Stuart, an Outward Bound instructor and my guide and minder for the next days, I met on Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. on a foggy and wet day. We started the hiking trip 8.30 on sea level and reached Mount Cullen’s summit (1055m) 3 hours later,  where we caught up with one of the two ITO watches who had spent the night in the bush.

After a hearty lunch between the moss covered trees …

… backpacks got shouldered and shoelaces were tightened  …

… we started the descent where I took photos in a non-interfering way as requested by the instructors. Although a few times I was close to yell out “go that way” because it looked better over there.

Running downhill over rocks and roots with a back-pack and the camera in one hand to capture the boys from all angles …

… was a bit of a suicide mission as I landed pretty hard on my back several times.

Sometimes the boys were lost…

… but good equipment …

… and a team who had just learnt how to use it …

… and we found the way down and finally reached the truck at 5:30 p.m.

It was a long and exhausting day and my shoulders, back and knees were really sore!

—–

The following day started at 8 a.m. with ITO student group shots. Despite the rain the guys were in a good mood…

… because they had no idea what would follow.

It is not everybody’s piece of cake to be suspended from the side of a mountain with a metal clip and a length of rope.

Stuart made sure that I was properly secured when I climbed along the highest point of the wet rock-face to capture the action from above. The slippery rock left an uneasy feeling…

After a quick lunch break we drove out to the river to capture the other ITO watch on a two day’s kayak trip.

Getting ready and listening to instructions…

… a safety briefing and no fear …

… and off into the wild waters …

… but not everyone can walk on water.

It didn’t take long and these highly motivated apprentices had mastered the tricky rapids.

Stuart was fantastic. Without his help and knowledge of how to get to the best spots, many images weren’t possible. We heaved a huge canoe uphill and downhill and over boulder banks to get to the best spot. He waited patiently in the rain for me to finish shooting. A big kudos to him. As Stuart said, I participated in a miniature Outward Bound course over the past two days.

Overall, I experienced some fairly tough conditions. My camera and equipment got soaked a few times, my body aches and the bruises are colourful.

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…?

Working from the bucket truck.

Shooting for the Heritage New Zealand Magazine again, I got commissioned to supply images for four stories, with the renovation of Nelson’s Theatre Royal getting the biggest exposure.
It is the oldest operating wooden theatre in Australasia and fell silent when a geotechnical investigation found it to be unsafe.
However, in June it will reopen, better than before after a $6.5 million restoration project but with its heritage core intact.

Tamara and I used a mixed of ambient light and portable flash lights to create a “theatrical” feel for the images. Ben, the magazine’s designer commented on the photographs: “Frank, really happy mate. The theatre images are perfect, fill of drama and composed very cleverly.”

Many thanks, Ben !!!

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 …

Timing for the interior photography was problematic as we had to take photos of several rooms between departure, cleaning and arrival of guests but Diana co-ordinated everything very well and we were able to complete the photo session in the estimated time frame. Please visit the new Portage Resort Hotel website, designed by babelscribe.com and check out the Virtual Tours or for example view the Kowhai Room Virtual Tour.

… and if you drink Red-Bull you might fly like a rocket.

Whatever you do, please ask your parents first !!
Last weekend we went to the Nelson BMX and Skateboard competition. Some of my son Danilo’s mates participated and I took the chance of snapping the action. Absolutely amazing what these boys can do.
If you find yourself captured in mid air please send me an email.

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 !

Frank & family wishes you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
May your holiday season and the new year be filled with much joy, happiness and success.

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

Shooting a restoration project for the Heritage New Zealand magazine, the brief was to capture a variety of images and one “great opening hero image” to begin the story with.

The grounds around the historic Broadgreen House in Nelson didn’t look great with a large area fenced off to allow the new lawn to grow.

So I decided to take an evening shot. Because the building is not lit at night, Tamara and I went out to paint the house with light.

After the camera was set up close to the surface of the little pond in front the house, Tamara controlled the shutter and I painted the building and surrounding area with two hands full of SB-800s Speedlights. It took us around one hour to get the image in the box.

When you agree that the person who releases the camera’s shutter is the photographer we say kudos to Tamara for taking such a heroic story opener.

A photograph I took during an advertising photo session for the exclusive and luxury bed and breakfast accommodation BRANCOTT RIDGE got chosen for the front cover of the “GREENWOOD GUIDE to special places to stay in New Zealand”.

The Greenwood Guide team have personally visited and chosen each place to stay for its exceptional character and genuine friendliness.
These are the places that they themselves would choose to return to on holiday.

Peter and Margaret Foster of Brancott Ridge are thrilled to make it to the front cover of the prestigious guide after just one season in business. I guess they will be very, very busy this season…

I am thrilled too because it shows again that professional advertising photography helps your business to stand out and puts you in the spot light.

It is so true  … a picture is worth a thousand words.

The Netball team fighting hard.

Momentum ’09, an evening to celebrate dance.

In a recession, consumers become value oriented and distributors are concerned about cash.

Maybe you own or manage a hotel, motel, B&B etc. and you have done everything you can do to marketing your business. You have paid a truck-load of money for placing ads in the travel guides and magazines, your website wasn’t cheap either and you wonder where you can save money…

Of course, you can do the photography for your business yourself because everyone can take a photo.
Right…!?
So it might look like this photo (an actual photo presented on a website):

If you would hire a professional expert photographer it could look like this:

Same place, same price for a night. Now judge for yourself, where is the consumer more likely to book ?
Is the amount of money you have saved by taking the images yourself worth the difference ??

A photograph which I took recently for a B&B in Marlborough got chosen as the 2009/10 front cover for a prestigious travel guide.

Around 550 students attended the event. For many of them it is the happening of the year.

Security was tight and not everyone made it in. Also bribing pit bosses and dealers and signalling them when to false shuffle resulted in immediate punishment with a kick in the buttock and a lift to the front door. More serious case got guided to the back door…

Working with four photographers to cover the event, we had set up three big photography booths inside the Marlborough Convention Centre and one small photo booth in the entrance hall to capture the arriving students.

The plan was to use the entrance booth as long as the students arrive and then move inside.
Unfortenatually a short time after we started photography inside the convention centre the main light in one of the three booths fell over and broke and we were down to two sets.

So I decided to continue shooting in the entrance booth which was equipped with two Nikon SB-800 Speedlights as main and fill lights and two ARRI Studio lights for hair and background effect.
I doubted that the Speedlight’s batteries would last for the whole night but they did.
After taking around 500 images on 1/2 power I changed batteries and continued shooting until the event was over. By then the little flashes were almost as hot as the ARRIs.

Small lights creating big results.

See some more image from my mini studio below…

“No, I don’t want you to work for free, it’s just a test! That way I can see if our company likes it, and then you can roll the costs over till the next time we need more photos.”

Short version – nobody, ever, EVER actually comes back and “make it up to you on the next one.”

Some clients try these sorts of negotiation especially when they deal with a “creative” business.

What other kinds of businesses don’t bend over so much? The non-creative ones, for the most part.
But how would it look if those clients would use these negotiation tactics in real world situations ? In a restaurant, a shop … !?

Just watch the video…