NZPhotographer Issue 35, September 2020

ISSUE 35, September 2020 

LEARNING TO SEE 

BY RICHARD YOUNG 

INTERVIEW WITH 

PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER 

TONY GORHAM 

TIPS FOR ACHIEVING DELICIOUS 

LOOKING FOOD PHOTOS AT HOME 

BY TED GRENFELL 

A FRAGILE WORLD 

BY TRACEY WALKER 

September 2020 1

WELCOME TO ISSUE 35 OF 

NZ PHOTOGRAPHER MAGAZINE 

HELLO EVERYONE, 

With some places in the world going 

into a second lockdown and others 

just coming out if it, we know it's not 

fair to tease you with too many travel 

and landscape photos when you're 

stuck at home. So this month, instead 

of Susan's 'On The Road' article you'll 

find a food photography article from 

Ted Grenfell that's sure to have you 

raiding your fridge, grabbing lamps 

from around your home, and even 

raiding the laundry cupboard for 

pillowcases! Sounds intriguing right?! 

In Behind The Shot this month we 

get some top tips for bird photography from Guy Vickers, the 

photographer who has been embraced by the media with his 

feel-good story of photographing the rare white fantail during 

lockdown. We've also interviewed portrait photographer Tony 

Gorham whose images are sure to have you grabbing the people 

closest to you and making them dress up and strike a pose! 

We also reflect on the world that we live in with Tracey Walker 

discussing her latest series of work entitled 'A Fragile World', and 

Ana revisiting the topic of photography being good for our mental 

health in the Excio Photo Community ahead of NZ's Mental Health 

Awareness week. 

If that's not enough to get your creative juices flowing check out 

Brendon's top 5 sunset shots and read Richard's article about 

Learning To See before flicking through Readers' Submissions to see 

if your photo has been featured. 

OUR 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. 

Emily Goodwin 

Editor NZ Photographer 

NZPhotographer Issue 35 

September 2020 

Cover Photo 

Atea a Rangi 

Guiding the Way 

by Lynne Roberts 

Publisher: 

Foto Lifestyle Ltd 

Website: 

nzphotographer.nz 

Graphic Design: 

Maksim Topyrkin 

Advertising Enquiries: 

Email 

hello@nzphotographer.nz 

FOLLOW US 

Richard Young 

Richard is an award-winning 

landscape and wildlife 

photographer who teaches 

photography workshops and 

runs photography tours. He is 

the founder of New Zealand 

Photography Workshops. 

© 2020 NZPhotographer Magazine 

All rights reserved. Reproduction of any material appearing in this magazine in any form is forbidden without prior 

consent of the publisher. 

Disclaimer: 

Opinions of contributing authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the magazine. 

2 

NZPhotographer

CONTENTS 

4 

10 

28 

34 

38 

45 

47 

52 

59 

A FRAGILE WORLD 

by Tracey Walker 

MINI 4 SHOT PORTFOLIO 

TOP 5 SUNSET SHOTS 

by Brendon Gilchrist 

BEHIND THE SHOT 

WITH GUY VICKERS 

INTERVIEW WITH PORTRAIT 

PHOTOGRAPHER TONY GORHAM 

INSIGHTS FROM 

@EXCIO PHOTO COMMUNITY 

EXCIO TOP 10 


By Richard Young 

TIPS FOR ACHIEVING DELICIOUS 

LOOKING FOOD PHOTOS AT HOME 

By Ted Grenfell 

66 PORTFOLIO 

BEST READERS' SUBMISSIONS THIS MONTH 

BEHIND THE SHOT 

WITH GUY VICKERS 

38 

INTERVIEW WITH PORTRAIT 

PHOTOGRAPHER TONY GORHAM 


BY RICHARD YOUNG 

34 

52 

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A Fragile World 

by Tracey Walker 

When I was fifteen, my family moved to 

West Auckland to escape city life. It was 

through this time that my photographic 

journey started. My new school had 

great resources for the arts and dedicated facilities 

for the study of photography. We studied with 

old school film cameras and used the darkroom 

to develop our images as Kodak were only 

just releasing their first digital cameras at that 

time. Bethels Beach was my local photography 

playground and I would spend all my savings on 

rolls of film to capture images for my assignments. 

Now converted to the digital age, I’m using a fullframe 

Canon DSLR with an 85mm prime lens, a 

16–35mm, and 70–200mm lenses along with an 

extender which I use for my bird photography and 

a Manfrotto tripod. I must admit I love the freedom 

of experimenting with multiple images whilst trying 

not to lose the critical process of photographing 

with intent! 

Having completed a Diploma in Commercial 

Photography at Ucol in Auckland where I tried 

many different genres, it is portraiture and 

storytelling that have become the most important 

to me as an extension of my art practise. You see, 

I use art and photography as a platform to explore 

and document my environment. Sometimes as a 

piece of history but more often as a vessel to tell 

a story or create awareness… to portray pressing 

issues that have touched me somehow. 

My latest series, “A Fragile World,” is a continuing 

story that initially started as a narrative evoked from 

my preoccupation with the environmental impacts 

of our disposable culture. The single-use plastic bag 

and the manufacture of low quality throw away 

items exemplify a lifestyle of not respecting the 

CAUSTIC LIGHT 

4 


environment and exhausting its resources. It seems 

that our culture, expectations, and ability to allow 

time to make a difference have changed and 

within the last few months of covid‐19 crazyness, we 

have been so consumed with the immense global 

problems that the critical issues for our planet 

have not been addressed. That’s where I hope 

my photography can make an impact and make 

people sit up and take notice. 

I am always searching for discarded or broken 

remnants to use with my installations and to 

composite via digital imagery into my practices. 

The initial work that triggered this series was an 

installation work that I photographed at Te Karo 

Bay in the Coromandel. Finding beauty in the ugly, 

I collected masses of plastic bags and mounded 

them into piles on the sand one evening. I then 

placed coloured led lights so that they would shine 

out from beneath the piles of plastic bags to reveal 

a caustic but beautiful glow. 

I have been asked which comes first, if I find an 

object that inspires me to create a story or start 

with an idea and search for an object. I work both 

ways. Everyday instances are the inspiration for 

my work, such as when I looked down at the pile 

of broken plastic pegs that hadn’t even made it 

through a season. I felt ashamed and must say that 

metal pegs now suffice in my household. There 

are many encounters like the wasted plastic pegs 

that conjure an emotion that makes me want to 

make a statement. I experiment with different 

approaches to present my subject. I often start by 

photographing the objects with varying depths of 

field to create emphasis in its original environment. 

I will also plan and capture the images, being 

mindful of lighting to composite together as a 

statement. I decided to take a photo of the local 

Wood Pigeon and composite a broken plastic peg 

to the Kowhai tree. The peg hangs from the branch 

as if it has become accepted normality. 

I continued the series looking for elements that 

could be used similarly and came across the 

discarded plastic takeaway container and plastic 

soy sauce fish tubes to use as my next statements 

combined with a pet chick and the Kaka who 

I captured at the zoo. I photographed the birds 

to look directly towards the viewer, trying to 

perceive a quizzical aura with disbelief in their 

expression. I decided to take long exposure 

landscape photographs of Te Karo bay to help give 

an ethereal mood to these images. The beautiful 

landscapes adorned with the subtle but profound 

annoyances make you consider the outcome. 

THE BROKEN PEG 


TAKE IT AWAY 

NOT FOR ME 

6 


TOO MUCH, TOO LITTLE 

POLES APART 


A BROKEN PORTAL 

I continued this series wanting to conjure up 

a sense of helplessness, of being such a small 

fragment in a big world. To help perceive 

this emotion, I wanted an object to use as a 

symbol of the fragile world. I took a series of 

images of eggshells and kina to composite in 

the dreamy landscapes. I found that lighting 

the eggshell from behind helped emphasise 

the fragility of the cracks on the surface. 

The kina was taken in its entirety and broken 

as a fragment to symbolise caution. I used 

several coastal images that I have taken at 

my local beaches in the Coromandel to use 

as their portal. I placed the eggshell sitting 

precariously nestled between the rocks, one 

with a subtle flow of rain to symbolise our 

precarious weather patterns. I used another 

to float on the horizon with its edge appearing 

as a transparent silhouette resembling an 

iceberg. 

My final photograph, the hand grasping the 

onion is an image to provoke thought for the 

need to return to a more organic lifestyle. Less 

process, less plastic, less waste. 

I wanted to use the juxtaposition of the hand 

and onion covered in dirt, both organic and 

weathered, to show the connection, passion, 

and bond of working on the land. This image 

inspired a series of work that represented 

how we were forced to return to basics with 

limited resources available to us during the 

Covid‐19 lockdown. We had to find ways to 

use everything we had available but I was 

intrigued and elated that nothing was wasted. 

I find that what started as a series to create 

awareness has morphed into mindfulness. 

I use natural light in the majority of my photos 

but enjoy creatively using flash to add 

depth and mystic to some of my images. 

I occasionally use an iPhone if I don’t have 

my camera available which enables me to 

capture unexpected moments. I prefer to use 

a pro camera app called Moment with iPhone 

lenses as they give me the ability to use my 

phone in manual mode. I am often impressed 

8 


with the quality, but it is never to the standard 

of my trusted DSLR which also gives me the 

ability to print larger images. 

I import and organise my photographs within 

Adobe Lightroom, using the ‘Develop’ module 

to complete some minor global adjustments 

and lens corrections. I then open my file into 

Photoshop where I do the majority of my 

editing. I use multiple adjustment layers and 

masks to adjust the light, contrast and detail 

in the works. My preferred ways to extract my 

subjects for composites is to use The Pen Tool, 

Select and Mask and Channels in Photoshop. 

The chosen technique is dependent on the 

type of edge and the contrast it has with its 

background. After extracting a selection, 

I feather and lightly blur the edges to help 

soften the transition to the background layer. 

With my bird images, I also use my Wacom 

pen to draw fine tapered lines to resemble 

the delicate edges of the feathers, carefully 

matching the colour and tones of the pen 

strokes. 

Adjustment layers are clipped to the 

selections of my subjects to help control the 

hue, contrast and saturation of the object. This 

is a long process, sometimes experimental but 

imperative to consolidate the image into its 

introduced environment. 

The process of creating a composite develops 

over several days. The initial planning, the 

image capture and photo editing can take 

up to a week. I often have to leave a project 

to come back with a fresh view to make 

sure that the colour grading and contrast 

are consistent through my work.I admit that 

I am totally consumed with my photography 

practice. I am continually learning new ways 

to observe, capture, and edit my images… 

always looking for a pocket of light. 

www.traceywalker.co.nz 

SUSTAINABILITY 


Mini 4 Shot Portfolio 

Our 4x4 feature showcases 4 mini portfolio’s of both 

professional and up and coming New Zealand 

photographers. The 4 images are linked in some way, 

allowing you to get an understanding of what each 

photographer is most passionate about capturing. 

For a change to get your own 4x4 feature in a future 

issue of the magazine, become a subscriber of the 

magazine here. 

BIKRAM GHOSH 

Terrestrial Aotearoa 

CAROLE GARSIDE 

The Hidden Forest 

PETER LAURENSON 

Khumbu in Essence 

STEPHEN USMAR 

Omapare Wharf 

10 


BIKRAM GHOSH 

12 


An amateur photographer based out of Christchurch, I'm a 

husband, father, IT professional, fitness enthusiast and an ardent 

nature lover. I was stunned by NZ's scenery after watching LOTR 

and for that reason, made it my home - might sound crazy 

but it's true! I love being in nature, listening to its voice and 

witnessing its unfathomable beauty. 

@bikramghosh 

TERRESTRIAL AOTEAROA 

My set of 4 photos covers top to bottom and a bit in between of 

our majestic South Island. I fell in love with New Zealand's scenery 

many years ago because of the intact, unspoilt, pristine conditions 

and this series of photos shows some of my most favorite places, 

the ones that drag me into them and swallow me whole with their 

vastness and majestic beauty. 

If you ask me, the two most important elements in nature are water 

and light. The landscapes we see get beautified by the touch of 

these elements and as a photographer, I have tried portraying 

those beautified moments. 

In moments like these, I like the feeling of becoming disconnected 

from the material world and simply enjoying myself in the lap of 

mother nature - It is the best way I can connect to myself and 

reflect on life. 


CAROLE GARSIDE 

16 


I’m an amateur photographer, originally from the UK, but have lived in 

New Zealand for 22 years. After being made redundant as a graphic 

designer, I resurrected my interest in photography. A friend had bought 

herself her first DSLR, and after watching with interest I too made the 

move from a point and shoot to a DSLR. I have nearly finished a diploma 

in photography which I’ve been doing online through SIT. I’m also a 

member of the Waiuku camera club. 

@yorkshire.kiwi 

THE HIDDEN FOREST 

My four images (part of a series of ten) were captured over a 

number of weeks throughout June. 

I’ve called my series The Hidden Forest as the fungi, in some cases, 

look like small trees themselves. The more you look, the more you 

start noticing these little forests of fungi, whether growing on tree 

trunks or poking up through the ground litter. 

As the forests tend to be dark, and I was having to use slow shutter 

speeds, my tripod became an essential piece of equipment for this 

series. It was especially useful having a central column which could 

reverse, allowing my camera to hang nearer the ground. I also 

started carrying around an old travel rug on which to lie while using 

the live screen to check my focus and settings. 

The white basket fungus was particularly satisfying to capture. I 

came across one, which unfortunately had already collapsed. After 

poking around in the leaf litter, I discovered two anonymous looking 

white nodules. I marked them with a pine cone and returned each 

day for two weeks. My patience paid off and I finally got my photo. 


PETER LAURENSON 

20 


I am an occasional climber, traveller, still photographer, 

and writer. My adventures around New Zealand and 

beyond, span over 30 years. Based in Wellington, I am 

editor of the Federated Mountain Club’s Backcountry. 

I also write for Wilderness Magazine and, occasionally, 

other publications, including NZ Photographer. 

www.occasionalclimber.co.nz 

KHUMBU IN ESSENCE 

Khumbu is the Sherpa region just south of Mount Everest in Nepal. 

It’s world-famous and countless beautiful images of it can be found 

everywhere – I’ve taken thousands myself. My own treks there span 

over thirty years. During that time, Khumbu has become far more to 

me than simply a holiday destination. 

I am presently in the final stages of producing a 220 page book, 

where I seek to do justice to Khumbu in words and pictures. 

Modernisation has brought far reaching changes to Khumbu and 

the Sherpa people living there. And now Covid-19 has thrown 

another massive ‘curve-ball’. What the future Khumbu will be like is 

uncertain. 

My challenge with this series is to represent an essence of Khumbu 

that I have been privileged to experience. To me Khumbu is so 

much more than endless layers of mighty peaks and sunset shots 

from near Everest base camp. Khumbu is brutal, beautiful, spiritual, 

adventurous, demanding, hospitable, friendly, elemental... and 

vulnerable. 


STEPHEN USMAR 

24 


Originally starting out a few decades ago with a manual film 

Olympus OM20, I have in recent years switched to the Olympus 

Micro Four Thirds system. The lighter weight body and lenses mean 

that when I'm travelling, I am more likely to have everything by my 

side. Over Level 4 lockdown this year I sorted and catalogued my 

32,000 odd digital images with the goal to publishing a selection to 

Picfair.com. This is still very much a work-in-progress! 

www.usmar.com 

OMAPARE WHARF 

Having recently completed the NZ Photography Workshops “1- 

Day Long Exposure Landscape” course in Auckland, I decided that 

an upcoming weekend to the Hokianga would be a great start 

to trying out my new skills. Using a Benro FH100M2 filter kit I quickly 

found my photographic subject, the Omapare Wharf, right outside 

where I was staying at the Copthorne Hokianga. This made for very 

easy gear transport! 

Over the two days, in between many rain showers, I tried a number 

of different angles and times of day to capture the “mood of the 

wharf”. There was also the high and low tide to consider which did 

catch me out on the second day under the wharf when I nearly lost 

everything in an unexpected wave surge. 

With very few people about it was good to be able to catch the 

solitude of the harbour, although I do like the long exposure “ghosts’ 

on the wharf where a few locals were fishing at the time of that 

shot. As a first time out with the Benro ND filters I was quite happy 

with the results but also became aware that I don’t want to make 

everything a long exposure shot when heading out. It’ll be a case of 

finding the balance and using when best suited to the landscape or 

water body. 


Top 5 Sunset Shots 

by Brendon Gilchrist 

HINAPOURI TARN 

F11, 1/10s, ISO1250 

Hinapouri Tarn consists of 2 small mountain lakes located near the famous Lake Angelus in Nelson Lakes 

National Park. I accessed this location via Robert Ridge, the most scenic as well as the shortest route of the 4 

possible ways to get here. 

Hinapouri Tarn is only a 15min walk away from Lake Angelus where I was camping for the night. I was giving 

up hope of a decent sunset as nothing was looking promising, it was a bit windy with ripples on the water and 

the sky was a dead grey color. I was getting ready to settle down for the night but had left the camera on the 

tripod just-in-case. 

I turned around and saw some colours in the sky starting to come through, the lake was also calming down 

then within a minute the lake was dead calm and the sky was pink. 

It was amazing how fast everything changed and is also the reason why I never pack my gear away as this 

sunset only lasted 5 minutes or so which would have been valuable lost time if I’d had to set up all my gear. 

28 


KAIKOURA 

F16, 8s, ISO64 

New Zealand’s newest coastline is also the most alien-like since some of the coastline used to be permanently 

underwater but is now either above water all the time or part of the time depending on the tide. 

When I got this shot it was the perfect evening, warm with a slight breeze and stunning views. I was out looking 

for new compositions for sunset, walking out over the large rock-shelf that I hadn’t seen above water much 

before. I wandered over to the edge of the water and looked down to see green seaweed covered rocks - I 

thought it was the perfect composition and at the moment in time, wished I hadn’t left my other camera in a 

different location doing a time-lapse as this one would have worked so much better. 

Kaikoura is the place to go to get those alpine mountain shots with the ocean right in front of it and gives 

almost endless opportunities – just but be careful of the not so friendly seals! Well known for its amazing sunsets, 

even in the wrong direction, there is just something magical about Kaikoura, I have never left this place without 

a colourful sunset. 


LAKE TAUPO 

F13, 1/20s, ISO64 

New Zealand’s biggest lake and the gateway to the volcanic plateau as well as the lesser-explored Te Urewera 

National Park, Lake Taupo has many hidden wonders and is an area I would like to spend more time in and 

around. 

The evening I took this shot I was staying at the camping ground up the road so it was an easy decision of 

where to shoot sunset. I was hoping that the colour would light up the sky and that the volcano would be visible 

in the far distance. 

I was struggling to get anything decent with the wide-angle lens so decided to bring out the telephoto lens, 

hoping I would get something with that. It was windy but I had no idea a yacht was going to come along! 

While they were enjoying their ride, I was thanking my lucky stars – It was perfect and adding a human element 

to the image really made all the difference. As fast as it sailed into frame, it sailed out of frame but thankfully, 

the sky had lit up with an amazing display of colour. 

30 


PUNAKAIKI 

F16, 1/5s, ISO64 

Most famous for the Pancake Rocks, this is one of the most famous short walks on the West Coast of the South 

Island. 

Many of a time have I seen dolphins out playing in the distance and with huge waves hitting the rocks, it’s a 

great place to go out, take a seat and enjoy the views be that in the daytime or ar night as it’s a great place 

for astrophotography. 

On this particular night I was having a “should I stay or should I go” moment of indecision - Camping at the 

camping ground just down the road, the rain was off and on and I wasn’t sure if heading out with my camera 

for sunset would be worth it. Then I thought “well, I’m here so why not” and headed out to see what would 

happen, to see if I could come up with something unique for myself and to enjoy whatever nature would come 

up with. I was pretty happy to see the gap in the clouds open up and then these light rays starting to pierce 

through the clouds! 


CHRISTCHURCH OLD SOUTH SHORE JETTY 

F11, 3s, ISO64 

I had just brought the new Nikon D810 and hadn’t tested it out much when I took this shot. 

During the day I had been watching the clouds and had the feeling that something amazing was going to 

happen in the sky at high tide. 

I decided to go and see what I could come up with down at the old broken jetty near South Shore, as well as 

watch what nature would put on display. The old broken jetty was one of those locations I wanted to shoot and 

capture something amazing at before it got replaced. It was a warm night and the sky lit up, it was calm with 

little wind so the glow of the sky in the water was reflected. Two forces of nature were on display here on this 

particular night, the power of the earthquake that displaced the jetty, twisting it, breaking it, and separating 

the beams plus the other force how beautiful the Christchurch sunsets can be. 

Now replaced with a completely new jetty it’s still a good place to go and shoot at if you haven’t been before. 

32 


Seven day South Island 

Beaches & Bays Photo Tour 

23rd - 29th September 2020 

The top of the South Island offers a variety of fantastic and easily-accessible 

photography locations. Richard Young and Ken Wright will guide you on 

a seven-day workshop, where you will photograph stunning limestone 

formations, lush native forests, ever-changing sand dunes, and the place 

where the mountains meet the beautiful South Pacific Ocean. 

You will spend multiple days exploring photographic locations and 

marine wildlife by boat in the world-famous Abel Tasman National Park, 

Marlborough Sounds, and the Kaikoura Coast. Travelling by boat allows us 

to access beaches and bays that take days to access on foot; on this tour, 

the most secluded and stunning spots are right at our fingertips. 

www.photographyworkshops.co.nz 

info@photographyworkshops.co.nz 

(0064) 21 0845 322 


WHITE FANTAIL 

F4, 1/400s, ISO800 

Behind The Shot with Guy Vickers 

GUY, TELL US ABOUT YOU AND YOUR PASSION 

FOR PHOTOGRAPHY... 

I grew up on a dairy farm in Taranaki so was 

surrounded by the natural world and had plenty of 

opportunity to adventure during scouts, school trips, 

and family adventures. In 1978 I went on a school 

camp to North Egmont and my mother bought me 

a roll of 120 black and white film to go in her Box 

Brownie camera. The results were mediocre, but it 

was the beginning of a passion to photograph my 

adventures. 

Many years went past until I bought my first camera 

- an Olympus XA2 point and shoot. That camera 

survived some pretty tough treatment at my Outward 

Bound course, tramping and climbing trips, and 

kayaking the Whanganui River. When I went to 

University to study agriculture, I met other outdoor 

photographers who were using slide film and SLR 

cameras, their results were far superior to the images 

I was getting with slide film in my XA2, so I made the 

switch to the Olympus OM system and used Fuji Velvia 

slide film exclusively. 

I have worked in agriculture my whole career, fitting 

in as much adventure and photography as I can. I 

have always loved photographing wild untouched 

places and recently I have discovered a passion for 

photographing people and birds. 

I currently use a Canon 5D mark IV as my main 

camera and a Canon 7D mark II for bird photography. 

My lenses are all Canon and include 16-35mm L f4 

IS, 40mm f2.8, 24-105mm L f4 IS, 85mm 1.8, 135mm 

f2 L and 400mm f5.6 L. I add a Canon 1.4 times 

teleconverter to my 135mm f2 lens when I use it on my 

7D II, this increases the reach to that of a 300mm (fullframe 

equivalent), which is my go-to for forest birds 

like the white fantail. My 400mm is perfect for birds in 

flight and with the crop sensor 7 D II gives me good 

reach for birds on the water. 

34 


TELL US ABOUT YOUR SHOT OF THE WHITE 

FANTAIL... 

Once I knew we had a rare white fantail in our local 

forest, I knew I had to work fast to win the birds trust 

while it was still young and feeding near the nest, it 

was the only way I was going to get close enough to 

photograph it. 

Every day I would visit the river and wander from 

one feeding area to the next hoping for a sighting. I 

walked back and forth to the river each day during 

the covid-19 lockdown and that gave me time to 

reflect on the birds’ behaviour. I also picked several 

strategies that I knew other bird photographers were 

using and decided to put them to the test. 

I wore earthy coloured clothes and a camouflage 

baseball cap with camouflage buff and sat quietly 

in the shrubs near the birds feeding area. I held the 

camera near my eye for long periods of time to avoid 

having to lift it when the birds eventually came in 

close as they don’t like sudden movements. 

Whenever the bird came in close I would shoot over 

my left or right shoulder using my left or right eye on 

the viewfinder. I found that once I was behind the 

camera, I could move forward or backwards to get a 

clear shot of the bird that was usually hiding behind a 

branch. 

Each day I would wait in one spot and then move to 

another after about half an hour, this increased my 

chances of coinciding with the birds feeding. After 

the first 10 days the birds were curious and accepting 

of me and would come in close to feed around me. 

When this happened I started talking quietly to the 

birds and they got used to my voice and of course 

the clothing that I wore each day. Their behaviour 

indicated that they had accepted my presencehappily 

preening, singing, and drinking within 2-3 

metres of me while I sat motionless. 

After struggling to get sharp photos with my 400mm 

f5.6 lens in the low light of winter, I switched to my 

shorter Canon 135mm f2 lens with 1.4 x teleconverter 

attached and this allowed me to get sharp photos in 

low light and create nice background blur. With the 

white bird now trusting me more and more it would 

feed around me and often come in close, chirping 

happily for a few seconds before flying off to a new 

feeding area. 

As my understanding of correct exposure, auto focus, 

and the birds’ behaviour increased and the days 

became longer near the end of winter, I was able to 

chance this shot late in the day. I was talking quietly 

to the bird as I eased forwards and shot in continuous 

drive, manually focussing on the birds head. 

Everything was at the limit, I couldn’t open the lens up 

any more, or I would get softness, I couldn’t lower the 

shutter speed any more, or I would get movement blur 

from the birds fast moving head. The iso was as high as 

I wanted and it came down to chance whether the 

bird would stay long enough for me to get the shot. As 

if to compliment me on my efforts so far, he allowed 

me closer than ever before and stayed long enough 

for me to acquire focus. When I saw this photo on the 

computer, I was ecstatic. This was the shot I could only 

dream of! 

YOU’VE HAD A LOT OF MEDIA ATTENTION WITH 

THIS SHOOT HAVEN’T YOU? 

The rare leucistic fantail has been embraced by the 

media as a feel-good story, much needed during 

Covid-19. What started out as a small article in the 

Taranaki Daily News newspaper, escalated to an 

article on Stuff Media and then an interview with John 

Campbell and TVNZ for their Breakfast Show. 

As well as being asked to feature here in NZP, 

New Zealand Forest and Bird are running a onepage 

article on how I captured the images in their 

September magazine too. I've also had quite a few 

people interested in buying prints of the white fantail, 

some for commercial use. 

I have become known as “the guy who photographs 

the white fantail”which is quite an honour considering 

I’m just doing what I love! 

WHAT BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS CAN YOU 

SHARE WITH OUR READERS? 

You have to make do with what you have until you 

can afford a lens of 400mm or longer! Try hiding your 

camera where birds wade or feed and triggering 

the camera with an app on your smart phone. Build 

a hide slowly over time and bait your subjects with 

carrion or food that they like. Visit places like the zoo, 

bird feeders, coastal walkways, or bird sanctuaries, 

anywhere where birds are used to people and will 

allow you to get closer to them. 

Next, learn the strategies that allow you to get 

close to birds to photograph, this includes wearing 

camouflage clothing, staying low to the ground, not 

looking directly at the bird etc. Arthur Morris in the USA 

has been a big part of my learning and I recommend 

visiting his blog. Also, Youtube has a wealth of 

information from people like Tim Boyer, Steve Perry 

and Jan Wegener. 

It’s important to build a foundation of technical skills, 

so that when a fleeting moment happens, you are 

not fumbling with the camera. The best way to do 

this is to go out photographing with a passionate and 

successful bird photographer and observe what they 

are doing in the field - remember to take plenty of 

notes and ask lots of questions! 

Lastly, be prepared to get dirty as you will need to 

sit on wet ground, crawl through the mud or sand, 

September 2020 35

and wait patiently with camera at eye level for long 

periods of time, so dress accordingly! 

WHAT ELSE SHOULD WE KNOW ABOUT YOUR 

PHOTOGRAPHY? 

My biggest successes come from carrying the least 

amount of gear. I will go tramping with just the 16- 

35mm and 135mm lenses, or shoot birds with the 

7DII and 135mm +1.4 x Teleconverter. Whatever you 

carry, it has to be around your neck and ready to use 

at any moment so I think it’s far better to create a 

vision in your mind of the photographs you want than 

burden yourself with equipment choices. I do this 

by looking at other photographers work and figure 

out how I could do something better or significantly 

different that will catch the eye of a publisher or 

potential client. 

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU – WHERE DO YOU 

WANT YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY TO GO FROM 

HERE? 

I am currently setting myself up to do wedding 

and portrait photography, this is an opportunity 

to exceed customers’ expectations and build a 

successful business. I’m also working on an exhibition 

that showcases my best digital photographs, which is 

a first for me and very exciting! 

I am fascinated by birds and one day would like to 

be able to photograph them with a 600mm lens to 

create unique works of art. I am also teaching myself 

how to stitch panorama images, this will open up 

new ways of seeing the landscape. I have always 

been striving to create photos from the natural world 

and this will always be the core of my photography. 

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE? 

www.facebook.com/clickvickers 

www.instagram.com/guyvickers 

excio.gallery/guyvickers 

BEHIND THE SHOT IS PROUDLY 

SUPPORTED BY 

19th - 25th 

November 2020 

Seven day North Island Volcanic Photo Tour 

Join Ken Wright and Shaun Barnett on this seven-day, round-trip 

photography tour from Auckland. Take in many of the most magnificent 

volcanic landscapes of New Zealand, including the World Heritage 

Tongariro National Park and Mt Taranaki — arguably the country’s most 

shapely mountain — before looping back around to Auckland. 

36 

NZPhotographer 

www.photographyworkshops.co.nz 

info@photographyworkshops.co.nz 

021 0845 7322

Feel Good Photography TM 

by 

Photo Community 

PUBLISH 

WITH A PURPOSE 

For every 100 visitors who come and explore 

our members' gallery we make a donation to 

the charity. 

VIEW GALLERY 

Not a member yet? Join us today. 


Interview with Portrait 

Photographer Tony Gorham 

than anything, I hope you will see a genuine 

connection with the subject. 

DO YOU HAVE A STUDIO AT HOME? 

Yes, it’s a little bit makeshift but I have plenty of 

lights and modifiers and most of a double garage 

to work in, plus being at home means fresh coffee, 

so it’s not a bad space. 

DO YOU PREFER TO BE SHOOTING INSIDE 

OR OUTSIDE? 

I really love shooting in the wild, especially sunrises 

but there are things you can’t easily do outside of 

a studio and I really enjoy building the image from 

scratch in a studio. I guess I’m a rather technical 

person so the studio helps me scratch those itches. 

TONY, LET US KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND 

WHAT YOU DO! 

I live in Glendowie with my wife and son. I am 

originally from England but moved to New Zealand 

in 2000 (My wife is a kiwi and I often get described 

as her OE souvenir!). I run my own business 

developing custom business software systems 

used by a wide range of NZ businesses. Being selfemployed, 

I can set my own schedule and often 

get to shoot away from Auckland. 

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR 

PHOTOGRAPHY STYLE? 

I like most genres of photography but for the last 

few years, I have been pushing myself more and 

more into portrait photography. I’m a big fan of 

large deep dish octaboxes so there’s plenty of that 

in my portfolio. When you see my images, I hope 

you’ll see nice clean images that don’t have too 

many distractions, and aren’t overly fussy. More 

HOW AND WHEN DID YOU GET STARTED 

WITH PHOTOGRAPHY? 

Like most photographers, I started young. I dabbled 

as a school kid and then again in my later teens 

when I had a small home darkroom. Soon enough 

work, cars, and girls seemed so much more 

important and my photography stalled. About ten 

years ago I started getting back into it and decided 

to join Auckland Photographic Society, that helped 

me keep the momentum going initially. Now I’m 

just unashamedly addicted so I now need help 

stopping rather than starting! 

WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING WITH TODAY? 

My run and gun system is: 

Sony A7R3 + 24–70mm f2.8 GM, 70–200mm f2.8 GM, 

135mm f1.8 GM, 85mm f1.4GM, 200–600mm 5.6–6.3 

G, Sigma 50mm 1.4 ART, Zeiss 35mm f2.8 

My studio setup is: 

Fuji GFX50s, GF23mm f4, GF32–64mm f4, GF110mm 

f2 with mostly GODOX and Aputure studio lighting. 

For street photography: 

Fuji X100F 

SO WHAT IS IT ABOUT PEOPLE, WHY DID 

YOU CHOOSE THIS PARTICULAR GENRE OF 

PHOTOGRAPHY? 

I know its corny, but I genuinely believe life is all 

about relationships. I really appreciate the social 

interaction when shooting people. I have built 

38 


DANCING IN THE DUNES 

F1.8, 1/2500s, ISO100, 135mm 

some amazing friendships and find that the more 

you shoot with someone (as long as you are open to 

collaboration) the more of a partnership you form. 

The people I shoot know they can trust me. They know 

that I will only share images that make them look like 

their best self. 

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE SHOT? TELL US 

ABOUT THAT… 

‘Dancing in the dunes’ is my favourite. I have 

worked with Anita for well over a year now and quite 

regularly, so we have a great working relationship. 

Dancing in the dunes was taken at the end of a 

perfect day of photography. We started at the 

Botanic Gardens in Manurewa and did some images 

around the cherry blossoms, getting lucky with the 

small number of people about and the amount of 

blossom. The light was really nice all day but things just 

kept getting better. 

After some coffee, we went to the Winter Gardens in 

Auckland where we met with a photographer friend 

(Delwyn Barnett) and then after a late lunch and a 

wardrobe stop, we headed out to Piha. As is often 

the way, the plan was super flexible and changed on 

the fly all day. The late afternoon light was magical 

(in fact this folder of images is named the magic 

shoot!). I remember Anita asking if we were ok 

because it went really quiet. I had to explain that we 

were stunned into silence because we just knew we 

were getting great images (photographers all know 

this feeling). 

I must have several hundred similar shots but the 

moment where I asked Anita to channel her inner 

ballerina, relax into it and dance, that’s when the 

magic really hit. This is one of those images I’m scared 

to enter into competitions because it means too 

much to me. 


VINTAGE 

F2.0, 1/250s, ISO100, 85mm 

SARAH 

F2.0, 1/125s, ISO200, 56mm 

LAURA 

F1.8, 1/320s, ISO1250, 135mm

TELL US ABOUT YOUR VINTAGE PIN-UP 

BODY OF WORK… 

That same friend again, Delwyn had been 

to a previous Very Vintage Day Out. In 2016 

she talked me into going and I was sort 

of nervous about partaking in their Photo 

Safari comp as that first year I entered they 

matched you with vintage pin-up models 

giving you a set time to work. However, after 

working with a bunch of ladies I was hooked 

and I made several really great friends that 

day and many more each year I have been 

back. 

Laura was the last person I shot that day in 

2016 and we stayed in touch. Even when she 

isn’t in my photos, she has become a goto 

sounding board for advice and creative 

input. 

In the spring I am doing a shoot with a 

vintage pin-up and a spitfire – I can’t wait to 

see how that turns out! 

…AND YOUR HALF DEAD BRIDE PHOTO 

SHOOT, HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT? 

I had been chatting on and off with Tabitha 

for a while via a Facebook group for models, 

make up artists, and photographers. I had 

purchased three stunning wedding dresses 

just because they were being sold off as exdemo 

and they looked like they would be 

handy (yes, my wife does question why I own 

so many dresses!). Tabitha mentioned she 

was in Auckland the next weekend so I asked 

her about doing a fake wedding and the 

answer was a very frank – no thanks, been 

there done that! Hear me out I said… I want 

the bride to start out made up as half dead 

and the groom will just be normal. Once they 

say the vows and kiss, the groom will become 

half dead. She was sold and it was game on. 

We both knew we wanted to do a shoot at 

Shabby Manor and it was perfect for the 

theme. Tabitha knew Braydan and I got 

another model and MUA friend, Genevieve 

to do the make-up. We put all the work in 

to be ready for the following weekend and 

luckily Donna at Shabby Manor let us use her 

space for the shoot. During the shoot, Donna 

helped out and organised flowers and 

generously humoured me when I wanted to 

put a chaise in the middle of the lilies. Donna, 

like so many people I have been blessed to 

work with, is one of those great people who 

enrich the lives of everyone they touch. 

DEFIANCE 

F2.2, 1/640s, ISO100, 110mm 

THE UNHAPPY COUPLE 

F7.1, 1/250s, ISO100, 48mm

CONTEMPLATION 

F3.2, 1/160s, ISO100, 110mm 

JUST LOOK UP 

F16, 1/125s, ISO200, 23mm 

TELL US ABOUT YOUR COMMERCIAL 

WORK… 

Paul Bartolo at Bespoke Barbers called me 

one day, totally out of the blue, no pre-sales, 

nothing. He had seen my Instagram feed, 

liked my style and wanted to do something. 

The shop is this really cool space in O’Connell 

Street. Paul had some hairstyles that he 

wanted to showcase and we collaborated 

on the lighting theme and the concept of 

the first shoot. We are currently planning the 

next and we plan to do about four or five sets, 

some will be more adventurous than others. 

Our first shoot was a lot of fun. We had the 

shop for a few hours one evening and it was 

cool playing with the styles and poses. The 

guys hadn’t done anything like this before so 

we started from cold. I knew I would waste the 

first 30 mins or so but with a limited time slot, 

before everyone gets tired, it’s a balancing 

act getting the guys relaxed etc. I learned a 

lot from this and put many hours into the prep 

in order to make things go easy on the night. 

Paul gave me lots of freedom and was great 

with feedback on the post-processing. When a 

client has a very clear idea of what they want 

and allows the artists freedom to interpret that 

– I’d say that’s a recipe for success. 

I also recently did a shoot for the Warehouse, 

cute images of kiddies in Peter Rabbit winter 

wear but sadly Covid‐19 meant that those 

catalogues never got delivered. That’s 

commercial work sometimes, I guess. 

WHAT TIPS OR TRICKS CAN 

YOU SHARE FOR PORTRAIT 

PHOTOGRAPHY? 

Forget the technical stuff. Put your effort 

into the people, that’s the bit you can’t fix in 

photoshop. If you love something and have 

an obvious passion, people can tell you are 

genuine. What I have learned is that most 

people want to help others. If you have a 

crazy idea don’t be surprised if there are lots of 

people willing to help you make that happen. 

HOW DO YOU PROMOTE YOURSELF? 

My promotion has all been word of mouth. 

It takes a lot of trust to let someone make 

images of you – People need the reassurance 

from someone that you are one of the “good 

ones”. After a while, you build a body of work 

and people see you around and they start 

coming to you to ask about getting pictures. 

The first time that happened I was a little 

stunned and more than faltered. 

42 


BRAIN FOOD 

F5.6, 1/125s, ISO320, 85mm 

ASIDE FROM PORTRAITS, WHICH GENRES DO 

YOU MOST ENJOY SHOOTING? 

When I’m not shooting portraits, I love landscapes and 

street. Street is good for stress. I was in a very serious car 

crash in late 2018 and my photography has acted as 

therapy whilst dealing with PTSD. I find the solitude of 

street photography helps me get those stress levels down. 

TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE SO FAR WITH 

EXCIO… 

I tend to be an “all in” sort of person so I uploaded lots 

of images to Excio in a space of two or three weeks. 

I really like being able to crop images for different 

device sizes. The support and input from the team has 

been amazing and I find it exciting to be using an app 

from a Kiwi company. The images look great and you 

can tell that the Excio team are passionate about 

what they are doing. The experience is definitely 

aimed at making it work for photographs rather than 

the images being an after-thought. 

WHAT ELSE SHOULD WE KNOW ABOUT YOU? 

I am a trainee judge for PSNZ. I recently started 

judging competitions for camera clubs which has 

been a really exciting challenge. I feel my own 

work has improved considerably by spending time 

assessing the work of others. I particularly enjoy trying 

to interpret the photographer’s thought process 

and intentions. I’m a big believer in making images 

over just taking them. Intention is very important to 

me, so its great practice for this and you get to give 

something back to the NZ photographic community 

at the same time. 

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU? 

I gained my PSNZ licentiate status a couple of years 

back and am now working on both an A set and a 

fellowship set for submission over the next few years. 

I enjoy long scale projects and have a few ongoing 

projects that evolve as I work on them. One is a set of 

Fresnel images; another is American muscle cars and 

another is Film Noir portraits. Not everyone I shoot is a 

good candidate for every style so I am building these 

catalogues as I go. I hope to make a coffee table 

book of American muscle cars and many more coffee 

books like the one I made of Anita too. 

WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE? 

www.facebook.com/nztonez 

www.instagram.com/nztonez 

albums.excio.io/profile/nztonez 

www.tonez.co.nz 


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44 


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PHOTO COMMUNITY 

Feel Good. Do Good. For Good. 

ON THE BRINK 

With Mental Health Awareness Week 

coming up this month in New Zealand we 

thought it important to revisit the discussion 

about photography and mental health and 

how we as photographers can take care of 

ourselves, especially in these very turbulent 

times when there is no certainty over what 

will happen tomorrow. 

The lockdown spurred creativity in many 

of us and lots of new photography-related 

projects took place but at the same time, 

very little attention has been dedicated to 

how us photographers feel, why we enjoy 

photography, and whether we are doing it 

full time or only as an occasional hobby. 

We all have our ups and downs, selfdoubts, 

and confidence issues and we 

may sometimes find ourselves on the brink 

of mental breakdown being exhausted, 

worried, annoyed, or stressed but as 

photographers, we have one of the most 

powerful tools for mental wellbeing in our 

hands. 

Photography is not a magic wand, but these 

5 simple ways for wellbeing shared by the 

Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand 

can easily be applied to photography: 

1. 

Connect. Get involved in groups or 

communities - seeing the work of other 

photographers or working on your own 

interview, story, or feature will surely help you 

get some much-needed creative distraction 

(we can help with that www.excio.io/ 

membership!). Connecting is not only about 

photography groups but about connecting 

with viewers too. This is exactly what we 

explore every week in our challenges: how 

the photographs you take and share affect 

your audience. 

2. 

Give. Giving through your photography 

will 100% make you feel better. It 

doesn’t mean you have to wait for your next 

(or first) sale and then donate to a good 

cause. With Feel Good Photography you 

can support a good cause at no cost to 

you, just by publishing your work on Excio. 

3. 

Take Notice. When we are out and 

about taking photographs we learn 

how to see things in a new light – we take 

notice of what is happening around us in a 

completely different way than other people 

which helps us to live in the moment and 

appreciate the little things. 

4. 

Keep Learning. This doesn’t mean 

you have to spend half of your 

week watching YouTube tutorials. Through 

photography we can learn about the world 

around us - Browse the free Excio collections 

from your phone or computer and you will 

see there are lot of interesting things from 

the world of nature, to travel and people. 

5. 

Be Active. Go out there with your 

camera whether you're exploring your 

local area or further afield... use your camera 

as a tool to take you to unknown places. 

Believe me, as a photographer myself and as 

the co-founder of Excio's online community, 

I also have those moments of self-doubts 

and overthinking but seeing new photos 

and collections added by our members 

pop up on my home screen first thing in the 

morning makes me smile and gives me more 

confidence than I've ever had before. 

As a community of photographers I 

encourage you to take care of each other, 

be a little kinder, and use your camera as a 

tool for doing good. 

Stay kind and stay strong. 

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 people's 

genuine emotions. 

@excionz 

www.excio.io

PHOTO COMMUNITY 

From more than 20,000 photographs published on Excio 

by our members, these 10 made it to the top this month. 

Top 10

GIULIO D’ERCOLE 

ON THE ROAD TO CHANGE – 

THE BROKEN BALANCE 

The original title of this shot was "Futile 

Resistance" - that's what I thought as I shot 

it. But this photo portrays more than that. 

The Mursi woman, with the traditional labial 

disk, is holding the most common weapon 

in Africa, the infamous AK47, yet on her 

back she holds what she's ready to fight 

for: her child. It is protection indeed but 

also a futile resistance against the change 

soon to come. 

excio.gallery/giulio 

PETER EL PEDRO COX 

I SAW AN ANGEL 

White Faced Heron taken in Auckland. 

excio.gallery/peter 



47

IRENE MIDDLETON 

SHELTER 

Desmoiselles crowd under a raft of seaweed 

to feed at the Poor Knights Islands. Taken 

with a Nikon D800 and 60mm macro lens in 

aquatica housing. 

excio.gallery/seacology 

SEAN KING 

SEA GULLS VIEW 

A birds eye view of the blow hole near Hahei taken 

with my drone. 

excio.gallery/sean 

48 September 2020 NZPhotographer

LINDA CHISNALL 

INTO THE LIGHT 

A poppy in my garden unfolding as it 

emerges into the light. 

excio.gallery/linda 

ANA STEVENS 

DAY DREAMING 

Lost in her thoughts. 

excio.gallery/anci 



49

BETH CHAPMAN 

SHAG VS EEL 

A rather gruesome battle between an 

eel and a shag which went on for over 5 

minutes ending in the demise of the eel… 

excio.gallery/beth 

JAKUB SOLTYSIAK 

BIRD 

When hiking the western arm of Mt 

Earnslaw, these lovely curious birds come 

and greet you! 

excio.gallery/jakub 

50 September 2020 NZPhotographer

STEWART WATSON 

SUN RAYS IN THE REDWOODS 

A burst of sun light in the forest. Taken with Canon 5d 

mark 3 and Samyang 14mm lens at 1/8s, ISO800. 

excio.gallery/stewart 

CAROLINE LUDFORD 

NZ BELLBIRD (KORIMAKO) 

Taken on Tiritiri Matangi with my Nikon D850 and 

70-200 2.8 lens. 

excio.gallery/caroline 



51

Learning To See 

By Richard Young 

“Slow down, connect with your subject, and decide what you wish to express 

before you attempt to try to capture it.” 

Today, life tends to take place in a rushed manner. It’s 

hard to leave this attitude behind, even when we go 

out to photograph wild places. Our instinct is to turn 

up, capture the image, and leave. For our vision to 

truly emerge, we must give ourselves time to connect 

with our landscape or subject, take in its beauty, 

and decide the story we wish to tell. We must give 

ourselves time to see. 

This goal can be tricky in frequently-photographed 

landscapes; if you’re not careful, there will be little in 

your image to make it stand out from all the others. I 

don’t mean to put you off with this reality, but rather, 

to ready you for a good challenge. With enough 

creativity, there will always be an opportunity for your 

style and vision to shine. Where other photographers 

may end up with the exact same images as each 

other, strive to tell your own unique story. 

One thing I really enjoy about working as a 

photography tutor is the opportunity to travel to 

amazing locations with people from all around the 

world. Discovering the individuality and uniqueness of 

everyone’s visions comprises a very important part of 

the workshop environment. Sure, these photographers 

have primarily come to learn from their tutor but in 

reality, everybody ends up learning from each other. 

Every time I run a workshop, I learn from the clients I 

am there to teach. That is one of the amazing things 

about photography: we never stop learning. And 

when it comes to learning about our vision, there is no 

right or wrong answer. 

During our trips, there are times when everybody 

sets up their tripods in a line to capture the same 

vista. However, these are vastly outnumbered by the 

times when everyone ends up with their own unique 

image from the same location. Time and time again, 

even when I’m sure I’ve visited a location far too 

many times to see a fresh interpretation, someone 

always finds a way to create something totally new. 

Maybe they have seen some small detail that others 

overlooked, or maybe they just approach the view in 

front of them in an unusual way. 

I particularly enjoy taking people to lesser-known 

locations for this reason. Sure, everyone has a hitlist 

of images they hope to capture on the trip, but 

sometimes, the most unknown locations are the real 

gems. Arriving with no preconceptions allows visitors 

to explore, experiment, and express their own vision. 

Teachers of photography often focus on technique, 

but the part I enjoy most is teaching people to see: 

to break down the scene in front of them, decide the 

story, determine the key elements of their photograph, 

and figure out how to express their vision. 

52 


THE CHASM - MILFORD ROAD 

While capturing iconic locations in a fresh way can 

be challenging, it is not impossible. One approach 

is to present the location in such a way that it is not 

instantly recognisable. Sometimes, when given the 

time to just look and take in a scene, we even surprise 

ourselves. No matter how many times we’ve visited 

an iconic location, there is always something new to 

see. Finding it might just be a case of not following the 

herd - capturing something different to “that view” we 

all know - but more often than not, it comes from just 

having time to see. 

I have photographed the chasm on the road to 

Milford Sound too many times to count: one of 

the most popular stops on the Milford Road, it is 

photographed by thousands of tourists each day. I 

don’t enjoy visiting locations like this for photography 

as they are so often crowded. With so many people 

around, it’s hard to get into the right mental space to 

feel “in the zone” and create work that is personal to 

me. However, locations such as Milford Sound or “That 

Tree” in Wanaka are often at the top of clients’ lists 

during our photography tours and while such popular 

locations present challenges, there are always fresh 

ways to see them. On the last two trips I guided to the 

Chasm, I did not intend to capture any images (this 

is often the case during tours, as my focus is on the 

client) but on both occasions, I saw something new, 

and I was pleased with the result. 


TRIP 1 

While helping a client 

set up for a long 

exposure, I looked into 

the canyon and noticed 

a miniature rainbow 

forming from sunlight 

caught in the spray. 

I pointed it out to my 

client, but he continued 

to try to capture the 

larger view. Luckily, I 

had a camera over my 

shoulder and managed 

to snap a quick 

shot of this beautiful 

inner-landscape. 

TRIP 2 

On the next trip, a 

unique reflection 

caught my eye as I was 

(once again) standing 

with a client to help 

capture the wider 

view. In the reflection, 

this beech tree looked 

like a bonsai tree, and 

the scene seemed to 

belong to a landscape 

in Japan. Although 

I was not carrying a 

camera, the image 

was so beautiful that I 

pulled out my phone to 

record it. I showed the 

image to a client, and 

the two of us shared the 

beauty of this moment. 

I borrowed a spare 

camera body, and we 

both captured our own 

interpretations of the 

scene. 

EXPRESSIVE PHOTOGRAPHY - LEARN THE ART OF EXPRESSIVE PHOTOGRAPHY AS PART OF RICHARD 

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UNIQUE STYLE AND VISION. IT IS A COMPREHENSIVE AND COHESIVE COURSE COVERING EXPRESSIVE 

PHOTOGRAPHY AND ADVANCED POST PROCESSING TO DEVELOP YOUR SKILLS AND EXPAND YOUR 

CREATIVITY AND PHOTOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE. 

54 


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56 


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58 


Tips for Achieving Delicious 

Looking Food Photos at Home 

By Ted Grenfell 

This food photography article is full of tips and tricks 

with an emphasis on using readily available tools and 

lighting – No professional studio setup needed! I start 

by showing the results of some fairly simple lighting 

‘hacks’ you can achieve at home. I also provide a 

few tips and tricks on how you can tell a story with 

your food photography and then offer some thoughts 

on a few ways in which to visualise and capture 

your image content. So without further ado, let’s get 

started! 

LIGHTING 

Lighting can be one of the biggest challenges of 

‘food on a plate’ photography and is something that 

often puts people off when trying to get that perfect 

cuisine shot. 

Personally, I do use lighting equipment where needed 

although I do try to utilise natural lighting wherever 

possible, even on location, as I feel it adds a layer of 

dimension and natural authenticity to images. 

Natural light is free and doesn’t require fancy light 

stands that can get in the way. However, natural light 

can end up producing quite hard shadows without 

adequate diffusion – remember, the closer the light 

is to your subject, the softer it will be. Therefore, the 

problem with natural light is that the sun is a fair 

distance away and often creates hard shadows even 


when diffused by clouds so those desired soft shadow 

transitions are not something natural sunlight can 

provide without assistance. 

In restaurant or cafe locations where there are large 

open areas, the harshness of the light is often already 

diffused in some way – either through shop front 

windows or from being bounced off walls or other 

surfaces. Where soft light is desired (my preference) 

this can mean additional diffusion is often not needed 

and in fact, using natural light can lead to less time 

spent on taking the shot due to setting up lights and 

therefore means a quicker turn around on images. 

That’s all good and well when you’re out and about 

but what do you do when you’re stuck at home 

because of lockdown, have only the kitchen window 

as your light source, and still want to fill your portfolio 

with delicious looking food photos that don’t scream 

of “here’s a quick phone snap of the chicken salad 

the kids and I just made.”?! 

Here are a few tips and tricks, including one quick 

and simple way of solving the ‘lighting problem’ in the 

home environment. 

As you can see in image 1, natural light is pouring in 

the kitchen window to the right of my yoghurt and 

strawberry croissant. Unsurprisingly, that has produced 

hard shadows even with diffusion from a cloudy day. 

There is also not quite enough lighting on the left-hand 

side of the plate to fully highlight the juicy freshness of 

the just purchased strawberries. 

To resolve this, I could swivel the plate around so the 

strawberries are facing into the light but I would still 

be left with unwanted shadows plus I quite liked the 

strawberries on the left. 

My solution was to leave the plate alone and add 

in two artificial light sources – a freestanding lamp 

from the lounge, and a small desk lamp. These lights 

on their own have the potential to overpower the 

scene since I am unable to easily adjust their output 

so I needed to reduce their impact instead – not by 

moving them away from the plate, which is often the 

first option people think of, but by diffusing their light 

output using some pillowcases. The left lamp is as big 

as the plate and has a 53w warm tinted bulb in it so 

it’s bright enough to warrant using both sides of the 

pillowcase. The desk lamp is quite a lot smaller and as 

it just had a 35w bulb, I only needed one side of the 

pillowcase to soften its impact. 

Hint: The closer the light is to your subject, the softer it 

will be. 

Hint: Only turn your lights on when ready to shoot to 

prevent overheating. 

IMAGE 1 

60 


The image on the right shows the effects of the 

two lighting techniques – natural window light vs. 

artificial diffused lamps. Note that the artificially lit 

image has a golden ‘warmed up’ feel to it due to 

the warm halogen bulb used in the lounge lamp. 

OTHER THINGS TO TRY: 

On your next supermarket run, pick up some 

different types of bulbs to generate different effects. 

Warm vs. cold and so on. 

Try lighting the plate from different heights – I’ve 

raised the croissant plate off the table and on to a 

box simply to get it closer to the free-standing lamp 

whose height I was unable to lower. 

Try the lamps at different distances from your plate 

(both diffused and not) to see the effect that has 

both on lighting intensity, and on the shadows. 

Note: As with most things photographic, there is no 

right or wrong image, it comes down to personal 

taste when shooting for yourself. 

TELLING A STORY 

Now we have some lighting options up our sleeve 

we can look at how we might tell a story with our 

images. To help illustrate a couple of key principles 

here, I’ve chosen a simple-to-prepare cheese 

platter as the image subject. 

The platter in image 3 has been made interesting 

with the inclusion of several knives, implying it’s 

IMAGE 3 


not just finger food and that some form of human 

interaction will be needed – slicing and spreading 

of cheese for example. Perhaps it’s also a platter to 

share which is why there’s more than one knife. 

Tip: Try not to get too hung up on trying to make 

everything ‘look perfect’. For example, on the cheese 

platter there are broken chips, a lot of cheese crumbs, 

the cheese blocks have been cut into, and the knives 

are used (not clean). In my opinion, the platter looks 

less staged this way and more authentic to the viewer. 

PORTRAY MOTION 

Motion is often great to portray in food photography. 

It elevates the subject matter from just a static display 

of food to something that ties back to human emotion 

– the feeling of being fed, or preparing to be fed. Be 

careful not to overdo it though, subtle is best. 

How do you show motion though in an image? 

One technique is to use a slow shutter speed. 

Anything moving will appear in the image as a little 

blurry. Image 4 for example, was taken hand-held at 

1/160th of a second – slow enough that you can just 

notice slight blurriness to the hands and knife but not 

so slow that the rest of the image became blurry due 

to camera movement. 

Hint: Using a tripod is a great way to prevent 

unintentional camera movement and help with focus 

and sharpness of your image. This would enable even 

slower shutter speeds and further highlight movement. 

Use of a tripod is not always easy in overhead shots 

which is why I chose to shoot hand-held. 

OTHER THINGS TO TRY: 

Hands breaking bread over a bread board, crumbs 

flying everywhere. 

A knife cutting through a block of butter or spreading 

butter on toast. 

Cream being poured into a soup bowl. 

Flour being dusted over bread dough or icing-sugar 

over strawberries. 

TECHNICAL TIPS 

Get in Close 

Do not be afraid to get in close to your scene if your 

lens allows it. I used to think that being ‘zoomed out’ 

on a scene was necessary to effectively tell a story 

until a photographer of many decades took one of 

my images and cropped right in. 

Image 5 effectively shows this. The hero here is the 

large block of cheese – it’s in focus whilst other 

parts of the image are not, and it overlaps a ‘rule 

of thirds’ intersection, immediately drawing your 

eye to it. Sure, there’s a lot occurring on the rest of 

the cheese board too but it’s nice, I think, to see all 

the creamy detail of the cheese plus the used knife 

without being too distracted by the meat. 

IMAGE 4 

62 


IMAGE 5 

Use of Depth of Field 

Depth of field broadly refers to the parts of an 

image that are in focus. I generally prefer a shallow 

depth of field – shallow because only a part of the 

image is in focus. All but one of the cheese board 

images were shot at f2.8 (wide aperture) to create 

that shallow depth – an easy technique used to 

highlight a ‘hero’ part of the scene. 

For overhead shots where it is generally desirable 

to have everything in focus, I can still usually get 

away with a wide aperture as the required focus 

plane is small. 

A wide aperture allows more light through the lens so 

I can use a faster shutter speed when shooting handheld, 

without necessarily having to increase my ISO. 

A shallow depth of field really enables you to draw 

attention to a smaller area of the image and is 

worth experimenting with. Examples of this are 

shown on the next page where I've shown the 

focus point of each image to highlight the focus 

plane. 

Notice how your attention is drawn toward the 

front of the platter in frame 1 – the cheese stands 

out as the hero of the image because it is central 

to the image and is the largest object on the focus 

plane. 

In frame 2, I have kept the aperture wide at f2.8 

but shifted the focus plane further back toward the 

centre of the platter by focusing on the cheese 

knife. Here, the eye is drawn to the knife given its 

placement within the image and it being the tallest 

object in focus (central to the image). 

Objects both in front of and behind that focus 

plane remain quite blurred given the wide 

aperture. To my eye (this is a personal preference) 

this is not as nice an image as frame 1 given there 

is too much of the platter blurred in front of the 

knife. 

We can control the blurriness (and amount of 

bokeh) either side of the focus plane by adjusting 

our aperture. For example, I can increase the 

amount of the image in focus simply by choosing 

a narrower aperture. Frame 3 shows this nicely. By 

stopping down to f9 I am decreasing the size of the 

aperture, allowing less light in but also deepening 

the depth of field. The deeper depth of field in 

this example, I think, produces a more interesting 

image (with more for the eye to easily explore). This 

really is a personal preference though and there is 

no right or wrong answer when selecting depth of 

field unless you are working to a specific customer 

brief of course, in which case what they say goes! 


OTHER THINGS TO EXPERIMENT WITH: 

Use different camera angles 

Try the classic overhead shot but also try 

shooting straight on, and from different heights. 

Hint: Watch how that influences your 

background 

Use different lenses 

Move away from your object and shoot with a 

long lens (e. g.70–200mm) 

this magnifies the subject in relation to its 

background and further reduces depth of field 

(increasing bokeh) as the longer the lens, the 

shallower the depth. 

Hint: There is no right or wrong lens, but different 

lenses will produce different results so experiment 

until you find a style you like. 

Create an image series that tells a story, from 

food gathering through to plating 

Show ingredients 

E.g. If using produce, take a photo of veggies 

in the garden, or at the supermarket (do not be 

afraid to use your phone camera for this) 

Show food preparation 

Ingredients on a chopping board (optional: 

include the knife) 

Finished ingredients in a mixing bowl 

Show final plating 

Try different objects in the scene. 

E.g. image of just food on a plate; image of 

plated food surrounded by ingredients 

In closing, I hope you can see that just by using 

what you have at home, and without too much 

effort, you can elevate your photos from quickly 

taken snaps at the dinner table, to thoughtful 

and planned images that entice the viewer in. 

Your social media posts will never be the same 

again! 

BIO 

Ted Grenfell is a professional portrait, lifestyle, and food photographer 

and a landscape photography enthusiast. He works out of his studio 

gallery in North Dunedin where he also continues the associated 

printed homewares brand his late wife established in 2014. 

www.grenfell.co.nz 

64 


SPRING 

READERS SUBMISSIONS 

Show us how you see spring 

through your lens - all styles 

and genres welcome! Submit 

by 15 September for a chance 

to be featured in the next 

issue of NZPhotographer. 

Submit at www.nzphotographer.nz 


PORTFOLIO 

BEST READERS' SUBMISSIONS THIS MONTH 

'YOUR CITY' 

SOUTH COAST 

F1.9, 1/750s, ISO40 

A scene familiar to regular travelers in and out of Wellington Airport - 

Wellington's South Coast. Its not always so calm though. In this city we 

make the best of a good Wellington day! 

Ann Kilpatrick 

66 


DAWN ATOP MAUAO 

F8, 13s, ISO100 

The night before I had packed the camera gear and set the alarm for 

5am. Dawn on Mount Maunganui is always a spectacle. Walking up the 

Mount to capture the dawn means a head torch and takes about half an 

hour but is well worth the climb. 

Graham Jones 


MARKET DAY 

F4.0, 1/1000s, ISO100 

A good Sunday morning at the market with lots of colourful produce and 

interesting people. 

Ann Kilpatrick 

68 


SOLITUDE 

Outside a cafe on an Auckland city side street. Although taken prior 

to Level 3 Lockdown, except for the solitary reader, the street is empty. 

Perhaps it symbolises the sense of solitude many will experience during this 

uncertain time. 

Gail Orgias 


SERENA PREPARES 

The ASB Classic tennis tournament is a jewel in the crown of Auckland 

every summer. That it attracts top rated players, including powerhouse 

superstar Serena Williams, is testament to the quality of this competition. 

The players love not just the tournament, but also our great city. 

Twice I have been lucky enough to watch and photograph Serena on 

court, this year with her partner and great friend Caroline Wozniacki. In 

this shot of Serena preparing to serve, I saw the potential for something 

graphic and somewhat abstract. 

Lynn Fothergill 

70 


ATEA A RANGI GUIDING THE WAY 

It was a lovely clear Sunday night so we headed out to the Maori star 

compass by the coast between Hastings and Napier which has many 

beautiful carvings. It has been in place since 2017 and was an idea from 

Te Matau-a Maui Voyaging Trust. It is a training tool used by celestial 

navigators who traditionally sailed throughout the Pacific Ocean. The rising 

and setting points of the celestial bodies are memorised by the navigators 

using the Pou (carved posts). 

Lynne Roberts 


MOODY SKIES AT LAKE KARAPIRO 

Everyone can feel moody and a little grey at times. It can feel like the only 

colour you see is dim. But if you look closely, you can see colour in every 

shade. 

"We try to hide our feelings, but we forget that our eyes can speak as well" 

Paul Foxall 

72 


THE CITY WAKES 

Dunedin is my home town and the Otago Harbour is so unique with its 

peninsula and wildlife. There are many different landscapes to explore in its 

surrounds. When I lived there I would walk to this spot to watch the sun rise 

and set and to see the city covered in snow. 

Sarah Smith 


WELLINGTON CITY LIGHT TRAILS 

I took this photo of the Wellington City motorway to capture the light trails 

of the cars passing by. I was able to capture the ghostly blur of the Cable 

Car below the motorway by estimating when it would pass by next. 

Tanya Rowe 

74 


WELLINGTON ART CONNOISSEUR 

My city, Wellington, is about walking the dog along the waterfront 

admiring the cool views and the many pieces of art. Here's an art 

connoisseur checking out the 'Solace in the Wind' statue. 

Peter Maiden 


PAPAMOA HILLS 

F16, 1/20s, ISO100 

Sunset photo from the top of Papamoa Hills as the sun lights up the 

land below. 

Rio Beggs 

76 


WESTHAVEN MARINA 

F7.1, 0.8s, ISO1600 

Reflection of the skytower and bright lights from Westhaven Marina. 

Rio Beggs 


LEFT BANK, WELLINGTON 

I took several shots and compiled this image in the Left Bank alleyway, off Cuba Street 

in Wellington. I am interested in the mix of Streetwear and Urban photography. I used 

references to Astro Jack, who is a well known video-gaming character to obscure the 

subject's face. The idea behind this was to demonstrate anonymity in a big city. I took 

three different photos of the same subject, using a wide angle lens, to capture as much of 

the alleyway space as possible. The image captures a variety of shapes, building textures, 

different perspectives and levels. 

Matthew Jones 

78 


SOUNDLESS CITY 

This photo was taken in a quiet alleyway located in Newmarket, Auckland. The dark grey 

clouds made the alley feel gloomy and lifeless during the Pandemic. The arrow is pointing 

towards an unknown destination, relating to how we feel each day where every day 

passes us by and everything is uncertain. The emptiness expressed in the photo shows a 

lack of life and the feeling of being isolated. This photo represents how we all felt at the 

time of the pandemic. 

Leaksmy Cheamorn 


STOP FOR NEON 

Part of a series of photos taken in Wellington based loosely on the photography of 

Megan Jenkins. Jenkins uses strips of colour through her photos, whereas I chose to use 

neon strips of colour or blocks of colour to create contrast in the streets of Wellington. 

Often when it rains or is a grey day in Wellington we see bright spots of colour from 

people or buildings reflected in the puddles or in glass in cars and windows. My series 

aims to create a very visual contrast inspired by this phenomenon. 

Otis Hungerford 

80 


WHAT’S LEFT BEHIND 

Taken at Takanini Pick-a-Part car yard in Auckland, these photos reflect the traces humans leave 

behind and may not think twice about. Our impact on the world will always be greater than we know, 

as we leave a trace wherever we go. May that be a fingerprint, a footprint, or a damaged car, the 

environment will always be touched. The bustling city area of Auckland is a constant human interaction, 

with contrasting sceneries we've each adapted to benefit human life whether that's business or personal. 

Each person has their own story, their own world, yet we collectively share one planet and subconsciously 

and consciously leave our mark each day. Your decisions affect not only you, but the world and others 

surrounding you. Leaving the fate of your written off car in the hands of new strangers is an example of 

how the life of your human trace goes on without you, making rounds in the process of traces from other 

humans too. 

Maigen McNulty 


'THE CAMERA IS A SKETCH BOOK, 

AN INSTRUMENT OF INTUITION 

AND SPONTANEITY." 

HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON 

82

NZPhotographer Issue 35, September 2020

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