Snow Snow Snow

Today we had a polar blast, this meant that there was snow to lower levels than I have ever seen here in Taranaki. A great opportunity to get out and record some snow scenes with only a 10min drive.

I am a great believer in having locations scouted in advance, so when something like this happens you do not have to drive around aimlessly.  I had photographed some trees down this road before so I headed out and came across this old shed.

To me this old farm shed sums up Taranaki.

Commercial and Advertising win (again)

After attending the NZIPP (NZ Institute of Professional Photographers) Iris awards in Rotorua on monday night I was blown away to be announced as the Commercial & Advertising photographer of the year. This is the second year running that I have won this award.


This is the first year I have been able to be present at the Gala dinner, and what an evening, good food, company and plenty of great imagery to feed the eyes.


All of my 8 entries scored a bronze award and above, this is the first time all of my images gained award standard.  I was also presented with a bar to my Masters qualification.


My commercial winning images are shown bellow.

 

Showplace Refurbishment

Our local opera house, the TSB Showplace, has undergone a repaint inside.  An assignment from the architects had me shooting the new paint job during the interval of the Ten Tenors show.


This was challenging as I had to be in and out during the interval so I had 20 minutes to get in and get all the shots and get out again, while being watched by 1,000 concert goers. 


The architects wanted to have the theater full of people to capture its ambiance.


The image below is one of my favorites, it is a stitch of three vertical images, so the original is large enough that you can zoom in and identify individual people.

Feel the power

No posts for a while, so it is about time for an update. I have been busy preparing entries for the Australian  Professional Awards, they are away and are now in the hands of the judges. 


A job that I did a week ago was to photograph maintenance workers for Tenix, an electrical lines company, working in an electrical sub-station.  


This year I bought an Orbis ring flash an this job was an excellent opportunity to use it. I love the quality of light that the Orbis produces.  During the shoot I used a flash on the Orbis to light the workers and two other flashes bounced off the ceiling to light the room.


In this image below I only used the ambient light and Orbis for fill light.

Gold

Iv'e just returned from Waihi the region that produces gold and silver in the North Island of New Zealand. There are two active mines in the region the Favona underground mine and the Martha open cast mine ( a huge hole in the ground).  Martha mine below

As well as visiting these mines we also walked through the conservation area in the Karangahake Gorge where historical mining took place. The highlight of the walks was the window walk, a walk through mining tunnels that have portals to the gorge. Very spectacular.


Below are images from the window walk.

Perfect Storm

Yesterday a front passed over the country, disrupting our summer weather.  Here in Taranaki it brought high seas, wind and rain, a great opportunity to grab the camera and get out in it. 


I headed out to the coast and checked out the storm surf hitting the coast. Photos below. 

And they call it work!!

Yesterday I had to spend an afternoon out on the golf course, my job was to follow Tiger Woods caddy Steve Williams around and photograph him talking to junior golfers during their practice round.


Steve sponsors the tournament for junior golfers run by Taranaki Junior golf. He turned up for the opening of the tournament and casually strolled the course chatting to golfers and watching their shots (no pressure). 


My job was to follow and keep an eye on him for those photo opportunities, I had to be on the ball as as soon as I took my eye off him he was shaking hands with someone.  It was just another day at the office for me, thats why I love what I do.


Here are some shots from the afternoon.