1 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

Helping you take better photos

Issue 22 May 2011

ReadeR’s submission: PhilliP bailey

astRo ComPetition WinneR

sensoRs: to Clean oR to Kill?

landsCaPes: beCKy nunes

2 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

Contents

4Critique

20 Pic of the bunch 26

Cool stuff

6becky nunes

10Reader submission

Philip bailey

16sensors: to clean or kill

3 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

editoRial

In July this year NZ photographer will be 2

years old – how time flies! Because there

was so much work involved in setting it up

I’ve been working on our ‘little baby’ for well

over 2 years...

....and now it’s time to move on.

NZ Photographer has been a pleasure

– people have so many nice things to say

about how we inspire them, how they love

the articles, how it’s great getting to know

of other photographers from around NZ

because of our interviews.

Now is a time for a change – my personal

life is getting busier as my wife Jackie is

expecting baby number 3 in August, and

my professional life is heating up with our

GrowBaby business on top of what we

already do with PhotoNZ. My focus needs to

be elsewhere and NZ Photographer needs a

new leader.

So this is it – the opportunity of a lifetime

for one talented, inspired person! Do you

want to be our next editor? Are you good

with deadlines? Do you want to share your

love of photography with people all over the

country?

Apply now to Espire Media, by email

(alastairn@espiremedia.com) before June the

8th (Issue 23) and we will be in touch to see

if you have the passion and the drive to help

guide NZ Photographer and our readers into

the future!

ABOUT 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

Cover Image: Competition Winner Derek Spender

Follow us on Twitter:

twitter.com/nzphoto

Ask questions and join the discussion on Facebook:

facebook.com/nzphotographer

4 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

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 a Master of Photography in the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography (MNZIPP).

Ollie has been a professional

photographer for 7 years, and has clients such as the Auckland Airport, 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: Panasonic DMC FZ35

shutteR: 1/100 sec

aPeRtuRe: f/3.6

iso: 80

authoR: Tuhi Mueller

authoR’s Comments: I recently biked the

Otago rail trail and at one of the historic

bridges I wanted to capture the historic look

of the bridge. I was at one end of the bridge

when I saw a puddle of water from recent

rain and through I would try to get a reflection

shot. I haven’t done anything to the photo; it’s

straight from the camera. I like the way the

photo turned out but I’m keen to know how I

could improve the photo, thanks.

CRITIQUE

sized uP YOUR WORK CRITIQUED

5 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

ollie’s Comments: I like that you stopped to

capture something you’d seen in your mind –

looking for photos is a good skill to practise.

Apart from the lovely depth of field you’ve

achieved with f/3.6, the first thing that I notice

when I look at your image is the different

sections that make up your photo – the

diminishing railing (A), the distant background

(B) and... this enormous distraction of a

foreground (C).

Immediately I want to crop the foreground

out – it’s a third of your image that doesn’t

need to be there at all – in fact, you could

have cropped this yourself by putting the

camera closer to the water when you took

the shot – this would have accentuated the

reflections more, which is what you were

after.

So, having cropped the bottom off

that leaves us with the railing and distant

background. My choice for the crop is a

little bit off each end, to remove some of the

extra space. (OP1)How you treat them is up to you, and

here is what I would have done if it were

my shot (OP2). You may have different

preferences, of course!

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.

oP1

oP2

A

C

B

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GettinG to know

I’ve been lucky enough to get to know

Becky Nunes over the last 3 years – I part-

shared her studio with her after seeing an

advertisement right around the time I realised I

could no longer work from home.

Last year Becky won the NZIPP

Landscape Photographer of the Year

award, and I thought, with her current role

teaching photography, she’d hopefully

inspire you to greatness, or at least coax

you off the couch and into landscape

photography.

The full interview, with lots of extra bits

I simply couldn’t fit in to this transcript, is

available for download from:

w w w. p h o t o n z . c o m / n z p / c o n t e n t /BeckyNunes_96Kbps.mp3 (18MB),

or

w w w. p h o t o n z . c o m / n z p / c o n t e n t /BeckyNunes_56Kbps.mp3 (10MB)

beCKy nunesNZIPP LaNdscaPe PhotograPher of the Year 2010

7 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

Becky Nunes: I completed my tertiary

education in Film and Literature in England,

and decided to come to NZ, where I

was given the opportunity to work with

Bill Nichol in the late ‘80s. That was

when there were a relatively small number

of photographers working in high-end

commercial photography in Auckland or in

NZ, and everyone had full-time assistants

and studios - it was a good time for

commercial photography!

I apprenticed to Bill for nearly 6 years,

and did a little bit of freelance assisting. I

graduated on to shooting for myself whilst

I was working for Bill, and by the time he

decided to move to the South Island in

1993 I felt that I was ready to start my own

studio.

I took on what became Studio 3D as an

empty shell, put power and water in and

lived in a mezzanine floor and it was very

much hand to mouth for five years, just

building up my kit. Because Bill downsized

to move to Dunedin I was fortunate that I

could buy a starting kit from him, at a very

good rate, and I was able to set up and

work in all formats from the start, from

35mm to 5x4” etc.

I only had a very basic lighting set-up,

so any money I made in the first five to ten

years went back into buying gear... and

during that time, of course, we transitioned

from film to digital.

Shifting to digital was a terrifying concept

- when you’d spent your whole professional

career getting to understand transparency

film and shooting it in large format, the idea

of moving to digital in 2004 was just “why

would you?” There were lots of doubters,

and I had a brilliant relationship with my

lab, and it was giving up a whole workflow

that had nothing wrong with it, so it was

only when I was able to buy a medium

format level of digital that I considered it,

and I bought a Hasselblad H1, which I still

use today.

When it comes to my business, I’ve

been a victim and a beneficiary of my

approach, which has been really broad all

the way through my career. I’ve worked in

just about every area of photography there

is – shooting live music and bands, food,

architecture, still life and product... in some

ways it’s a bit of a stumbling block when

you’re trying to create a profile and build

a niche. No sooner than I’d start to get a

following in an area I’d find I’d morphed

into something else.

Despite that, by the early 2000’s I had

a consistent profile among the design

agencies, so the relatively consistent

commercial work of a decent budget would

come through the doors. I still find word-of-

mouth marketing is by far the best, and I’m

fortunate that projects walk in through the

door - I wouldn’t recommend my approach

to anyone else!

The two-handed change in my career

in the last few years is having a child I’m

raising myself, and I was offered a full-

time position at Whitecliffe College of

Art and Design where I’d been teaching

part-time for about three years. I’ve now

been full-time for two years, and this year

I was asked to take on the role of Head of

Department, so I’m pretty much a full-time

educator now.

When it comes to my business, i’ve been a victim and a beneficiary of my approach, which has been really broad all the way through my career.

8 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

9 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

NZP: Last year you won the NZIPP Landscape Photographer of the Year - how did you get into landscapes?

BN: My landscape photography started out

as editorial – years ago I did a series of travel

stories with a writer called Tess Redgrave that

were published in Next magazine. From that

a book came about, and that was my first

taste of going out and immersing myself in

landscapes.

It was all 35mm film, and was mostly

unrepeatable moments I had to get on the fly.

As my career became more commercial,

the landscape stuff has become work on

behalf of Tourism NZ and local tourism, and

much more staged and researched.

Landscape photography is a broad

genre, and in the same way that we live in

a post-documentary world, we’re in a post-

landscape world. It’s very easy to create

“chocolate box” landscape imagery - it’s

extremely prevalent, and it’s very easily

consumed.

I’m not so interested in making “documents”

of landscapes – some photographers make

wonderful documents of places, but that’s not

where I’m at, so much.

We have to make a distinction between

images that we make because we hope

they are expressing something new or

challenging and images we make as

photographers because we are always

attracted to light and form. Often we can’t

help ourselves but make an image if we

see something that’s framed beautifully, or

because the light is perfect.

That goes for any photographer

professional or not, and I think those sorts of

images are valid for the person who made

them, first and foremost as photographers

it feels satisfying to respond visually to the

environment, and secondly because time

is this amazing thing and the value of a

photograph can shift radically 50 or 100

years on.

However, when you take on landscape

photography I ask you to think before you

press the shutter - are you saying anything

that hasn’t been said? Or are you saying

it in a tone of voice that you maybe think

hasn’t been expressed? Are you challenging

the way people think at all? Is there a

purpose to that image? Is there a point to it?

There is an “I have witnessed” syndrome.

“I was here. I saw it”. In which case great,

put it in your album, but don’t inflict it on the

rest of the world; countless images like that

already exist on flickr and beyond.

Landscape Tips:1. You have to train yourself to look and

you need to always be seeing. I know

that some of the best landscapes I have

made are of places I’ve gone back to.

A good landscape photographer has

the knack of driving with one eye on

the road and one eye out the window,

and then you find somewhere and you

think “this is kinda interesting, and it

needs to be first thing in the morning”,

and then you have to come back.

2. Don’t leave the house without a tripod.

3. Usually you do want to avoid noise

and or grain in your landscape

images. You need to think about what

kind of sensor you have or what kind

of camera you are shooting with.

Images in the environment tend to be

quite underwhelming at a small size,

so if you’ve made something you

think is successful it probably wants

to be “bigger”, and that can be

disappointing if it falls apart because

it’s noisy or grainy, or it’s a bit soft - you

need a good quality lens etc.

4. Everybody’s all over HDR in landscape

photography - I find that really dull.

People think it’s a magic wand. “It’s a

landscape therefore it must be HDR”.

Well not necessarily. That kind of

hyper-reality makes me think of real

estate agents photography (laughs). It’s

like a dark room tool. It can be used

really beautifully or it can be used in

an awful way.

5. You kinda need to have a brief in your

mind; almost like you’re working on

a commission. Like, “I want to find a

unique way of looking at rangitoto.

What is rangitoto? What is this

volcano in the middle of the harbour?”

Make yourself a set of bullet point

thoughts of what it actually is to you,

and then go and find that shot. Then

you don’t just default back to other

landscapes you’ve seen. It’s more

about answering your own set of

questions.

6. Loads of research of other

people’s work!

Becky Nunes currently heads the BFA Photography Department at Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design in Auckland. She is also continuing to work on select commercial projects, and has a show of her work, in conjunction with Jan Young, opening

at the NKB Gallery in Mt Eden as part of the Auckland Festival of Photography. For more go to wwwbeckynunes.co.nz

10 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

beCKy nunes

11 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

beCKy nunes

12 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

I got interested in photography through

a friend of mine. I was searching for

something in my life to focus on to help

me after the passing of my son, so for me

photography means so much to me on so

many levels.

Over the last 18 months I have

been getting into portrait and wedding

photography. My main interests are creative

work and weddings, and moving forward

my main goals are to increase my skills and

knowledge in those fields.

With my photography I’m finding

my direction of choice is more towards

transforming the normal and demanding

a different view point. Over the next 12

months my goal is to focus on creating

more creative artworks like the many I have

displayed here, as i feel it showcases my

ability to capture and digitally enhance an

image, which, I believe, helps me stand out

from many other photographers.

Thanks so much for sharing your work,

Philip! It’s great to show other people what

you’re up to. Maybe it’ll inspire them to

challenge their reality too! - Ed

FROM THE READER

PhiliP baileyReadeR’s submission:

13 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

PhiliP bailey

14 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

PhiliP bailey

15 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

16 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

PhiliP bailey

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PhiliP bailey

18 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

FEATURE

sensoRsto cLeaN or KILL

You’re correct about a number of things - an electromagnetically charged sensor will

attract dust, and changing the lens increases the chance of dust entering the camera

body, and a dust-free environment minimises the risk of dust.

However, there are several other points to consider.1. Simply taking the lens off won’t directly mean dust on your sensor - remember,

the SHUTTER IS CLOSED! Dust doesn’t magically pass through the metal shutter because your sensor may or may not have charge running through it.

2. Even if you turn your camera off to change the lens, if you introduce dust to the internal chamber then turn your camera back on AND TAKE A PHOTO (i.e. open the shutter) you’re just as likely to have the dust stick itself to your sensor as you would be if you’d left your camera ‘on’ during the lens change.

3. Regularly dusting the back end of your lenses with a lens cloth and blowing out the inside chamber of your camera with a hand pump is a much more reliable way of minimising dust - don’t use compressed air in a can because the propellant can leave a residue, and NEVER use it on the sensor directly!

4. When you change lenses, open the new lens, dust it with a lens cloth, remove the lens on the camera and keep the camera body pointing down, swap the new lens onto the camera and then clean the old lens before putting away.

5. Most professional photographers will agree that “dust-free environments” are a myth, other than in hospitals and the Lexar manufacturing plant and the like. You are working, you need to change lenses, so you do. Better to have 2 bodies and change lenses less!

6. Have a professional train you on how to use sensor cleaning fluid to clean your own sensor, but beware that this is risky! If you don’t do it properly you can ruin your sensor.And even after minimising your dust as above, accept the fact that you will, one

day, need to take your camera in for a professional sensor clean.

Source: Planet5D.com

This first part is from a post I made

online at http://forum.Planet5D.com

– if you like forums and haven’t tasted

this one then you really should – loads of

really interesting and useful info!

The original post asked: “Better to turn

off the camera before lens changing? Is

it appropriate to turn on and off so many

times?”

Several comments were made, and I

thought I’d share my point because it touches

on a few things we should all keep in mind.

19 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

And staying with the sensor theme, and

also with Planet5D.com, here’s a remarkable

post about the damage that a laser beam

can do to your sensor – remarkable because

I’ve photographed lasers many times and

never knew how close I was to losing my

sensor!

Lasers used in a light show have

damaged a Canon EOS 5D Mark II

(reviews) CMOS sensor and I sure didn’t

know it was possible, but I thought I’d get

a warning out since it appears to have

damaged this guy’s sensor. I would suspect

that all CMOS

sensors are probably

susceptible –

including Nikon,

Sony, Panasonic

etc., but maybe

because we’re using

larger lenses on

the HDSLR cameras

would tend to focus

more of the laser’s

beam on the sensor

(I’m no scientist so

I’m just guessing

here, but it makes

some sense). While it

appears to be mostly

safe and not common to get damage

(you’ll see in the video that several lasers

hit the camera but only one caused the

damage), we thought you should know.

We thought we’d check up on this a bit

and found this page on the International

Display Laser Association’s site which says:

“Lasers emit concentrated beams of

light, which can heat up sensitive surfaces

(like the eye’s retina) and cause damage.

Camera sensors are susceptible to

damage, similar to the human eye.

For large scale shows, such as on a

televised concert, laser show producers work

with clients to avoid TV camera locations

and video projectors (ILDA Members, see this

page for details). However, it is not possible

for laser show producers to be responsible

for all cameras and camcorders which might

be at a show.

Therefore, if you attend a show as

an audience member, you should take

reasonable precautions not to let a laser

beam directly enter your camera lens.”

Source: Planet5D.com

20 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

This month’s winner is Derek Spender!

Derek’s astro-composite of a lunar

eclipse was engaging, in focus, and

suited our cover the best. Special mention

MUST be made of veteran NZ Photographer

cover winner Melanie Beres, for her beautiful

star-trails image, and of Steve Baldwin’s

image of Omega Centauri, both of which

were images that were debated over long

and hard for the top image. Well done for

making our decision a tough one!

Derek 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

PiC ofthe bunCh

PIC OF THE BUNCH

21 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

Judy Stokes

Mike Brown

THe besT oF THe ResT:

22 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

Melanie Beres

23 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

Sharon Dilks

Paul Willyams

Steve Baldwin

Susan Pretorius

COMPETITIONS

After our mammoth interview with

Becky Nunes the challenge is

now for you to come up with a

Landscape image that isn’t just a pretty

picture, or as Becky referred to it, an image

that isn’t “chocolate-box photography”.

Here’s Becky’s comment that really sums

up what we’ll be looking for in a winning

image:

“When you take on landscape photography

I ask you to think before you press the

shutter - are you saying anything that hasn’t

been said? Or are you saying it in a tone

of voice that you maybe think hasn’t been

expressed? Are you challenging the way

people think at all? Is there a purpose to that

image? Is there a point to it?”

So, try not to submit pretty pictures of

mountains and fields and flowers –

challenge yourself to think outside the

traditional-landscape box!

One last quote from Becky to save our

inbox from crashing under the weight of a

million sunset images: “There is an ‘I have

witnessed’ syndrome. ‘I was here. I saw it’.

In which case great, put it in your album,

but don’t inflict it on the rest of the world;

countless images like that already exist on

flickr and beyond.”

Thanks again to our sponsors of our

competitions - for all YOUR fine art and

canvas printing needs, ask for Mike at

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 27th of June, 2011. Winner will be

published in Issue 24, out on Wednesday

the 13th of July, 2011.

25 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

Last month we decided to hold another

one of our Open Competitions – only

this time there’s a twist... your image

needs to have been taken in 2011!!

So, the subject matter, post production

techniques, composition and theme are

all up to you, but the photo needs to

have been taken recently. Rather than

encourage a trawl through your photos

from 2003 we want to see what you’re

all creating NOW.

HINT: Go back to Issue 20 and read

our article on how to win our competitions!

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 23rd of May, 2011.

Winner will be published in Issue 23,

out on Wednesday the 8th of June,

2011.

26 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

Cool stuff

liGhtRoom 3Are you still debating whether to upgrade to

Lightroom 3? Are you absolutely certain that

your combination of Photoshop and Bridge

is the best workflow you can have?

Then you need to check out Scott Kelby’s

“100 Ways Adobe Lightroom Kicks Adobe

Bridge’s A$$ for Photographers” – I’m sure

you can guess which side he’s on!

Source: www.photoshopuser.com/lightroom

PX 680 ColouRshadeFortunately for photography buffs,

Impossible’s mission to revive Instant Integral

film hasn’t proven, well, impossible. And the

company’s latest film stock, PX 680 Color

Shade, reminds us of those Hipstamatic

and Instagram shots the kids like so

much these days. Except, you know -- the

aforementioned apps simulate old school

photographic processes and equipment,

while the new film achieves the same effect

by using time-honored methods that remind

us of the new school smartphone apps that

ape time-honored photographic processes

and equipment. Just thinking about it makes

our heads hurt! If you’ve been waiting your

whole life for the perfect Polaroid 600 color

film, it’s available now for US$22. Hit the

source link for more info (and some pretty

awesome sample shots).

Source: Engadget

27 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

50 Red ePiC-m CameRasLooks like another director’s been on a

shopping spree lately, as RED’s Jim Jannard’s

just announced that he sold another 50

EPIC-Ms to one generous customer. Who’s

this, you ask? Why, it’s James Cameron of

Avatar and Titanic fame, and he’s probably

just blown US$2.9 million on his latest stash

of cinematographic toys -- it’s US$58,000 a

pop for these hand-machined professional

cameras. Details are scarce at the moment,

but any educated guess would point at

the upcoming Avatar 2 due end of 2014,

meaning our favorite blue aliens will be

returning in a healthy 5K resolution. Keep an

eye out for Jannard’s official announcement

later this week for the full lowdown.

Source: Engadget

28 | www.nzphotographer.co.nz

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have you subsCRibed to nz PhotoGRaPheR? it’s fRee!simply visit www.nzphotographer.co.nz to get a copy of NZ Photographer

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Issue 23, Out June 2011

A Final Hurrah – we say goodbye to the best Editor we’ve ever had!

How To: Creative Portraits

Getting to Know: Niki Coates