NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

1

How To: AsTronomy PHoTogrAPHy nZIPP student Photographer of 2010: Anna Kernohan

gear review: Canon s95

Food Competition winner

win more Photo Competitions

Helping you take better photos

Issue 20 February 2011

ConTEnTs

Camera person wanted to

shoot at danCe parties/

events- auCkland

Shoot videos to be shown to 55,000

people regularly

Casting no. 164375 - Auckland, NZ

Mainly at Auckland dance parties

at such venues such as CODE, BE,

Fu, Zen, Cassette 9, Ourhouse, Deep

Hard N Funky etc etc. Also some

festivals if wanted.

location: Auckland, New Zealand

payment details: No pay

unpaid BrisBane/Gold

Coast photoGrapher

and hair & makeup artist

to drastiCally update

portfolio

Casting no. 203450 - Queensland,

Aus

After Brisbane/Logan/Gold Coast

people who want to drastically add to

their portfolios.

I’m a full time stylist and aim to

one day be the best, so I am trying

to update my portfolio. I only want

Vogue high fashion abstract looks.

I can provide the concepts, models

and clothes. Heck, I can even edit the

photos. I need someone who is keen to

shoot one concept a week, for the next

month or so.

location: Queensland, Australia

payment details: TFP (Time for

Prints – an industry standard way of

saying No Money Will Be Paid)

hiGh fashion

photoGrapher (tfp)

Minimum of a few hours a week to

shoot various concepts for the next

month or so.Any gender, aged 18 to

99 from Queensland, Aus.

type of camera equipment:

Large format

Ed: Large Format? You mean like the

PhaseOne large format camera that I

can buy from the Photo Warehouse for

only $27,000? And you just want me

and my thousands-of-dollars-of-gear

for just a few hours a week for the

next month or so? In return for access

to the photos that I take?

fashion photoGrapher -

manChester

HH Films require a fashion

photographer for one day’s fashion

shoot for a catalogue of ladies

fashion handbags. You will work

closely with the stylist in creating

the look of the shoot, and will be

able to touch up the photographs

via Photoshop to create stunning

and perfect images. The shoot will

take place in a city centre location

in Manchester.

Must have own equipment / lights and

a hands on attitude to getting the most

out of a shoot.

location: Manchester, United

Kingdom

payment details: no pay

4 getting to know: AnnaKernohan

6 ollie’s rant

8 gearreview

14 How to: Astronomy photography

20Critique

10 Pic of the bunch 22Tips for winnng

photo comps

28Cool stuff

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

3

Happy new Year from everyone at

NZ Photographer!

It’s been a few weeks since

we spoke last, and lots has happened!

Holidays have been had, schools are back,

and it’s now the year of the Rabbit...

We start the year by looking towards

the heavens and giving you some tips on

how to photograph stars, and keep your

eyes open for a HUGE tip on how to win

the competitions we run – our gift to you

is to give you this very useful tip so that

from now on you’ll have a better chance of

winning a cover of our beautiful magazine.

There’s also some late news that we

couldn’t fit into this issue that will have to

go into our March issue - Congratulations

to Binh Trinh who has been named as a

finalist in the Hasselblad Masters! More next

month.

We hope you have had a great holiday

season and you’re back in the swing of

things again! Join us on Facebook and

Twitter if you want to chat with us directly,

and dust those cameras off and start

snapping for another year of competitions!

EdITorIAlABoUT Whether you’re an enthusiastic weekend snapper or a beginner who wants to learn more, NZ Photographer is the fun e-magazine for all Kiwi camera owners – and it’s free!

EdITor Ollie Dale, ANZIPPeditor@nzphotographer.co.nz

groUP EdITor Trudi Caffell

ArT dIrECTor Jodi Olsson

AdVErTIsIng EnQUIrIEs Phone Alastair on 09 523 4112 or email alastairn@espiremedia.com

AddrEss NZ Photographer, C/- Espire Media, PO Box 137162, Parnell,Auckland 1151, NZ

wEBsITE www.nzphotographer.co.nz

NZ Photographer is an Espire Media publication

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Cover Image: Single Image Competition Winner Amber Sutherland

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

4

GettinG to know

NZP: What was it like winning NZIPP

student of the year?

AK: Winning student of the year was

actually a real honour for me. I didn’t

enter the awards with an eye on the prize

because I know how amazing some of

the up and coming work is in NZ. I really

just wanted to go one better from last year

and gain some more awards to add to

my rep. I was in the 3rd and final year of

my degree as well as running my business

part time so life was hectic enough as it

was, let alone trying to make magic with

my images this year. I was absolutely

blown away just to be a finalist! I worked

so hard and to be rewarded like that just

makes everything worthwhile.

NZP: Tell us about your Iris-winning images

AK: The gold award winning image is

called The Divine Feminine. In short,

it’s about the woman and looking at her

as a goddess because of her ability to

conceive. There are a lot of religious

elements in there but at the end of

the day it comes down to my love for

photographing women. The second

image is called Madam & Eve. This was

just something a little quirky I did and had

no idea where it was going. It pushes

the boundaries a little bit by asking what

if the world was created by two women

(but certainly doesn’t reflect my ideals

or anything). I was just having a little fun

because I had two stunning models to

work with and a tree that I liked from the

car park outside UCOL – so I put the two

together. It was a major job as I had to

place the grass in there and I didn’t want

to even enter it until one of my lecturers

set me straight! I was still moaning about

gETTIng To Know: AnnA KErnoHAnNZIPP StudeNt PhotograPher of the Year 2010

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

5

NZ Photographer Feb

‘11

5

it right up until the day we sent them to

Queenstown for judging!

NZP: What’s it like studying photography

full time?

AK: I thrive on pressure and deadlines

so the degree I did was perfect. It really

tested me and forced me to go beyond my

limits and look at other possibilities with

my work. I look at imagery a little different

now and appreciate not only the aesthetics

but more of the conceptual side. I was

taught by some of the best in the business

and have met some amazing people along

the way. I’ve really enjoyed being around

a big bunch of likeminded people each

day which has made the degree so much

easier – there is always someone around to

bounce ideas off and to abuse when things

aren’t going your way!

NZP: What started you off in the direction

of photography?

AK: From a very young age I was doing oil

paintings. The only thing I was ever any

good at school was art and graphics - all

my maths exams etc were just covered in

scribbles and doodles. So it was obvious

I was going to end up doing something

creative with my life! I was working in a

law-firm prior to my studies and decided to

hell with that! After doing a bit of research

I came across the Bachelor of Applied

Visual Imaging programme at UCOL

and never looked back. I have always

admired photography but didn’t know the

first thing about using a camera – so there

was no better time to start getting into it. I

also followed up my photography major

with interactive web as my minor and

look forward to developing a portfolio of

website designs in the future.

NZP: What are your goals/plans for

photography in your future?

AK: I had my own part-time business

specialising in weddings and portraiture

while I was studying and now that I

have finished, I’m photographing full

time with my studio based in Palmerston

North. Everything has happened so fast

so I am happy to just continue down this

road for the time being and settle into

the profession. I still have a whole lot to

learn but I think the rest will come to me

by just getting on with it. Overseas travel

and attracting weddings in the pacific

would be awesome. I would also be

keen to do my honours or masters as well

as do papers in regard to photography

within the medical field. Teaching is also

an option that I may look at some stage.

I gained my professional membership with

NZIPP, runner up with Canon Eyecon,

and also managed to pick up gold and

six silvers at the International Aperture

Awards so for this past year I think I have

done enough!

For more of Anna’s work visit her website: www.akphotography.net.nz

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

6

OLLIE’S RANT

wHAT

Is IT wITH PEoPlE?

Camera person wanted to

shoot at danCe parties/

events- auCkland

Shoot videos to be shown to 55,000

people regularly

Casting no. 164375 - Auckland, NZ

Mainly at Auckland dance parties

at such venues such as CODE, BE,

Fu, Zen, Cassette 9, Ourhouse, Deep

Hard N Funky etc etc. Also some

festivals if wanted.

location: Auckland, New Zealand

payment details: No pay

unpaid BrisBane/Gold

Coast photoGrapher

and hair & makeup artist

to drastiCally update

portfolio

Casting no. 203450 - Queensland,

Aus

After Brisbane/Logan/Gold Coast

people who want to drastically add to

their portfolios.

I’m a full time stylist and aim to

one day be the best, so I am trying

to update my portfolio. I only want

Vogue high fashion abstract looks.

I can provide the concepts, models

and clothes. Heck, I can even edit the

photos. I need someone who is keen to

shoot one concept a week, for the next

month or so.

location: Queensland, Australia

payment details: TFP (Time for

Prints – an industry standard way of

saying No Money Will Be Paid)

hiGh fashion

photoGrapher (tfp)

Minimum of a few hours a week to

shoot various concepts for the next

month or so.Any gender, aged 18 to

99 from Queensland, Aust.

type of camera equipment:

Large format

Ed: Large Format? You mean like the

PhaseOne large format camera that I

can buy from the Photo Warehouse for

only $27,000? And you just want me

and my thousands-of-dollars-of-gear

for just a few hours a week for the

next month or so? In return for access

to the photos that I take?

fashion photoGrapher -

manChester

HH Films require a fashion

photographer for one day’s fashion

shoot for a catalogue of ladies

fashion handbags. You will work

closely with the stylist in creating

the look of the shoot, and will be

able to touch up the photographs

via Photoshop to create stunning

and perfect images. The shoot will

take place in a city centre location

in Manchester.

Must have own equipment / lights and

a hands on attitude to getting the most

out of a shoot.

location: Manchester, United

Kingdom

payment details: no pay

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

7

What is it with people asking

photographers to work for

free? I dare you to walk into

a restaurant and demand a sirloin steak

for free. You won’t do it because it’s just

plain rude. So why would you give your

photography away?

Can you imagine a website asking

for lawyers or doctors to provide their

professional skills for nothing?

Or walking into a video shop and asking

them to give you a new DVD for free

because your review that you will give to

your friends on Facebook will increase the

shop’s sales?

Or how about this as a possible ad?

Builder required for new deCkWe want to re-build our deck at home. You

will have all your own tools and be able to

design and install a state-of-the-art deck

and staircase by the end of next week. You

must be on time every day, and it would be

useful if you could also provide the materials

required to build the deck, as we don’t know

if we’ve bought enough wood. In return I will

let you take photos of the finished product

so that you can add it to your portfolio. The

deck you build will be so impressive that your

photos will help you get loads of new clients

in the future.

location: My house

payment details: no pay

YEAH RIGHT, AS IF! That request would

NEVER happen!

So why WHY does it happen in the

photographic and film industries?

Because there are some Muppets out

there who would actually do it. Builders

don’t. Lawyers don’t. Doctors don’t. So why

do photographers?

If you make ANY New Year resolutions,

make this one of them – “I will never work

for nothing.”

Would you Work for free?

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By ollie dale

A great video that shows how bizzare

the relationship can be between clients

and photographers is on youTube:

http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=r2a8TrSgzZy

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

8

GADGETS

We have heard all the hype

and praise about Canon’s

New S95 compact camera.

Read on to find out what I think of it.

First things First:

key Specifications: The Canon PowerShot

S95 has a 10 Megapixel sensor, a wide-

angle (28mm) fast lens (variable aperture) at

f/2.0 - f/4.9, shoots both JPEG and RAW

files, 720P HD movie and Canon’s new

Hybrid IS image stabilisation system which

corrects your shakiness up to 4-stop.

Image quality: The Canon PowerShot

S95 produces images of excellent quality.

You might ask why only 10 Megapixels?

The answer is that by not stuffing the extra

megapixels on the tiny pocket-size camera’s

sensor you will actually get far-cleaner and

less-noisy images. In fact the S95 recorded

noise-free images at ISO 80-400, with some

noise and slight colour desaturation at ISO

800. ISO 1600 shows more obvious noise

and loss of colour but still remains perfectly

useable, and even the highest setting ISO

3200 doesn’t look too bad. It’s pretty

amazing for a pocket-sized camera.

user Interface/Good and Bad: Apart from

all the other standard stuff you will find on

today’s digital cameras, the S95 offers a

digital dial-ring around the base of the lens to

mimic the feel of a DSLR. By press the “Ring

Func.” button on the top panel of the camera,

The ring’s function can be changed to one

of the following functions: changing the

aperture, selecting the ISO speed, tweaking

the exposure (+/- 2EV), manual adjustment

of white balance, as a stepped zoom,

changing the i-Contrast, or choosing one of

the new aspect ratios.

Personally I would prefer just a little jog-dial

on the back of the camera along with other

control buttons. The “Ring” is more gimmicky

then useful to my taste.

Now, the flash; this is my biggest problem

with the S95. When you activate the flash

on the S95 it does not “pop-up” like your

normal pop-up flash. It has a motorised flash

unit that will rise up and down, controlled by

gEAr rEVIEwCanon S95By Brian foose (“Inspector Gadget”)

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

9

the camera’s software. At first glance this may

seem like a very cool idea... until you have

to use it. Due to its motorised up and down

motion, you can’t just push the flash back into

the camera once it’s up. (Well I guess you

can, but you will most likely break it.) Also

the position of the flash unit is at the worst

possible place on the camera; at the top left

corner, where your left-hand is positioned

when holding the camera.

This attracts two big problems. One, your

left hand can’t hold on to the top left side

of the camera to stabilise it when you take

photos and two, if the auto flash decided to

pop-up when you are holding the camera,

your left-hand is going to be pressing down on

the motorised flash, which is not ideal. Even

worse, you might even get a “what the..?”

moment and let go your hand and drop the

camera, like I nearly did. Either that or one

day your friends or your kids are going to

press down on the flash unit, thinking it’s like

a spring loaded pop-up flash, and strip the

motor gears. (Maybe not going to break the

first time round but you get what I mean.)

Conclusion: The Canon PowerShot S95 is

a light-weight, pocket-size camera has a top

quality image sensor and lens that produce

some amazing-quality pictures. The camera

UI is easy to understand and easy to use.

It also offers a full range of basic manual

adjustment, normally only found on DSLRs.

It shoots RAW files for those of you wanting

to get every bit of the information out of your

camera for post production.

However for a camera that costs

between NZD$720-$750 you really

don’t get a lot of exciting functions other

cameras of similar prices offer. Sure it has

face detection and auto scene selection but

so do many other cameras on the market

today. Where is the panoramic mode,

the hand-held low-light mode that stitches

multiple images together to create a blur-

free picture, GPS for geo-tagging, etc.?

Well... The bottom line is, if none of those

other handy features matter to you, and

image quality is your only concern in a small

size camera, plus you don’t mind paying a

little bit more than average, the Canon S95

does an excellent job.

One last suggestion from me is to have a

look how the pop-up flash works for you

before you purchase.

Pros:1. Great image quality

2. Small size

3. Very low noise on high ISO setting for

low night photography

4. Manual adjustment (DSLR-like)

Cons:1. Stupid flash placement

2. High price tag amongst the same

category products

3. Lack of modem digital camera features

ABOUt thE AUthOr: Brian Foose is the gadget-guru here at NZ Photographer and will be reviewing all the cameras, gizmos and accessories that manufacturers and PR companies send us. He’s also a great photographer - check out his website at www.brianfoose.com

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

10

COMPETITION WINNERS

This month’s winner is Amber Sutherland

– well done! There were several

entries that could have won (and I

LOVED Pieter’s shot of the strawberry) but

I thought Amber’s shot really grabbed the

essence of the how-to article from issue 18.

Amber wins this issue’s cover and a $100

voucher from the fabulous people at Giclée

Print. For all YOUR fine art and canvas

printing needs, visit www.gicleeprint.co.nz

The “Best of the Rest” are here for your

viewing pleasure...

Amber Sutherland

Kim Falconer

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

11

Andrea Howard

Yvette Shore

Ricki McQuinlan

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

12

Suzanne Rolfe

Nicola Kitchen

Melanie Beres

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

13

Pieter Ten Broek

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

14

HOW TO

By ollie dale

How To:AsTronomyPHoTogrAPHy

Astronomical Photography is a genre

that few people truly master - it can

take years to understand the light

of night and how many different elements

interact to make or break an image.

Personally I’ve only dabbled in it, but what I

have done makes me wish I had more nights

to myself and less to do during the day!

Astrophotography can be loosely divided into

3 areas - nightscapes, mid-sky and deep-sky.

Nightscapes are the sorts of images that

perhaps you and I have played with before -

wide-angle images showing millions of stars

and perhaps a tree or building or mountain

in the (relative) foreground. Nightscapes are

either star fields or star trails images - star

fields being images where the stars are

points of light, and star trails being images

where the stars appear as streaks through

the picture.

Photo credit: Ollie Dale

Photo credit: Ollie Dale

Photo credit: Ollie DalePhoto credit: Ollie Dale

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

15

Mid-sky photos are usually at least

telephoto lens photos, if not telescope

photos, and refer to images of the elements

of the solar system - the sun, moon and

planets etc. A very interesting experiment

was done during the recent total lunar

eclipse where five Canon 2x extenders

were added to an 800mm lens - ridiculous

but fun, I guess. They might as well have

used a telescope!

http://gizmodo.com/#!5716810/how-

do-you-reach-the-moon-with-your-slr-strap-

on-five-huge-lens-extenders

Deep-sky photos are photos of very small

sections of the sky, usually of other galaxies

or gas-clouds etc. For these shots you’ll

need to be on the end of a pretty decent

telescope attached to a computer, so that

the computer can move the telescope as the

earth spins, effectively cancelling out the

movement of the earth.

We may touch on mid- and deep-sky

photos in a future issue, but for now we’ll

stick to images that most of us will be able

to take with the equipment we already

have. Here are some tips for getting

interesting and successful shots at night:

• For the best images, get as far away

from the city as you can. The “light

pollution” caused by thousands

of street lights and headlights and

lazy people who forget to turn their

office lights off can really spoil a

30-second (or 3 hour) exposure!

• Pick your moments - good weather

is a good start, but also think about

when and where the moon will be

rising - it can flood your images with

too much light!

• Learn about the sky - the stars above

the South Pole won’t move much

at all, while the stars above the

equator will move a long way in a

short time - use both of these to your

advantage!

• DSLR cameras are usually easier and

better to use than compact cameras

- you will have better control of long

exposures on a DSLR, and the bigger

your sensor the less noise you’ll have

in your images.

• Buy, beg or borrow a remote shutter

release that will allow you to lock

the shutter open. Better still is an

intervalometer, a programmable

device that will do all the hard work

for you and will give much better

and more accurate results.

There are some interesting techniques

and pieces of software that will help make

the most of your nightscapes. For example,

Windows users can visit http://www.startrails.de/html/software.html and

download a small .exe file that will combine

hundreds of star-field photos and create a

star-trail photo, which is far easier on you

and your camera that attempting to capture

one image over three hours or so.

Photo credit: Graz Polzi (NASA)

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

16

This image was created using the Startrails.exe software and 330 images of stars - the single images were for a time-lapse experiment

I was doing, and using the Startrails.exe program I was able to create something totally different!

Photo credit: Ollie Dale

Photo credit: Stefan Siep (NASA)

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

17

Photo credit: NASA

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

18

Another technique for single images is to

create multiple layers of the same image in

Photoshop (at least 2, but try more to see the

effect) and set the upper layer(s) to screen mode

- this means your stars will get brighter while

your sky stays dark, and is ideal for pulling

great detail out of an under-exposed night shot.

So, here’s a simple list to follow for your

first attempt at a nightscape; adjust this

according to your location, time of night, etc.

1. List of essential gear: camera,

tripod, remote or intervalometer,

warm clothes, thermos of hot coffee.

2. Pick a location that will give you

an interesting foreground - trees,

mountains or buildings, or other

static objects. Wait until at least 90

minutes after ‘sunset’ to allow the

refracted light of dusk to disappear.

3. Compose your image, and initially

set your camera to manual mode,

ISO 400, 30”, f/2.8 or your widest

aperture, and a white balance of

Daylight (ironically). These settings

can vary greatly depending on

exactly what you’re photographing,

how much light pollution there is,

etc., but it’s a good starting point.

4. Take a test shot and adjust your

settings accordingly. Repeat this

process until you are capturing an

image with good tonal range (dark

sky, bright stars).

5. To make a star-trails shot, either repeat

this process 200 or 300 times and use

the startrails.exe file I mentioned above

to generate the image, or set your

camera to Bulb mode, change your

aperture to f/8, and be ready to use

your lockable remote for periods of 15

minutes to a couple of hours.

If you have a lot of incident light in your

scene you may want to close your aperture

even more. This will be very trial-and-error

based photography, but can be extremely

rewarding when you get it right!

Be aware, though, that digital cameras

don’t like their sensors being used too much -

the sensor will heat up over a long exposure

so consider shorter exposures using the star

trails software above rather than one long

battery-draining exposure.

Photo credit: Tunc Tezel (NASA)

Photo credit: NASA

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

19

THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY OF NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL CONVENTION 06—10 APRIL

We are excited to be welcoming you to the North Shore in April 2011, to showcase our neighbourhood and the talented photographers and speakers who are attending. We have some very unique Field Trips to enjoy, or you can spend the day learning at the workshops. Sadly, you can’t do everything so choose carefully— a Devonport/Downtown Auckland tour, Sunset at Muriwai or Cultural Chaos north of the City are options as is the chance to really get to grips with lighting techniques. The North Shore is different from Auckland, the people, the villas, the beaches and the slower pace of life. Photo opportunities abound and following the Convention it is only 3 hours’ drive to the beautiful Bay of Islands or the famous Hokianga and the giant Kauri forests. We want you to come and enjoy, learn and socialise with your photography friends. For this we have kept one evening free by popular demand. Local accommodation will go quickly so get in early.

It’s a SHORE THING — we want you to come www.shorething.co.nz

North Harbour Stadium, Stadium Drive, Albany

Early Bird registrations received by February 11th are in the draw for Light Room 3

GUEST SPEAKERS Charlie Waite — Widely revered internationally as the doyen of English landscape photographers. His distinctive style combining graphic finesse with an almost spiritual quality of calm and serenity is immediately recognisable.

Michael Hall — His fine art work focuses specifically on exploring human impact upon the landscape. He is currently undertaking an extensive project to document the causes and effects of climate change to improve ecological awareness around the world.

Ans Westra, CNZM — New Zealand photographer and legendary documenter of New Zealand society. Her work is represented in major Art Galleries throughout New Zealand. Her major publications include ‘Washday at the Pa’ 1964.

Harvey Benge — is a camera artist interested in the international urban social landscape and the notion of parallel lives. He works from both Auckland and Paris.

Gerard Saide, PSQA, SSAPS — talks of photography as a universal language. He encourages everyone to be aware of the power and impact of the photographic image on the way we think, feel and respond to issues.

Ian Handricks — from Contacts to Kimonos — an entertaining speaker with a different career in photography.

Registration: Liz 09 480 7677 Convention Convenor terry@cockfield.net.nz Terry 09 444 7256

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

20

There’s no better way to learn than

by having your work critiqued! In this

section you get to have your work

critiqued by professional photographers

lisa Crandall and ollie dale.

lisa Crandall is a multi-award

winning portrait photographer.

In 2008 she was named ‘People

Photographer of the year’ at Iris, NZ’s

professional photography awards. Her

studio, ImageMe www.imageme.

co.nz is located in Takapuna in

Auckland. She also runs photography

workshops, and is an Associate of the

New Zealand Institute of Professional

Photography (ANZIPP).

ollie has been a professional

photographer for seven years, and has

clients such as the NZ Herald, Visa,

Microsoft, Westpac, unitec and BMW.

He is also a qualified commercial

member and Associate of the New

Zealand Institute of Professional

Photography (ANZIPP).

CAmErA: Canon 550D

shUttEr: 1/250 sec

ApErtUrE: f/7.1

isO: 100

AUthOr: Agnes Arnold

FrOm thE AUthOr: This is a completely

spontaneous photo, I just happened to

have a camera while I was in the cafe. The

coffee looked so nice and the light through

the cafe window from the left seemed really

cool too!

It came out a little flat in the original so I

just warmed it up and increased contrast a

little in Photoshop.

I really like it because it reminds me of a

great moment, but I was wondering what

Ollie and Lisa made of it.

CRITIQUE

sIZEd UP Your WorK CrItIQued

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

21

LisA’s COmmEnts: Agnes, I think it’s really

great that you spotted the photographic

opportunity in your cup of coffee. Well

done for keeping your eyes open and your

photographer’s brain switched on!

This is a great shot, I love the detail in

the foam (I almost feel I could lick it), and I

also like the reflected light on the table top.

It’s lovely how the background - the table-top

- goes from light on one side to dark on the

other. The limited colour palette of reddish

browns and golden browns is really working

for me. If there had been other colours in the

shot - blues, greens etc - the shot would have

been weakened.

The image has a narrow depth of field,

which helps simplify things by keeping the

tabletop soft. It’s always tricky in a shot

like this to decide the exact point on your

subject to focus on. When photographing a

person, the best choice is usually the closer

eye, but the answer is not so obvious with

an object like this coffee glass. With the

narrow depth of field, your decision will be

apparent to the viewer. You have focused on

the rim of the glass just in front of the dark

hole (air bubble) in the foam (towards the

left-hand side). This works well because the

little bubbles of foam in this area are really

catching the light.

My only criticism of this image is that

it is really too dark. I have significantly

lightened it in Photoshop (Option 1) and

I think that this has brought the image to

life. In general, however, it is not good

practice to significantly lighten images in

post production. Whenever you move a

histogram to the right in Photoshop – i.e.

lighten an image - you introduce noise. You

will get higher quality results if you shoot

your images so that the histogram on the

back of your camera nearly touches the

right-hand side of the graph. Later, you may

need to darken your image, but that will not

harm it in the way that lightening does.

oP1

CALL FOr EntriEs: Get your images critiqued by professionals – send an image to critique@nzphotographer.co.nz with a brief description of how and why you took the shot, and we’ll tell you what we think and if it could be improved. The views and opinions expressed in this section are only two people’s ideas on photographic imagery. You may have different, constructive ideas about how good or not the images are, and what could be done to them. You’re welcome to send those ideas in to editor@nzphotographer.co.nz. We agree that the opinions contained in this critique section are by no means the only opinions that could be held about these images.

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

22

I know you’re interested in this, because you

want to enter our competitions and win the

cover of a future issue of NZ Photographer,

don’t you!? Well, here’s the secret...

Before I give everything away I just

want to mention that this is not an

all-encompassing view – following

these tips may not actually win you a

competition, but they’ll surely help, and

they’ll certainly put you in the top images of

any competition that I judge...

First up I have to tell you why my view is

considered relevant. I’ve had my own work

critiqued in what is possibly one of the most

gruelling photo competitions in the Southern

Hemisphere – the Iris Awards – and I’ve

lived to tell the tale.

In the last 12 months I’ve also been asked

to judge images at several photographic

clubs and societies (Auckland, Eden/Roskill,

Henderson twice, the North Shore National

Salon, and North Shore’s End of Year Open

competition), and I’ve not only learned how

to look at hundreds of images at once and

pick the best ones, but I’ve learned what I

like to see in images in competitions.

The best part is that, with the exception

of the North Shore Salon, where we were

all thanked as judges collectively, on all the

other occasions, when I was the sole judge,

I was personally thanked by many members

for my critiques and my judging style, and

at both Henderson and North Shore I was

accused of being “the best judge we’ve had

TIPs For wInnIng PHoTogrAPHIC ComPETITIonsOne Judge’s PersPective

HOT TIPS

By ollie dale

This image is not your usual portrait, and as such will do well in competitions as it challenges the viewer and has an impact.

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

23

in a long time”.

Now, all personal trumpet-blowing aside,

I share that with you not to make myself feel

better or look good, but to give credibility to

what I’m about to tell you; namely what images

are successful when I’m judging and why.

Images are judged as individual images

within a group of images. That means that

I don’t look at an image and think “well the

last image got a silver so this can only get a

bronze” because images need to be treated

as individually as possible. However, where

possible I always look at all the images first,

before judging, so I can get a feeling for the

range of images, the upper and lower limits

of how good the images are, and a general

feeling of overall quality.

This is especially important for competitions

like the North Shore National Salon, where

we are told that “the next category has 112

images so we’re looking for 8 honours prints”

or something similar. It’s also vital for placing

images into the correct score range if the

judging process calls for that.

If I look at a series of 10 images, 3 of

which are stand-out images, then I know

how to judge the other 7.

So what sets images apart?

When I judge an image or series of

images, I look at each and ask one

question: What has the photographer

brought to this image? That is, what have

you done that I couldn’t/wouldn’t/shouldn’t

have done that sets your image apart? If

anyone was standing next to you when

you took your image could they have taken

exactly the same shot, and therefore did

you do anything special in the camera or in

post-processing?

For example, if someone enters an image

of an animal, I think to myself “what has the

photographer brought to this image?”, and

if the answer is “nothing” the image scores

a very low mark. This is particularly true of

African Safari images – think about it: there’s

a truck full of tourists, all in pretty much the

exact same location, all photographing

the same animal under the same lighting

conditions. Chances are they all take

incredibly similar images, so you, as the

photographer, had better bring something

special to your photo (in either the way you

take it or the way you work on it later) to

stand out from the crowd.

Once I’ve established whether the

photographer has brought enough to an

image to be awarded, THEN I look at the

technical side of the photography. Often I

see lovely images that are spoiled by simple

errors like dust on the sensor, a bad crop,

blown-out highlights, etc.

Adherence to the prescribed topic is very

important too, as in the competitions we run

in NZ Photographer. We’ve been running

competitions since our very beginning in July

of 2009, and yet, still, our readers haven’t

quite twigged onto a simple yet often-missed

element of some photographic competitions

– where and how the winning images will

be used.

Consider this – If I told you that I was

holding an open cooking competition and

Yes, a nice shot of a sunset, but someone standing next to me could have taken an identical image.

I see a lot of these types of shots in competitions, and I call them the “So What?” entries. Again, nothing really ‘brought’ to this image that makes it stand out.

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

24

the winning dish would be served at the

annual vegetarian’s convention, would you

cook a meat dish? Or, for the Mazda

photo competition do you photograph

someone wearing a Ford t-shirt?

What about the Tui billboards around the

country with the Yeah Right slogans? If you

wanted to enter something, would you write

a novel (or even a paragraph?) – no, you

would keep it short and sweet!

So why is it, then, that after 20 issues of

NZ Photographer we have people entering

our competitions with landscape-oriented

photos?

What does the winner of our competitions

win? Apart from a voucher from Giclée prints?

The cover of a future issue of NZ

Photographer!

So who are we going to choose as the

winner? The image that best suits the theme,

is technically good, AND THAT FITS THE

SHAPE OF OUR MAGAZINE COVER.

(There it is – a trade secret!)

For example, I very nearly gave this issue’s

cover to Pieter’s image of the strawberry,

because it was beautiful, bold, red, vibrant

etc. but I thought Amber’s image adhered

more closely to the Food Photography

article in Issue 18. But I nearly swung

it back Pieter’s way simply because his

image would be an amazing cover for our

Christmas issue of our magazine. In order

to make Amber’s image the cover we had

to crop it into a vertical ‘portrait’ orientation,

and luckily her image suited that crop

shape.

So, in a nutshell, you’ll put yourself in

good stead in competitions if you:

1. Follow the brief/theme,

2. Bring your artistic license to your

image and make it special,

3. Consider the end use of the winning

image and who the competition is

run by, and

4. For goodness sake, if you want to

win a place on our cover, submit a

shot that will suit being on our cover!

Another example of the photographer drawing the most out of the image. The treatment accentuates the pigs and enhances the ‘story’ of the image.

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

25

This month’s Did You Know was sent in

by Mike Thornton, the man behind our

great competition sponsors, Giclee

Print. He pointed out where the word

‘camera’ comes from:

“camera 1708, “vaulted building,” from

L. camera “vaulted room”. The word also

was used in the early 18th century as a

short form of ‘camera obscura’, meaning

“dark chamber” (a black box with a lens

that could project images of external

objects), contrasted with camera lucida

(Latin for “light chamber”), which uses prisms

to produce an image on paper beneath the

instrument, which can be traced. It became

the word for “picture-taking device” when

modern photography began, c.1840”

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Call 0800-47-69-22 to arrange viewing times. First in, first served!

dId yoUKnow?

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

26

COMPETITIONS

AsTronomyPHoTogrAPHy(SINgle Image)

Seeing Stars? Photograph them and

Win! Hint: read the articles on

Astronomy Photography AND how

to win competitions, and you’ll be in the

running for this one! Have a go at capturing

something astronomical on a long summer’s

night and send it in to win, win, win!

Thanks again to our sponsors of our

competitions - for all YOUR fine art and

canvas printing needs, visit www.gicleeprint.co.nz

One entry per person, and you must be

in New Zealand or hold a NZ Passport at

the time of entry to qualify to win.

Images must be 100dpi, 1600 pixels

wide, and sent to competitions@nzphotographer.co.nz by 5pm on

Monday the 4th of April, 2011. Winner

will be published in Issue 22, out on

Wednesday the 13th of April, 2011.

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

27

sPorTsPHoTogrAPHy(SINgle Image)

With summer almost upon us

antipodeans, here’s your

chance to try your trigger

finger at some sport. Re-read the article

about sports photography in Issue 19 and

go out and find some sports to photograph.

Capture a sporting moment in a single

image, OR, if your moment is better

represented as several moments then you

may also enter a series of images. Send

your entry in to us to claim the Cover of

Issue 21 (February) and the $100 voucher

from the fabulous people at Giclée Print.

For all YOUR fine art and canvas printing

needs, visit www.gicleeprint.co.nz.One entry per person, and you must be in

New Zealand or hold a NZ Passport at the time

of entry to qualify to win.

Images must be 100dpi, 1600 pixels wide,

and sent to competitions@nzphotographer.

co.nz by 5pm on Monday the 28th of

February, 2011. Winner will be published

in Issue 21, out on Wednesday the 13th of

March, 2011.

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

28

Cool sTUFF :VIdEos

GADGETS

A topic and subject that’s close to not

only my heart, but also my 3 year

old son’s heart, whose eyes light up

every time he watches the space shuttle take

off in HD via NASA’s website...

nAsA spACE shUttLE VidEO

Did you know that it takes nearly seven

and a half million pounds of thrust to get a

Space Shuttle off the ground and into the

final frontier? NASA opts to generate that

power by burning through 1,000 gallons of

liquid propellants and 20,000 pounds of

solid fuel every second, which as you might

surmise, makes for some arresting visuals

Thankfully, there are plenty of practical

reasons why NASA would want to film its

launches (in slow motion!), and today we

get to witness some of that awe-inspiring

footage, replete with a silky voiceover

explaining the focal lengths of cameras used

and other photographic minutiae. It’s the

definition of an epic video, clocking in at

over 45 minutes, but if you haven’t got all

that time, just do it like us and skip around

-- your brain will be splattered on the wall

behind you either way.

Source: Planet5d Blog

sUpEr sLO mO

By now, you’re certainly familiar with the

magic that a consumer-branded Casio

super-slow-mo camera can do with motion,

right? But what happens when you use a

two-year old Casio Exilim FH20 to shoot

210fps footage (played back at 30fps) from

a moving train? Nothing, at least until the

train slows down.

Source: engadget

NZ Photographer

Feb ‘11

29

In THE nExT IssUE oF nZ PHoTogrAPHEr…

HAVE yoU sUBsCrIBEd To nZ PHoTogrAPHEr? IT’s FrEE!Simply visit www.nzphotographer.co.nz to get a copy of NZ Photographer delivered straight to your inbox every third Wednesday!

NEXT ISSUE

How-to: Timelapse Photography

Interview: Binh Trinh

Sports Competition Winner

Plus Much More!

Issue 21, out wednesday

9th of march 2011