NZPhotographer Issue 24, October 2019

Fresh Shoots Autumn People’s
Choice Award Winner:
Patrick Schneider
HI PATRICK, TELL US ABOUT YOU AND HOW
YOU GET INTERESTED IN PHOTOGRAPHY…
I grew up on the lakes of Switzerland where I got a
taste for windsurfing, nature, and adventure. I first
visited New Zealand in 2015 and fell in love with the
place, moving here a year later in 2016. I’m 41, a
sparky and have worked in the trade for over 20 years.
I have a lovely partner who is from the Cook Island
which is where we are soon going to live and work.
As a keen windsurfer, my friends and I have always
been interested in getting good action shots of
ourselves but I also like to take pictures of other
people surfing, windsurfing, or kitesurfing – I enjoy trying
to capture people’s expressions of joy and happiness
while they are out playing with the elements.
25 years ago we didn’t have the technology of today
so we had to be creative. We started out by wrapping
plastic bags around the camera to protect it from the
flying sand on the beach. But the noise coming from the
flapping bags in the wind was very annoying so our next
move was to cut and glue some thicker plastic bags
together to protect the camera. In the end, we had
some solid weather-resistant camera housing made out
of mono-film, which we had plenty of thanks to all the
broken windsurf sails! This wasn’t our most deluxe model
though, we also got creative with an old outdoor light
which had an attached round food container for the lens
(like they have from Sistema) and on the end, I attached
a round glass with silicon to seal it against splashing water!
WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING WITH NOW?
I recently sold my Canon 70d so am currently taking
all images with my DJI Mavic Air drone which is
something totally different to regular photography.
Imagine seeing the world from the perspective of
a bird or sitting in a helicopter and taking pictures.
It opens a totally new dimension of taking pictures.
I enjoy flying the drone but on the other hand, I find
original photography more relaxing as I’m constantly
aware (scared) of the possibility of crashing the drone
or of it losing signal.
TELL US ABOUT THE DAY YOU TOOK THIS SHOT
AT WELLINGTON BOTANICAL GARDENS…
When I was visiting the garden a few weeks before
taking this picture, I was walking through the rose garden
and was wondering how it would look from a birds
perspective. What pattern would a bird see… I decided
to find out and went back on a sunny, part cloudy, not
too windy day with my drone.
I did some research on Google Maps prior to my
return trip to look for a remote elevated spot where
I could launch the drone. I thought around midday
would be a good time to avoid big patches of
shadows on the ground.
On the day, after I launched the drone, I was constantly
checking the view on the screen of my mobile phone to
see what the picture would look like. I was pretty happy
when I saw the pattern of the rose garden and was
surprised how equally accurate all those little rose beds
are! I took some shots and had a quick look at them,
I realized that I needed to fly a little higher to see more of
the garden. I changed aperture and shutter speed and
took some more shots. I could see that I had now found
the composition that I was looking for and thought that
with a little bit of editing and cropping I could end up
with a nice picture for the competition.
In all honesty, I hardly know anything about
photography and am not really interested in the
technicalities, I just like to take some cool pictures
sometimes!
HOW DID IT FEEL FINDING OUT THAT YOUR
PHOTO HAD WON THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE
AWARD FOR THE AUTUMN COMPETITION?
Winning something is always an exiting feeling. I like
the thought that other people enjoyed my picture,
it gives an inner satisfaction that others were moved
by what I captured as I too had been inspired seeing
pictures from the other photographers.
HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT THE
COMPETITION IN THE FIRST PLACE?
My partner loves flowers and herbs so I wanted to
surprise her with a tour of the Botanic Gardens. When I
was Googling the location I saw the Fresh Shoots
competition and thought I should give it a go.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?
I would like to buy a Sony 6000 with water housing and
am soon heading to Rarotonga, Cook Islands so you
can expect to see photos from above and below the
water on my social media accounts in the future.
WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE?
www.instagram.com/pat_photo_grapy
www.facebook.com/
PATPhotography‐594430407410240