NZPhotographer Issue 7, May 2018

ISSUE 7, May 2018 

HOW TO CAPTURE: 

FOREST PHOTOGRAPHY 

WITH RICHARD YOUNG 

SHOOTING ON 

THE STREET 

WITH SHANE WHITMORE 

INTERVIEW 

WITH JOEL STAVELEY 

DISCOVERING A WINTER 

WONDERLAND 

WITH BRENDON GILCHRIST 

THAT WANAKA TREE 

PHOTO COMPETITION ANNOUNCEMENT 

May 2018 

1

General Info: 

NZPhotographer Issue 7 


Cover Photo 

by Joel Staveley 

eyesore.co.nz 

Publisher: 

Excio Group 

Website: 

www.excio.io/nzphotographer 

Group Director: 

Ana Lyubich 

ana@excio.io 

Editor: 

Emily Goodwin 

Graphic Design: 

Maksim Topyrkin 

Advertising Enquiries: 

Phone 04 889 29 25 

or Email hello@excio.io 

About NZPhotographer 

Whether you’re an 

enthusiastic weekend 

snapper or a beginner 

who wants to learn more, 

NZ Photographer is the 

fun e-magazine for all Kiwi 

camera owners – 

and it’s free! 

© 2018 NZPhotographer 

Magazine 

All rights reserved. 

Reproduction of any 

material appearing in this 

magazine in any form is 

forbidden without prior 

consent of the publisher. 

Disclaimer: 

Opinions of contributing 

authors do not necessarily 

reflect the opinion of the 

magazine. 

2 NZPhotographer 

Hello Everyone, 

WELCOME TO ISSUE 7 O 

I'm very pleased to be taking 

over the role of NZP editor. Taya 

is in the process of moving to 

a new city but we hope she'll 

still drop by here and contribute 

some articles every once in a 

while. We wish her all the best in 

her new life and of course in her 

photography journey. 

You'll notice some changes right 

here on the editors welcome 

and contents page, what do 

you think? We love to get your 

feedback so do let us know 

what you like/dislike and feel 

free to share your thoughts and 

ideas on what you would like us to cover in future issues. We're always 

looking for people to contribute whether in an interview or a guest post 

feature so don't be shy – Drop us a line if you want to share your love of 

photography and knowledge with our readers. 

Talking of contributing, you'll want to turn to page 39 so you can submit to 

our May photo competition – We're eagerly awaiting the influx of Wanaka 

Tree photos and wish everyone the very best of luck. 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Ray Harness 

Ray is an amateur 

photographer who has 

dabbled in photography 

for 45 years. He has a lot 

of pre-digital knowledge 

under his belt and enjoys 

capturing landscape 

scenes and animals. 

Richard Young 

Richard is an awardwinning 

landscape and 

wildlife photographer 

who teaches 

photography workshops 

and runs photography 

tours. He is the founder 

of New Zealand 

Photography Workshops. 

Emily Goodwin 

Editor NZ Photographer 

Brendon Gilchrist 

Brendon is the 

man behind ESB 

Photography. He 

treks from sea to 

mountain, and back 

again, capturing the 

uniqueness of New 

Zealand’s unforgiving 

landscape. 

nzphotographer nzp_magazine nzp@excio.io

F NZ PHOTOGRAPHER MAGAZINE 

4 

8 

Chasing the Aurora 

Interview with Joel Staveley 

4 

CHASING 

8 

INTERVIEW 

16 

26 

28 

30 

32 

36 

40 

41 

THE AURORA 

by Billy Nunweek 

WITH JOEL STAVELEY 

SHOOTING ON THE STREET; INSPIRATION & TIPS 

HOW TO CAPTURE: FOREST PHOTOGRAPHY 

by Richard Young 

PROJECT SHUTTER 111 

BACK TO BASICS PART 5 - FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY 

by Ray Harness 

BEHIND THE SHOT WITH GEORGE VAN HOUT 

DISCOVERING A WINTER WONDERLAND 

by Brendon Gilchrist 

EXPERT CRITIQUE 

READERS SUBMISSIONS 

36 

16 

Discovering a winter 

wonderland 

Shooting On The Street

CHASING THE AURORA 

with Billy Nunweek 

4 NZPhotographer

F3.5, 15s, ISO400 


5

The aurora is what I would consider the creme 

de la creme of night photography. It has always 

been a dream of mine to see the aurora with 

my naked eyes and in May 2017 that dream 

became a reality as I watched the Southern 

Lights beam, dance, and light up the sky with their 

magical beauty! I’d best describe it as a faint green 

snake slithering along the horizon, moving back and 

forth. I can’t compare it to anything else because it 

was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen! 

Since that incredible night spent at Birdlings Flat, 

Canterbury I’ve been determined to photograph this 

fascinating phenomenon and photograph it well. The 

following is an account of my quest towards nailing 

the aurora. 

DAY ONE – 6 SEPTEMBER 2017 

The day started off like any when my phone pinged, 

my mate Larryn (an Auckland based photographer) 

was asking if I’ll be home in Christchurch over the next 

few days. He’d been checking various aurora focused 

websites which indicated that an aurora was inbound 

so after deliberating briefly, discussing the weather 

outlook and the likelihood of an aurora in the days to 

come, Larryn booked his tickets south. 

We had already decided that if this does pan out, 

the shot has to be different. It is all well and good 

photographing the aurora at a beach looking south 

- I’d already done that back in May! The goal this 

time was to shoot this aurora with a game-changing 

composition. We wanted to find a local landscape 

that was southward of us that would frame the aurora 

nicely. After hunting through photos on the internet 

Larryn found an area he was happy with, it was simply 

a matter of getting there and into position. 

We motored up Dyers Pass Road and followed Summit 

Road to a place called Witch Hill Reserve which 

would play a big part in our sleepless nights! We set 

up just after the sun went below the Southern Alps, the 

light was dull, the cloud thick and the wind blowing a 

gale. It didn’t make for a comfortable night - Though 

the predicted temperature was a low of 8C, the wind 

chill made it much cooler. 

One of the challenges we came across early on was 

the moon, a weak aurora isn’t visible while the sun is 

up, or in the moonlight. Its only visible against the dark 

night sky and the full moon threatened to turn what 

would possibly be a clearly visible aurora with both 

eyes and camera into nothing more than a barely 

distinguishable disturbance on the horizon. There 

was a good chance that because of the moon, high 

cloud, and city lights that we wouldn’t see the aurora 

at all, but for the shot we had in mind we were willing 

to take that risk! 

During the night, through patchy reception, we 

started getting reports of an X 9.3 Solar Flare, the 

biggest since an X 9.4 in 1994. Though nothing could 


be guaranteed if that flare was to reach Earth the 

results could be incredible, a once in a generation 

phenomenon. But with no result foreseeable at 4am 

we called it a dud and I shot home to get a few hours 

sleep. 

DAY TWO – 7 SEPTEMBER 2017 

After a few hours of disturbed sleep I woke up with 

the aim to spend the afternoon scouting a place to 

shoot the aurora. We were so determined to shoot 

something more than the southern lights over the 

ocean but unfortunately, the weather on the West 

Coast took a drastic turn for the worst taking a lot of 

potential compositions out of contention. For those 

who don’t know, Canterbury is located on a large 

featureless plain that stretches from the Southern Alps 

to the East Coast so finding a unique location is a 

challenge in itself! 

We eventually settled on a few locations on the 

city side of the Lyttelton Harbour. We went to a spot 

up in the hills to check it out and then raced back 

to town to collect our gear. One of our biggest 

concerns was that with all the media hype we would 

go to a spot and find it already saturated with other 

photographers. Luckily we came across no one, the 

cloud and high winds had frightened everyone off 

the hills and send them down to Birdlings. We set up 

camp, better prepared this time for the wind chill with 

blankets, sleeping bags, and protection for our gear. 

As soon as we set up for the night we had to duck for 

cover, in came the rain so we were quickly saturated, 

it didn’t last but it was certainly demoralising, even the 

moon failed to rise in any dramatic fashion. 

DAY THREE – 8 SEPTEMBER 2017 

Today was the day! We started yesterday saying 

the exact same thing but were determined that we 

wouldn’t be saying that phrase again tomorrow. 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. We were demoralised 

but remained determined. After fueling up we 

checked the latest numbers on various aurora alert 

websites and apps when out of nowhere everything 

shot through the roof! KP 8.7, solar wind speeds, wind 

density, wind Bz and Bt all spiked to numbers that 

were quite literally off the charts! 

The X 9.3 solar flare had hit, all in the middle of the 

day, there was nothing we could do but pray that it 

would hold out till dusk. It didn’t. Though the numbers 

remained strong they never stood up to what we 

experienced that afternoon which was heartbreaking. 

We’d worked so hard, we’d contributed so much 

time and effort which of course was all apart of it, the 

chase and journey make reaching the destination 

that much more satisfying. But this was hard to take, 

nonetheless, the numbers remained active so we 

didn’t lose hope on catching something! 

Once we calmed down we started roaming. With the 

weather prediction looking the way it did, shooting

the aurora from our originally planned locations 

looked unfathomable which again was another blow 

- We’d worked hard and scouted for hours for what 

seemed like no reason. 

So we headed South, it was the only option. The Alps 

were still getting battered by the last grasps of winter 

so the West Coast was still no option. Periodically 

throughout the night every part of the south island 

became enveloped in cloud, it was all about picking 

a time and place where the aurora would visibly 

peak with minimal cloud cover but we couldn’t 

find anything that looked in any way worthwhile. I 

decided I needed to get some rest, I’d been driving 

and stressing for literally days on end, I needed a 

break to recover so I could attack this with all my 

might. I left Larryn at Rapaki Jetty, a beautiful little 

spot on the Lyttelton Harbour shoreline that was well 

guarded against the winds ripping through from 

the West Coast. Larryn said he’d call me if anything 

happened... 

12.23am. My phone rings, I wake up but decline the 

call in my slumber. Seconds later, it rings again, I come 

around and see it’s Larryn. In the 16 second call that 

followed all I can recall is Larryn going nuts saying ‘It’s 

beaming, it’s going off, get out here!’. I went from 

zero to one hundred, I barely recall getting in the 

car. It took me 23 minutes to reach him and when I 

arrived the aurora was still beaming incredibly. I didn’t 

miss it, Larryn was running around like a madman! 

Then it just blew up, the sky lit up, I stood there in awe 

of what was unfolding before me, I snapped shots 

progressively as it got bigger and bigger and definitely 

got lost in the moment. I didn’t capture it as well as I 

would have liked, again a learning curve. I was guilty 

of losing focus due to the incredible display Mother 

Nature was putting on for us, we jumped around, we 

danced, we yelled and cheered! I’m adamant we 

woke up New Zealand! 

Words cannot describe how incredible it is to see 

an aurora, photographs do not do it justice. You 

simply have to see it. We watched through the night 

only leaving when it got to the point where I had to 

take Larryn to the airport. He was booked on a 6am 

flight but by then it had truly died down. My blood 

was pumping, I felt enlightened, it was all so out of 

this world. It was a once in a lifetime event that I 

fully intend to experience again. I’m aiming for the 

Northern Lights now, but until then I will chase every 

aurora here in New Zealand while I am still capable. 

FINAL THOUGHTS 

This story has a happy ending which is never 

guaranteed – Those first gruelling unsuccessful 

all-nighters that we experienced are a true 

representation of the life of a landscape 

photographer! Quite often we put in the hard yards 

and come up with nothing. It isn’t as easy as hopping 

out of your car, pointing your camera and clicking a 

button as some people think! We find these incredible 

places, we photograph the night sky and that takes 

determination and perseverance. This is why we cry, 

this is why we dance, this is why we scream, this is why 

we laugh. In this case, it all paid off in the end. 


7

INTERVIEW WITH 

Joel Staveley 

JOEL, CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF? 

I live a bit of an unusual life as a digital media 

partner, promotional content producer, and 

adventure-tour guide. 

I grew up on the North Shore of Auckland and spent 

most of my life there until I ended up on a farm in 

Pukekohe to live close to work at the Glenbrook steel 

mill. My background is in engineering and I spent 

a number of years as a reverse engineering and 

3D visualisation consultant after moving on from a 

science role. 

In a way, I’ve been fortunate to have no family 

commitments which has given me a lot of freedom 

to travel around New Zealand and some of the 

world. This has resulted in the lines between my 

personal life, my work, and my hobbies becoming 

increasingly blurred - for better or for worse! 

WHAT’S YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY 

BACKGROUND? HOW DID IT ALL START?! 

I haven’t done any photography courses or been 

mentored so I suppose I represent a generation of 

self-learners. In fact, it wasn’t until late last year that I 

finally had the opportunity to take photos alongside 

another person for the first time - more than 4 years 

after I started! 

I started photography within 2 weeks of landing my 

first full-time job after university. Before I received my 

first paycheck I felt unusually compelled to purchase 

a camera, and so I did. I came home with a second 

hand Canon 5D Mk II with a 24-105mm F4L. My family 

thought I was crazy. I didn’t know how to use it and I 

had never taken any interest in photography before 

but I was already quite interested in film-making in 

the years that preceded this. 

I took thousands upon thousands of awful photos 

over my working years and struggled to find time to 

take them given the intensity of my work. Throughout 

this time I changed camera bodies 3 times and I 

traded too many second-hand lenses to count. I 

left the industry and went travelling with my camera 

although it wasn’t the focus of the trip. The break was 

desperately needed and it would forever ignite my 

interest in photography - even if I was forced to deal 

with a single 14mm lens for the entire trip due to a 

lens failure. After I came back from travelling I started 

Eyesore Digital and officially began my journey into 

intra-disciplinary digital media. 

TELL US MORE ABOUT THE COMMERCIAL 

PHOTOGRAPHY SIDE OF YOUR BUSINESS. 

Most of my photos are used for sales-focused 

marketing in the digital space to promote businesses 

and organisations, or what they do. I take a different 

approach to commercial photography in that I don’t 

only offer still photography for my clients. A service 

they’ve come to really value is one where I extract 

and edit stills from video. While there are still a lot 

of technical limitations they find it a revolutionary 

approach and the fact that there are thousands 

of usable frames to choose from gives them lots of 

opportunities to get what they want. I primarily shoot 

video on an electronic gimbal which has made this 

much easier to pull off. 

I’ve always looked for points of difference. One 

of the less popular avenues of photography I’ve 

explored commercially is 360 VR HDR imaging. 

I worked extensively with VR in engineering. This 

was simply a step into other verticals using similar 

techniques and a different approach. 

Something else I’ve done a lot of is adventuretourism 

photography in recent years. As a 


driver-guide, I have the opportunity to travel with 

groups of international students and share the New 

Zealand experience with them. My photos are used 

to market NZ tourism and education both here and 

overseas, and the students take my photos back to 

all corners of the globe. 

YOUR CITY NIGHT SHOTS ARE SUPERB. WHAT 

ADVICE CAN YOU GIVE OUR READERS FOR 

CAPTURING SHOTS LIKE THIS? 

Lens flares and light leaks are difficult to avoid when 

there’s so much uncontrolled light in a dark city 

scene so using a lens hood and removing filters might 

be necessary. I’ve found that polarising filters can 

sometimes have a dramatic effect on city scenes 

because concrete and buildings can be quite 

reflective. Always try to experiment, even if you have 

to look silly standing behind a camera at a street 

corner for 5 or 10 minutes of exposures. Sometimes it 

becomes necessary to composite out lens flares from 

lights that can’t be avoided - Blocking out the flare 

source throughout the exposure using a dark object 

can be a life-saving technique. 

WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU HAVE? 

I currently use the Sony A7R II for the bulk of my work 

which has been a great hybrid camera even with its 

faults. I have a variety of lenses including the Sony 

12-24mm F4 G, 24-70mm F2.8 GM, 70-200mm F2.8 

GM, 85mm F1.4 GM, 90mm F2.8 Macro, 55mm F1.8 

Zeiss, 16-35mm F4, Sigma 35mm F1.4 Art and a Sigma 

15mm F2.8 diagonal fisheye for VR photography. I 

recently picked up a 150mm filter system for the 12- 

24mm which is looking like a great combination and 

offers something a bit more unique than what a 16- 

35mm can offer. 

I use a few Godox strobes and modifiers with the 

SMDV Speedbox 70 being my portable go-to used 

with HSS triggers. I have a wide range of video 

and sound gear to support using the system for 

cinematography including a MoVI M5 gimbal plus 

additional rigs and lights. 

ANY BIG NAME BRANDS YOU’VE WORKED 

WITH? 

I’ve been working with Panasonic lately and a few 

other brands in the technology and security sector. 

Over the last few years I have worked on media 

projects for General Electric, Bluescope, Spotless, 

Woodside and a few others in the industrial space. 

WHAT’S THE BEST PART ABOUT YOUR JOB… 

AND THE WORST PART?! 

The best part is getting to do what I’m passionate 

about each day and being able to travel. The mix of 

guiding and media is like jumping from one extreme 

to another but it’s rewarding to capture and share 

people’s experience as they travel through our 

country. 

The worst part is trying to manage the inconsistent 

workload and sacrificing a personal life far more 

often than I’d like. 


9



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13

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE OUR 

READERS ON TURNING PHOTOGRAPHY INTO 

A CAREER? 

I believe that skill diversification and the need to 

embrace new technology will become even more 

important in the near future. I use video to open 

doors because there are a lot of businesses and 

brands that want or need it, and once the doors 

are open the opportunity to perform commercial 

photography and other media presents itself as a 

media partnership forms. 

Working hard, gaining experience, exploring 

exposure avenues and always being open to 

building new connections are fundamental parts of 

turning photography into a career. Collaborating 

with people through social media platforms can 

be a great way to get your work out there now 

and directly engaging with people still remains 

the best way to actively secure work in an early 

career. When you do this long enough eventually 

the tables turn and clients will start engaging with 

you first. 

HOW DO YOU BALANCE SHOOTING FOR 

WORK AND PLEASURE AND HOW DO YOU 

STAY INSPIRED? 

I face the struggle of balancing work and pleasure 

in photography every day, mostly because of how 

consuming the variety of work I do can be. There 

are times where I put it all down though and more 

often than not photography isn’t a focus or priority 

during my personal ventures unless I’m out with other 

photographers. 

I’m an addictive serial learner and I enjoy trying 

many different styles of photography from macro to 

astro, and portraiture to wildlife which always gives 

me something new to do. The fact that there are 

no boundaries or limits to learning and creativity in 

photography means there’s always room to grow 

and I find that liberating and challenging after 

coming from the, largely constraint driven, world of 

engineering. The endless opportunity to grow drives 

me to shoot and experience more and try to make up 

for the time I lost in my early years. 


WHAT’S THE PHOTO THAT YOU’RE MOST PROUD OF? 

It would probably be a simple photo I took of the 

pinnacles on Ruapehu. The clouds were rolling in and 

the atmosphere was changing every second before 

I just managed to capture it. The depth, light, and 

atmosphere of the moment created a striking photo of 

the daunting rock pillars which are hard to appreciate 

when viewing it on a small scale. 

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE PHOTOGRAPHERS 

WHO WANT TO START TAKING VIDEO? 

Most modern DSLR’s and mirrorless cameras can take 

great video now which makes it an easy thing to step 

into for most photographers. The first two challenges to 

overcome when transitioning from photo to video are 

stabilisation and exposure control in the form of external 

ND filters and the use of a tripod, handheld or shoulder 

rigs and mechanical or electronic stabilisers depending 

on the filming environment and requirements. 

Quality sound is something that’s often overlooked in 

transitioning to video and many cameras have poor 

analogue inputs which aren’t suitable for sensitive 

microphones. The purchase of an isolating or directional 

microphone used with an external sound recorder is a 

great investment to make and can last you many years 

to come since this technology changes at a much 

slower pace. 

ANY OTHER WORDS OF WISDOM? 

While photography courses, workshops, and mentors are 

great you should never feel like you can’t learn without 

them. No matter what your situation or learning style is 

there’s an endless supply of great resources online to 

support us. 

Photography skills can take a long time to develop (I 

speak from experience!) but if you’re patient and persist 

it becomes second nature and the camera will become 

like your third eye. Explore every worthwhile avenue and 

channel you can to build connections and be seen. 

Sometimes it can take years for opportunities to manifest 

but it only takes one to turn your world upside down. 

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE? 

www.joel.eyesore.co.nz 

www.eyesore.co.nz 

www.linkedin.com/in/nzsjoel 

www.instagram.com/nzsjoel 


15

Shooting On The Street 

Inspiration & Tips with Shane Whitmore 

about shooting, post-processing or how to conduct 

model shoots. I now shoot with a Sony A7rii with 24-70 

f2.8 g-master or 70-200 f2.8 g-master. 

I like shooting streetscapes and incorporating models 

into this style, I think it’s unique and allows for freedom 

to break all of the photography rules. I edit each 

picture individually and just see where it takes me, I 

don’t stick to any formula (I don’t think)! 

My typical portrait sessions last 2-3 hours. This gives 

myself and the model time to adjust to each others 

style and allows us both to relax into a natural working 

environment, which will always make for better, more 

natural art. I don’t tend to plan a shoot location 

ahead of time, I prefer to walk around the city finding 

interesting walls, alleyways, different textures and 

chasing the light. I generally have no idea of what I 

want to achieve that day or how the shoot will turn out. 

Its more off the cuff and if it happens, it happens! 

Most of my photo shoots are from people liking my 

work on Instagram. My website has also attracted 

work, bringing me both corporate events and 

modelling portrait shoots. See more of my work and 

follow me by visiting: 

Shane Whitmore, better known as Mr Wiski, is 

a street, fashion, and portrait photographer who 

scouts out unique locations in Auckland to give his 

photography an edge. 

I was inspired to get into photography when a 

wedding photographer ‘friend of mine’ Ralph 

Cabman, took some nightclub photos of myself and 

some friends. I was amazed at the quality and the 

vibrant colours. Soon after I went out and purchased 

my first DSLR, a Canon 70D and a 24-70 lens. That was 

back in 2016. Since then I have lived on Youtube, 

absorbing as much information I can whether it be 

MY TOP TIPS ARE: 

• Study the light 

• Don’t be scared to break the Photography Rules - 

Try new ideas, be unique. 

• Take your time to look for leading lines, 

shadows, reflections, textures – Be aware of your 

surroundings. 

• Experiment with the editing process – Have some 

fun. 

• If you are not 100% happy with a photo, then don’t 

post it. Keep your standards high! 

• Never stop learning - Read books and watch 

YouTube tutorials. 

www.mrwiski.com 

www.instagram.com/mr_wiski 


F5.6, 1/125s, ISO800 

Model: Natalie Connell 

CATWOMAN: 

This shot was taken from a high-rise rooftop in 

Auckland. The Catwoman look wasn’t planned, 

it just so happened that a mask we had worked 

well with the models outfit! The relaxed pose really 

worked well for this shot. I added personal touches 

in Photoshop like the graffiti and the dragon hand 

tattoo. What I really like about the finished product 

is the natural laidback pose and the metallic 

look the clothing gives. It’s also a plus that such 

an iconic building, the Auckland sky tower was 

captured! 


17

F4, 1/50s, ISO1200 

Model: Kodie Whitmore 

MIRRORED ALLEYWAY: 

The model in this shot is my daughter Kodie, she 

also likes to roam the streets shooting... Like Father, 

like Daughter! I came across this mirrored platform 

with amazing side lights and leading lines running 

down the shot in Auckland CBD. I wanted a pose 

that would suit both the scene and look good in 

the mirrored reflection. With locations like this, not 

a lot of thinking needs to be done. I added the 

graffiti in Photoshop. This shot reminds me of a film I 

loved when growing up; Big Trouble In Little China, 

It definitely has that film feeling... 


F11, 1/250s, ISO100 

BUILDINGS: 

I liked the sharpness of this corner building in 

Auckland, amazing angles to work with. Throw in 

the texture of the background high rise building 

(Auckland’s first skyscraper so I’m told) and you 

have a fantastic streetscape shot. I added in the 

sky, the graffiti, and the sun glow afterward. I’m 

most impressed with the clarity of the building in 

conjunction with the soft sky and soft light in this 

shot. 


19

F1.4, 1/125s, ISO100 

CHINESE PORTRAIT: 

This shot was a single 1/125 of a second click but a 7 hour 

editing process! This lovely lady was selling bracelets on the 

street in New Market, Auckland. I asked if I could take her 

picture and she kindly obliged. This 7 hour edit was a lot of 

trial and error with different gradients and flares added. I love 

her mystique look which complements the light, making for a 

fantastic portrait. 


F2.8, 1/15s, ISO800 

RED DRESS: 

Model: Jahna Barraclough 

MUA: Natalie May Cerche 

This was a wonderful learning curve as every rule about taking a portrait went out the door! A still camera 

was swapped with a moving camera. To get this portrait it would require movement and since the model 

was stationary I needed to create that movement with my camera, whilst freezing the models face. I set the 

camera to a slow shutter speed to create motion when panned. I had an on-camera flash set to rear curtain, 

this allowed the flash to fire only after the shutter had closed to create the blur whilst freezing the subject. Once 

focused on the model, the camera was then moved to her left, the camera pan moving left to right. Multiple 

camera pans were taken to get usable shots, the timing of when to push on the shutter being very much trial 

and error for me! I ended up taking about 30 shots, ending up with about 5 that I was happy with. 


21

F1.8, 1/125s, ISO100 

CANON: 

Nothing was pre-planned for this shot, the magic just 

happened! It’s my daughter holding the camera 

and combined with the way she was holding it, and 

it being called a canon, I was inspired to have some 

fun and channel the ‘act of war’ theme in postprocessing! 

Some smoke and some added particle 

overlays seemed to make the photo pop. I love the 

bokeh that this shot offers, I think the green t-shirt 

really compliments the style of photo as does the 

positioning of her hands. 


F8, 1/15s, ISO100 

TRAIN: 

Here's a breakdown of how I created this shot. 

With my camera on a tripod 2 shots were taken. The first, 

a long exposure of the train using a 10 stop ND filter. The 

second, now without the filter and without the train, was 

of the tracks and myself. I could then blend both shots in 

Photoshop and paint myself in! 

I blended the 'Look For Trains' sign on to the back of my 

tshirt and also added in the sun flare with Photoshop. I used 

Gaussan Blur to soften the light and make it more natural 

looking and then altered the colours in Lightroom. 


23

F2.8, 1/400s, ISO100 


MASTER CARVER: 

Strong working hands caught my eye for this shot taken in 

Claris, Great Barrier Island. I feel hands can tell as much a 

story as eyes or a face. I also liked the texture of the wood 

carving. I added my personal touches to this already 

awesome shot... A touch of graffiti, a splash of light to the 

mallet and some colour/contrast play to the picture. What I 

really like about this shot is the depth of field mixed with the 

beautiful bokeh.

Photographer: Richard Young 

FH100M2 Long Exposure Kit 

The FH100M2 Filter: It is designed to hold both square and circular filters, with the ability to freely 

rotate an attached 82mm CPL filter after installation. 

It will hold up to 3 square filters, and ultra-thin 82mm CPL simultaneously, without creating 

vignetting on lenses as wide as 16mm. 

Includes: FH100M2 holder (incl FR1010, FR1015, 77mm and 82mm adapters) 

FB100M2 case 

0.6 Hard Grad 

6-stop ND 

10-stop ND 

CPL Filter 

FR1010 Frame 

82-72mm Stepdown ring 

82-67mm Stepdown ring 

Progear 

www.progear.co.nz 

3 Railway St, Newmarket 

09 529 5055 


25

HOW TO CAPTURE: FOREST PHOTOGRAPHY 

Forest Photography Tips with Richard Young 

Forest, Tongariro National Park 

F11, 1/2s, ISO400, 35mm 

GET THE LEAVES IN FOCUS 

If you are singling out a subject in your shot, like a 

particularly stunning tree, make sure that this is in 

focus along with any ferns or plants on the ground. 

If you are photographing in low light on an overcast 

day you will need to use a tripod or select a higher 

ISO to get a shutter speed which is fast enough for a 

sharp image. 

CAPTURE THE FOREST FLOOR: 

Often the forest floor is covered in lush ferns and other 

beautiful small plants; include these in your shot. 

Sometimes these on their own can make the best 

shot. Getting down low to photograph them works 

best. 

SHOOT ON AN OVERCAST DAY 

Taking photos in the forest on a bright day is hard, 

the hash light creates a great deal of contrast and 

makes exposure more difficult. If possible head out on 

an overcast day. Unusual lighting and weather can 

make a more unique photograph of the forest. Sun 

can occasionally add to an image if you can capture 

rays of light breaking through the trees. 

FIND A SUBJECT: 

It is often hard to know where to point your camera 

and you have to be careful not to end up with a 

cluttered shot of lots of trees. Single out a subject for 

your shot. This could be a particularly stunning tree, 

a splash of a contrasting colour, or a pattern on the 

bark. 

IMPROVE YOUR FOREST PHOTOGRAPHY ON A WEEKEND TONGARIRO WORKSHOP: 17TH-19TH 

AUGUST 2018 WITH NEW ZEALAND PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS 


JOIN AN AWESOME 

PHOTOGRAPHY COMMUNITY 

NZ $25/year only 

Your own portfolio on Excio 

30 photos, 100,000+ impressions 

100+ clicks to your website/month 

Add your Facebook & Instagram profiles 

Member-only offers 

Discounts from our partners 

Free Lightroom presets 

“Early bird” access to events and meetups 

Competitions 

Get free entry into all competitions and earn 

by participating in photo challenges 

BECOME A MEMBER 

www.excio.io/membership 


27

PROJECT SHUTTER111 

1 CAMERA – 1 YEAR – 1 COUNTRY 

Brett Jennings of Red Bird Photography is running 

a project that will see one camera pass from one 

photographer to another over the span of a year 

to capture what it means to live in New Zealand. 

Keen to promote the amazing photography 

talent that New Zealand has, this project is about 

appreciating film photography and collaborating on 

a county-wide photography project using one shared 

film camera. 

Brett is seeking 18-24 photographers to take part in this 

project. The brief is fairly open, each photographer 

should bring their own unique perspective and style 

into the project with the choice of colour of B&W 

film to capture what it means to them to live in New 

Zealand. The project will be as geographically diverse 

as possible, covering the majority of the country over 

the year with the camera (yet to be determined) 

used over a two-week period, then sent on to the next 

photographer. 

All photographs submitted will be shared on the 

shutter111.com website along with a description 

of the images and a bio of each photographer, 

there’s also the possibility of an exhibition of the 

best photographs taking place once the project is 

completed. 

If you’re interested in taking part, contact Brett at 

brett@redbird.photos and let him know where you live 

and where you’ll be over the next year so that he can 

plan the logistics of moving the camera from person 

to person. 

We’ll be documenting the project here at NZ 

Photographer in future issues, sharing photos as the 

camera makes its journey around the country. 



29

BACK TO BASICS PART 5 

FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY 

Today’s DSLR cameras have built in flash and 

TTL (Through the Lens) exposure but when I first 

started in photography things were very different. 

With manual SLRs, we used flash bulbs and had 

to consider distance and aperture as TTL flash didn’t 

exist until the 1970’s! 

The camera had a flash sync speed on the shutter 

speed dial for use with electronic flashguns, these 

varied according to the camera but were typically 

1/60th or 1/80th of a second. If the flash sync speed 

on the shutter dial was not set, the flash would fire 

at what shutter speed was set, resulting in too fast a 

speed being used giving you half a picture because 

the shutter was already closing when the flash fired. 

Thankfully these problems don’t exist today! With 

TTL, the exposure is read from the light entering the 

camera lens with the CCD sensor closing the flash at 

the correct moment to ensure accurate exposure. 


All flash units today have a guide number, (you 

will find this in the flash section of your manual), 

this dictates the strength of the flash over a given 

distance. On my camera, the built in flash has a guide 

number of 15 metres at ISO 200. That is to say that 

the flash will be effective at that distance. Anything 

beyond that will suffer from light fall off and dark 

exposure. 

ON-CAMERA FLASH SETTINGS 

With most cameras, the settings for the flash are as 

follows, the first two being the most popular: 

Auto Front Curtain: This fires the flash at the moment 

of shutter release, capturing the subject immediately. 

This is very useful when taking pictures at functions, 

where you are not posing the subjects, and are 

looking to capture spontaneous shots. Journalist 

photographers use this as the only thing of interest is 

their immediate subject, so the pictures can be taken 

off the cuff with the subject on the move.

Auto Rear Curtain: This fires the flash at the end of the 

shutter release, exposing background elements in 

the picture before the flash fires on the main subject. 

This is best used when you want to show some of the 

background surrounding the subject. An example 

would be someone giving a speech with people and/ 

or signs behind them. 

Rear Curtain with Slow Sync: With this setting the 

camera meters the scene and then sets the shutter 

speed to correctly expose all of the background 

before firing the flash at the end to correctly expose 

the main subject. You would typically use this in 

night portraiture or architectural night scenes. To 

successfully use this setting you need to use a tripod, 

preferably with a remote release, and make sure that 

the subject remains still for the length of the exposure. 

Fill in Flash: This is where the camera will use a 

small amount of flash to correct shadowed areas 

in a picture in situations where the subject has light 

coming from behind or to the side, as opposed to the 

front. It’s particularly useful when taking portraits and 

group pictures outside to balance the shadows and is 

commonly used at weddings. To use this setting, pop 

the flash manually (usually by pressing a button on the 

side of your camera) and the camera will apply the 

correct amount of fill in flash, depending how much 

of your subject is shaded. You can also use this to 

freeze frame movement so that the scene is correctly 

exposed but the movement not seen. 

Red Eye Reduction: This setting is found in the flash 

menu on your camera, and as the name suggests, 

it limits the amount of flash light reflected from the 

retinas in our eyes. In animals instead of showing as 

red light, it can be green or yellow. In this instance, 

the camera sends a burst of pre-flash to constrict the 

pupils thus restricting the amount of light entering the 

eyes. 

FLASH COMPENSATION 

If you discover your flash photography looks washed 

out or too dark, adding compensation should correct 

the problem. In the flash menu, after setting what kind 

of flash you wish to use, find the compensation + and 

– setting and adjust accordingly. The compensation 

settings are usually made in increments of either 

1/3rd or 1/2 half stops to allow finer control of the 

output. The minus will reduce output and the plus 

increase it. If, for example, you photograph a floral 

display indoors and the blooms appear washed out, 

set compensation on the minus side to correct the 

exposure. If on the other hand, the metering has 

caused the blooms to appear dull and understated, 

set the flash compensation on the plus side to 

obtain a more even look. Remember to turn off 

compensation when you are finished, not all cameras 

automatically do this meaning subsequent shots will 

be over or underexposed! 

OFF CAMERA FLASH UNITS 

Whilst the on-camera pop-up flash is fine for most 

amateur photographers, there may be a time when 

you require something more powerful, particularly 

if you’re passionate about portrait photography. 

Off camera flash units are more versatile, are more 

powerful therefore giving greater range and give you 

better control over shadowing and reducing red eye 

effects, but they’re not cheap! 

There are many off camera units available, whether 

third party units or ones made and designed for your 

camera by your camera manufacturer. These units 

are fitted with a module dedicated to your camera’s 

electronics which allow your camera’s metering 

system to control the flash correctly. The dedicated 

modules respond via the wireless function (if your 

camera has this) allowing you to add one or more for 

studio work. 

You can use these units atop the camera in the 

flash “Hot Shoe” on the top of the camera where 

the popup flash is situated, or the units will attach to 

a flash bracket which you fix to your camera, (this 

screws in to the tripod socket on the base, but is 

itself threaded to allow the use of a tripod as well) 

and means that when photographing people and 

animals, the flash is off centre to the eyes, reducing 

red eye. 

Depending on the type of unit you purchase, it may 

have a swivel/bounce head. The swivel allows the unit 

to be sited at an angle which is useful for architecture 

shots while the bounce throws the light off a ceiling or 

a wall which produces a softer look, ideal for avoiding 

shadows in portraiture photography. 

This overview of flash photography brings us to the 

end of the ‘Back to Basics’ series. If you have been 

following along from the beginning of these articles, 

I hope you are now feeling more comfortable with 

understanding what all the buttons and different 

settings do on your camera and how to use them 

to help you take the next step in your photography 

journey. 

*** 

By Ray Harness 


31

BEHIND THE SHOT 

WITH GEORGE VAN HOUT 


F22, 5s to 1/400s, ISO100, 11mm 


33


F3.5,1/250s, ISO100, 18mm

GEORGE, TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT 

YOURSELF... 

I was born and raised in New Zealand. I studied 

Engineering at Canterbury and currently work 

as an Acoustic Engineer in Christchurch. I met 

my fiancé when we were at High School and we 

have stayed together ever since. We live with our 

beautiful kitten (Artoo) and two horses (Choccy 

and Roxy). 

I grew up around cameras. My father always had 

a passion for photography, taking photos of us kids 

all the time. In his spare time he used to also do 

wedding photography. When we were old enough 

he finally let us muck about with his cameras. 

About 5 years ago I really got into photography, 

finally getting my own semi-professional camera. 

Since then I haven’t really stopped taking photos. 

I love capturing photos which evoke emotions in 

people or help bring back memories. 

TELL US ABOUT THIS PHOTO... 

We live very close to the Ashley River, and I had 

been meaning to head down to the river at sunset 

for a while. The evening wasn’t planned, it just 

happened that this evening was less busy than 

usual. I went down for more of a scoping visit to 

take some photos from different angles and to 

see how the light fell down the river bed. I was 

planning on going back a couple of weeks later 

when the sun set down the river more evenly than 

off to the side. 

With my mini tripod, I set my camera up in the 

water very carefully, arranging rocks, sand, and 

sticks to ensure that the flowing water wouldn’t 

push it over (cameras and water don’t particularly 

go well together). I was taking a few long 

exposures, so when I stepped back from one I 

quickly took a photo with my other camera just so I 

knew the angle and orientation for later. 

I usually have both of my cameras with me, this 

allows me to set them up with different lenses so I 

don’t have to worry about changing lenses, missing 

shots because of changing lenses, or getting dirt 

in the camera and/or sensor. Also in this instance, 

because I was scoping the site I wanted to shoot 

with one camera and then record the angles, and 

setup of the main camera with the other camera 

so that if I particularly liked a shot and wanted to 

recreate it down the line I had a record of how it 

was before. 

WHAT EQUIPMENT ARE YOU USING? 

The camera that I took the main shot with, the one 

shown in the picture above, is the Canon EOS M (the 

original), with a Canon EF-M 11-22mm lens, and a 

standard CPL filter (which wouldn’t have made any 

difference facing the sun). That camera was mounted 

on a Pedco Ultrapod. I took the photo of the setup 

with my Canon EOS M3 with a Canon EF-M 18-55 mm 

lens. 

WHAT’S HAPPENING BEHIND THE CAMERA 

THAT WE CAN’T SEE? 

I’m praying that the camera doesn’t decide it wants 

to be a submarine! There is also a little offshoot arm of 

the river which comes behind me so I was trying not to 

get wet feet either. No one else was around, so it was 

very peaceful! After taking a few photos like this, I just 

stood and admired the beautiful colours of the sunset. 

HOW MUCH POST-PROCESSING DID YOU DO? 

I shoot almost all my photos in RAW, but nothing too 

major was done to the image. I did some small tweaks 

in Adobe Lightroom, mainly with the contract and 

brightness to lift the blacks (rocks and camera) up so 

they weren’t completely black and toned down the 

intensity of the sunset. I upped the vibrancy by about 

20% then toned down the saturation by 5%. 

The main photo (previous page) is an HDR made 

up of 5 photos shot at varying shutter speeds from 5 

seconds to 1/400 seconds. The 5 photos were meshed 

together in Adobe Lightroom with contrast, brightness, 

saturation, vibrancy, clarity, and HSL modifications 

made. 

IF YOU COULD RE-SHOOT THIS WHAT WOULD 

YOU DO DIFFERENTLY? 

For the main camera, I would have loved to put an 

ND filter on to get a longer shutter speed to really blur 

the river more. A bigger sturdier tripod would have 

made me a lot less nervous too! As for the photo of 

the camera, I probably would have taken more time 

in actually setting up the shot. It was more of a point 

and shoot job than anything else! 

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE? 

I am ‘borrowing’ my dads original Canon EOS 5, 

35mm film camera at the moment which is amazing 

fun. Having to think about each shot (rather than 

knowing then and there what the photo is like and 

adjusting the settings accordingly) has helped me 

become a better photographer. 

www.pinterest.nz/georgevanhout 

www.instagram.com/landdownunder_nz 


35

DISCOVERING A WINTER 

WONDERLAND 

by Brendon Gilchrist 

Cold nights, no lights, shivering in your 

boots? Photography shouldn't stop 

even in the coldest of winter days. It 

provides opportunities that should be 

embraced into a new creative vision to capture 

unique vistas that the other 3 seasons do not offer 

and when winter photography is combined with 

mountaineering it's a whole new ball game! 

Mountaineering is an activity that few people 

experience or even understand, but for those 

who do, including myself and my good mate 

Justin, they are rewarded with some of the most 

spectacular views in some of the most challenging 

of conditions. 

On this excursion myself and Justin travelled from 

Christchurch to Arthur's pass so that we could 

climb a peak before heading back to Christchurch 

again, all in the same day. You'll be asking are you 

mad? The answer is yes, a little! But why not?! You 

only have one life with few opportunities to push 


F16,1/160s, ISO125 

your own limits and have the ultimate reward. As 

we leave the house at midnight the night is clear, 

the city is still alive but we soon find our way to 

open fields driving towards the cold and beautiful 

mountains. By 3am we have arrived in Arthurs Pass 

Village where our climb begins. We wait a few 

moments to try and wake up for what is about to 

happen... It's not easy but we get out of the car 

and get ready for our climb up Mount Bealey. 

Boots on, hat on, head torch at the ready, lock the 

car, we are good to go! 

It doesn’t take long for us to become too hot in 

what we are wearing as the track is steep with a 

bit of climbing involved but we'll be grateful for the 

layers later. We stop to take a few breathers but 

our goal is to be out of the bush and in the snow by 

sunrise - A decent 3 hour walk and climb through 

the bush in the dark is ahead of us. 

Emerging from the bush is always special, to get up 

and out onto the tops, to see the glow of morning 

slowly coming through and to think about what 

you will see and capture. The sunrise this morning 

was spectacular with a pink band of cloud over 

Mount Rolleston, layers of clouds in the valleys – A 

sight that I will never forget. 

This climb is my first time climbing something steep 

with no ropes (not that I climb with ropes) and 

there are a few sections where I feel out of my 

comfort zone. This is the day I learnt to trust my 

gear... I didn’t have my crampons on but I felt 

confident in my boots and ice axe placements. As 

we kept ascending, admiring the view along the 

way, the climb became a little easier towards the 

top. 


37

F2.8,1/60s, ISO125 

Photographing while climbing mountains is hard 

as you have no set location, no particular place 

that you know is there if an opportunity for a photo 

happens it happens and if there something good 

to put in the foreground that is great. I’m always 

last up because my camera gear is heavy, but 

its worth it, I need it to be able to record these 

moments and tell these stories. 

When I reach the top I walk along the summit to 

the big cairns, take off my pack off admire the 

view. We spent 30 minutes on the summit after a 

good solid 4 to 5 hours climbing. Now there's just 

time for a quick bite to eat of almost frozen bread 

(but at this point any food is good food) before we 

make the 4 hour descent. 

Going down I see new compositions that I did not 

see on the way up. Everything looks different going 

this way now that it's light and I see many missed 

opportunities that are really photogenic. I will have 

to go back to capture some epic selfies! 

Once back at the car we celebrate, we did it! 

We are happy, tired and sore, but one thing is 

for certain, we must get to the Sheffield Pie Shop 

before it shuts! It's become almost a tradition with 

us; climb during the early hours, get back down 

and out, and then rush to the pie shop before it 

shuts! 

I hope my story has inspired you. Winter is not a 

time to hide from the cold. I urge you to dress up 

warm and go and discover something new. Be 

prepared to get cold but also be prepared to be 

rewarded, preferably with a companion so you 

can keep safe together. The epic snow days are 

near and are waiting for you to capture new and 

exciting images to show the world how stunning 

this planet is, particularly our corner of New 

Zealand. 


Wow us with your shots of the Wanaka Tree! 

The Wanaka Tree is arguably the most popular tree in New Zealand – almost everyone has at least one shot of 

it. We can't begin to tell you how many times we come across a photo of this tree in readers submissions so 

we decided to use it as a competition theme! We're excited to see how each image of the same subject shows 

off each photographers style and creativity. 

Show us what you have and be in to win a 64GB memory card for your camera! 

Competition runs 1 -20 May 2018 

See full T&Cs and submit your best photo using the link: www.excio.io/wanaka 

(Please note: for general readers' submissions please use www.excio.io/nzpsubmit) 


39

EXPERT CRITIQUE 

Craig McGhie 

GLENORCHY PILES 

Photo of old wharf piles just off the road on the way 

between Queenstown and Glenorchy. 

SHAUN BARNETT’S COMMENTS 

This shot has considerable merits. The slow 

shutter speed has created a pleasing softness 

to the water, while still retaining the blue. 

The tree framing the image on the right 

gives the scene an intimacy that it might 

have otherwise lacked. Perhaps the only 

improvements I can suggest are a slightly 

different composition. There is a triangle of thin 

dark branches in the foreground, which are a 

little distracting – I would have removed these 

before taking the picture, or recomposed to 

avoid them. Lastly, I felt that a better angle 

on the wharf piles might have been possible 

to separate them. Overall though, a shot with 

plenty of atmosphere, nicely processed and 

with care put into the composition. 

BRENDON GILCHRIST’S COMMENTS: 

In this image, everything looks really 

good from the dusting of snow on 

the mountains to the autumn leaves 

on the tree and shore. I feel that the 

old jetty is leading out of the image 

though, my eye is lead out to the left 

rather than drawn into the image. If 

the jetty was more centered it would 

improve the composition. The long 

exposure works well, it has blurred the 

waves and created a moody image – 

Overall, I like what I see. 


PORTFOLIO 

BEST READERS' SUBMISSIONS THIS MONTH 


41

LAVENDER BUMBLEBEE 

F11, 1/500s, ISO400, 100mm 

Taken at a visit to the Lavender farm in Wanaka. 

Annemarie Clinton 


CASCADE EVENING FLOW 

F20, 5s, ISO80, 26mm 

Timing was everything as I captured this image at sunset just before total cloud 

cover. It was made more difficult by the gusting 100km/h winds and trying to 

keep the camera steady and dry while water was spraying everywhere. 

Peter Ambrose 


43


COTTON CANDY MOUNT MAUNGANUI SUNRISE 

F18, 6s, ISO50, 20mm 

I climbed up the Mount in the dark with a torch hoping for a 

good sunrise. This cotton candy sunrise was the result! 

Annemarie Clinton 

May 2018 45


ROCK POOL SCARBOROUGH 

F22, 2s, ISO100 

I love what I call "10mm skies". The patterns of the clouds just cry out for the use of a wide angle lens. 

It enhances the image to have a strong foreground too, in this case the red rock in a natural pool of 

water. I have been asked a number of times.... but no, I did not place the rock there, it was perfectly 

natural. I have been back to the spot many times and never seen it in that location since. It is fairly light 

aerated volcanic rock and would easily have been dislodged by wave action. 

Jim Harding 


47


RANGITOTO DAWN 

F20, 20s, ISO100 

A beautiful calm pre-sunrise moment looking out across the Hauraki Gulf to Rangitoto Island. The sky 

patterns just call out for a wide angle lens, my favourite Sigma 10-20mm. A slow shutter speed was used 

to enhance and add interest to the foreground. 

Jim Harding 


49

SOLITUDE 

F20, 20s, ISO100 

A early morning venture from Plateau Hutt to capture the soft tones at blue hour before sunrise. It was so 

quiet and peaceful up there. Not much sleep that night as we ventured out all night and early morning 

with our crampons and camera to capture the magnificence from the east face of Aoraki/Mt Cook. 

Peter Ambrose 



51

MANA MANA 

F11, 30s, ISO100, 18mm 

Sunset from Plimmerton Beach over Mana Island, capturing the dramatic sunsets that occur behind the 

Island along with the top of the South Island in the background. 

Peter Ambrose 



53

TE ANAU WHARF 

F16, 6s, 24mm 

Playing with my new 10 stop Nisi Filter watching the weather 

changing over the South Fiord on Lake Te Anau. 

Chris Watson 



55

MAVORA WILDERNESS 

F9.5, 1/350s ISO320, 24mm 

Recent camping trip to Mavora Lakes and a day walk up the Campbells Saddle with stunning views 

out over the lake on the way back down the mountain. 

Chris Watson 



57

TARAWERA FALLS 

F6.3, 0.8s, 19mm 

A midday walk up to the 

Tarawera falls. They are beautiful. 

Jason Mills 


GREAT GREY OWL 

F8, 1/500s, ISO3200 

This magnificent bird was resting near Lower Yellowstone Falls and presented itself in all of its 

glory to the happy photographer. The size and beauty of this Great Grey Owl is jaw-droppingly 

impressive, especially since it's a rarely seen bird in Yellowstone National Park. 

Bernd Kupka 


59

OLD WHARF AT TOKAANU 

F16, 30s, ISO100 

The impressively long, old wharf at Tokaanu, Lake Taupo. The wharf makes a great subject 

complemented by beautiful background scenery. The use of a 10 stop ND filter has smoothed the 

choppy windblown lake water and introduced some cloud movement. 

Dominic Scott 



61

DANCING IN THE SUNLIGHT 

F2.8, 1/8000s, ISO160, 35mm 

Dancing at golden hour in summertime. 

Victoria Stoeva 



63

HUNTINGTON BEACH 

F5.6, 30s 

First light and surfers beginning to go. 

Chick Piper 



65

SLOUGH CREEK 

F8, 1/50s, ISO100, 29mm 

A panorama of Slough Creek in Fall colours. 

Yellowstone National Park, USA 

Bernd Kupka 



67

BALD EAGLE 

F8, 1/5000s, ISO400, 800mm 

A Bald Eagle taking off above Madison River. 


Bernd Kupka 



69

WHITE TREES 

F8, 1/160s, ISO100, 16mm 

Canary Springs tree covered in frost. 


Bernd Kupka 


LANDING APPROACH 

F4.5, ISO6400, 1/2000s 

A Starling in flight approaching a feeding platform at speed. 

Eric Pollock 


71

CHLOE-ROSE 

F6.3, ISO200, 19mm 

An image from a body of work entitled 'Not Just Tea and Scones', documenting working rural women 

in New Zealand 2017. This photograph formed part of my 4th year BFA end-of-year submission. 

Nicola Thorne 



73

FLOATING MISTRESS 

F4, ISO100, 11mm 

I have always been fascinated with the photographs which appear to show people floating. I tried 

this out with my fiance this weekend after learning about the technique to take these types of photos. 

George van Hout 


OUT OF THE MIST THEY CAME 

F7.1, ISO200, 1/100s 

While walking down our country road I spotted these two white horses, it was early morning and lots 

of mist about. 

Noel Herman 


75

DARK V LIGHT 

F4, ISO800, 11mm 

The cloud during sunrise abruptly stopped over our house, creating this night versus day scenario. 

George van Hout 



77

WAITAWA 

1/250s, ISO100 

Waitawa Regional Park at its best on a stunning Autumn day. We had visitors from out of town and this 

was a must see on our tourist trail. 

Diane Beguely 



79

MCLEANS FALLS 

F4, 3s, ISO100 

Lower section of McLeans Falls, Catlins. 

Dominic Stove 



81

PURAKAUNUI FALLS 

F14, 6s, ISO100 

One of waterfalls we visited while in the Catlins over Easter. Probably the easiest to get to! 

Dominic Stove 



83

THROUGH THE OLIVE GROVE 

F10, ISO200 

The sun setting looking through the olive grove in Cornwall Park. 

Steve Harper 



85

STARING YOU DOWN 

F6.3, 1/640s, ISO1000, 400mm 

Portrait of Piwakawaka 

Steve Harper 



87

CHASE THE MOON 

F8, 8s, ISO1600, 28mm 

Post sunset evening shot of the setting moon with sheep. 

Steve Harper 



89

GETTING TO KNOW YOU 

F8, 1/500s, ISO200, 24mm 

In the pasture with some interested young heifers. 

Steve Harper 



91

BLUE HOUR 

F13, 1/400s, ISO200, 21mm 

Raglan from up on the hills. One of my favourite places for shooting seascapes. 

Emanuel Maisel 



93

RUAPEHU 

F8, 1/13s, ISO100, 18mm 

This was shot from pov Desert Road - One of those moments where every angle makes a perfect scene. 




95


A LAKE IN INFRARED 

F3.5, 1/125s, ISO80, 4mm 

This was taken on the top path overlooking the thermal lake near Rotorua. The filter used 

here was a 680nm which falls just under 720nm for perfect infrared spectrum. 



97

GOLDEN VALLEY 

F8, 1/160s, ISO100, 55mm 

Shot across the valley towards Mount Ruapehu. It was raining and for a moment the sun 

gave a sideglance from the right. 




99

DARN HE MOVED 

F6.3, 15s, ISO1250 

Some friends and I exploring underground for photography, 

not an easy task with mud, water and darkness. 

Noel Herman 



101

THE TOOL SHED 

F4.2, 1/200s 

This photo was taken on a property that had so much old "junk" on it it was hard to know 

what to photograph next! I went with a group from our local photographic group which 

is newly formed and this was our first outing together. This was a tool shed that was well 

and truly overstocked, but had that lovely feel to it of having been well used. 

Faye Moorhouse 


PLACE OF WORSHIP 

F8, 1/100s, ISO100 

Raetihi, New Zealand 

Peter Kurdulija 


103

F8, 180s, ISO400 

PARTY CENTRAL 

New Year’s Eve was biting at my heels. Queenstown was the last place I wanted to be on December 31st. The 

Hills beckoned beyond the tinsel town, so I boarded the Skyline gondola for my escapade. 

Once past the Skyline Restaurant, punching through the thin veneer of amusement-park bliss and adrenaline 

junkie heaven, I followed the Ben Lomond Walkway into the shady pine forest. Short of the saddle, I decided 

to follow the subsidiary ridgeline back towards Lake Wakatipu. Traversing a sequence of rounded tussock 

tops and tip-toeing along a serrated spine of rock, I bravely erected my tiny tent near a precipice above Horn 

Creek. 

As 2017 faded into the past, I enjoyed my lofty seclusion, only a stone’s throw from the madding crowds below. 

Before the clock struck midnight, a cacophony of voices echoed off the hills… “10… 9… 8… 7…” An explosion 

of fireworks thundered up the gully, scaring the resident goat population half to death. 

“6… 5… 4… 3…” As I reflected on my compromised position, suspended between wilderness and the fleshpots 

of humanity, a dozen rockets climbed the sky above Wakatipu, illuminating the hillsides, dying on their descent 

back into darkness. “2… 1… 0…” Good morning, 2018! 

Soon the cacophony subsided, and I set my DSLR up on my trusty tripod. Being alone, I had to shoot the first 

image of the scene while I painted the foreground with my head torch. I then activated my intervalometer to 

fire the second shot while I was inside my tiny tent, illuminating the interior. 

Ray Salisbury 


F11, 30s, ISO100 

LAST MAN STANDING 

Queenstown is arguably the most picturesque place for landscape photographers. But great shots don't usually 

come without effort and a bit of prior planning. 

To gain this premium viewpoint above the city, most folks pay for the gondola, but not me. I trudged for 45 

minutes up a very steep 4WD road to the Skyline Restaurant, and secured my spot on the balcony before I was 

surrounded by phone-toting tourists. So I could pre-focus my DSLR - before night fell, making this difficult. 

Eventually, the winter cold froze my companions, who retreated to the comfort of the restaurant, and caught 

the final gondola ride back to their hotels. I was literally, the last man standing. 

Alone, I experimented with different shutter speeds to get the perfect long exposure of light trails from moving 

vehicles, far, far below. I was about to give up, when the clouds lifted, allowing the moon to light the snow on 

The Remarkables, effectively brightening the background. I was delighted, and began my descent on foot, by 

moonlight, as my headlamp had bat flatteries. 

Ray Salisbury 


105

TONIGHT, THERE WAS A SUNSET WORTH WAITING FOR 

F9, 1/200s, ISO100 

Owhiro Bay, Wellington 



Follow Peter's collections on Excio 


GLENORCHY FROM KINLOCH 

F10, 1/125s, ISO125 

Kinloch, Otago, New Zealand 





BREAKFAST POSSIE 

F11, 1/500s, ISO250 

Canterbury, New Zealand 





THIKSEY GOMPA 

F18, 250s, ISO100 

12 storeys perched atop a hill at 3,600m. This is Thiksey Gompa, the Tibetan yellow hat 

sect largest monastery in central Ladakh, India. It houses many items of Buddhist art i.e 

stupas, statues, thangkas, wall paintings, and swords. 

Susan Blick 



113

ARATERE HEADING INTO WELLINGTON 

F11, 1/500s 

A shot of Aratere heading into Wellington Harbour from Island Bay. A pretty overcast day 

and the distant low clouds and the rocks in the foreground adds to the composition. 

Peter Maiden 




IF YOU FIND YOURSELF 

STUCK IN DARKNESS, 

THE FIRST THING TO 

DO IS FIND AND START 

CAPTURING THE LIGHT. 

BRYCE EVANS

NZPhotographer Issue 7, May 2018

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