Northland

I recently headed up to Northland to gather some stock, and not so stock images for my library. Here are a couple of my favorites.

The first is from the harbour at Opua where you can take your car across to Russell on the ferry. I set myself up on the ramp where the ferry docks, the sun had not been up long and all was calm and quiet... and then I heard some diesel engines rumbling through the silence, the first ferry of the day was coming! To be honest I hadn't originally intended for the ferry to be in the shot but as it came into view it totally completed the scene, a lucky break indeed! The biggest problem I had was keeping my footing on the algae covered ramp, but I wanted to keep close to the water so I would have nothing but reflections in the lower half of the image.

The next image was taken in the Bay of Islands at the Waitangi treaty grounds inside the beautiful Maori meeting house, Te Whare Rūnanga. I've always marveled at how amazing and intricate the detail in these buildings is. Surprisingly enough I found I briefly had it to myself, but realised I had left my tripod back at the car! Doh! I had a quick scout around to see if I could sit my camera on anything for the long exposures I needed and luckily enough found a guitar case sitting behind a screen ready for a cultural show! So I rather precariously balanced my camera on top of it and used a cable release so as not to disturb it. It worked a treat even though it drew some strange looks from the next group of people who entered!

I'll process all the other images when I can in between assignments and post some more as I do. Now where can I go next please!

Charlotte S

I've been eagerly waiting to post some images from a shoot I did with a great company called Charlotte S. They are going to be releasing some new and unique beauty products to the market. The plan was to have them in the shops for Christmas, but due to some delays it looks like being in the New Year now.

Candice and John who own the company have kindly allowed me to post one of the images from the shoot. It's one of many favorites I have from the day we spent in the studio with our model Luna.

We had a range of scenarios to photograph from a very natural look, to a smart/ casual business feel, right through to the sophisticated evening look you see above. Candice was a dream client who had a clear vision of what she was after but allowed us creative input to achieve the results. Not only that but we were fed and watered like royalty. I don't think I have ever been so well looked after by a client, so thank you very much Mr & Mrs S!

I put Luna forward for this assignment as I have worked with her before and she really does make life easy with her professional approach and ability to adapt to a variety of looks. On this occasion she even handled her own hair and makeup, which kept things easy and economical.

The shot seen here is one of those situations that wasn't initially planned, but developed from being let loose creatively. We were shooting at Kingsize studios, a great place with heaps of gear and well thought out spaces. The background in this shot is actually the reception area to studio 3, one of their upstairs studios. We moved the reception furniture and placed the white couch from the studio into the scene. I have to confess that this couch has been a prop in a few shots over the years and i'm sure i wouldn't be alone!

The mood lighting was created with a gridded beauty dish, a medium octabank as fill and a gridded 7" reflector as a rim light. The dress selection, hair and makeup completed the scene perfectly. A great collaboration of ideas gave us a great result.

We made great time with our schedule and so I suggested some spontaneous family shots with their lovely daughter Charlotte who arrived from Kindy and she was only too happy to be in the limelight! A fun way to end our day.

There was only one complaint from Candice… 'You've given us too many great shots, we want to use them all'! And that's the kind of complaint I can live with.