fresh off the press » Wine

Bathed in Moonlight

admin — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 23:36:54 +0000

The brief for taking images of the Opawa Wine bottle range was a bit unusual.
“ We want to present the bottles on flat round river stones from the Opawa River and bathed in Moonlight because the half moon is on the logo / label ” !
Hmm… shooting outdoor on location won’t work. Too many uncontrollable elements to consider. And how to create a moonlight beam to bath the bottles in ?!

So I took an image of the river with moon reflection, built a bed of flat round river stones for the bottles in the studio and created a bluish moon-glow lighting for the background and around the bottles and a neutral light beam from above to make them pop out. All components blended in Photoshop and a bit of magic to make the moonlight beam visible and here we have what the client requested.

Client’s comment: ” Thanks for this – I love it ! ”

Montana photo shoot

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 02:53:51 +0000

The brief for the job was simple. A dozen shots of the new chief winemaker Patrick Materman at the winery between 9 and 10 a.m.

Hold on, a dozen portraits in 1 hour ? We are talking business portraits here and not snap-shots !?
That is 5 minutes per portrait and includes moving from location to location !?
Well…

Anyway, it turned out that we had not even one hour for the shoot because Patrick was busy with another event. But in the end we were able to produce enough images to make the client happy.

The day was grey and miserable with dark clouds over Blenheim but the client insisted on some architecture photos of the entry to the winery.

A bit of Photoshop magic did the trick and resulted in quite a dramatic image. Dark clouds all around and just a bit of blue sky behind the tower. Is that a sign from above…?

Formal portrait for Sogrape Vinhos, S.A

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 05:39:02 +0000

Sogrape Vinhos, S.A, requested formal and informal portraits for the Consolidated Accounts and Financial Report 2009. So I had the pleasure to photograph Tom Trolove, General Manager of Framingham Wines Ltd.

Although Tom didn’t choose the exact image below in the end, I think he looks just great in this shot. Almost like a suit photo-model for Giorgio Armani …

Nautilus Estate Portraits

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:14:57 +0000

Here is a part of a series we shot for Nautilus Estate recently. Katy Prescott, sales & marketing manager at Nautilus Estate, had requested some informal portraits for marketing purposes, e.g. walking through the grapevine rows, etc.
First we started with the outside “marketing” shots. Very informal and relaxed. The sun was still pretty low and created a nice light. By holding a California Sunbounce, my assistant Phoebe reflected the light to diffuse the face shadows. We took group shots and single portraits of Clive Jones, Brett Bermingham and Mike Collins.

Next, we moved inside and got creative by using a strong back-light to achieve a cool rim light and another strobe, camera right, lighting up Clive. Now his aura is clearly visible…
He thoroughly enjoyed the posing and did some amazing moves I better not show. Later Brett and Mike joined in.

Although dark clouds covered the sky a bit later, the mood of the team lit up when Katy opened a bottle of Nautilus red and white. The photo shoot got more and more funny…

… and if you would ask the team: Did you enjoy working with Frank ? They would answer…

Thanks Katy, that was an awesome shooting and my cheeks did hurt from all the laughter.

In other news:
Our twin-daughters got creative during the school holidays. They took some amazing portraits in our studio in the Marlborough Sounds. Images coming soon…

- – - – -

Tamara and I have been away, shooting one week on the North Island for two European clients. The photos are still in post-production but stay tuned for some incredible stuff !

Churton Wines

admin — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:14:33 +0000

For more than two years I am shooting for Churton Wines on a regular basis. Churton, a biodynamic Marlborough vineyard and winery producing limited volumes of high quality Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir is owned and operated by Sam and Mandy Weaver.

Frequent photo sessions as for Churton has many advantages.

- We are able to capture images during the whole year of a wine-making cycle.

- The website is up-to-date with high quality professional images and returning visitor won’t get bored with outdated and static content.

- The photo-stock library grows steadily and has a fresh supply for e.g. magazines, brochures, press-releases.

- Frequent photography takes off the pressure to suddenly find the right image for an unplanned event.

- Having several smaller photo shootings instead of one big session keeps costs under control.

www.churton-wines.co.nz

Grape Harvest 2009 – Marlborough

admin — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:46:45 +0000

It’s been a grey, cold and rainy weekend. Not much going on outside so we kept the wood stove going and relished hot chocolate and cookies with our kids teenagers.
In the evening, when the aroma of warm mulled wine filled the kitchen, I thought I should finally upload some images of the grape harvest which I took for several wineries in Marlborough.
Enjoy…

Viini – the Finnish wine magazine and the sheep.

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:05:09 +0000

After the Finnish top wine magazine Viini had decided to feature the first story about a New Zealand winery on Villa Maria I got contracted to supply the photographs.

Kristiina Juutinen, Managing Editor of Viini and I enjoyed a guided tour with Vince Edwards, PR Manager of Villa Maria through the processing plant and several vineyards. At each vineyard we tasted a wine made from those grapes. Vince Edwards hospitality was outstanding and we had an awesome day.
Kristiina wanted some images of sheep. “What is New Zealand without sheep” she said. But we weren’t lucky that day so our pet sheep at home had to jump in as a model. When Kristiina saw the web gallery she wrote:

“Wow, the pictures look good! Especially I like those sheep.”
Kristiina Juutinen, Viini

Marlborough Wine Book

admin — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:53:43 +0000

A new book about New Zealand’s premier wine region, is the result of a partnership between Wine Marlborough, and Picton company Oriel Publishing. The stunning photography is by Frank Gasteiger from Anakiwa, making this a 100% Marlborough production.

Marlborough Wine spreads across 136 pages, most of which are dedicated to the fascinating stories of over 60 wine companies.

An introduction explores the wine history and explains what makes this such a wonderful wine growing region. At the back of the book there are useful sections for visitors, on wine and food events, wine tours, restaurants, accommodation, art galleries and gardens. Tucked inside the back cover is a wine trail map.

Visitors to Marlborough will enjoy delving into the stories of the people behind the labels as they visit our winery’s cellar doors. We also think that armchair travellers and wine enthusiasts anywhere in the world will enjoy taking a virtual tour of the region through the book.

Marlborough Wine spreads across 136 pages, most of which are dedicated to the fascinating stories of over 60 wine companies.

“The photography, which is a major feature of the book, is stunning, thanks to Frank Gasteiger who has captured the spirit of the wine region brilliantly.”
Wine Marlborough

Click here to order your copy.