NZPhotographer Issue 23, September 2019

Brought to you by 

ISSUE 23, September 2019 

INTERVIEW WITH 

FAIRLIE ATKINSON 

SHOOTING SHARP 

LANDSCAPES 

BY RICHARD YOUNG 

HOW TO CRITIQUE 

YOUR OWN PHOTOS 

BY SAMUEL OGUNLAJA 

IMAGINE AUCKLAND PEOPLE’S 

CHOICE AWARD WINNER 

September 2019 

1

WELCOME TO ISSUE 23 OF 

NZ PHOTOGRAPHER MAGAZINE 

HELLO EVERYONE, 

This edition of NZP puts the focus 

on learning, experimenting, and 

growing as a photographer whilst 

also introducing the topic of why 

and how photography should 

be encouraged in the younger 

generation. 

In our interview, photography 

teacher Fairlie Atkinson takes us 

under her wing to share her bird 

photography and also explains 

her teaching methods and the 

importance of the Arts in education. 

We also get to see what some of 

her photography students at Kapiti 

College have been working on and 

how photography is showing up in 

their everyday lives. 

From young adults to young kids, 

Ana shares her thoughts and tips on 

introducing photography to kids at a 

young age, as soon as they're able 

to hold a phone or camera. She 

explains how photography can help 

children improve their concentration 

whilst also developing a skill that is often overlooked; the art of seeing. 

Don't have kids or maybe they've already flown the nest? Don't worry, we have 

plenty of articles to teach and inspire your photographic journey too! Richard's 

article gives in-depth detail on shooting sharp landscapes and, instead of an 

Expert Critique session this month, Sam is going to teach you how to critique your 

own photos – A vital step that must be completed before sending your images out 

into the big wide world to be critiqued by others. 

Last but never least, we've greatly enjoyed looking through your own 

experimentations in readers' submissions learning how you've been pushing out of 

your own comfort zones with long exposures, double exposures, and more. 

Emily Goodwin 

Editor NZ Photographer 

General Info: 

NZPhotographer Issue 23 


Cover Photo 

Falcon Profile taken at Wingspan 

National Bird of Prey Centre 

by Fairlie Atkinson 

Publisher: 

Excio Group 

Website: 

www.excio.io/nzphotographer 

Group Director: 

Ana Lyubich 

Editor: 

Emily Goodwin 

Graphic Design: 

Maksim Topyrkin 

Advertising Enquiries: 

Email hello@excio.io 

2 NZPhotographer

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS 

Brendon Gilchrist 

Brendon is the man 

behind ESB Photography. 

He is an avid tramper 

who treks from sea to 

mountain, and back 

again, capturing the 

uniqueness of New 

Zealand’s unforgiving 

landscape. 

Ana Lyubich 

Co-founder of Excio, Ana's 

photography journey 

started many years ago 

with one of the first Kodak 

film cameras. She loves 

exploring the unseen 

macro world and capturing 

genuine people's emotions. 

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. 

nzphotographer nzp_magazine nzp@excio.io 

© 2019 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. 


3

CONTENTS 

IMAGINE AUCKLAND PEOPLE’S CHOICE 

AWARD WINNER: TINA MACRAE 

6 

INTERVIEW 

WITH FAIRLIE ATKINSON 

6 

8 

12 

22 

BEHIND THE SHOT 

with Kelly Vivian 

INTERVIEW WITH FAIRLIE ATKINSON 

THE UP AND COMING TALENT 

FROM KAPITI COLLEGE 

30 #WOMENINPHOTOGRAPHY 

GETTING TO KNOW CHARLOTTE E JOHNSON 

38 

42 

48 

55 

IMAGINE AUCKLAND PEOPLE’S CHOICE 

AWARD WINNER: TINA MACRAE 

THE ROUTEBURN TRACK 

by Brendon Gilchrist 

ENCOURAGING OUR CHILDREN TO BECOME 

PHOTOGRAPHERS FROM A YOUNG AGE 

by Ana Lyubich 

SHOOTING SHARP LANDSCAPES 

by Richard Young 

HOW TO CRITIQUE YOUR OWN PHOTOS 

by Samuel Ogunlaja 

12 

SHOOTING SHARP LANDSCAPES 

BY RICHARD YOUNG 

8 

BEHIND THE SHOT 

WITH KELLY VIVIAN 

48

Imagine Auckland People’s Choice 

Award Winner: Tina Macrae 

MURIWAI GOLD 

F10, 1/125s, ISO125 

HI TINA, TELL US ABOUT YOU… 

I have been very fortunate to live in the 

beautiful Whitianga on the Coromandel 

Peninsula for the last 22years with my partner 

Mark and our two gorgeous boys (or I should 

say young men) plus two cats, and Badger 

our Lab/foxy cross rescue dog. I’m passionate 

about native plants and gardening, food, 

travel, and photography. 

WHAT’S YOUR CONNECTION WITH 

AUCKLAND? 

I was raised in West Auckland and lived in Te 

Atatu South. I attended the local school’s, 

finishing my education at Rutherford High so 

west coast beaches were my local stomping 

ground.

HOW AND WHEN DID YOU GET STARTED 

WITH PHOTOGRAPHY? 

My Grandfather and Aunty have always been 

avid photographers and my Mum was always 

taking family snaps but it was my art teacher 

(Gary Shuker at Rutherford High) who taught 

me the fundamentals of photography like 

form, composition, lighting, and developing 

black and white film. 

Later on, when I had a family of my own, 

I was always taking family snaps but started 

stretching my skills by taking landscape and 

macro shots. 

Wanting to improve and learn, I joined a local 

camera group called Focus Photography in 

2016 which then merged with the Whitianga 

Camera Club in 2018. We have some amazing 

accomplished photographers within the club 

who are happy and willing to share their 

time and knowledge with monthly workshops 

covering topics includiing astro, portraits, and 

long exposure. 

HOW DO YOU PUSH YOURSELF TO 

IMPROVE AND TRY NEW THINGS? 

With the monthly challenges from the 

Whitianga Camera Club, I have been pushed 

outside of my comfort zone, exploring new 

techniques and styles of photography. Who 

knew that I would enjoy astrophotography 

and wandering around at 4am trying to take 

photos of the Eta Aquarids meteor shower 

back in May (and yes did manage to capture 

a couple)! 

WHAT CAMERA DO YOU HAVE? 

Currently, I’m shooting with a Canon 

Powershot G3 x which is a bridge style 

camera. While it does have some restrictions, 

at the moment it suits me fine as it’s ideal for 

travelling – I don’t have to worry about having 

the right lens with me (it has an incredible long 

range zoom) and it’s able to perform most 

tasks a DSLR can. 

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE GENRE OR 

PREFER A CERTAIN STYLE? 

As yet I don’t have a preferred genre as such 

but I do tend to take more landscape and 

nature photographs. However, I am interested 

in developing my skills in street photography. 

TELL US ABOUT THE DAY YOU TOOK THIS 

WINNING SHOT… 

We were fortunate enough to be staying 

at the family bach at Muriwai which is 

a quintessential kiwi bach from the 60’s. 

I decided to hit the beach for a long walk 

with my camera on a stunning June afternoon 

as the tide was dropping. My idea was to 

work on capturing people on the beach in a 

more abstract way. The light was incredibly 

beautiful. As I was leaving the beach 

I climbed the sand dunes behind the surf 

club watchtower to capture the sunset and 

silhouette of the tower and was rewarded 

with a glorious golden sunset where the sky, 

sea, and sand were ablaze. It wasn’t really a 

planned shot but one I thought summarized 

Auckland’s west coast. 

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE PHOTO? IS 

THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULD HAVE 

LIKED TO HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY? 

I like the effect and colour of the image as it 

was on the day but I should have used a filter 

so the sun wasn’t as glaring but alas, I didn’t 

have them with me. 

HOW DID IT FEEL FINDING OUT THAT 

YOUR PHOTO HAD WON THE PEOPLE’S 

CHOICE AWARD? 

To be honest I was surprised but totally thrilled 

at the same time as there were some amazing 

images in the competition. 

HAS WINNING PEOPLE’S CHOICE 

GIVEN YOU A SENSE OF NEW FOUND 

CONFIDENCE? 

Actually, it really has. I guess I have always 

been my own worst enemy with self doubt but 

this is my second win of the year as I also had 

a photo shortlisted in the still life category of 

the Sigma amateur photographer of the year 

competition. 

DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS OR ADVICE FOR 

FELLOW PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO MAY 

BE HESITANT ABOUT SUBMITTING THEIR 

WORK TO COMPETITIONS? 

Don’t stop learning and keep trying and 

experimenting with different genres, ideas, and 

techniques. For those just starting out, get off 

Auto mode and start using Manual – Have fun! 

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE? 

Nowhere yet as my photography has just been 

for me up until this point but who knows what 

the future may hold! 


7

Behind The Shot 

with Kelly Vivian 


O’HARE AIRPORT 

F5.6, 1/1200s, 18mm 

September 2019 9

KELLY, PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO US... 

I live on Auckland’s North Shore with my 17 year old 

son, Sebastian. I have a 19 year long history working 

within the hospitality and customer service industries 

and began my amateur photography journey in 2015 

when I bought my first DSLR, a Nikon D3300. 

I primarily bought a camera to take shots of my son 

on the basketball court and ended up doing multiple 

contracts for Basketball NZ after they saw some of 

my shots. I then diversified and began taking shots of 

almost everything I could to practice and get better 

at other styles of photography. 

Landscapes, wildlife, travel and long exposure 

photography are my favourites now. I still take sports 

photography shots, but they aren’t so much my focus 

anymore. 

WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING WITH? 

My current weapon of choice is the Nikon D500. I love 

the functionality and speed of the body, it’s not too 

heavy when shooting handheld and I find it produces 

such high-quality RAW images. 

I have three lenses, the first is a Tokina AT-X Pro, 

11-16mm, f/2.8 which I love for landscapes and, with 

my Hoya 10 stop ND filter and remote shutter control, 

long exposures. Then I have my Nikkor FS kit set lenses, 

18-55mm & 70-200mm which are great multi use lenses 

and finally my Tamron SP 70-300mm, f/4-5.6 which I use 

for wildlife photography. 

I use an extreme pro 256GB SanDisk memory card 

because of the super-fast processing, a Godox 

speedlight flash and a Joby Gorillapod as my tripod 

but am looking to get a larger tripod as a more stable 

base for my long exposures. I shoot exclusively in 

manual mode, but rarely do I take the ISO off auto, I 

just adjust the f stop and shutter speed. 

TELL US ABOUT YOUR O’HARE AIRPORT 

PHOTO... 

My son and I were travelling to North Carolina for him 

to trial for a college basketball team and we had to 

go from LAX to O’Hare then onto Greensboro in NC. 

This photo was taken during our stopover in O’Hare 

Airport in Chicago. 

Upon leaving the plane, we needed to move from 

one terminal to another and to get to the second 

terminal, we needed to go down a large steep 

staircase and along the travelator shown in the 

image. 

The lights along the roof changed colour and I was 

mesmerised by the sight. It was spectacular, and I 

couldn’t help myself but to get my camera out of my 

hand luggage and take a couple of shots. 

I opted to go down the most central lane heading 

the right way and take the shot, so the lines of the 

10 NZPhotographer 

handrails were as centred as possible. I had to avoid 

people coming up behind me and didn’t want to 

get in the way, so it was a super quick few shots fired, 

hoping that I’d got the shot. 

WHAT WAS HAPPENING BEHIND THE CAMERA? 

My son was super tired and less than impressed 

that I was holding him up from getting his breakfast 

because I was ‘taking more photos’ haha. 

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE PHOTO, WHAT DO 

YOU LIKE/DISLIKE ABOUT IT? 

I always liked this image, especially as it was taken on 

the fly, with no real planning or time to perfect it. The 

fact that the passengers in the photo are somewhat 

blurry initially annoyed me, but now I feel they tell 

a story of how rushed people can be at one of the 

largest airports in the United States and how they 

don’t take the time to stop and look around in such a 

busy place. 

I like to take photos free of people so I tried to take 

this with the least amount of people in the frame, 

but in retrospect, I quite like the silhouettes of weary 

travellers in the image and I think it adds to the 

aesthetic of the image as a whole. 

I don’t know if there is anything I could have done 

better, maybe got a different angle of the space 

from off the travelator with a more stable non-moving 

spot, but it just wasn’t going to happen with a hungry 

teenager hounding me haha. 

WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM TAKING THIS 

PHOTO? 

The main thing I learned from taking this image is to 

take chances, take opportunities to get the shot, 

regardless of what is happening around you, what 

people may think of you or where you are. The most 

challenging shot can often be the most rewarding. 


www.instagram.com/kells1photography 

www.facebook.com/kells1photography 

albums.excio.io/profile/KellsPhotography 

BEHIND THE SHOT IS PROUDLY 

SUPPORTED BY

FRESH SHOOTS 

PHOTO COMPETITION 

We’re inviting photographers to highlight all the wonderful things that make the Wellington 

Botanic Garden much more than a garden, while encouraging photographers to focus on 

the garden season by season. 

For prizes and full Terms & Conditions see: www.excio.io/freshshoots 

The last season of the competition is now open: 

Winter 

22 June - 20 September 2019 

CATEGORIES 

NATURE 

PEOPLE & 

EVENTS 

CREATIVE 

PARTNERS 


11

Interview with 

Fairlie Atkinson 

HI FAIRLIE, ALTHOUGH READERS WILL KNOW 

YOU FROM OUR BLOG INTERVIEW, WHY DON’T 

YOU GIVE US A RECAP?! 

I live in Kapiti and teach Photography and Design at 

Kapiti College. My partner Peter and I have four children 

(2 each) and we also have two exchange students 

living with us long term while they study at Kapiti College. 

Our life is pretty busy as we are doing up our home. That 

being said it is perfect for our large eclectic family. 

Since I teach photography, I am immersed in it all day 

with my students, time for my own photography during 

the school term is rare so I tend to do my own creative 

work on the weekends if it is a project I can involve my 

kids in, and during school holidays. 

My own photography passion is creating bird portraiture 

as a way of fundraising for local wildlife reserves and 

I donate my images of native New Zealand birds to 

wildlife and conservation organisations to use in their 

advertising and marketing to avoid them having to use 

their budgets to pay for this service. 

Aside from photography I love horse riding and teach 

horse riding after school one day a week. I enjoy 

reading crime novels, visiting nature reserves, bush 

walks, and travelling to new places. I love foreign food, 

learning languages and last but not least spending time 

with my eclectic family. 

TELL US MORE ABOUT HELPING CHARITIES 

WITH YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY, WHAT HAVE 

YOU DONE MOST RECENTLY? 

Most recently I was in Turangi and captured 

images of whio in the wild that I have donated to 

an organisation called Whio Forever. They partner 

with DoC to protect the whio, and photos of whio 

in their natural habitat are a wonderful indicator 

of their success. They can use my photos (if they 

wish) to showcase this success on social media 

or anywhere that might raise their profile. I also 

donate my images to Staglands and Nga Manu 

whenever I visit, and I have a series of images taken 

at Nga Manu, when I sell prints of these I donate a 

percentage to the Reserve. They do incredible work 

rehabilitating our native birds and I believe it is only 

fair to give back to the community that supports my 

photography. 

HOW AND WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO 

BECOME A PHOTOGRAPHY TEACHER? 

I have spent most of my career teaching at universities 

in Asia and the Middle East. My children were born 

in the Middle East but I wanted to raise them in New 

Zealand. Therefore, I returned to high school teaching 

in New Zealand in 2015 where I taught English and 

Technology. 

I had been given a DSLR camera that same year 

and started playing with it so by the time I moved to 

Kapiti in 2017 I had decided photography was what 

I wanted to teach. I enrolled in a level 5 diploma of 

photography with the Southern Institute of Technology 

and realised very quickly that I wanted to teach 

a creative subject that students took as an option 

rather than a core subject that students had to take. 

I was lucky that Tony Kane, the principal had faith 

that I could do this and I am in a supportive working 

environment. The Visual Arts teaching community 

is incredibly caring and share many resources and 

support new teachers to the subject very well. 

HOW DO YOU APPROACH THE TEACHING OF 

PHOTOGRAPHY? 

My approach is two-fold. First, I believe students need 

to experiment. The first thing I do for new students is 

to run a camera boot camp which is two weeks long. 

Each day we focus on something different like shutter 

speed or aperture etc. I give them challenges related 

to this, like take a photo that shows someone jumping 

in the air, with no blur. 



I also do things like getting them to build their own 

lightbox from white cardboard and photographing 

a cicada shell placed in the centre. In order to 

photograph the cicada well, they need to use their 

camera on manual. Once they have the camera 

basics right and know how to manipulate studio 

lighting, I encourage as much experimentation as 

possible. My catchphrase is “go play!” What I mean 

by this is go and play with the settings, lighting, subject 

matter, location. Experiment and see what evolves. 

Secondly, I believe ‘creative conversation’ is essential 

(either one on one with me or peer feedback) to the 

creative process for a student operating within the 

confines of NCEA. Asking the hard questions such as 

‘how much time did you devote to this? How does this 

image relate to your theme or the images around it? 

Who is your artist model? Where are you going with 

this and what’s next?’ gets students to look with a 

critical eye at their images. 

However, I very much believe that students need 

to follow their own creative journey so I tend to give 

them very loose themes like ‘Turangawaewae’, 

which they can interpret very literally or in an abstract 

manner. Many students create a photographic series 

based on their identity, or something they identify with. 

And because I am careful to work within their interests 

they tend to be more engaged in the process. 

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE THING TO TEACH IN 

THE CLASSROOM? 

The first couple of lessons in Photoshop! Students 

think they can magically transform a terrible photo 

in Photoshop but they find out very quickly that this 

isn’t the case at all. They also discover that a well shot 

image just needs some tweaking in Photoshop to look 

absolutely fantastic. Once they have mastered the 

tools, I love to see them getting creative and trying 

things like surrealism and pop art using their own 

photos. Some of their creations are weird, wonderful, 

and bizarre, but all of them are a creative journey. 

WHAT’S THE BEST PART OF BEING A 

PHOTOGRAPHY TEACHER? AND THE WORST?! 

The very best thing about this job is the immense 

satisfaction that comes when a student’s work is 

recognised or exhibited. To know that I was a small 

part of that creative journey is very satisfying and to 

have others appreciate the innovation and creativity 

of the teenage mind is wonderful. I also derive a great 

deal of personal inspiration from my students and from 

the creative conversations we have. They push me 

to get out of my comfort zone as a photographer. A 

direct result of this is that I have started dabbling in 

some surrealist photography of my own which you 

can see on the next page. My picture of the baby 

ruru was taken at Wingspan and then I went online 

and found a copyright free image of an eye and 

one of a steampunk style clock face. I then blended, 

painted, coloured, and smudged until I got an image 

I was happy with. It was my first attempt at surrealism 

and I still like it. 

The worst thing is that photography is underfunded, 

underappreciated, and undervalued in every high 

school. Therefore, we struggle to find funds for 

equipment and resources. It is also a subject that is not 

viewed as particularly academically rigorous by many 

in the community. This perception is completely false, 

and students have to work extremely hard to pass, 

and standards are very high. This is an issue for many 

optional subjects and subjects in the Arts and not just 

photography. 

WHAT CHALLENGES DO YOUR STUDENTS FACE 

AND HOW DO YOU/THEY OVERCOME THEM? 

The biggest challenge is coming up with an idea that 

will run across 2–3 NCEA boards. That’s anywhere 

between 40–60 photos that connect to each other, 

are based on various artist models, that fit into a 

theme, and that can provide enough variety to keep 

the marker interested. 

Students often say, “but Miss I don’t have any ideas.” 

That’s where the Internet, this magazine, Excio, 

Instagram, Pinterest, and the library come in! I ask 

students to explore photography by other people 

based on themes of interest to them. Once I know 

what they are interested in and what creative style 

they like I can recommend photographers that can 

be used as artist models so that students can learn 

from established practitioners. They can then develop 

their own interpretation of that style and work towards 

developing their own approach to their photography. 

Artist models are established practitioners in their 

field of art, whether that be painting, sculpture, 

photography etc. Our students are required to 

reference more than one artist and their style or 

techniques somewhere in their work. For example, if 

a student wants to shoot a photographic series and 

incorporate type into it they might use Barbara Kruger 

as an artist model and shoot their images in black and 

white and use red and black type. The images and 

message will be unique to them but will be influenced 

by the artist model's style. 

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON 

PHOTOGRAPHY (AND THE ARTS AS A WHOLE) 

IN THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM? 

They are absolutely necessary. Not every kid can 

read and write well, and not every kid is musical, 

mathematical, or sporty. Not every child likes science. 

So what’s left? We as a society need to nurture 

creative pursuits. They inspire others, and push us to try 

new things. When a student leaves school, employers 

are increasingly looking for adaptable, creative, and 

conscientious people. The Arts does a very good job 

of preparing our young people to think creatively and 

solve problems with the tools in front of them. If the 

Arts are removed from a curriculum, so is creativity in 

its purest form.





HOW DO YOU EDUCATE YOURSELF SO YOU 

CAN BETTER HELP YOUR STUDENTS? 

I look a lot at student work and talk to them about their 

interests. I then go online and see what other artists and 

photographers may have done in that field and how 

they have done it. I spend a lot of time on online forums, 

watching tutorials, or exploring different genres in order 

to better help my students. Essentially, I am constantly 

learning alongside them. 

I find it pointless to teach the same thing to everyone. 

Last year a student said she loved the work of Prue 

Stent and Masie Cousins so I went online and explored 

their work and their techniques with that student. We 

experimented making coloured cornflour paste, and 

Googled the ingredients for a milk bath so she could do 

a shoot at home. We bought glitter, and slime and found 

out how hard it is to clean it up after you have taken 

photos with it and that the glitter keeps reappearing 

weeks, even months later. It’s about learning, and 

experimenting together. This year when a student asked 

me about those two photographers, I was ready with 

answers! 

When you train to be a teacher, or train within your 

subject matter, it doesn’t mean you now know 

everything. You can learn as much from your students as 

they can learn from you if you choose to. 

TELL US HOW YOUR SCHOOL HAS TEAMED UP 

WITH EXCIO TO SHOWCASE STUDENTS’ WORK… 

It started with me leaving a comment on one of the 

NZPhotographer Magazine posts on Facebook that 

asked what we, as a community, wanted to see 

in the magazine. I was tired of seeing all the posts 

of landscapes and what I felt was the same style 

of photography again and again posted by the 

photographic community. I felt that it excluded the 

creativity and talent of our younger generation. 

I use this magazine as a teaching tool, and I wanted 

to see the magazine evolve and attract a younger 

generation of reader – I think this is definitely happening 

lately, which is awesome. Ana and I began talking 

about my feature on the Excio blog and I asked her 

if we could have an Excio account for the school as 

the photography the students do is fantastic, and a 

bit different from what we normally see showcased in 

photography magazines and in social media. 

She was immediately supportive and when she came 

to talk to our students she was so inspirational. She 

essentially voiced the message that I have been trying to 

get across to our students about photography telling the 

students that photography does not have to be about 

the ‘likes’, the ‘followers’ and the ‘influencers’, but it can 

be about doing good and communicating a message 

for change or just sharing a beautiful moment. I feel very 

grateful to have had someone like Ana in my classroom 

living those words with her work with Excio and NZP as 

an example of how a photographic community can be 

based on something other than the pursuit of fame and 

money. 

At the moment we have around 8 students on Excio with 

1–3 photos per student, but are in the process of adding 

more. What we are trying to do is showcase a variety of 

images from our students so users of the app can see 

how varied our students’ talents and interests are. I have 

put together a student team to help me administer the 

school collections so we can showcase as many as 

120 photos at a time. It’s very exciting for us, and gives 

students the motivation to strive hard to be innovative 

and creative because, in the end, it is those images that 

have the most impact and those are the ones we want 

to show. Photography as a subject is only growing at 

Kapiti College, and with our partnership with Excio it will 

only attract more students keen to be appreciated for 

the innovators and artists that they are. 

HOW DO YOU THINK PHOTOGRAPHY BENEFITS 

KIDS AS A WHOLE? 

Photography has something for kids who think and see 

things differently. Maybe they can’t draw or play a 

musical instrument but are still creative. Imagine a world 

without creative people, without photography, art and 

music, it would be a very grey world. Children paint, sing, 

and dance before they read, write, and calculate. It’s 

their way of communicating, and essentially that is what 

art is in its purest form; a vehicle for personal expression. 

Photography facilitates creativity, personal expression, 

communication, and changes the way kids look at the 

world. Once you begin to be able to communicate a 

message with an image, you start seeing the potential for 

photos, and for communication everywhere. Remember, 

we are a society made of kids whose first instinct is to 

imagine, create and explore. Why can’t we continue this 

into adulthood? 


19


WHAT ADVICE DO YOU GIVE YOUR STUDENTS 

WHO WANT TO MAKE A CAREER OUT OF 

PHOTOGRAPHY? 

If this is your dream then go for it. If it’s the only thing they 

want to do then why not? Photographers are employed 

by the Armed Forces, the police, hospitals, regional 

councils, real-estate firms, government departments and 

by publishing groups. 

Many students talk to me about their fear of financial 

insecurity that comes with choosing a job in the Arts. This 

is indeed valid, as photography has become very much 

a contract business. I think there are ways and means of 

making money from doing what you love though, without 

money being the primary objective. 

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON GETTING A 

FORMAL EDUCATION IN PHOTOGRAPHY VERSUS 

TEACHING YOURSELF WHEN THE AIM IS TO MAKE 

PHOTOGRAPHY INTO A CAREER? 

I taught myself everything from Youtube, the Internet and 

by just playing with my camera. I think a formal education 

will help you if your employer is one that requires it and 

that’s the direction you want to go in but honestly, what 

I gained from a formal education in photography is the 

qualification, not the skills themselves. 

Saying that, not everyone learns the same way and many 

people like the structure of lessons and being told what 

to try and in what direction to move before they try the 

practical skills out. I prefer to learn by doing. I see in my 

classroom kids who want me to actively show them every 

tool and how it works in Photoshop and other kids who just 

want to dive in and click everything and see how it works. 

To be honest, the kids who dive in seem to learn the tools 

more quickly because they are not afraid of making a 

mistake but that’s not to say that one approach is better 

than the other. 

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE OUR READERS 

FOR CHOOSING A PHOTOGRAPHY COURSE? 

Consider what purpose it will serve. If you need a 

qualification for a job then by all means go and get it. 

Remember, at its core, photography is a practical art form 

so make sure you choose a course where there is room to 

practice and hone your practical skills, and not just write, 

or reflect on, or critique work. 

Critique is valuable, but courses seem to want to add a 

fair amount of peer critique in them to make them feel 

more ‘academic.’ I, myself, found little value in mandatory 

critique. Voluntary, on the other hand, has a great deal of 

value and leads to a more authentic learning experience. 

I actually love the photo critique section in the magazine 

and on the blog but what we have to keep in mind is that 

one person’s idea of a good photo is not someone else’s. 

ANY WORDS OF WISDOM TO LEAVE US WITH? 

Learning is a lifelong pursuit. Art is personal and art 

critique is subjective. In a nutshell, do what you love, keep 

learning, and trying new things. Go and play with your 

camera as often as you can! 


albums.excio.io/profile/Fairlie Atkinson 

facebook.com/kapitiphotography 


21

The Up and Coming Talent from Kapiti College 

We’ve heard Fairlie talk about teaching, now let’s switch sides and hear about 

the creative/photographic journey that some of her students are on as we see the 

projects they’ve completed. 

aesthetic. My style of photography is quirky, girly 

aesthetics. I love both trying to communicate a 

message through photography in a creative way, 

and also just experimenting with random meaningless 

ideas. I find photography a way to express my 

creativity and art, using props and settings to create 

an image no one else will have seen. 

CAN YOU CHOOSE A FAVOURITE PHOTO OR 

PROJECT? 

These photos are a series of four demonstrating a 

progressing heart. The first photo is just a sparkler by 

itself, the second a 1/4 heart, the third a 3/4 heart, 

and the fourth a full heart. I created these images by 

using sparklers to draw a heart shape. I adjusted the 

settings manually to a low shutter speed, the lowest 

for the full heart as it took the longest to draw, and a 

short shutter speed for the still sparkler. The low shutter 

speed meant that I could draw the heart shape with 

the sparkler and the camera would capture the light 

trail, and dismiss the wire stick of the sparkler so that a 

heart outline was created with sparks flying off it. I also 

put a piece of pink cellophane over one studio light, 

and a blue piece to cover the other, this created an 

ombre background. 

NAME: MIETTA 

AGE: 17 

TELL US ABOUT YOUR JOURNEY WITH 

PHOTOGRAPHY SO FAR… 

I have always had a passion for taking aesthetic 

images, and an appreciation for beauty – Trying to 

capture the good in things or bring out the beauty. 

I have always loved taking photos however had never 

used a proper camera before, only using my phone. 

So this year is the first year I have actually taken 

photos on a DSLR. I struggled at the beginning to 

figure out how to adjust and manipulate the settings 

however, for every photo shoot I did, I played around 

with the manual settings a lot until I got it right. 

WHAT’S YOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC STYLE? 

I just love experimenting with props and camera 

settings to create images that hold a beautiful 

WHAT CHALLENGES YOU MOST IN CLASS? 

HOW DO YOU/DID YOU OVERCOME THAT? 

I sometimes struggle to come up with ideas, or plan 

a series of shoots. I usually overcome this by finding 

inspiration from Pinterest, or just coming up with a 

simple idea. I then experiment a lot, so the basic idea 

expands and more ideas come flowing until I finally 

get the photo or idea I want. My best photos are the 

ones where I had no plan or a very rough plan, the 

photo created purely from experimentation. That is 

what I find fun in photography: experimenting heaps 

to get my creativity flowing. 

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR 

PHOTOGRAPHY BEING CHOSEN TO FEATURE 

ON THE KAPITI COLLEGE EXCIO ACCOUNT? 

When I heard that, I was really excited and proud! To 

be honest, when I first started the subject at school, 

I didn’t think I would be good at photography, I was 

kind of just messing around with some ideas and never 

really thought they would go anywhere.

September 2019 23

NAME: CHARLISE SEFO 

AGE: 16 

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO STUDY 

PHOTOGRAPHY? 

I’ve been interested in taking photos since I was 

younger. My cousin is a photographer and has 

travelled to Switzerland, his photos were a big 

inspiration for my love of photography and an 

introduction to quality photography. Watching the 

process of him taking the photos always looked like 

the hardest part but seeing the final outcome was 

always inspiring to me. My favourite thing about his 

photography was how he would always perfectly 

match the colours together, perfectly balancing the 

photo. This pushed me to study photography. 

WHY/HOW IS PHOTOGRAPHY IMPORTANT TO 

YOU? 

Photography is a way of expressing myself. A photo 

means a thousand words and tells a story or journey. 

It’s important to me because it’s my own way of 

writing a story, without the words. 

CAN YOU CHOOSE A FAVOURITE PHOTO? TELL 

US ABOUT IT… 

My favourite photo is what I call “Dream State”. The 

flower is a symbol of love with the blur on the side to 

hint that it’s a dream. With the blue overall, the neon 

colours pop more which allows specific things, the 

important hints, to be seen. I let the viewer wonder 

what it means. Is it a dream? Or a distant memory of 

what once was? That’s why it’s my favourite image, 

the wonder of the story behind it, is it an untold story or 

fearful dream? 


HOW DO YOU/DID YOU OVERCOME THAT? 

Having to use artist models can be very restrictive. My 

ideas are inspired by images that may not necessarily 

be done by famous photographers while the NCEA 

says we have to use them. I overcome this by looking

up a certain image or photographer and putting 

my own twist on it. I used Jochim Froese as one of 

my artist models on my first NCEA level 2 board and 

changed a few things to fit my aesthetic and the 

energy of my board. 

DO YOU HAVE PLANS TO PURSUE 

PHOTOGRAPHY AS A CAREER OPTION? 

I didn’t think that photography could be a career 

option for me till I was recognised – I have realized 

now that it could hopefully be a career path for me 

one day. It’s something I really enjoy and something 

I love to do. I love to show people what I see through 

my photos. To capture quality moments with friends 

and family. 




When I first heard I was being featured I was over the 

moon excited and told all my family and friends. It’s a 

massive honour and has made me more focused and 

given me the drive to try harder, to experiment more 

with the lights and the camera to create awesome 

and unique photos.

NAME: LUCAS REID 

AGE: 18 

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO STUDY 

PHOTOGRAPHY? 

I wanted to do a fun and creative subject. I didn’t 

want to choose a subject where you are restricted 

to exams and study – I wanted to do something 

more relaxed and be creative in a fun classroom 

atmosphere. I enjoyed the class in year 12 so I ended 

up taking a double line of it in year 13. 

WHY/HOW IS PHOTOGRAPHY IMPORTANT TO 

YOU? 

To be honest, photography is not part of my career 

plan, but it is part of my creative outlet. Life is busy 

with work and school, and there is not much time to 

just take time to enjoy creating something – This is my 

space to do that. 

CAN YOU CHOOSE A FAVOURITE PHOTO? 

The reason I have chosen this photo as my favourite 

is because it shows all the elements from my level 3 

NCEA board. It shows all the bright colours and all the 

objects in one photo as well as a clear photo of my 

model. I started my board by creating photo art in 

the style of Emily Blincoe but I used everyday NZ food 

like hundreds and thousands biscuits and Liquorice 

Allsorts. I then introduced my model, who I have 

dressed as a colourful, yet grungy drag queen. He 

is shown with these other elements to try and make 

an extraordinary picture out of an ordinary boy and 

ordinary objects. 


HOW ARE YOU OVERCOMING THAT? 

The challenges I face are following the NCQA rules 

for the external photography boards as well as being

creative and having my own ideas. Because I need 

to pass the boards I need to follow the rules that 

NZQA have put out for me, and this can sometimes 

restrict how creative I can be with my photos. For 

example, I would quite like to do photos in my own 

style, or in the style of influencers on social media but 

I have to use artist models that NZQA and the teacher 

approves. 




I’m amazed! It feels great to know that my photos will 

be featured on the Excio account, my teacher has 

more faith in my work than I do! 


27

Want your photography 

to have impact? 

Join Excio today for global reach 

and showcase your message. 

We’re different from magazines and social media. 

Take a look 

www.excio.io 


excio.io 

#photographyforgood 


29

#WomenInPhotography 

Getting To Know Charlotte E Johnson 

ASCENSION: MICROSCOPE CAPTURE 

OF A PINE CONE SECTION 


DO YOU HAVE A CERTAIN STYLE OR A 

PREFERRED GENRE? 

I adore fine art portraiture – this is the area I’m 

working towards with my own work. Our modern 

world is filled with amazing photos but the ones that 

make me stop scrolling are the ones that engage 

me and make me feel something. It’s the same 

feeling you might get when you view a beautiful 

painting in an art gallery or come across an image 

that makes you think ‘wow’. 

CHARLOTTE, LET US KNOW WHERE YOU’RE 

FROM AND WHAT YOU DO! 

I’m a photographer and microscopist for the 

University of Auckland. I spend my working hours 

taking photos (either on a camera or through a 

microscope) and editing them in Photoshop – it’s a 

pretty great job. I moved here from the UK almost 

2 years ago where I did my Ph.D and subsequent 

postdoc researching cancer biology. Quite a jump 

in career and geographical location! 

HOW AND WHEN DID YOU GET INTERESTED 

IN PHOTOGRAPHY? 

I bought my first DSLR (a Sony a200) about 8 years 

ago. After about a year of casually playing around 

with it, I wanted to do more but I had no idea 

how to take it off auto mode so I took an evening 

course in photography for beginners. That sparked 

my interest which led to a second and a third 

course, plus an obsession with film photography. 

I was greatly inspired by the classic abstract works 

of photographers like Minor White and Edward 

Weston. At the time I couldn’t understand my 

classmates’ interest in taking photos of people – 

now portraiture is my favourite genre! 

WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING WITH? 

For my digital work, a Sony A7Riii with a selection of 

Sony or Zeiss prime lenses and a Minolta Dynax7 for 

35mm and Hasselblad 500C for medium format film. 

TELL US MORE ABOUT THE CREATIVE 

PROCESS BEHIND YOUR ‘PAINTERLY 

PORTRAITS’… 

I want to create art which is beautiful to me, that 

has depth and feeling. I sometimes start off with 

a prop or accessory and the idea builds around 

that, or other times I take inspiration from artwork or 

techniques I’ve seen elsewhere and want to put my 

own spin on. I’m very lucky to have several creative 

contacts who share my passion and am often 

asked to take part in their projects. 

For my painterly style portraits, my keyword is usually 

‘soft’; soft lighting, soft hands, soft textures. I will 

often make a Pinterest board which helps keep me 

on track leading up to and during the photoshoot 

as I tend to get carried away in the moment. 

For me, the real magic happens during the postprocessing 

stage, for which I use Photoshop. 

I employ several techniques to most of my images 

which I’ve picked up from workshops, but every 

image is uniquely processed – I almost feel each 

one pulling me towards a certain look. 

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE IMAGE? 

My favourite image is the one I’m going to take 

tomorrow! 

But if I must choose, one of my favourite images is 

my Curious Kea. Taken on a trip to Wellington not 

long after we moved to New Zealand, it was the 

closest I’d ever been to a kea – I’d only brought my 

35mm prime lens so didn’t have much choice. 

I was cautious about putting the camera (and 

my fingers) so close to the bird as I’d heard 

about their penchant for ripping things to bits but 

I approached slowly and calmly, speaking to the 

kea in a soft voice so as not to scare it. As you can 

see from the image on the next page, it was dimly 

lit so my shutter speed was quite slow. As you can 

see from the image on the next page, it came out 

so sharp as I was hand-holding. When I look at this 

photo, I see the curiosity and intelligence of the 

kea and I am very happy to have captured this 

intimate moment. 


31

CURIOUS KEA 

F5, 1/1000s, ISO1000 



ELLE 

Collaboration with makeup 

artist HollyB and model Elle 

Alexeenco 

F2.8, 1/125s, ISO250 


VOODOO QUEEN 

Collaboration with designer/ 

stylist The Baroness Creates 

and model Suzan Tibane 

F4, 1/125s, ISO100 


35

WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU OVERCOME 

IN PHOTOGRAPHY AND HOW DID YOU DO 

THAT? 

I came from an amateur background with a foundation 

study in photography and jumped straight into a fulltime 

photography job where I was asked to take photos 

of anything and everything at publication quality using 

unfamiliar equipment. I didn’t sign up for a 365 project but 

I most certainly did take photos every single day, learning 

the equipment and techniques as I went. 

I used online workshops and YouTube tutorials, 

joined the Photographic Society of New Zealand 

and went to my first photography convention, 

joined a local camera club where I received image 

critique, and practised, practised, practised. 

A lot of my work involves taking portraits but I had 

no experience in portraiture, so I put up a sign on 

a notice board asking for students to model for 

me in exchange for photos. Often they had never 

modelled before and we learnt together from the 

experience. 

HOW DO YOU PUSH YOURSELF TO IMPROVE 

AND WHAT DO YOU DO TO GET OUT OF A 

CREATIVE SLUMP? 

When I first started taking photos, I was of the firm 

belief that post-processing was not necessary if you 

got everything right in camera – I even thought it 

was cheating! 

I was introduced to editing during my photography 

evening courses. The idea of using a complicated 

software scared me but I was intrigued by the 

creative possibilities, so I took an online course 

thinking nothing much would come from it. Some 

years on, I am now an Adobe certified expert in 

Photoshop. My happy place is sat at my desktop 

with a cuppa, listening to music and editing 

images. 

HOW HAVE YOU BENEFITED FROM BEING 

PART OF LESLEY WHYTE’S WOMEN IN 

PHOTOGRAPHY, WHY IS BEING PART OF AN 

ALL-FEMALE GROUP IMPORTANT TO YOU? 

There is an under representation of women in 

photography, especially at a professional level. 

Lesley is doing her part to encourage women 

photographers and it’s important to me to be able 

to support that by being a member of her group. It 

also offers many opportunities, including attending 

talks by female photographers who you would be 

unlikely to otherwise meet. For instance, I attended 

a recent talk by Marina de Wit who I had previously 

read about in a British photography magazine and 

had been inspired by her work – I had no idea she 

was living in Auckland! I’m so pleased to have had 

the chance to connect with her. 

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE ADVANTAGES ARE 

OF BEING A FEMALE PHOTOGRAPHER? 

I think it’s easier to approach female models and 

connect with them plus female models can feel 

more at ease during a shoot. 

ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO ADD? 

I’m open to collaboration and am always on the 

lookout to challenge myself. I am available for 

Photoshop tutoring/workshops too. 


albums.excio.io/profile/cejphoto 

www.instagram.com/cej.photo 

www.facebook.com/cej.pp 

PROUDLY BROUGHT TO YOU BY: 

I don’t get in creative slumps but I do get very 

downhearted when my images don’t do well in 

competitions. I’m so grateful to the people I have 

in my life who help remind me that if what I’m 

creating makes me happy, then that’s really all that 

matters. 



YURI 

Collaboration with makeup 

artist Kaith Fainsan and 

model Yuri Chetty 

F4, 1/200s, ISO100 

37

The Routeburn Track 

by Brendon Gilchrist 

EARLAND FALLS 

F9, 1/160s, ISO100 


Come on a written journey with me as 

I venture onto the Routeburn, one of the 

greatest walks in New Zealand covering 

32km of tramping track from Glenorchy to The 

Divide or vise versa. 

This is a walk that many people do during the 

official season which runs from from 29th October 

to 30th April. Last year a total of 6,606 Kiwi’s and 

8,536 international visitors walked the Routeburn 

Track. Myself and my Dad can't be included in 

those figures though as we're walking it in the off 

season, a time when the track is walked by very 

few. 

DAY 1 – FROM THE DIVIDE TO LAKE 

MACKENZIE HUT 

Driving up to The Divide which is where the track 

begins, there was a lot of snow banked up at the 

side of the road which seemed to get deeper the 

further we drove but the road itself was thankfully 

clear. 

Arriving at The Divide around 9.30am we got kitted 

up with our boots, hats, and gloves and headed off 

into the bush. 

The track started slowly, winding uphill towards Key 

Summit turn off but this was a detour that we didn’t 

take as the clouds were low and the view wouldn’t 

have been very good so we continued on the main 

Routeburn track, making it to Lake Howden Hut 

after about an hour 20 minutes. Considering the 

track was covered in snow, we were doing well. 

As we carried on there were many streams and 

bridges to cross, some with icicles hanging by the 

water. 

I should have stopped and taken some photos of 

these icicles when I saw them but I didn’t and I am 

a little gutted because on the return trip they were 

gone. 

At approximately 1,000 metres above sea level, 

the snow was deep in patches which was tough 

going. We could hear the 174 metre high Earland 

Falls before we could see them but when our eyes 

did catch up with our ears it was a spectacular 

sight with snow and ice hanging on to the sides and 

water pouring over the top. Standing at the base 

we could see large chunks of snow falling off the 

side of the waterfall – I took a few photos but was 

wary of hanging around too long incase something 

bigger fell down! 

I thought that once we reached this point, 

roughly half way with no long hard climbs ahead, 

just a consistent altitude until we reached Lake 

Mackenzie, that the going would get easier. 

My thoughts were a little bit wrong! Over this 

next section, we made good time crossing a few 

avalanche paths (one of which was signposted 

400 meters long) but it was not easy and the snow 

never stopped, it was as if it snowed more the 

further we went in! It was around 4pm now with 

a little bit of daylight left and I had a great idea 

to go ahead of Dad and light a fire to warm the 

hut up, but now there was no dry firewood. I tried 

anyway but failed and although we had some 

success later, we spent two nights in a hut that was 

warmer outside then it was inside, how is that even 

possible?! 

Given the amount of snow we had walked through, 

there was no way we were going to even attempt 

to go up the Harris Saddle as it was bound to be 

neck-deep! So our plans for the next day were to 

relax and hope the weather would clear for a little 

bit. 

Night fell and we had nothing else to do but sleep 

by the fire in hope that it would be slightly warmer 

here than in the bunk bedroom. 

DAY 2 – IN AND AROUND THE HUT 

The next morning we collected what wood we 

could find, it wasn’t much, but it had to do – a lot of 

the good stuff was buried under the snow. 

I went for a walk to the campsite which is 10 

minutes from Lake Mackenzie Hut hoping that the 

view of the mountain with the frozen lake below 

(the shot I came for which is just 2 minutes from 

the hut) would be visible but the mountain was still 

hidden by clouds. 

It would have been such a stunning shot but this is 

the way of photography, it’s not always a success 

but you go and try anyway as you never know 

when you might get a lucky break. 

At sunset I headed out with my camera and 

tripod again but there were no colours at all, a 

very blue evening. I managed to get a few good 

compositions of the lake and the mountain but not 

that stunner I’d been hoping for. 

Our last night in the hut was an interesting one, the 

rain poured down and the ice on the roof came 

crashing down, waking us up now and then. 

DAY 3 – FROM LAKE MACKENZIE VIA LAKE 

HOWDEN BACK TO THE DIVIDE 

Morning came and we had to pack up and clean 

the hut. I was hoping the rain would stop by the 

time we were ready to walk out but no, it poured all 

day long. 

I put on my over pants and my rain jacket and I was 

ready. I didn’t think about the 12km we had to walk 

but just stepped out of the hut and started walking. 

The only good thing with the rain was that a lot 

of the snow had melted so the track was mostly 

visible. 


39

We arrived at Lake Howden hut 

looking like drowned rats. We stepped 

inside for a rest, put on some dry 

clothes and warmed up a bit before 

walking the last hour back to the car 

knowing that the hardest part was 

over. 

The rain continued to fall on the last 

stretch back to the car. We turned 

the engine on so as to have the 

heater going and got changed inside, 

shedding more soaking clothes. It 

was a good feeling getting the heavy 

pack off my back and into some 

normal (dry!) clothes again. 

On the drive out, looking forward to a 

warm drink and a nice hot meal, we 

saw people again, the first in 48 hours. 

The further away we drove from The 

Divide the less it rained until our arrival 

back in Te Anau where it was mostly 

dry! 

LOOKING BACK 

Despite the weather this trip was 

beautiful in every way – time in the 

bush is some of the best time ever 

spent and I enjoyed good company, 

refreshing views, fresh clean pure 

drinking water and came back with a 

few hundred photos to go through. 

I will be back again soon, the summer 

tramping season is almost upon us 

and I have some cool plans of places 

to visit! 

3 TIPS FOR WINTER 

PHOTOGRAPHY 

• At night in the huts, keep all your 

camera batteries in your sleeping bag 

with you so as to keep them warm. 

They can lose power even when not 

in use. 

• Chemical heat packs can be great 

for Astrophotography when moisture 

can become a problem on your lens. 

Wrap the heat pack/s around your 

lens and it will keep it warm for hours. 

• If the weather is not as great as 

what you had hoped for, know 

that there are always other options. 

Telephoto lenses can give you a very 

moody mountainscape and a part 

of a tree and a mountain top can 

look just as dramatic as the entire 

landscape. 


FROZEN MACKENZIE 

F8, 1/25s, ISO1600 


41

Encouraging Our Children To Become 

Photographers From a Young Age 

by Ana Lyubich 

“Children see magic because they look for it.” 

Christopher Moore 



How young should you be when you pick up your 

first camera and become a photographer? 

Although old dogs can most definitely learn new 

tricks, the answer is, the younger the better! 

In this article, I’m going to talk about involving young 

kids in photography. I believe that children need to 

start taking photos as early as possible, as soon as they 

are able to hold a phone or a small camera without 

dropping it repeatedly. Here’s why… 

DEVELOPING THE ART OF SEEING 

One of the most important parts of a child’s 

development is their imagination. Reading and 

playing helps them to develop their creative 

thinking and broadens their horizons immensely 

but photography goes further, teaching “the art of 

seeing” which can often be overlooked. 

It is not so much about developing creativity, it is about 

‘seeing beyond seeing’. Everything around us can be 

seen from a different angle if we try hard enough but 

believe me, the angle that children see the world at is 

completely different from how we see it as adults. 

Since kids are much closer to the ground (both in 

height but also because they tend to spend more 

time on the ground playing), they see a lot of things 

that we, as adults, just don’t tend to notice. 

It’s vitally important to support this ‘special sight’ in 

children, motivating them to find and capture the 

moments or things that are important to them. If ignored 

or dismissed, the natural way of paying attention to 

different things will very soon disappear in the big 

grownup world of noise, busyness, and daily routines. 

Supporting the ability to see things that other people 

don’t notice will go a long way in helping your kids 

grow up to be confident and creative individuals in 

the future. From stopping to appreciate the bright 

Taken on a Samsung Galaxy A10 

by a 12 year old photographer 

blue sky to noticing the contrasts, colours, shapes, patterns, interesting views, places, and tiny details – 

all of these seemingly small things are actually a huge 

gift. 

Taken on a Canon Powershot 

by a 9 year old photographer. 

44 NZPhotographer 

IMPROVING FOCUS AND CONCENTRATION 

Giving a camera to your kids is not only great for 

improving their concentration and focus but also 

boosts their mental well being. It is no secret that 

photography is associated with meditation and 

mindfulness as are many other art forms. 

As an adult, you yourself know that photography 

motivates you to go outside and explore the real 

world beyond tablets and computers. While taking a 

photograph, be it on your phone or with a DSLR, you 

might find yourself in a state of meditation even if it 

wasn’t intentional and lasted a few minutes. Being 

able to focus and concentrate on something with 

the end goal in mind of achieving (or capturing) 

something interesting, meaningful, and beautiful 

can help our kids perform better throughout school, 

college, university, and throughout their adult life.


Aside from focus and concentration, photography 

non-intrusively allows children to learn a lot about 

other disciplines. Photographing flowers? They will 

inevitably learn about the different plants, their 

blooming and growing behavior and the insects and 

wildlife that surround those flowers. Photographing 

animals and pets? They will soon become a pro in 

knowing how they behave and how to take the best 

shot. 

DEVELOPING SELF-EXPRESSION 

Last but not least, photography help kids express 

themselves in ways they can’t do otherwise. Notice 

how the camera becomes the window into their 

minds and souls and consequently helps you connect 

more closely with them throughout their life. 

If I were involved in developing the modules for 

schools and educational institutions I would make 

photography mandatory from the very first year 

because no matter what language your kids speak, 

how many friends they have, whether they’re part 

of a large or small family, or if they have any health 

or developmental issues, capturing objects and 

moments around them will help showcase their inner 

world. It can connect them with others, kick start 

a passion for creative writing (if they are asked to 

write a short paragraph to go with their photo) and 

most importantly it helps them share their journey so 

they know they are not alone; being seen, heard, 

understood, and appreciated. 

HOW TO INTRODUCE PHOTOGRAPHY TO 

YOUR KIDS 

Make it Enjoyable and Exciting 

First of all, your child must find photography to be an 

enjoyable and exciting exercise – Don’t push them 

into taking photos! The best way to start is to let them 

use your camera or your phone (with one swipe most 

smartphones now allow the use of the camera without 

unlocking the phone itself) and just see what they do. 

It doesn’t matter what they photograph, what matters 

at the very first stage is the process itself. At the very 

early stage they will probably start with self-exploration 

and will take photos of themselves, hands, feet, smiles, 

cheeky eyes, then they will switch to taking photos 

of family members and friends. From there they are 

likely to progress to capturing their bedroom, toys, and 

other surroundings. From the inner world to the outer 

world this process is very important, there’s no need to 

guide it. 

SET CHALLENGES 

Once your child’s interest in photography has gone 

beyond the initial capturing process, give them some 

easy but exciting challenges in the way of a game 

e. g. “Let’s find 10 red/orange/blue etc things in the 

back yard and photograph them!” Grab your phone 

or camera and join in the game yourself! 

When they show you what they have captured, 

you will gradually get an idea of what it is they like 

to photograph – small details? the bigger picture? 

flowers? nature? pets? people? This is the point where 

you can start helping them develop their own style. 

When they are not in the mood to pick up a camera 

on their own, ask them to take a photo of something 

to help you out. Find an excuse and say “Sweetie, 

I can’t come and look right now as I’m very busy, can 

you please take a photo of it and show me? We can 

also show it to Daddy/Nana etc when he/she comes 

home too as they’d like to see it I’m sure.” 

Reward Them 

Of course, all efforts must also be rewarded and all 

achievements made to feel important to help them 

keep their motivation and excitement alive – Don’t 

allow disappointments to get in the way. 

Depending on how excited your kid is about running 

around with a camera, find some of their best shots 

and print them even if it is a batch of small 5’x7’ 

photos (many online services offer these for free if you 

are subscribed to their mailing list). You can then hang 

these photos on the fridge just as you do with their 

precious masterpieces created in art class. 

A few things to keep in mind… 

Having your kids running around with a camera (and 

we don’t necessarily mean literally running!) doesn’t 

mean the only career path they can look forward to 

is becoming a professional photographer. Not at all. 

However, photography allows them to keep an open 

mind and sooner rather than later they (and you too) 

will realise that what they see is so much more than 

what other people around them see! So don’t be 

afraid that your plan of seeing your child become 

a lawyer, doctor, or accountant in the future will be 

ruined if you introduce them to photography – it will 

only make them more creative in their career. 

You don’t need to start your kids off with a big or 

expensive camera, a small point and shoot can cost 

about $100-$150 nowadays and is a great starting 

point. However, if a point and shoot is “not enough” 

and stopping your kids from taking full creative control 

in capturing the world as they see it, don’t put off 

getting them a second hand DSLR just because you 

think that DSLR’s aren’t play things meant for children – 

You might be in the process of nurturing the next Ansel 

Adams! 



y Richar 

Shooting Shar 

The importance of proper shooting techniq 

MT NGAURUHOE 

F11, 1/20s, ISO 100 


p Landscapes 

ues to capture sharp landscapes images. 

d Young 


49

SUMMIT OF MT NGAURUHOE 

F8, 1/30s, ISO 100 

How important is sharpness? Well, that 

depends on the end-use of your image. 

If you are only ever going to display your 

image at a maximum size of 1200 pixels on 

Instagram, Facebook or a website, I would say not 

very. If however, you intend to make large scale 

prints of an image, sharpness can make or break 

the end quality of that print. 

As a landscape photographer that often 

produces prints as large as 1.2 meters wide, 

sharpness in my original files is paramount for 

me. I would not consider myself a “pixel peeper” 

though and I am not interested in spending all my 

time testing the latest sharpness lens at a different 

setting (there are websites to use for that!). 

Where having the right equipment for the job and 

some knowledge of its limitations are important, 

I feel that equipment is not the main reason 

that people don’t get sharp shots. The one thing 

I consistently see when teaching on workshops is 

bad shooting techniques, and I would say this is 

the biggest reason for ending up with soft images. 

Let’s consider some of the things that can lead to 

a soft image and how to minimise these. 

EQUIPMENT QUALITY & KNOWLEDGE 

I see people blaming the quality of their shots on 

the quality of their equipment all the time. Though 

gear can make a difference, I feel that this is not 

the main reason people don’t get sharp images. 

If used correctly any camera setup can capture a 

reasonably sharp image. 

Camera – I think we have all been sold on the 

“megapixel dream” by camera (& phone) 

manufacturers. My current phone even has a 40MP 

sensor in it! In reality, this whole megapixel race has 

become a joke, as the files from my 40MP phone 

would never withstand the enlargement needed to 

print to the size that I do from my “real” camera due 

to other factors like the quality of these pixels and the 

optics in front of them. 

For my landscape photography, I shoot with a 

Nikon D850. One of the reasons I use this camera 

is its resolution of 45MP which helps me to make 

large scale prints of my images. However, most 

photographers do not print to this scale, if they even 

print their work at all, so do not require this sort of 

file size. Anything over 14MP produces an image of 

about the quality of traditional 35mm film. So for most 

photographers, if left uncropped this would be more 


SUNSET OVER MT NGAURUHOE 

F11, 1/6s, ISO 64 

than enough for everything they would ever use it for, 

including A3+ prints. The number of megapixels your 

camera has, only impacts sharpness if you intend to 

make huge prints of your photographs. 

Lens – I think lens quality is a more important factor 

to consider when it comes to image sharpness. A 

camera body only records light; it is the lens that 

controls the quality (sharpness) of this light and 

focuses it onto the sensor. There is no point owning 

a camera with a 45MP sensor and using a cheap 

lens that is only capable of 12MP sharpness, and 

some low-quality lenses would not even be capable 

of rendering this sharpness. Even the very best fullframe 

lenses available today are still not capable of 

resolving 45MP in terms of sharpness, but some do a 

much better job than others. 

The DXOMARK website is an excellent resource for 

lens tests and saves the work of testing them yourself. 

Coming back to my earlier point about the 40MP 

phone and why this is a bit of a joke, I doubt the tiny 

optics on its lens would be able to resolve much of this 

resolution sharply. 

Sharpest Aperture / Diffraction – All lenses have a 

sweet spot, and you need to test your lens or use a 

website like DXOMARK to find out this information. 

This will differ from lens to lens. As a go to for most 

full-frame camera lenses, your sharpest aperture 

will be around f8, with f11 only having very minimal 

diffraction. With each aperture narrower than this 

(e. g. f16, f22) you will lose noticeable sharpness in your 

image due to diffraction. 

CORRECT FOCUSING TECHNIQUES 

Focusing in the right place and obtaining enough 

depth of field to get both your foreground and 

background in sharp focus is critical for most 

landscape images. A slightly out of focus image 

on your camera will be extremely noticeable when 

viewed at 1:1 zoom later on your computer and even 

more in a large scale print. 

AF Point – People tend to rely on their camera’s Auto 

AF point selection mode. While using AF is not a 

problem we need to take control of the AF system 

and where it focuses; by using the Auto AF point 

selection, the camera would focus on the closest 

subject it can find, and this would likely leave the 

background out of focus. By manually selecting our 

AF point, we can still utilise the AF system but decide 

where we wish the camera to focus within the image 

to obtain the best depth of field. 


51

EVENING LIGHT ON MT RUAPEHU 

F11, 30s, ISO 64 

Hyperfocal Distance – If we were to focus on the 

closest subject in the landscape (e. g. the rock at our 

feet), then the background (e. g. the distant mountain 

peaks) would be out of focus. Likewise, if we were to 

focus on the distant mountain peaks, the rocks in the 

foreground would be out of focus. Therefore we need 

to focus on a midpoint within the landscape to obtain 

focus throughout; this point is called the hyperfocal 

distance. Hyperfocal distance is a complicated 

subject, as it depends on many factors. A good rule 

of thumb is to focus at a third of the way through the 

landscape. 

Depth of Field – Depth of field extends in both 

directions from our focus point, but not in equal 

amounts. It is also dependent on lots of factors such 

as our choice of lens focal length and distance to our 

closest subject, but we also need to select the correct 

aperture to obtain enough depth of field. When 

shooting landscape photographs, this will generally 

lead us to use a narrow aperture (e. g. from f11 to f22) 

to get everything in sharp focus, but we also need 

to be mindful of diffraction when using these narrow 

apertures. 

CAMERA MOVEMENT 

Tripod – When shooting landscapes, you often end 

up using longer shutter speeds, which require the use 

of a tripod. Tripods also have the added benefit of 

allowing us to slow down to master the composition, 

along with your focus and depth of field. A sturdy 

tripod is a must for landscape photography, all too 

often I see people with a lightweight flimsy tripod 

which cannot hold the weight of the camera on a fine 

day, let alone when shooting outside in the elements 

like a strong wind! 

Cable Release – There is little point using a tripod then 

wobbling the camera by pressing the shutter button, 

which happens on even the sturdiest of tripods. So 

make sure you use a cable release to allow you to 

take your hands away from the camera, preventing 

you from shaking it when you press the shutter button. 

Mirror Lock-Up – On high-end full-frame DSLRs the 

vibrations caused by the mirror slap can be enough 

to cause a slight blur to your image. To prevent 

this, shoot with the “mirror up” feature. Likewise, the 

movement of the mechanical shutter curtain on DSLR 

and Mirrorless cameras can also cause vibration. 

Some cameras now feature an “electronic first curtain 

shutter” to also eliminate this. 

Vibration Reduction – A lot of lenses or camera bodies 

feature a “Vibration Reduction” system (also called 

Image Stabilisation, Optical Stabilizer, Vibration 

Compensation), which is designed to reduce vibration 

for handheld shooting. Vibration Reduction should 

be turned off when on a tripod as it leads to softer 

images due to the movement of the lens elements or 

the camera sensor. 

RICHARD YOUNG IS A FULL-TIME LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHER BASED IN WELLINGTON AND 

TEACHES ON WORKSHOPS THROUGHOUT NEW ZEALAND WITH NEW ZEALAND PHOTOGRAPHY 

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Photo© Darran Leal www.worldphotoadventures.com.au

How To Critique Your Own Photos 

by Samuel Ogunlaja

I’m a Conceptual Portrait and Commercial 

Photographer with a passion for art and 

everything beautiful. I started photography 

in 2011 and experimented in various genres of 

photography before finding my niche. 

Alongside some other reviewers, you’ll have 

seen my name on the Expert Critique columns 

here in the magazine as well as on the Excio 

blog photo critiques – Perhaps I’ve critiqued 

one of your photos? 

I want to take the time to give you some 

guidance and remind you of the importance of 

being able to critique your own photos. All of 

the tips below are based on my own personal 

experience and are what I use when critiquing 

my own work, as well as photos from the Excio 

and NZP community, I hope you will find it 

useful. 

THE FIRST PERSON TO CRITIQUE YOUR 

WORK AS A PHOTOGRAPHER SHOULD BE 

YOU. 

Always remember this. It is vitally important 

that you have reviewed and know the exact 

narrative of your work before allowing another 

person to step in and offer their thoughts 

because when you allow another artist to 

critique your work first, you run the risk of 

devaluing it. 

To properly critique your own work, you must 

first cultivate the right attitude. 

BE UNFORGIVING 

Remove every trace of emotion you have 

about your photograph. Remember that the 

people who will be seeing your work will not see 

the stress, effort, time, and trouble it cost you to 

create the photo and will not be judging you 

from an emotional standpoint. Thus, you have 

to be firm and unforgiving about this process 

to ensure your judgment is based on deductive 

points and not on emotions. 

BE OBJECTIVE 

You must stick to the exact reason of why you 

took the photo in the first place. It is highly 

possible that despite the effort you put into 

the process of taking the photo, the end result 

is not how you envisioned it. You have to be 

able to admit to yourself when the result didn’t 

work out quite right or fit your objective so that 

you can try to plan better for the next time; 

highlight errors and learn from them. Don’t try 

to console yourself by saying you have a great 

photo, ‘a second best’ or a ‘happy accident’ if 

it does not fit your original objective. 

DELETE THE PHOTOS THAT DIDN’T WORK 

Delete the photos that didn’t turn out great no 

matter how much time and effort you invested 

in getting them. Keeping poor quality shots is 

a phase you must outgrow. It is probable that 

while trying to get that perfect photo, you took 

several photos in the process; this leaves you to 

choose the best from a large number of similar 

photos. You have to be bold enough to delete 

all the photos that didn’t work out. The reason 

is so that you don’t become bias and lose 

the objective by considering too many similar 

options. 

Now that you have cultivated the right attitude, 

let us dive into the things to look out for when 

doing a personal photo critique. 

THE REASON FOR THE PHOTO 

You can also call this “The Why of the Photo”. 

Ask yourself Why did I take this photo? Am I 

expressing the things conceived before 

creating the photo? Is there any major element 

driving the message? 

I realize there are some photographers who 

capture random moments and tend not to see 

themselves as story teller but in opposition to 

that, I say “every photographer is a narrator”. 

There is always something that interests 

the photographer in a scene that spurs the 

shutter release; a memory you want to keep 

or a fascinating story you want others to 

see. The message of the photo determines 

every other thing you see in and about the 

photo and answers the questions of What is 

the best angle? What artistic element should 

be prominent in the photo? How much post 

production work should be done? and more. 

The message, the ‘why’ should be the driving 

force for decision making in the whole process 

of capturing and showcasing an image and 

should take most of the photographer’s 

attention. 

TECHNICAL JUDGMENT 

This term encompasses everything that has to 

do with the technicality of creating an image 

and includes exposure (lightning), composition, 

visual weight, depth of field, distance (focal 

length), the angle, stability, and so on. Let’s talk 

about a few of these things in more detail… 


55

EXPOSURE 

This has to be in accordance with the message of the 

photo; it should compliment your imagination and 

intention for the shoot. Ask yourself Did I adopt the best 

exposure or lighting for this photo? Does the lighting or 

exposure compliment the context of this photo? 

For example, in the image below, the idea of the photo 

shoot was to lay emphasis on the model’s skin and 

body structure so I needed to use a moderately harsh 

light to create specular highlights on the model’s dark 

skin. 

apportioning enough space to the main elements in 

the picture, it is about allowing the viewer to capture 

the most important element in the picture at a glance. 

This can be done through the use of colour, (using a 

particular colour for that element to ensure it catches 

attention), focusing, lightning etc. It can also be 

achieved by intensifying the artistic element that drives 

the message for example, the texture. 

An example of visual weight misappropriation is an 

image that has the subject in front while putting the 

complementary element at the back but adjusting 

the focus so that that the element in the background 

is sharper than the main subject. The element that 

catches the most attention in the picture has the most 

visual weight so make sure you know where the visual 

weight is, and should be, if there’s a difference. 

COMPOSITION 

This has to do with how the elements in the photo are 

arranged in order of importance or in sequence. There 

could be as many as 5 elements or more. Ask yourself 

the questions; Did I properly arrange the elements? 

Did I make the most important element conspicuous? 

For example, in a photo that has elements that look 

similar on both sides, using a symmetry composition 

(so that when split into two halves the elements on 

both sides are similar) can be very accurate like in the 

picture below. 

VISUAL WEIGHT 

Another thing that falls under technical judgment is the 

visual weight of the photo which is often overlooked 

and underrated. Visual weight is about more than 

SHARPNESS AND DEPTH OF FIELD 

It is important to review if you have used the right depth 

of field for the image. For instance, in a landscape 

photo where there are mountains and several other 

natural elements, if the photo is taken so that just a few 

elements are sharp versus having every element sharp 

by using a wide depth of field, it would defeat the 

purpose of that particular photo. On the other hand, 

newborn photography essentially requires shallow 

depth of field to be used so as to express the tender 

nature of the subject. 



ARTISTIC JUDGMENT 

What element of art is used to drive the message 

in the picture? There are basically 7 elements: line, 

shape, form, colour, space, texture and value. To stick 

to the objective of this article, I will not go too deep 

discussing these elements since art is so subjective but 

we can discuss a little. 

Each of the elements is unique in its own way and is 

used to drive different kinds of messages. The more 

of these elements you are able to incorporate, the 

better your photo will be. However, not every good 

picture has all of these elements in it, sometimes you 

just need one dominant element. 

LINES 

The use of lines (leading lines) is important when you 

take a picture with your subject in the far distance. An 

example of using lines is a trail or road leading towards 

your subject. You could take the picture from where you 

are standing tracing the line until its end point to help 

the viewer follow the line towards the main subject whilst 

helping them see everything around that same subject. 

SHAPES 

Shapes work well with a two-dimensional and/or 

enclosed area. If the picture you are taking is more shape 

oriented you might want to incorporate a number of 

shapes into the picture to portray the message well. Or 

you may even introduce shapes into the picture just to 

make your work more artistic. For example, in the picture 

on the previous page, the model was asked to pose 

in a certain way that expresses various shapes just to 

incorporate that element in the work. 

FORM 

This has to do with the shape of a particular object 

along its volume or perceived volume. It’s about 

creating an image from a perspective where you can 

give the viewer a sense of size. For instance, a picture 

of a building taken from the front allows people to 

see the rectangular shape but it can also be taken 

from a 45% side angle to give a 3D overview with the 

viewer able to see the front and side to get a sense of 

volume to show it isn’t just a flat building. 

COLOUR 

Another popular element is the use of striking colours 

to drive home your message. However, in instances 

where the scene is overflowing with many colours, 

such as at a carnival, you have to concentrate on 

a particular colour scheme to get the right result. 

For example, at a carnival, you can effectively use 

complementary colours from a scheme to single out 

your focus. 

SPACE 

This deals with how you are able to incorporate 

space so that the elements are not choked up. More 

often than not, a picture may not incorporate this 

element as it depends on the subject and the scene 

being shot. For instance, thinking of a carnival, space 

might not be that evident owing to the nature of 

the activities. However, the more you are able to 

incorporate space, the better your picture looks, 

especially when you need to single out a particular 

activity in the midst of all that is going on. 

TEXTURE 

This helps in creating a perception of how something 

feels or looks. For instance, a picture of a table with a 

rough surface and one with a smooth surface will give 

you different feelings. One might give the sense of 

luxury and the other of durability. 

VALUE 

This is the degree of lightness or darkness in a 

particular image. It deals with the relationship 

between highlights and shadows. Value helps to 

express a form or create an illusion of it in a picture. 

For example, if you take a photo of a white ball 

against a white background; if the picture is overly 

exposed, we may not be able to differentiate the ball 

and the background but if the photo is moderately 

exposed, there will be some level of shadow 

(darkness) in the picture which will help to differentiate 

between the ball and the background. 

NARRATIVE JUDGMENT 

After considering all the points above so that you are 

able to interpret your photo well yourself, you need to 

consider if the layman (the person viewing your work) 

will be able to recognise and see the same things. 

This determines how much post production work is 

necessary. 

Consider how much post production work the 

photo needs. Ask yourself if the exposure should 

be increased or reduced? Are there distractions to 

remove? Does it need to cropping? 

It is important to note that post production is usually 

one of the last things to consider and saying “I will 

fix things in Photoshop” is the statement of a poor 

photographer. Know that you are a photographer 

before you are an editor and post production is used 

to enhance a photo, not recreate it. 

CONCLUSION 

After you have considered all of these points 

individually you can put your picture out into the 

world for others to critique and give feedback on. 

Remember that no one can narrate your work as best 

as you can and you need to gain the confidence 

and ability to defend your work regardless of people’s 

opinion. Their feedback should only strive to make you 

a better photographer because at the end of it the 

day, everything is art.

THE GALLERY IS PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY 

PORTFOLIO 

BEST READERS' SUBMISSIONS THIS MONTH 


59

DEVOTION 

F6.3, 1/500s, ISO320 

ASSAM, INDIA 

The devotion of Indian Sadhus at 

Kamkya Temple in Gwahati. 

Amol Nakve 




LIGHTHOUSE 

F22, 1/60s, ISO64, 29mm 

I went exploring from the Wairarapa, visiting Castlepoint and 

Riversdale Beach for the first time. The walk up to the lighthouse was 

comfortable and easy and the view from the top was worth it. 

Ann Kilpatrick 


63


CASTLEPOINT VIEW 

F8, 1/250s, ISO64 

A nice long weekend in the Wairarapa provided 

the opportunity to visit some new places and I got this 

Castlepoint pano landscape - a few photos stitched together. 

Ann Kilpatrick 


65

FREE-WHEELIN' 

F8, 1/3s, ISO100 

I had an idea for a photo that showed these toys in action, but I had to figure out how to 

capture it. After trying many different ways which weren't successful, I tried taking two 

photos, one sharp and one panning the camera while the photo was being taken. I then 

merged parts of both of these photos to create the image that I was imagining. This was 

definitely the result of experimenting and learning! 

Tanya Rowe 




CAMELS AT CABLE BAY 

F8, 1/200s, ISO400, 32mm 

BROOME, AUSTRALIA 

We had been 4 wheel driving in the outback around the Broome area. On our return back 

to Broome we drove down on to the beach to watch the sunset over the sea along with 

100's of other vehicles and two trains of camels. I had to run alongside and catch up in 

order to capture the sun behind the train with the long shadows. 

Carole Garside 


69


PAPAMOA DAWN 

F13, 1/6s, ISO800 

Papamoa in the Bay of Plenty is my local beach. 

Forever changing, it's always a lucky dip as to what 

one will find. This shot was a learning in how far I could 

push the ISO instead of the go to graduated filter. 

Graham Jones 


71


SYDNEY VIVID LIGHT FESTIVAL 

F5, 0.6s, ISO1250 

The Vivid Light Festival in Sydney was way out of my comfort 

zone due to shooting at night. This was a learning on ISO settings 

and how far I could push my Nikon D750. 

Graham Jones 


73


WHIRITOA DAWN 

A mid-winter journey to Whiritoa on the Coromandel. The thoughts 

behind the composition were to capture the feeling of desolation 

and tranquillity which were with me just prior to the sunrise. 

Graham Jones 


75


FOREST OF TREES 

I had seen a few double exposure images but I had not tried this technique myself, until 

now. My previous camera didn't have a double exposure setting but my current one 

does, so I played around for a day or two and here is the result! 

Jan Abernethy 



MAGIC AT THE LAKE 

I took my crystal ball to the lake to see if I 

could create a double exposure with it. I 

could, this is one of my favourites! 

Jan Abernethy 



WINTER TREES 

This is one of my first double exposures of 

a silver birch tree against a corrugated 

fence. I like the abstract form and colours. 

Jan Abernethy 



THE TOPAZ RING 

F25, 1/500s, ISO51200 

I was experimenting for my digital photography course 

for the subject of product photography, and chose this 

piece of jewellery as my subject. I placed it in a black 

box on top of a mirror board and lit it with a small study 

lamp. In Photoshop, I upped the contrast and the black 

in the image and was left with this. 

Kelly Vivian 


83


THE DOGS SILHOUETTE 

F14, 1/1600s, ISO200, 30mm 

I was out on Auckland's Karekare Beach with my little Maltese dog, 

Pebbles taking photos of the beach. Late on in the shoot, I was lying 

on the sand to get the sunset when Pebbles kept getting in my shot so 

I took some images of her back-lit by the sunset. I didn't realise what I 

had captured until I was downloading the images when I got home. 

Kelly Vivian 


DAWN OVER THE BAY 

F8, 6s, ISO 200 

ORIENTAL BAY, WELLINGTON 

I've been trying to build my skill of long exposure photography since a workshop I did last year. 

On this occasion I wanted to try and combine the sunrise with the city lights, the light trails from 

the cars were a bonus! There were showers as I was setting up my tripod and I had to shield the 

camera to protect it from the strong wind, but the fast moving clouds and choppy seas were 

perfect for a long exposure shot and I was rewarded for the early start. 

Laura Pascall 




SOUTHERLY STORM 

F16, 25s, ISO100 

ISLAND BAY, WELLINGTON 

I've been trying to build my skills with long exposures. A strong southerly 

wind had got up while I was out for a walk with my camera but it created 

good movement in the clouds and sea for me to practice. I set up the 

tripod and took some shots with my ND filter on, the wind whipping the 

sand up around me. This was the last shot I got before I had to abandon 

the beach due to the rain setting in. 

Laura Pascall 


89


HANDBAG HEAVEN 

F8, 1/200s, ISO400, 32mm 

A stall at St Georges Market in Belfast. The 

choice was huge, the colors and designs 

oustanding, and I can't resist a photo. 

Mark Davey 


91

BENMORE SUNSET 

F11, 1/125s, ISO200 

After spending several weeks closely watching weather websites, I finally saw my chance 

to capture a sunset at Lake Benmore. I haven't seen so many photos of this lake and despite 

only living an hour away I had never tried to photograph it myself. I arrived a couple of hours 

before sunset to figure out a composition from the lookout point, I was set up for a wide angle 

shot overlooking the lake but as the sun started to set I noticed a more intimate shot further in 

the distance. 

Matthew Davey 


ONE LIGHT 

F5.6, 1/6s, ISO3200, 55mm 

I generally focus on landscape photos 

but I've been wanting to develop 

my skills with urban/architecture 

photography too. I was out for sunrise 

on a cold winter morning and as I was 

walking to location I noticed this building 

and the one light that was different - It 

seemed a good opportunity to try some 

different shots out. 

Laura Pascall 


93


FINAL PITCH 

F8, 1/800s, ISO125 

A view from my belay stance 30 metres away from the top of Mount 

Brewster (2,515m) in Mt Aspiring National Park. My climbing buddy Piotr, 

now safe on top, savoured his achievement before building an anchor 

to belay me up to join him. With this perspective I wanted to convey the 

feeling of being up high. The image is actually 3 stitched. Being very 

limited to my seated spot I used 3 portrait shots to catch myself as well 

as the scene ahead. My camera was a Lumix TZ220 - very compact - 

far better for mountaineering than a DSLR if you want to actually take 

any pictures in exposed situations like this. 

Peter Laurenson 


95


TROUBLED WATERS 

F8, 1/40s, ISO100 

Dawn view south east to Mt Taranaki, across the icy wind churned surface of the Pouakai Track tarn, New 

Zealand. This tarn is normally shot when the weather is very calm and the mountain is a mirror image 

reflected in it. But the tarn itself has something to offer as well I think. These days it has become difficult to 

enjoy the seclusion I did on this morning. International tourism has well and truly found this place, changing it 

from what those visiting are looking for. This image is a stitch of 3 landscape shots, taken on my Nikon D750, 

Camera Raw, spot meter, manual settings. 

Peter Laurenson 


97


SHADOWS AND LIGHT 

F8, 1/160s, ISO125 

A dawn view of the top 600 metres of Mt Taranaki, taken from the southern rim of Fantham's 

Peak. Syme Hut sits to the left of the summit cone, which has projected a shadow out to the 

far left. Mounts Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu are silhouetted on the right skyline. It 

was my fifth trip up this route and the best light so far. This image is a stitch of 8 portrait shots 

taken on my Lumix TZ 220, shot in Camera Raw, spot meter, manual settings. 

Peter Laurensony 


99


MOODY SUNSET 

F7, 1/30s, ISO450 

BUFFALO BEACH, WHITIANGA 

The clouds out East often look quite moody as the sun sets in 

the West so I experimented with zooming in on the 'moodier' 

clouds. The resulting image accentuated the mood of the 

clouds with the last of the days sun shining on the houses 

on the ridge top adding another dimension. 

Peter Maiden 

September 2019101


CAPE GOOSEBERRIES 

F7, 3.1s, ISO200 

Experimenting with high key and over exposure, I 

photographed this inside on white paper with window light 

using a macro lens with 2.33/100 exposure bias. I further 

increased the exposure in Lightroom using +1.10 with 

blacks increased to 100 and subtle texture added. 

Shona Jaray 

September 2019103

“KNOW THE RULES 

WELL, SO YOU 

CAN BREAK THEM 

EFFECTIVELY.” 

DALAI LAMA XIV

NZPhotographer Issue 23, September 2019

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