

And to finish off, here’s a cover for a kids Maori language journal from the Ministry of Education on the Miro Tree.

With Whitebait season due to start in New Zealand on the 15th August, we thought we would share some of the wonderful photos in the collection that highlight the beauty of this popular local delicacy…..

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It was a privilege to work with the rare and little know native New Zealand Falcon this month… New Zealand Geographic Magazine were running a feature on the rare NZ falcon, but didn’t yet have the wow shot to sell the story, so asked if I’d have a crack at it. Knowing that these birds are amongst the fastest on earth, very cryptic, and not particularly large meant that a challenge lay ahead.  I love a tough assignment that pushes thinking beyond the norm; the satisfaction of success is very sweet.  Here is part of the result:

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Had a challenging, but fun, photo job last week in Rotorua with the rare native New Zealand Falcon (really exciting photos coming very soon! Sneak peek below). While there I managed to shoot down twice to a great spot on the Waikato River where I’d shot during summer, as I thought comparision photos would be very interesting. I couldn’t wait to prepare them alongside each other, and share them with you. So, here they are – a nice little study of interest I think. Nice when a simpy idea comes off like that:

Waikato River, Summer season

Waikato River, Winter season

‘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

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.

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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Just wanted to share with you a use of one of our images we’re proud of. For 46 years the United Nations Handbook has been printed as the only comprehensive guide to the United Nations system, and how it works. It summarises all UN Organisations and provides essential info on their aims, structures and memberships.

The Handbook is used by all those who operate in, or with, the UN. And currently they have a Rob Suisted photo on the cover! And one of our iconic images at that. We’re pretty stoked about the many thousands of copies globally, some of which are being thumbed by some pretty important folks!

Rob created some new shots featuring New Zealand made products for a project we’re doing for a well known overseas travel guidebook. 

The photograph was put together in the studio and our purpose was to showcase a variety of natural goods grown in New Zealand such as Manuka Honey, quality olive oil, wine and cheeses, paua shell, merino and possum wool, greenstone/poumanu etc

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Do you feel it? That sense of impending gloom as we say goodbye to autumn and plunge headfirst into winter.  Are you longing for some small reminder of Summer to get you through?

Don’t worry we have the solution, so just sit back and relax and take a seasonal tour through the Nature’s Pic Images website.  We have a great keyword search available on the website, which provides a really simple and effective way of finding images related to a specific theme, for example SUMMER ….. > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

Wow, we’re pleased with how Wilderness Magazine has reproduced a favourite image this week…….

Just arrived in the mail from the publisher. This image was taken on a particularly cold winter’s night on the flanks of Mount Ruapehu – apparently the coldest of the year. As conditions were so clear I spent most of the night working on this image. At 35+ minutes per photo (plus similar time for the noise reducing dark photo phase) you don’t get too many photos for your labours, but this one came out a cracker, and I’m proud of the quality of the final results. Thanks guys. > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

Sitting having breakfast near the tent, high in remote Fiordland…..a surprise visitor made a magazine cover this week… Chomping on our muesli, getting ready for a day climbing over the range above camp, I looked up and saw movement in the distance. Discarding breakfast, we grabbed camera equipment and snuck up the ridge to intercept this wild young wapiti bull before he cut our scent.

The look on his face captures the moment that he became aware of us.  If you look closely you’ll also be able to spot the effect it had on his bladder…. > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

We have just uploaded some glorious shots taken during the grape harvest in the Wairarapa last weekend.

Harvest time

Harvest time

Harvest time

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We just love this photo of a cheeky little Kea investigating

What's for lunch?

a tramper’s pack, and are delighted that it has earned itself a place in postcard history. Craig Potton Postcards has added this image to its high quality range of postcards and we couldn’t be more pleased.

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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 > > >

I suspect Rob knows that I am a bit of a townie!! Before he left for his latest adventure he handed me the transcript of the diary of Mr A Sutherland, well known in hunting circles for his “early exploratory trips and hunting of the Wapiti herds of the Fiordland area” in the earlier part of the 20th century.

Alpine Tarn above the Glaisnock River Valley

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JOB: Once in 100 year event, 3-5 seconds to get photo, commissioned work for client, weather iffy, precarious platform…. Are you up for it?

Always in for a photographic challenge, here is an anatomy of an interesting photoshoot, and the creation of a very satisfying image that will live on……

The 100yr Hapuawhenua Viaduct shoot - "a nervous wait..."

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Got the mail this morn.  Again the postie bought a nice surprise with several photos I’d done during a commissioned photo shoot for the Regional Council appearing in a discussion document on the 10 year Regional Plan.  I’ve spent several days commissioned shooting recently adding to a series we’ve done with the Regional Council profiling their different operational departments.  Very satisfying work meeting a variety of folks connected to the land and their obvious great pride in the jobs they do. > > > 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.

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The postie just dropped off a copy of Andrew Crowe’s latest book with our image on the cover.  It’s great being involved with quality projects like Andrew’s, and even better when you get to showcase a little known New Zealand native plant. Andrew Crowe has written over 40 titles so far so it’s great to be involved again……. > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >