ISSUE 08 | MARCH 2012

www.f11magazine.com

ALEX WALLACE Travelling light

SCOTT LEGGO Outdoorsman

MARK HARRIS Home from the sea Welcome to f11 Magazine

Welcome to issue 8, our March 2012 edition. We’re delighted to Issue 08 | March 2012 feature the work of another three photographers, work we hope f11 Magazine you’ll find as interesting as we do. P O Box 37-233, Parnell Auckland 1151, New Zealand A warm welcome to Darran Leal as a new regular contributor to www.f11magazine.com the magazine. Like all of the team, I can vouch for his credentials Editorial: and suitability, learn more about Darran on page 2 - and read his [email protected] first contribution, On Location, on page 72. Advertising Sales: [email protected] Growth is our mandate for 2012, we need new subscribers to sign up and we need your help. If you’re enjoying f11, and want us to Publisher/Creative Director: succeed, then please help us grow our readership numbers. So Tim Steele keep on spreading the word, we love you for it. Design/Layout: Donna Hoyle and Danica Atkins We’re now on the home stretch to find subscriber number 5000 of Donna Hoyle Design and once we’ve done that we’ll draw the Olympus winner from Web Developer: our virtual hat. Yes, you’re all in the draw, so good luck people. David MacLeod f11 readers are a small but growing community, whether gathered Contributors: by country or separated by geography, linked or divided by Gary Baildon :: James Madelin :: language, they are bound together by one common denominator, Karim Sahai :: Tony Bridge :: a passion for the power of the image. We are united by what we Malcolm Somerville :: Darran Leal share, and what we share at least partly defines us. Featured In This Issue: Alex Wallace :: Scott Leggo :: You can choose to read the magazine in page flip format on our Mark Harris :: Ian Poole website or take advantage of our popular PDF download. The PDF Notice To Readers and Advertisers: is perfect for iPad, or other tablet style device, users and also The publishers of f11 Magazine take every allows you to archive your copy for future reading. care in the production of each issue of this title but we are not liable for any editorial If you’re a regular reader but have not yet subscribed – please do! error, omission, mistake or typographical error. In the case of advertising material Subscribers are automatically entered into all of our prize draws, supplied, we as publishers, make no representation and provide no warranty and receive an email when each issue is released. It’s fast, easy as to the accuracy of descriptions or and free to sign up and we’ll never provide your details to anyone offers within. As publishers we accept no liability for any loss, which any person else. Promise. may incur while relying on the accuracy or description of any statement or Plus, during the month of March only, every new and existing photograph herein. The views expressed by all contributors subscriber goes into a separate draw to win a Manfrotto 681B are not necessarily those of the publisher. Monopod complete with a Manfrotto 234RC head, together f11 Magazine reserves the right to decline any advertising for any reason. valued at NZ$219. This prize is kindly provided courtesy of our Copyright f11 Magazine 2012: All of friends at the NZ Manfrotto agents, Macalister Ltd. the content published in this magazine is subject to copyright held either by Hope you enjoy this issue of f11. the publisher in the whole or in part by the contributing photographers. Any infringement may incur legal action. Tim No part of this magazine may be used in part or in full in any way without the [email protected] express written permission of the publisher.

f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 1 nikon.co.nz

Nikon D4 - FPS - 210x297mm.indd 1 25/01/2012 4:15:40 p.m. The f11 team

Gary Baildon aka The Shooter was schooled in the dark arts of Karim Sahai is an accomplished photographer, a deeply conceptual photolithography, before talking his way into a well-known Auckland studio thinker and an all-round clever guy yet he still insists on holding down a day in the heady 80’s. Most of the 90’s were spent in a plausibly deniable series job. He is one of those mysterious unsung heroes toiling away on the back of roles in the photo industry. After his disappointment at Y2K not signaling lots of Wellywood as a visual effects artist for feature films. As you read the end of the world, as we know it, he returned to shooting people, this, he is most likely putting the finishing touches on a future blockbuster products and fast moving objects for filthy lucre. Helmeted and leathered, while planning his next expedition as his alter ego, the globe-trotting travel he’s often sat astride a rather large and imposing British motorcycle, the photographer and adventurer. Although he failed to meet the selection latest in a succession of fast toys. For shits and giggles he plays both drums criteria by being far too young and good-looking we decided to invite him and bass in bands you’ve never heard of, in places you’ve never been to. to join the f11 team anyway.

TONY BRIDGE is a fine artist, photographer, writer and photo educator… Malcolm Somerville spent far too much of his working life within the evil depending on which day you catch him. Yoda like, he hides away in the empire that once was the largest multi-national manufacturer in the photo hills in Hanmer Springs, where, like any good modern day guru, he thinks industry. His resulting knowledge of photographic and chemical processes way too much, constantly reinvents himself and pontificates on one of his is so deep that he is still deemed to be a security risk. A past president blogs. Rather than joining the rest of the team in the cult of Mac, he insists of the NZIPP, and an active member of their Honours Council, Malcolm is on trying to build the ‘ultimate PC’ – poor deluded man. Apart from that the ultimate fixer, a go to guy for anyone wanting to know anything about tiny lapse of judgement, as the good Yoda himself would put it, “Learn from professional photography and photographers. Malcolm has been a writer him, you will”. and industry commentator for many years and has the innate ability to spot a crock of the proverbial at 500 paces.

DARRAN LEAL is a photographer, adventurer and educator. An Australian Tim Steele is the ringmaster of the travelling circus that is f11 Magazine. by birth, he combines his twin loves of travel and outdoor photography A former high wire artist for corporate masters in the photo industry, he by running tours, workshops and seminars and guiding photographers to still has nightmares about delivering the physically impossible, on occasion stunning locations around the globe. Prior to inventing this great gig, he under the whip of the seemingly insane, and always for the terminally variously sold cameras, served food and wine, built gas pipelines, explored unappreciative. A brilliant escape from the last of these gulags left a tunnel for diamonds and discovered that the life of a park ranger was not for for other prisoners and led him to consultancy in strategy, advertising and him. When not up to his ass in crocodiles, cuddling gorillas or herding marketing. Always impressed by the Bohemian lifestyles, devil-may-care photographers, he fishes the world’s oceans, rivers and streams. Only his attitudes, cruel wit and raw talent of professional photographers, he now fishing exploits suffer from exaggeration, believe it or not the rest of his frequents their studios, shooting locations and watering holes in search of adventurous life is, amazingly, true. his personal holy grail, great images to share with f11 readers.

James Madelin is a former investment wanker, a reformed press This issue's guest editorialist is ian poole, a member of the AIPP since 1976, photographer and a cunning linguist. He’s better known for his role as CEO holding various positions within the Institute. He has been Australian Vice- and chief mad scientist at his company Enlight Photo. James is the inventor President and Queensland President and is well known for his extensive of the now world famous Orbis ring flash device, the indispensable Frio and work as an educator at an academic level with Queensland College of Art a host of future products that shall, for the moment, remain top secret. and the Queensland University of Technology. Poole has been a long term When not jet setting around the world’s photo dealers promoting his judge of the APPA's and a guest judge in the NZIPP Awards for six years. latest indispensable photographic invention, James may be seen around With a background as an advertising/commercial photographer in Brisbane, town on two wheels in an effort to reduce his massive carbon footprint. Poole is now turning his hand at finely crafted black and white portraiture; He strenuously denies the use of bicycle clips and insists that his legs are and is a director of the newly formed Foto Frenzy company specialising in unshaven. photographic education from a Brisbane base.

2 | Issue 08 | March 2012 f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 3 Featured in this issue

Ian POOLE Guest editorial 10 Cover image © Alex Wallace www.alexwallace.co.nz Alex WALLACE Contents

Travelling light Welcome 1 Meet the team 2 14 Contents 4 In plain sight 6 Editorial 8 Scott Tony Bridge 12 LEGGO Darran Leal 72 PSNZ 76 Outdoorsman Malcolm Somerville 78 ACMP 80 34 AIPP 82 Classic 83 Karim Sahai 84 Mark AIPA 86 HARRIS James Madelin 87 NZIPP 92 Home from the sea Subscriber Prize Draws 93 Gary Baildon 94 52 The Slack Page 98

4 | Issue 08 | March 2012 f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 5 In plain sight

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For more information on how the Stylus Pro range can benefit your business, contact us on 0508 22 77 83 or visit www.aarque.co.nz. STYLUS PRO 9900 STYLUS PRO 7900 STYLUS PRO 4900 6 | Issue 08 | March 2012 f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 7 Editorial BEyond Style is knowing who you we show simply hang together as bodies of are, saying what you want to work demonstrating a certain ‘style’ which we say, and not giving a damn. then attribute to that photographer. - Gore Vidal What matters more, is that once style has THE CATEgorIES been established a photographer is liberated to look beyond the superficial, think beyond the constraints of ‘how will I represent this?’ In preparing each issue of and interpret with newfound freedom more this magazine, I’m often along the lines of ‘why will I represent this?’. struck by the validity of this How an image was planned, designed, executed quotation from Gore Vidal, a and then post produced and presented will man enormously capable of always be important. These are contributors expressing complex propositions with very towards the success or failure of that image, few highly effective words. Although I rather or series of images. think he was addressing writers, it still speaks to me almost every time I sit down to edit, Why an image was created, it’s intention and then select, images from our contributing the message behind it is of equal importance photographers. in many cases, though not all. Some images simply move beyond the intent of their creator, I’m not immune to the suggestion that finding multiple interpretations from multiple this statement potentially reads two ways, viewers, often surprisingly at odds with the speaking of emotional indifference almost as creator’s original intent. well as it speaks to singular clarity of vision. I simply choose the latter interpretation as it Finding a personal style is liberating, becoming better suits my temperament and purpose. comfortable in that skin not always so, as photographers seek to first invent and then As I work with their images, I can usually place reinvent themselves over the longer term. photographers in one of two camps. Those who have a style carefully developed and Sought, found or lost, deliberate or deliberately constructed over many years and unconscious, known or unknown, style is those whose style simply pours out of them unmistakable, powerful and compelling when every time they lift the camera, uncontrived we as impartial observers see it. but nonetheless unmistakable. It often takes The trick for any photographer is to know a little time to work out which is which, and where they are in that process, and if they’ve sometimes it’s impossible to tell – and that found their own style, to recognise, cherish, conclusion is a source of endless fascination. celebrate and feed the beast. Of course the differentiation is a somewhat TS moot point, it matters little whether the resulting images are consciously or unself- consciously created. In the editing process, and the layout process that follows, the portfolios

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Leica_S2_anzeige_draft.indd 1 05.08.2009 17:06:49 Uhr guest editorial :: ian poole

Smelling the visual roses

As a recent purchaser of a smart phone, an was “playing the scales”. This is what musicians panoramas! All of these apps are easily Apple iPhone 4S in November, I have had a do almost every day of their life. In my case, it obtainable and mostly free. love/hate relationship with the device. was playing the visual scales. I was pushing my Is my iPhone a camera? No, it is not, and it will eye to discover new patterns, new concepts For me a mobile telephone has been a “ring- not be replacing my “real” camera equipment. or just to record ideas in an interesting way. ring – hello” type of a device; and it is only But it has a valuable role in my life and a If a “real” situation came along and I wanted with a recent change of circumstances that permanent spot in my camera bag. I have to take a “real photograph”, the iPhone would I have found myself doing more travelling become a better photographer through being be quickly thrust into my pocket. Slowly I and working away from a regular office. The waylaid by this new technology and by taking discovered the joy of creating a photograph contemporary smartphone has suddenly the time to stop and smell the visual roses. without using a camera. A little like the delivered additional communication concepts seductive somewhat perverse joy that can be Ian Poole into my hand – and a device capable of image had by using a toy camera, such as a Holga or creation! I still don’t regard it as a camera, but building and using a pinhole camera. my views are slowly changing. Queenstown, New Zealand. Apple iPhone 4S. © Ian Poole Many serious professional photographers This is mainly due to the fact that I have found regard such devices as tools of the Devil and an unlikely, but very likeable, use for my suggest that these have no part in “real” iPhone. photography. I disagree – what I have recently Whilst travelling in Japan late last year, I discovered, and forgive me for being very slow found that in addition to my Nikon D700 on the uptake, is the freedom to create images and my greatly loved Panasonic Lumix GF1, I quickly and easily with a device that enables was using the iPhone more and more. Firstly me to share such images with my friends via it was to update friends in Australia on my various social media sites. journey, then to include new and old Japanese Of course I have been seduced by various acquaintances in a visual diary of my activities applications that take some of the “darkroom” using Facebook. Images don’t require any out of the process. At the moment I am using knowledge of a foreign language, particularly Instagram as a conduit to my friends; Snapseed when you are communicating with visually as my processing tool; 6x6, set permanently literate friends. on black and white and Photosynth to do Then it finally dawned on me what I was doing. I believable, amazing, instant in-camera Whilst Stealing Bandwidth Outside the Ginza Apple Apple iPhone 4S. © Ian Poole Store. Tokyo, Japan. Apple iPhone 4S. © Ian Poole

10 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Guest Editorial :: Ian Poole f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 11 TONY BRIDGE

Often we will be exploring our own picture- Playing with the basic components of Breaking making issues without realising it. At the photography, either by exploration or beginning of our career as a photographer, reflection, can often give you new insights photographers amateur or professional, without realising into your own photography. It can even break it, we will subconsciously be developing our photographer’s block. own way of doing things, and our own way of block exploring our subject matter. You only have For the last 5 or 6 years I have tended to to go on a fieldtrip with other photographers, photograph the landscape using landscape where you all line up in a row and attempt to format. After all, we tend to look at the Back to the basics. photograph the same scene, to realise what is landscape from left to right, rather than up happening. Everybody will produce a different and down. For most of that time, I was more response to the same scene, and it is wonderful interested in spatial relationships which ran to share those varied and different versions at from left to right, and from front to back. It a later time. always seemed to me that the 3:2 ratio in There are many ways of looking at our own portrait format yielded a particularly visually © Tony Bridge work, and sometimes running into a brick wall If you are wondering just what those issues narrowing effect. of our own imagination, or the lack of it, can are for you, then take the components of be one of the best things that ever happened photography and explore them one by one. But that was then and this is now. to us. Most of the great photographers have all done Cloudscapes have been a singular part of my this at some point or for an extended period of The great photographer, Sam Abell, in his book subject material for most of that time and, time. Simple things like depth of field (which Stay This Moment, talks of reaching a point generally speaking, I have been trying to fit isn't really!) or choice of format (landscape where he no longer wanted to photograph, them into the landscape format. Then, one or portrait), or even simple design elements since there were no further challenges for day last year, high on the Hawkdun mountains like line, shadow or negative space can be him. It took about a year of wandering in the in central Otago, I saw these clouds. They particularly informative. Look back across photographic wilderness before he found a just didn't work in landscape, so I attempted your work and see if you can find common new way of looking at his own photography. them in portrait, and to my surprise, they just motifs which occur again and again. The next As he describes it, he was looking at a book worked. time you are out in the field photographing, on Japanese gardens, when he realised that, experiment with the placement of the Since that time I found myself using portrait just like the art of Japanese landscape design, horizon line, selecting either higher or lower format for the landscape more and more. photography for him was about the art of placements of it. More importantly, don't framing. When you think about it, there are Actually, for all sorts of photography. attach to a particular way of doing things. Just two tyrannies in photography which we can allow yourself to explore and play. TB never escape: Time, which can only ever be expressed in fractions or multiples of a second; When you get back to your workspace, using and the image frame, or picture space, which your virtual lightbox, sit with the images you [email protected] confounds some of our best attempts to have made and decide which ones work best. www.thistonybridge.com escape it. From that point on, his core artistic Ask yourself if you could have been even more www.centreofthecompass.com issue became one of exploring framing an radical in the placement of your horizon lines, image and his response to it. and what effect that might have had. © Tony Bridge

12 | Issue 08 | March 2012 f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 13 Alex WALLACE Travelling light

Originally from the United Kingdom, Alex Wallace arrived in New Zealand ten years ago with the idea of finding work as a photographic assistant, and did precisely that. Those were buoyant times and he worked with as many professionals as possible, learning as he puts it, “…a hell of a lot from them, including how best to do things and how not to do things.” He met his future wife here, and they later moved back to the U.K. where Alex took a position in a commercial studio and put everything he’d learned into practice. Three years ago they returned to New Zealand and Alex set up his own business, in times now best described as less buoyant. “It was probably the worst time to be setting up a business - the height of the recession, but being thrown in at the deep taught me a great deal about marketing: what's effective and what isn't.” We talked to Alex about life, business and clients. Water polo player shot in Auckland. New Zealand Water Polo. Canon EOS 1 DS MkIII. 16-35mm f2.8 II lens. Lighting: broncolor. 3 heads. 2 honeycombed heads behind (right and left) with yellow gels. 1 beauty dish high to camera right. No gel. © Alex Wallace

14 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Alex Wallace :: Travelling light f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 15 f11: Tell us a bit about the work you’re doing? AW: Much as I hate the negative connotations of the term, I guess I am a bit of a 'jack of all trades'. I shoot a wide array of subjects for a variety of clients - and I wouldn't have it any other way. I shoot products and people for advertising, buildings for architects, landscapes for stock. I shoot a bit of food, a bit of corporate portraiture and still try to keep up with some personal projects. Then of course I still make time for the important stuff: family and fishing. f11: How’s business at the moment, feast or famine? AW: Business is now going pretty well. I've picked up some high profile clients and some loyalty from a few agencies, which is so important. f11: What’s your basic business approach to clients and agencies? AW: You can't live on your past successes. You have to keep performing and getting the work in the door, to pay the bills and feed the family. So a client that keeps coming back to you is invaluable. I try my absolute best to look after them and keep them happy however I can. I'm always conscious of being the 'yes man'; trying to keep the whole relationship sweet and when they present me with a problem, offering them the solution they're after. f11: Is there such a thing as a ‘loyal’ client? AW: A client coming back with more work, is often the only way of knowing that they're happy with what you've done. You rarely Billy Goat. Shot in Guernsey, for photographic book. Canon EOS 1DS MkIII. 16-35mm f2.8 II lens. get any thanks. Photos are temporary and Lighting: Elinchrom. 2 heads. Soft-box high to rear right of subject. Softbox to left of camera. © Alex Wallace expendable and while you may treasure a shot for the effort and love you put into it, you'll get Image on page 19: Tim - Surfer. Shot at Piha Beach. Self promotion piece. Canon EOS 1DS MkIII. 24-105mm f4 IS lens. little more than a cursory 'thank you', from the Lighting: Broncolor. 1 head - high camera left. Large rectangular softbox minus diffusion. © Alex Wallace person who commissioned it - and I guess why should they - you're providing a service and once they pay for it, then the deal is done.

16 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Alex Wallace :: Travelling light f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 17 f11: We’ve chosen to feature the ‘people cut in the UK. Here it’s quite the opposite; if pictures’ from your portfolio, so two questions an advertisement stirs up controversy and in one - would you say that’s your speciality, offends a minority, then it’s ticking the right and who’s doing the hiring? boxes. AW: I shoot a lot of portraiture - mostly for f11: What’s the next item of your photographic advertising rather than editorial and clients equipment which is up for replacement? are both agencies and the corporates. AW: The Canon 1DX looks pretty tempting f11: Let’s talk about location lighting, looks but the one thing I would love to replace is like a lot of this is going on here. my 16-35mm f2.8L USM II lens. The reason it needs replacing is that it’s terribly soft at the AW: Yes, and 90% of this is on location and this wide aperture end. I’ve seen comparisons usually means schlepping a full location lighting with the equivalent Nikon glass and the Nikon kit around. With the advent of digital and high won hands down - sharp edge to edge at f2.8. ISO shooting, I find I can use speedlights and Unfortunately Canon hasn’t announced the reflectors for quite a bit of work - especially for successor yet, so I’m just going to have to the bright light portraiture where the ambient wait. light is key. Indeed my broncolor kit is often too powerful in these situations, you need just f11: What’s the best part of your work, the the tiniest pop of flash and their power can't thing that keeps you coming back each day? be reduced enough. You find yourself dialing AW: The fact I’m getting paid to do something all the way down then layering the head with that many people enjoy only as a hobby white diffuser to kill the light further. When the flash takes over and dominates the frame, f11: Why is this a great time to be involved in that's where the broncolor gear comes into its imaging as a professional photographer? own. AW: There are more images around us than f11: You’re obviously a real aficionado of flash, ever before – we are bombarded by them would you say it’s become part of your style? at every turn in almost every media. While our industry often bemoans the fact that AW: I love shooting these heavily flash lit shots standards have slipped and everyone and where the background is underexposed and anyone can call themselves a photographer the subject leaps from the frame. It offers a and work for a pittance, I prefer to see this as whole new look to what may otherwise be an a good thing. The more poor quality images uninspiring scene - and making people look there are out there, the better mine look. With twice and consider an image is surely the sign the huge demand for fresh photos, there is of a successful shot. It means they are paying inevitably a market for low quality inexpensive attention to the ad - and that’s what I'm paid stuff, but so long as you’re getting paid what for. you think you are worth, then I reckon you’re f11: Having worked in the UK and here in New doing pretty well. Zealand, and apart from the issue of scale, f11: If circumstances were different, preventing how do the markets differ? you from doing what you do, what would you AW: Advertising agencies are a lot braver choose to do instead? here than in the UK. I see ads running here AW: I love diving and I looked at that as a that would never run over there. Anything career option for a while – becoming a that could possibly upset the PC brigade is

18 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Alex Wallace :: Travelling light f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 19 Taylor - skateboarder. Shot in Auckland. Metro Magazine. Canon EOS 1DS MkIII. 16-35mm f2.8 II lens. Lighting: Broncolor. 1 head - camera left. Large softbox minus diffusion. 1 rim-light - the sun! © Alex Wallace

Harlequin Great Danes, shot alongside commission for Audi. Canon EOS 1DS MkIII. 24-105mm f4 IS lens. Lighting: Broncolor. 3 heads: 2 high snooted heads to rear of subject (either side) one softbox above camera left. © Alex Wallace

20 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Alex Wallace :: Travelling light f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 21 dive instructor seemed a great idea. However, I found that diving as a profession took all the enjoyment out of it for me. Thankfully that has never been an issue with photography. f11: Where do you turn to for inspiration, what gets the creative juices flowing? AW: That’s a big question! Sometimes it’s Mother Nature, sometimes it’s the built environment, often it’s just observing people –those with an energy or a look about them, that you could imagine translating well into a photograph. f11: Which photographers working now do you admire, and why? AW: I often look to other photographers for inspiration. Damon Winter for example, he has a truly unique eye on the world. And on a local level here in NZ, I love the work of Jackie Ranken: an immensely adaptable and accomplished portrait and landscape shooter. I’m impressed by Tony Drayton. He lives in a world I don’t inhabit; high end models, top stylists and make-up artists, big budgets and he’s a very gifted photographer. It all combines to create these wonderful ethereal shots. f11: You mentioned personal projects, what are you working on and why? AW: I’m currently working on a documentary story at a local boxing club here in Auckland. It’s a world away from my commercial work and with no control over lighting or posing, it’s making me think sideways; I’m forced to shoot images without influencing the subject… something I’m not good at. There’s an element of serendipity in every frame. f11: Thanks Alex, look forward to seeing some of those images one day.

TS www.alexwallace.co.nz Ross and Lexi fishing for flounder. Manukau Harbour, Auckland for New Zealand Geographic Magazine. Canon EOS 1DS MkIII. 16-35mm f2.8 II lens. Lighting: Canon 580 EXII with yellow gel - camera right. plus glow from torchlight. © Alex Wallace

22 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Alex Wallace :: Travelling light f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 23 Tahlia. Shot near Pukekohe. Private Commission. Canon EOS 1DS MkIII. 24-105mm f4 IS lens. Hazer to reveal sunrays and soft light through frame. White reflector to subtly fill subject. © Alex Wallace

Quinn - Hairdresser. Shot in Auckland. Personal work. Canon EOS 1DS MkIII. 24-105mm f4 IS lens. Lighting: Broncolor - arranged as seen in frame! © Alex Wallace

24 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Alex Wallace :: Travelling light f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 25 Maori Warrior in hot water waterfall, shot in Rotorua for Te Wero. Canon EOS 1DS MkIII. 24-105mm f4 IS lens. Woman with seaweed hair. Self promotion piece shot at Piha Beach, Auckland. Lighting: sun through cloud and mist. © Alex Wallace Canon EOS 1DS MkIII. 24-105mm f4 IS lens. Lighting: sun bounced off white reflector. © Alex Wallace

26 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Alex Wallace :: Travelling light f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 27 Leaping Maori Warrior shot in Ararimu for Te Wero. Canon EOS 1DS MkIII. 35mm f1.4 lens. Lighting: Broncolor. 1 head - large octagonal soft box to camera left. White reflector to camera right..© Alex Wallace

Maori Warrior shot in Rotorua for Te Wero. Canon EOS 1DS MkIII. 35mm f1.4 lens. lighting: Mother Nature. Taken in the rain, under a tree fern whilst waiting for weather to improve.© Alex Wallace

28 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Alex Wallace :: Travelling light f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 29 Ronan - boxing coach. Shot in Auckland for Shamrock Boxing Club. Canon EOS 1DS MkIII. 24-105mm f4 IS lens. Lighting: Broncolor. 2 heads. 1 high camera right with tall narrow softbox. I high in roof beams with wide dish reflector. © Alex Wallace

30 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Alex Wallace :: Travelling light f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 31

Cross in snow, Alpine National Park, Victoria, Australia. Canon EOS 5D MkII, Canon 24mm f1.4L lens. © Scott Leggo

Scott Leggo is a landscape and aviation “We need to preserve the few photographer, based in Australia. He is driven by a passion for travel and the outdoor wild, untouched places remaining Scott adventure of getting to great locations to in the world and protect our photograph the stunning beauty of nature. precious wildlife and natural Here at f11 Magazine we were torn between the two bodies of work he made available to resources.” LEGGO us, a collection of stunning landscapes, and an equally powerful selection of aviation images. Outdoorsman Could we showcase both adequately in one feature or did they deserve quiet spaces of their own? After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, we’ve elected to concentrate on the former, and revisit the latter – in a future Phoographer Scott Leggo

34 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Scott Leggo :: Outdoorsman f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 35 issue, if he’ll allow us. To tease you, take a look at the last page of this magazine as a taste of what may follow… Formerly an Officer in the Royal Australian Air Force, Scott decided to pursue a career as a photographer, quickly becoming respected for his photographic talents, and winning many awards along the way. Scott sells his best personal work, which is represented in his multi award winning limited edition print collection, to a growing international client base. His premium quality limited edition photographic prints grace the walls of homes and offices the world over, transforming the feeling of many a public and private space. Scott was recently awarded the 2011 Epson ACT Professional Photographer of the Year, and was a finalist in the 2011 International Docklands moonrise. Webb Bridge, Docklands, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Canon EOS 5D, Canon 24mm f1.4L lens. Loupe Awards. © Scott Leggo We chatted briefly with Scott about life, the universe and photography. f11: From life in the RAAF to life as a photographer, tell us about the journey? SL : I was in desperate need of a much better work-life balance and was looking for an ‘excuse’ to get out and about and get back to doing things I enjoyed rather than having my life dominated by work. Growing up I used to love the time I spent outdoors and over the years grew to love travel, but I had gotten to a point where much of what I enjoyed doing had disappeared from my life as I had been taken over by work. Essentially over a number years a lot had fallen out of my life in terms of what I actually enjoyed, replaced by work that increasingly offered little reward other Birds nest, Beijing National Stadium. Beijing, People's Republic of China. Canon EOS 5D MkII, Canon 24mm 105 f4L IS lens. than long hours and hectic travel. It all come © Scott Leggo to a head in 2006 and I decided that landscape photography would be a great ‘excuse’ for me to focus on reintroducing to my life the outdoor adventure activities I enjoyed as well

36 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Scott Leggo :: Outdoorsman f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 37 as travel on my terms rather than those of my employer. Ultimately I thought, wouldn’t it be awesome if I could travel around to these great locations and photograph them and come back with great images that would look great on people’s walls? That was the genesis of the idea, and I guess why in many ways I’m not traditional in how I came to photography with no formal training or ‘art’ background - and why I’ve never been interested in shooting weddings or portraits! f11: As someone now involved in the business of photography, how are you finding it? SL : After working in Government andD efence, I now thoroughly enjoy the freedom and flexibility of effectively being my own boss and being unconstrained by frustrating processes and bureaucracy. I also get a lot of satisfaction from the challenges that are inherent in trying to grow a business along the path to achieving Moonrise at the lighthouse. Cape Otway Lightstation, Cape Otway, Victoria, Australia. the vision I have set for myself. There were Canon EOS 5D, Canon 24mm f1.4L lens. © Scott Leggo however, gasps of horror from many of my former colleagues over why I’d leave behind a successful career to chase a dream with no guarantees compared to the security I enjoyed. Undoubtedly I’m now much more relaxed, and happier, than I was when I set out on this photography journey, so in that regard I think I’ve definitely made the right decision. f11: What’s your approach to equipment? SL : It’s not about what camera or equipment you use. Yes equipment is important, but the best camera in the world is only as good as the person operating it. These days new versions and models of cameras, sensors and lenses are constantly being released. I think it’s easy to fall victim to marketing hype and feel unhappy with the camera you have, as something better is always just around the corner. In my view, it doesn't matter. Use what you have.

Lorne Pier. Pier, Lorne, Victoria, Australia. Canon EOS 5D, Canon 24mm f1.4L lens. © Scott Leggo

38 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Scott Leggo :: Outdoorsman f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 39 Cameras record what you choose to put in front of them. It's the getting out there in the first place and then your skills as the photographer in choosing composition, lighting and capturing an emotion that makes a good photograph. Get those things correct and it doesn't matter what camera you're using. f11: Fair comments, so what equipment choices have you made? SL : First and foremost, for much of what I do given the weather conditions I often find myself in, personal equipment and clothing is the priority. There’s not much point having great camera equipment if you freeze to death. On the clothing front, I love everything from Icebreaker, and spend far too much money at all the top outdoor/adventure stores on clothing and other outdoor adventure essentials. Having been in the military you come to appreciate how important decent Windmill. Rochester, Victoria, Australia. Canon EOS 5D, Canon 70 -200mm f2.8L IS lens. © Scott Leggo footwear is. My Raichle mountaineering boots, which I’ve had for a while now, are without doubt the best boots I’ve ever owned. They’ve “I hope my images can help people recognise what we still have left taken me through all sorts of extremes globally and that it is worth protecting and preserving” and are still together and waterproof. On the camera front, I currently shoot with as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius. And last, Canon’s EOS 5D MkII, with a good range of L but of course not least, I use Apple products series lenses. I predominantly use the wider for all my computing needs. On the processing angle lenses for my landscape work, while front, I use Phase One’s Capture One for my the longer focal lengths are great for much of RAW processing and then Adobe Photoshop my aviation work. Medium format is next for as required. me, given what I want to be able to offer my f11: Thanks Scott, we’ll be back in touch a little clients going forward. I use a Gitzo GT2542L later to talk aviation photography! tripod and Gitzo GH2780QR ball head which is great for my back given the light weight and I TS love the flexibility that the extra length from www.scottleggoimages.com the tripod gives me with no real compromise on rigidity. To carry my gear, I use Lowepro or Macpac backpacks for the longer overnight camping trips. I’ve used Sandisk Extreme Cards since I started and these cards have never failed me - and I’ve shot in temperatures © Scott Leggo

40 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Scott Leggo :: Outdoorsman f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 41 © Scott Leggo

“Landscape photography for me combines a passion I have for the environment and my love of the outdoors”

42 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Scott Leggo :: Outdoorsman f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 43 Orange row of trees. Buck and Valley, Victoria, Australia. Canon EOS 5D MkII, Canon 24-105mm f4L IS lens. © Scott Leggo

Red row of trees. Nightingales Alpine Apples Orchard, Wandiligong, Victoria, Australia. Canon EOS 5D, Canon 70-200mm f2.8 L IS lens. © Scott Leggo

44 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Scott Leggo :: Outdoorsman f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 45 Braving the elements – Summer. Snow Gums, Mt Hotham. Alpine National Park, Victoria, Australia. Canon EOS 5D, Canon 24mm f1.4L lens © Scott Leggo

Braving the elements – Winter. Snow Gums, Mt Hotham. Alpine National Park, Victoria, Australia. Canon EOS 5D MkII, Canon 24mm f1.4L lens © Scott Leggo

46 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Scott Leggo :: Outdoorsman f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 47 Braving the elements – Summer. Snow Gums, Mt Hotham. Alpine National Park, Victoria, Australia. Canon EOS 5D, Canon 24mm f1.4L lens. © Scott Leggo “I fully embrace the power of technology and the digital darkroom”

Ancient wall. Great Wall of China. Beijing, People's Republic of China. Canon EOS 5D MkII, Canon 24 -105mm f4L IS lens. © Scott Leggo

48 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Scott Leggo :: Outdoorsman f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 49 Watchtowers. Great Wall of China. Beijing, People's Republic of China. Canon EOS 5D MkII, Canon 24 -105mm f4L IS lens. © Scott Leggo

50 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Scott Leggo :: Outdoorsman f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 51 Portfolio. Canon EOS 30D, 10-22mm lens. f9 1/250 sec. © Mark Harris Mark HARRIS Home from the sea

In former lives, Mark Harris dug deep, and he I loved photography and thought it’d be pretty often looked down on people – and no, he ace to do something I loved for the rest of my wasn’t an undertaker or a snob. Rather, these life, so I made a decision that it was going to were stints in landscape gardening and roofing be my only source of income from that point that would not prevent him from ultimately on, and if that meant sleeping on the streets pursuing his goal, life as a photographer. then so be it. Today, Mark lives and works in New Plymouth f11: Gutsy move, were you well prepared for in the beautiful province of Taranaki, on the it? West Coast of New Zealand’s North Island. MH : I really had no idea of the business side Mark shoots commercial and advertising of it so threw myself into courses and working imagery - people, fashion and lifestyle - and for camera shops, in studios, and by assisting we like his style, so we’re on a mission to reveal other photographers. For 4-5 years I went some of what he’s been shooting lately. back and forward between NZ and Australia Yes, he’s achieved his goal, but the voyage to as I kept learning and progressing. this life first took him around the world. We f11: Where did all of this lead? talked to Mark about that long voyage, his ocean wanderings and the place this has led MH : By 2001 I was looking for a new him back to. photographic venture that included travel and over a period of a couple of months 3 or f11: What was the turning point for you, 4 people mentioned cruise ship photography when did you decide to become a career to me. I’m a believer in the old saying ‘things photographer? happen for a reason’ so looked into it. In MH : It was time to take control of my future, February 2002 I boarded my first ship in I went snowboarding for the winter in 1997. Honolulu, Hawaii for a 10-month stint as Looking out the window at the Remarkables a photographer. I’ll be honest, when I first Range one morning in Queenstown I made walked on to that huge ship and was shown my the decision to go professional with my cabin I got serious cabin fever! I dropped my photography, it was pretty much now or never. bags and asked myself what I’d done, coming

52 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Mark Harris :: Home from the sea f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 53 straight from 18 months in Raglan shooting schools, graduations and some commercial work, and surfing as much as I could, to a cabin that was under water level with no windows. Being an adapter I’ve pushed the limits with a lot of things over the years but this took the cake, I was as far outside my comfort zone as I could possibly get and had to take a two hour walk off the ship to talk myself into it. I decided to give it a month, if I couldn’t handle it then I’d come home. I was on the first ship as a photographer with 8 others, from there my now wife and I managed and ran photographic businesses on various ships until coming home in 2008. We gained so much photographic and life experience in this time that it would seriously take a novel, but basically we were shooting so much variety every day - environmental portraits and landscapes, events and studio set-ups. We shot advertising images for companies running businesses on the ship, and covered news events. I remember being on the bridge shooting huge waves crashing over the stern in a Hurricane off Florida; sitting in a meeting before shooting Prince Albert of Monaco, shooting 2 cruise liners pulling into port in Nice at sunrise; 7 mind-blowing weeks in Antarctica, villages and animals in Africa; Nordkapp, Norway in the midnight sun… the list goes on and on. f11: And now you’re back home in Taranaki, how’s life? MH : Now I’m on a different mission, it was time to come home and settle into a ‘normal’ life. I grew up in New Plymouth and always wanted bring my kids up here when the time came. Client work. Canon EOS 50D, EFS 17-55mm 2.8 IS. f3.5 1/250 sec. © Mark Harris f11: How’s the business of photography in a provincial location away from larger markets and clients? MH : I think photography is like anything else, you’ve got to love it, you’ve got to

54 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Mark Harris :: Home from the sea f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 55 feel it, embrace it, push yourself, your gear, composition, light and colour further than you thought any of it could go, then take all of that information and dissect it, pull the reigns in and hopefully find what works for you, find your style and also your niche. To do this you have to do it in your own time, not on your clients’ time. The life of a photographer can be a tough road at times, and let’s be honest, it’s only human to have the little guy sitting on your shoulder saying that you’re not good enough, or not good enough ‘yet’, it’s something we all need to continually battle, and definitely conquer. We all have different ways of doing this, mine is to flick him off with my index finger… Seriously though, embrace that little guy, because he’s the one making you push yourself harder to make sure you put the ground work in to get the image you envisage either for yourself or your client. f11: Thanks Mark, for sharing your images and your thoughts, it’s been a pleasure. TS www.markharris.co.nz

“I feel like I’m only tapping on the edge of this huge iceberg of photography with a pick”

Portfolio. Canon EOS 5D MkII, 70-200mm f2.8 L. f3.5 1/200 sec. © Mark Harris

56 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Mark Harris :: Home from the sea f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 57 Portfolio.Canon EOS 30D, 70-200mm 2.8 L lens. f9.0 1/30 sec. © Mark Harris

Portfolio. Canon EOS 50D, 70-200mm 2.8 L lens. f11 1/250 sec. © Mark Harris

58 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Mark Harris :: Home from the sea f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 59 Client work. Canon EOS 30D, EFS 10-22mm lens. f16 1/250 sec. © Mark Harris

Portfolio. Canon EOS 50D, EFS 10-22mm lens. f4.5 1/250 sec © Mark Harris

60 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Mark Harris :: Home from the sea f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 61 Portfolio. Canon EOS 7D, 70-200mm 2.8 L lens. f2.8 1/250 sec. © Mark Harris Portfolio. Canon EOS 5D MkII, 50mm f1.4 lens. f2.2 1/640 sec. © Mark Harris

“Photography is a passion of so many things, it’s so vast yet can be so “Be inspired, aim to inspire, try new things, have no style yet have simple or so intricate, or be photographed so intricately to look so simple.” a style, shoot continuously, have a calm mind, have a chaotic mind."

62 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Mark Harris :: Home from the sea f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 63 Client work. Canon EOS 5D MkII, 50mm f1.4 lens. f5.6 1/200 sec. © Mark Harris

64 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Mark Harris :: Home from the sea f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 65 Portfolio. Canon EOS 7D, still frame from video capture. © Mark Harris

66 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Mark Harris :: Home from the sea f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 67 Client work. Canon EOS 5D MkII, 50mm f1.4 lens. f2.5 1/200 sec. © Mark Harris

Client work. Canon EOS 5D MkII, 50mm 1.4 lens. f6.3 1/100 sec. © Mark Harris

68 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Mark Harris :: Home from the sea f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 69 Previous page: Portfolio, Canon EOS 7D, 70-200mm 2.8 L lens. f6.3 1/200 sec. © Mark Harris

Client work. Canon EOS 5D MkII, 70-200mm 2.8 L lens. f4 1/250 sec. © Mark Harris

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70 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Portfolio :: Mark Harris :: Home from the sea f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 71

Lacklands Ltd / 09 6300753 / www.lacklands.co.nz / [email protected] DARRAN LEAL

On location Australia's Kimberley wilderness

The world offers so many stunning wilderness like Windjana, Bells, Gelvin, Emma - to name a locations to shoot. Many are found very close few will offer you different results every visit. to your own back yard. However, one location Hundreds of other gorges are to be discovered in Australia that requires a bit more travelling by a photographers lens, if you have the budget and definitely more logistical considerations for chopper flights, or time to drive/walk. This is the incredible Kimberley region, in the far is my dream, which I enjoyed in the 1980’s north-west, of Western Australia. This is a and now, can not leave for too much longer world class shooting location! as the countryside is so harsh and rugged that it requires the fittest body and best logistical This region is larger than many countries in plans to succeed. Europe and has cattle properties over 1 million acres. It’s a big land! Add to this a ‘dry season’ One of my favourite visits was in 1987. See page and a ‘wet season’, plus few roads, very few 75. I picked up a couple backpacking around people and little infrastructure and you are Australia and took them to the Bungle Bungles, looking at perhaps one of your greatest now Purnululu National Park. We hiked two photographic challenges ever. nights up (now famous) Picinnini Creek. I obtained special permission from the head I first visited the Kimberley in 1984 and have ranger at the time, to go to a unique position since revisited over a dozen times. Why go to shoot 4/5 hour night time exposures. back so many times? It is simply that good, with every visit offering new experiences and importantly, new images. Landscape photography is one of the key draw I love to use super wide angle lenses, as they help cards, but if you are an adventurous shooter tell a story. Combined with visualisation, Lightroom and a good RAW file, the result can be very expressive. and like to mix it up, any discipline will succeed. I started with standard processing overall – Vibrance, From macro to culture, birds to flowers and a little Saturation, Contrast and sharpening. Using top creative imagery. the Adjustment Brush, I targeted foreground rocks and added exposure to the target zone. A new The Kimberley draws me back for its unique Adjustment was to brighten the reflection pool. timeless landscapes. Some of the rocks are in Nikon D3X, Nikkor 17-35mm lens @ 17mm at f 11 60th the billions of years – amazing! Iconic gorges of a second at 100ISO. © Darran Leal

72 | Issue 08 | March 2012 f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 73 I set the camera up on ‘B’ and used an interval WHERE TO START timer. The colours in the final Fujifilm results Broome offers the best logistical start were beautiful. I have got to do that again one location, followed by Kununnura. Either town day! A more recent visit was to target the very has good supplies, rental 4WD’s and allows end of the wet season. I arrived early April for a complete loop of the Kimberley, via the and in fact had to wait a couple of days due infamous Gibb River Road. If you are lucky, you to a late cyclone. But it was well worth it. We will time this road just after the graders have were the first group into Purnululu and the gone through. Makes life a lot easier! first into Picinnini Creek. The extra water in the creek equated to stunning reflections and WHEN TO GO very unique photo opportunities. It was a hot 40 plus degrees centigrade, so not for the faint In theory, anytime of the year. However hearted. the wet season is just that – very wet! This includes many road closures and considerable Another top shoot, this time in 2005, was at heat and humidity. Consider a chopper as Windjana Gorge. See facing page. Every time I your transport. Your reward, stunning world visit this gorge, it is so different. The limestone class waterfalls that few have ever shot at this range is around 360 million year old and was time. an ancient barrier reef, now fossils and all. It ruggedly juts out of the surrounding flood The dry season is the best time to cover plains. A living fossil in the gorge water is the the greatest area. I like April/May as fewer freshwater crocodile. This is not aggressive, but travellers (grey nomads …) and the waterfalls has been known to bite a dangling toe or two. are still pumping. The wildlife is also fantastic. Shot in 1987 using a 4 hour exposure on Fuji slide film, this image brings back great memories of a unique technique. June to September works, but waterfalls Who'd have imagined the colours with the first touch of a rising sun? Canon T90, 20mm lens at f11 4 hours at 100 ISO. I spotted several larger crocs sunning on this © Darran Leal side of the bank, near the mouth of the gorge. progressively dry up and some locations Instead of using a tele lens, I put on my super become chocked with people. wide angle. ‘Lets see how close I can get’, was Enjoy your photography … the train of thought. As it turned out, I was just While a crocodile is traditionally shot with a telephoto lens, I decided to use a super wide angle lens. My 1.5 metres away, to over 2 metre specimens Darran Leal [email protected] thought process was to get in tight on the croc, but tell - the perspective was fantastic. Up close the story of the animal’s environment. crocs, with the rugged gorge as the backdrop www.worldadventures.com.au Canon EOS 1DS MkII, 20mm lens at f8 1/45th of a – I call this type of imagery ‘Naturescapes’. I second at 100 ISO. © Darran Leal got the shots, backed off the same way as I approached, slowly and then took a breath – what a magic experience. Another feature the Kimberley is famous for is waterfalls. Several are very accessible, while others require ship or can only be access by long rugged walks, or from the air. Mitchell Falls is one of my favourites as it has some real ‘Kimberley attitude’. Like all of these locations, you need to shoot either early or late, or from a unique perspective. I often target the unique perspective angle as few photographers are keen to scale the rough rocky terrain and the text books say, early or late …

74 | Issue 08 | March 2012 f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 75 Southern Focus –PSNZ National Convention and he has explored the Southern World from 25-29 April, Ascot Park Hotel, Invercargill Southland to Antarctica. There is still time to register for the PSNZ Highly acclaimed Queenstown photographer national convention – Southern Focus – Jackie Ranken has a lengthy list of Australasian happening in Invercargill next month. photographic titles to her name and particularly likes to photograph landscapes. She says her The earlier you register the more chance you personal challenge is to capture the essence of will have to get into your preferred workshop where ever she is on the planet. or tutorial, and the organising committee says ‘places are filling fast.’ As well as presentations, workshops and tutorials there are three full day field trips Hosted by the Southland Photographic on Friday 27 April, which include a visit to Society, Southern Focus is being promoted as The Caitlins, a Southern Scenic Route, west the ‘World’s Best Kept Secret’ and is the 60th to Riverton and following the wild Southern PSNZ National Convention. coastline, and a visit to Stewart and Ulva With seven amazing and talented guest Islands. photographers lined up to share their own Numbers will be limited on the field trips so unique photographic experiences through it definitely pays to register early to avoid presentations, workshops, tutorials and field disappointment, especially for the Stewart trips - there’s bound to be something for Island excursion. The tutorials and workshops everyone. Keynote speakers are Tom Ang – take place on Thursday and Saturday, and well-known award winning travel and digital the Kodak Honours banquet will be held on photographer. Derek Henderson, who is not Saturday night – a chance for guests to let only an outstanding photographer but also their hair down! delves into the creative side of film and video productions. If you register before 31 March 2012 you’ll qualify for the early bird fee. Single day Then there’s Julian Apse who specialises in registration or a weekend special fee is also all aspects of location photography and has available. The convention is open to any worked in every corner of the globe. Stephen photographer with a passion to learn and grow Voss has a strong interest in Astronomy and as their technique. a local resident he’s keen to share his images and techniques in shooting the big, open skies. For full details about the convention, One of the country’s most respected artists including registration form, go to: www.sps- – Grahame Sydney – will share his thoughts southernfocus.co.nz or the PSNZ website at on photographing Central Otago landscapes, www.photography.org.nz/national_convention.html which mostly make up his award winning Moira Blincoe signature works. PSNZ Councillor for Communications Kevin Tyree’s work is dominated by nature

76 | Issue 08 | March 2012 This PSNZ page sponsored by f11 Magazine. f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 77 MalcoLm SOMERVILLE

Passing phase

Looking about we seem to be able to identify An interesting site to reflect on all of this is No doubt as the fusion influence of the landmarks, the visual triggers, the clues www.movieposter.com which has a massive photographic execution brings it all closer we that set scenes and define eras. collection of posters classified by director, will explore the other media influence... the decade, and rarity. It really does show what cinema trailer which in under three minutes Burger King, the home of nostalgia, with visual influences a lot of our colour, shape, and use tells the story, sets the style, invites you in to values of simpler times, when Chevrolet and of text. These posters became the references the experience and convinces you to part with DeSoto posters set the style, when Saturday of what was hip and contemporary at any your money. Evening Post made lifestyle images memorable. given time. An instant theme we quickly recognise and Then the opening credits grabbing you as they store away, even though most of us never One startling revelation is the treatment of establish the heart and pace of the movie. experienced any of it! Will Burger King really flesh. Skin colour is rarely the natural colour of These will be memorable, quickly entering our be the 1950’s diner? Will their burgers be as skin. Obviously in earlier time black and white reference library of a point in time as strong tasty as we thought they might have been in ruled, for many decades drawn and painted and as powerful as the opening sequence to ‘A that era? people were the vogue, now it’s photography Clockwork Orange’ was in the 1970’s. - but highly post produced. Such is, and will be, our photographic style as Our great landscapes are not only nature’s history stands back and tries to define ‘our’ Think too, on the golden age of the Hollywood Click on the screen image to view this video. natural beauty but with extensive post period. The most obvious comment on this star portrait. Produced in studios by studios production these have become a rich and 'Stanley Kubrick - A Filmography'. current period will be the post production of as a ‘celebrity’ marketing tool. These were nostalgic place that exist largely in our dreams. Design by Martin Woutisseth: captured images that Photoshop has facilitated. included in the press packs that went to www.martinwoutisseth.com The brooding power of the landscape in any We managed to move quickly through the reviewers, newspapers, magazines and by ‘Lord of the Rings’ film sets a scene and defines corny ‘tricks’ period of Photoshop to the distribution to movie fan clubs. Another style a cinema decade we all know well. point where now magnificent productions icon defining a period. are becoming a more ‘symphonic’ or ‘heroic’ Perhaps even these evocative images may A passing thought is how cruel the failure of the treatment of sometimes simplistic and frankly one day be looked back on as simply another first decade of colour photographic printing has daft ideas. ‘passing phase’? been. It is now defined for nostalgic purposes A lot of our current period is being defined for as bleached out, magenta/yellow... almost MS us by powerful media influences. Just look at like badly exposed Polaroids. In many cases [email protected] the imagery that is conjured for us by movie Photoshop action now emulate this effect. makers. The movie poster over the decades has The reality of this bad product, combined with reflected and probably driven much of what poor processing is that eventually much of the we hook into as we try to define periods. period will be lost.

78 | Issue 08 | March 2012 f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 79 Exclusive Backstage Pass to Photographers (ACMP), established in Fashion Photography 1991, acts as a united voice for Australian professional working photographers. The From beginner to advanced photographers, A Loupe Awards Fashion Photography we guarantee amazing shoot opportunities ACMP is committed to the development and Workshop in conjunction with ACMP with small groups of just 5/10. We offer you promotion of professional photography. It over 22 years and more than 400 events As part of the Medium Format Fine Art Prize provides members with an understanding experience. Explore our website or contact us and to coincide with the launch of the L'Oreal of the more complex issues of professional for the most amazing photo holidays! Fashion Festival in Melbourne, we will hold a photography such as copyright re-usage, * AUSTRALIA fashion photography workshop on Friday the contracts, sales tax, legal protection, digital * NEW ZEALAND 9thth March 2012. imaging, insurance, and standard terms and * ANTARCTICA & THE ARCTIC conditions. * SOUTH AMERICA The Workshop will be help in the Latrobe * AFRICA Ballroom within the Sofitel on Collins. The Every aspect of the event has been carefully * EUROPE workshop will be held as 3 concurrent sub considered to offer a quality experience from * NORTH AMERICA workshops that all attendees will enjoy. beginning to end. The choice of venue is all * ASIA about quality. All of the equipment used in Click below to visit our website The 3 sub workshops will be: conducting the event will be high quality and - Shooting Fashion high performance. The cameras used to shoot www.worldadventures.com.au - Shooting Beauty the workshops will be Hasselblad medium - Shooting Fashion Accessories format cameras. The lighting equipment will The Ballroom will be divided into 3 areas where be a selection from Elinchrom. each of the sub workshops will occur. The The Photographers conducting the workshops entrants will be divided into 3 groups at the are top quality Australian commercial Fashion beginning of the day. These groups will each photographers. spend 1.5 hours learning at a sub workshop rotating off to the next over the course of the The Fashion Sessions - Robert Earp day. www.fusefoto.com.au At the end of the day after all groups have The Beauty Sessions - Peter Collie experienced all 3 sub workshops a question www.petercollie.com session and hands on guided shooting Fashion Accessories - Lisa Saad experience will occur. The cost of attending www.lisasaadphotography.com.au will be A$295 per person. This will be a catered event with tea and coffee and a lunch service For further details visit provided. Maximum attendance to the event www.acmp.com.au/events will be 100 people who will be evenly broken down into 3 working groups. The Australian Commercial and Media PO Box 815 Coolum Beach Qld, Australia, 4573 PH: 61 7 54466538 EMAIL: [email protected] 80 | Issue 08 | March 2012 This ACMP page is sponsored by f11 Magazine. f11 for PhotographersTravel Agent andLicense: Aficionados 3219184/5 | 81

f11 TEMPLATE.indd 1 22/02/12 4:37 PM Classic

The Kodak Instamatic 33

AIPP - Hair of the Dog 2012 AIPP Queensland’s event, held at the Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE (MSIT), was abuzz with creativity and photographic inspiration during the annual Hair of the Dog international photography conference hosted at the Mt Gravatt campus’ Creative Industries Precinct from 4 to 6 February. Our international speaker Greg Gibson was recently recognised by American Photo Magazine as one of the world’s top ten wedding photographers. The Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and photojournalist shared his knowledge about wedding photography after a successful career documenting his hometown of Washington, USA. His hands-on workshops were full of high energy and had all the attendees buzzing. Our local and national speakers Jonas Peterson, In the 1970’s Kodak Instamatics were an entry Mine was a present from my grandmother Yervant, Wayne Radford, Kristen Cook, Vicki level favourite for millions utilising 126 format before a trip to London with my father in Bell, Christine Pobke, Mark Galer, Murray film in easy load drop-in cassette form. Film 1971. I photographed the pigeons in Trafalgar Fredericks, Glen Krohn, William Long, Shane choices included Verichrome Pan, Kodacolor Square, tanks at the Imperial War Museum and Monopoli and Matt Adams made this year’s and even Kodachrome in 12 or 20 exposure London’s monuments and discovered the joys Hair of the Dog the best ever. variants and the resulting images were of composition within the beautiful square Don't forget these upcoming events: square format. Two exposure settings were format I still love today. possible – Cloudy and Bright – and a socket The 126 Instamatic would eventually be allowed the use of the Sylvania Flashcube for replaced by Kodak with smaller Pocket those moments where available light simply Instamatic cameras using narrower, and much would not cut the mustard. The hot, slightly inferior, 110 format film, but delivering more sulphurous smell which emanated from each compact form factors and the rectangular 4 shot cube after use remains as a powerful image so familiar now. memory of my early photography.

82 | Issue 08 | March 2012 This AIPP page sponsored by f11 Magazine. f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 83 KARIM SAHAI

The 4K route

Click on the screen image to view this video.

Increased broadcasting and internet To most photographers, and amateur film With increasingly popular cameras such If you are impressed and excited by the implicit bandwidth, clever digital compression makers contemplating better technologies and as the Red Epic or Canon's upcoming yet- possibilities offered by high resolution moving methods, lower manufacturing costs, the methodologies to support their projects, the to-be-named 4K camera everything which image capture, remember that, for now, there advent of social media and digital sharing tools increase in resolution offered by 4K capture brings a technological improvement, the is a lot of baggage to carry on that route ahead. have undeniably contributed to the adoption will automatically mean a better rendering of methodologies and resources needed to For the majority of independent film makers, of moving images as a means to tell one's story visual details. tackle 4K need to be revised. While the Red 4K will feel like a financial bridge too far. or share inanities. Epic achieves 4K, it makes sense to capture However, one key advantage becomes more If you are a photographer - with a history at its native resolution of 5K (5120x2560 With this comes the relentless pursuit for apparent at projection time, in a real cinema: - and want to venture deeper into moving pixels) as it includes an image padding of 20% visual clarity; we use technology so that when acuity relative to viewing distance. Depending pictures, think of 4K as the "wide format of more than 4K and opens up many re-framing it reaches its aim, we will forget it's there. We on a spectator's distance from the movie film making". In all likelihood, the unforgiving possibilities in post-production. While the want technology to re-create reality, so we screen, HD and traditional variants of 2K 4K will probably make you a better film maker storage implications of capturing 4K (and 5K) can manipulate it and make it do whatever we formats will appear the same as 4K projections. because, no longer will it be possible to hide are obvious, playing back the uncompressed want. Sit in the back row of a large cinema and all imperfections in lighting, make up, costumes, captured images, in real time, requires quite this high-resolution prowess will look pretty and a host of other visual elements laid bare by Well, we're not there yet and, for moving a bit more than a beefy computer. Red Epic much the same as before. the sheer revealing resolution of the format. images, the route to getting there is littered footage captured at 5K/24fps expands to with standards such as the ubiquitous HD At closer range 4K projection will appear to roughly 1Gb per second once the raw files are Karim Sahai formats. But even HD is a temporary step to have shed the digital compression, pixellation converted to 10bit Cineon or DPX files. [email protected] something "better" and more demanding and lack of detail that is often present in 2K/ Without a capable playback system working www.karimsahai.com in terms of resources, time and money. The HD. But how much of a difference is there? with 4K footage will always sound like a blog.karimsahai.com next steps towards the elusive moving image The answer lies in the design of cinemas wonderful idea, but only at the start. To capture Karim Sahai is a photographer and feature films nirvana seem to be: 4K resolution, frame rates and the nature of human visual acuity. At a at 4K implies you will do so in Log and therefore computer visual effects artist based in Wellington. of 48fps or faster and, yes, even stereoscopic distance equivalent to 2.3 times the projected you will be spending a fair amount of time color 3D - ugh! image's height 4K will present a real benefit. grading your film. If long processing times are In an average size auditorium of 300 seats, it With an effective horizontal resolution of not an issue, Apple Color will probably do the is safe to say that a little more than two thirds about 4000 pixels, 4K is roughly four times the trick. An alternative fancier grading suite such of a movie theatre audience will experience a size of HD 1080. as Mistika by Spanish company SGO may also marked improvement viewing 4K material. be utilised.

84 | Issue 08 | March 2012 f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 85 JAMES MADELIN

The business of AIPA News for March 2012 then you need to attend this presentation. In photography fact, if you have any interest in photography It gives me great pleasure to announce that on at all I would highly recommend coming along Saturday, March 24th the AIPA will be hosting to hear about Robert’s incredible career. This a lecture in Auckland by world renowned is a very rare opportunity that is unlikely to be celebrity and fashion photographer Robert repeated for a long, long time (if ever) in New Erdmann. Zealand – so please, make the most of it! Robert studied History of Photography at As I write this column the venue for Robert’s Princeton University in New Jersey. He went talk is still to be confirmed, but simply visit the on to assist Helmut Newton, among other AIPA website or AIPA Facebook page for up- photographers, before moving to Italy to work to-date information and booking details. as a stylist. In 1984 Robert moved to London where he set about establishing himself as a In other AIPA news, last month we held the first photographer; shooting fashion, as well as ever AIPA meeting for photo assistants – the musicians such as Iggy Pop, Kylie Minogue, unsung heroes of the photographic industry. Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Simply Red and The primary purpose for this gathering was Bananarama for magazines including i-D and to discuss the creation of industry standard The Face. Photo Assistant Terms & Conditions. We hope that by making such a document available to Over the past two and a half decades Robert freelance assistants it will better protect them has produced a truly exceptional body of from certain unscrupulous operators and raise work. Now based in Los Angeles, his portfolio I’m going to take a pause in my lighting series trying to work out how he was going to afford the bar for professional behaviour industry reads like a who’s who of the celebrity world this month. I’m on holiday so my mind has his month’s rent. wide. This project has been on the back burner and includes outstanding images of Heidi been meandering. I got to thinking about why for a few years now, so we’re aiming to have There can be few other careers where Klum, Ann Hathaway, Angelina Jolie, Beyonce, we do what we do. Why do we want to take the final “lawyer approved” contract ready for you regularly work for the world’s largest Cameron Diaz, and Catherine Zeta Jones. His better photographs? Why do we seek to learn use before the end of 2012. lighting or shutter speeds or apertures? companies like the New York Times and Time photography has appeared in publications Magazine, are at the pinnacle of your career such as Vogue, W, Elle, Marie Claire, Glamour, Aaron K Commonly it’s because you love photography yet don’t earn enough to make a living. Harper’s Bazaar, GQ, Esquire, Details, AIPA Executive Director as a hobby. It may be your living. For most of Interview, and Vanity Fair. Robert’s advertising you, it’s somewhere in between. It’s a hobby So here are some tips, both if you would love clients include 20th Century Fox, Disney, but you’d love it to be your living. Or you’re to make photography your career and if you Emporio Armani, DKNY, Hermes, Nokia, Cover trying to make it your living but for some are trying, but struggling to. Girl, L’Oreal, Pantene, Revlon, and Oil of Olay. reason you never have any money. (When I included the words “world renowned” I fell into the latter camp when I was a at the top of the page I wasn’t joking!) If you’re the latter, you’re not alone. Samuel photographer for reasons that will become Aranda was telephoned last week to be clear but am confident my wisdom is relevant, Needless to say, if you’re interested in told he’d just won one of the world’s most thanks to my current job as an inventor and discovering what it takes to reach the pinnacle prestigious awards, the 2012 World Press marketer of photo accessories. That might of the commercial photography profession Photo Award. He was sitting at his computer sound odd, so read on.

86 | Issue 08 | March 2012 These AIPA pages sponsored by f11 Magazine. f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 87 Should you become a professional Of course you have be an accomplished photographer? My usual answer to this is “No.” photographer. But almost anyone can become Not because it’s hard. Not because there are that with enough dedication and practise. You fewer full time pro photographers than ever also need to be a sharp, dedicated business before. Not because the average take-home owner. earnings of a full time pro photographer is less The art of business has little to do with the art than US$30,000. It’s because the chances are of photography. you’ll soon find you don’t enjoy photography any more. There’s the rub. If you don’t pursue the business of photography with as much dedication and Ask a pro photographer what they enjoy doing practise as the photography, you’re unlikely to on their time off and most of them won’t get far. mention photography. I’m afraid to say it’s been proven that we enjoy things less when we earn My friend Richard Linton, who is both an money doing them (vis. Deci’s Theory, SDT and excellent photographer and an incredible Lepper, Green and Nisbett et al on Extrinsic vs businessman, preaches the rule of thirds. Not Intrinsic motivation). I never knew about this the one about framing photos. Linton’s rule of research when I was a photographer, but I did thirds is this; Successful photographers are one know that I have never enjoyed photography third photographers, one third businessmen less than when I worked as a photographer. or women and one third marketers and And most of my peers agree. networkers. But I haven’t convinced you. You still want to Whenever I visit my friends who are successful make it as a pro. Then the most important thing wealthy pro photographers, I almost never find to remember is that above all else, you will be they’re shooting. Much more likely I find them running a business that, as is true with every reviewing their cash flow forecasts, tweaking business, your foremost concern will have to their SEO, cold calling potential clients or be making as much money from as little work working on their latest marketing campaign as possible. In other words, to maximize your -the one for their business, not the one they profit. might be shooting for someone else. I AM PASSION That sounds harsh. It sounds capitalist and So my advice is to keep photography as your horrible. But it’s really another way of saying hobby. You’ll never dent the passion and love of that you’d like to be able to grow your business. a great image and never have to read another Which will need profit. You’d like to be able to article about making it as a pro photographer. sustain your business, which will need profit. I hope I’ve given you something to think about. You’d like to provide for yourself and your If this has fallen on deaf ears, next month I’ll family. That will need profit. You’d like (and give you some essential tips on launching your will need) to be shooting with the latest gear. successful photography business. Which will need… you get the picture. James Madelin That is where almost every pro photographer fails. It’s what got me. I focused on my Want to send me some feedback? photography. I didn’t focus with anywhere Find me on Twitter @jamesmadelin or nearly as much vigour on my business. www.facebook.com/jamesmadelin

I AM THE NEW NIKON D7000. I am outstanding image quality and impressive performance. Together with the range of NIKKOR lenses, I am ready to fulfill your passion. With 16.2 megapixels CMOS image sensor and 2,016-pixel 88 | Issue 08 | March 2012 Flash Ideas :: James Madelin RGB metering sensor, an EXPEED 2 processor, a 39-point AF system and full HD f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 89 movie recording. I am a new era of creativity. nikon.co.nz

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OUR FEBRUARY SUBSCRIBER PRIZE DRAW WINNERS! The winners of the two Sandisk Vaults kindly supplied by NZ NZIPP Report Sandisk agents, Lacklands Ltd were: It is our aim this year to return to the base level For the first time in many years we are already Chris Mathieson from New Zealand who wins the 16GB of the organisation and to reinvigorate the able to start advertising our conference Sandisk Vault, and Deb Bonney from Australia, who wins the smaller regions as well as stimulate the larger program for this year’s INFOCUS Conference 8GB Sandisk Vault. ones. It is also our aim to nurture the family in Christchurch, with all the speakers already Congratulations to the pair of you, we’ll be contacting you that we represent and give the community signed and sealed. We have a fantastic directly with the good news! at large a brand that is truly respected and line up which includes Marcus Bell (one of professional. the greatest wedding photographers on the planet) and Peter Coulson (Australian An increased membership is key to our future Professional Photographer of the Year as success. The growth of sub regions is one of well as Australian Advertising Photographer the keys to this - especially in areas where of the Year) plus many more. We have also distance is a factor for members to be able SUBCRIBE DURING MARCH TO WIN A MANFROTTO lined up several other international speakers to regularly attend regional meetings. This is MONOPOD AND MATCHING TILT HEAD! presenting outside of the conference period already being developed by Central Districts with Jerry Ghionis presenting during April in Popular with sports and wildlife photographers, monopods as well as in the Otago/Southland regions. A both Auckland and Christchurch. Followed by are the handiest of accessories for any photographer, lending positive result is already evident by increased National Geographic great Joe McNally, who the third leg so necessary for absolute on the go stability. membership in both of these two regions. If will be offering a one-day workshop, a four All subscribers, new and existing go into the draw to win you live in one of these regions and earn an hour seminar and a key note speaker spot in a Manfrotto 681B Monopod complete with a Manfrotto income from photography then contact us Auckland in May. Special rates for all of these 234RC head, together valued at NZ$219. This prize is kindly and become actively involved. will be offered to our members and details for provided courtesy of our friends at the NZ Manfrotto agents, Increased communication with Tertiary all of these events will be released shortly. Macalister Ltd. Photographic Educational providers is another Watch this space! Manfrotto 681B Monopod initiative that I strongly believe in. Students are the future of our industry as well as our Remember – look for the NZIPP logo and buy Robust three section monopod featuring sure rubber grip, institute. I have already booked myself in to give the quality our organisation offers. wrist carrying strap, quick action lever leg lock system with presentations to students at Massey University 45° run, large 2.4in camera/head platform with plastic cover in Wellington and UCOL in Palmerston North, Mike Langford and dual 1/4-20' - 3/8' camera fixing screw. Maximum height as well as presentations to the industry in President New Zealand Institute of 161.0cm, load capacity 12kg. RRP NZ$130 Professional Photography Wellington, Havelock North, Palmerston North Manfrotto 234RC and New Plymouth. I will continue with this Hon F, FNZIPP. Hon F,MAIPP. membership drive throughout the year, so if www.nzipp.org.nz Simple tilt head to allow a camera on a Monopod to be turned you are interested in hosting one of these let 90° to provide either vertical or horizontal format. With quick me know and I will book something for you. release camera plate system and secondary safety lock. RRP NZ$89 Learn more here: www.manfrotto.com

92 | Issue 08 | March 2012 This NZIPP page sponsored by f11 Magazine. f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 93 GARY BAILDON

The Essentials Stativ the nation - rock solid or not at all!

stativ (noun) German – English translation: tripod

© Gary Baildon

My oldest living tripod was bought new in I doubt him/her! (Which is it Buzzard, surely 27 1985. It’s a Manfrotto 055 with a pan/tilt head years is long enough to have determined the and it bears many scars of unprotected air sex of your tripod? – Ed.) travel and general abuse, in short it looks like it has been around the block more than once When shooting on a tripod - which is a lot of - which it has. It has been overhauled a couple the time in my business - there are numerous of times and had levers and even a leg tube factors that come into play such as - ease and replaced. As ugly as it now is, it hasn’t been speed of adjustment, precision of movements, thrown out or even mothballed for one reason and of course ultimate rigidity. Rigidity is a deal and that is, it still works and is absolutely rock breaker for me. No matter how user friendly a solid with the right rig on top of it. tripod may be, if it allows any movement at all when the end of the lens is tapped it’s of no It’s not ideal for medium format and a use to me. There can be no compromise here, D3/200mm combo is about the limit if you’re a monopod can be a valuable tool to steady being particular about rigidity. Used within it’s a particular combination where mobility is © Gary Baildon limits it has no equal. A couple of years ago my paramount but if I make the decision to lock eye was caught by a beautiful new carbon fibre a camera down it must be 100% locked down. version of the same model (055), and since I When I am on a client’s time there are more use the 055 where portability is imperative important factors to consider, I won’t list them your viewpoint far more pleasant, and super So go grab your tripod, put your most ungainly I purchased the much lighter carbon unit here as you’ll be familiar with them, I certainly sensitive tension and tightening functions combination on top of it, give the lens a tap intending to replace the old warhorse. In one do not want to be worrying about the tripod. that allow you to nip up without moving your at the filter end and watch. If all is well you’ll of my worst ever cases of buyer’s remorse, I viewpoint even a fraction complete the picture see nothing at all. If not, work remains to be soon discovered the new pod was not as good The tripod head is as important in terms of for me. After my cameras, my tripods are the done… a support as old faithful. I’m not sure to this rigidity as the legs, in my opinion. Whether second most used piece of kit, and the single GB day why this was so but in side-by-side tests you’re a ball head or a pan/tilt type of person most important in terms of making sure my [email protected] the steel unit came out on top by a fair margin. the head is where the quality really comes into images are pin sharp. Of course I’m assuming The new pod was promptly sold, and old play and is not the place to skimp. Silky smooth top of the line glass and focusing technique faithful was back in the case. Never again would movements make those micro adjustments to are both a given.

94 | Issue 08 | March 2012 f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 95 Tony Bridge ARTIST, WRITER, PHOTOGRAPHER, TEACHER, MENTOR.

WinterLight Masterclasses in Central Otago, June 2012 www.thistonybridge.com/workshops/winterlight-workshop-2010

Innerlight Exhibition Workshop, August 2012 www.thistonybridge.com/workshops/inner-light-exhibition- workshoppictures-that-matter

Mentoring programme in 2012 now open

www.thistonybridge.com +64 21 22 73 985

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New models

As yet another crop of high end picture taking If you’re in this camp, you are truly enlightened machines is set to roll in upon us we’re again individuals, kudos to you. consumed by questions around the need for From a purely creative standpoint, the speed, capability and resolution – specifically, argument for change becomes a little harder more of all of these. to substantiate. Will full HD, a few more Many will be planning migrations, sales and megapixels and a host of new features deliver purchases. Timing and affordability will enter an edge, a new perspective or a host of into this, accompanied by a sneaky feeling that compelling ideas? there is such a thing as a ‘right time’ to move Sometimes, yes. New capabilities often add from last year’s model to next year’s. fuel to our creative fires, intriguing us to go For some, this is an easy decision. Finances further, to experiment, and to push boundaries permit, the accountant approves and the previously thought of as fixed. Increased speed adoption of the next big thing is justified or resolution can be a deal maker, an enabler, logically by the supposed business benefits if it secures or cements in a client or a job. the new piece of kit will deliver. Sometimes, no. New equipment is never For others, it’s a torturous process of weighing the cure for a creative black hole, or even a cost against benefit, wondering if Canon or palliative. This type of emergency is best Nikon’s latest model will deliver precisely the addressed by rest, recreation and the repeated advantages needed in a technologically rough application of new sources of inspiration - and tumble world. Will replacing perfectly from multiple sources. In this scenario, the functional equipment already carrying more missing element is a spark of activity in the processor power than NASA used to get to the cerebral cortex, a flash from the right side Moon improve any part of the picture taking of the brain and the judicious application of process? time, resources and diligence to produce the envisaged result. Neither Canon nor Nikon yet For another group altogether, upgrades simply list these as features in their new top models, won’t be on their horizon, or even on their or sadly, as optional accessories. long-range radar. These happy souls are in a wonderful place, and are to be envied, for they If an upgrade is imminent for you, my simple have reached nirvana. The equipment they suggestion is this, understand your own own, meets and in all likelihood far exceeds, motivation. their requirements delivering everything TS their vision demands. These folk understand that any decent hammer is a hammer, and that one drives a nail equally well as another.

98 | Issue 08 | March 2012 f11 for Photographers and Aficionados | 99 f11 Magazine for mobile users!

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