It is a 15 minutes video and it is worth to watch it to the end.

We have been working with Andrew and Michelle for about a year and they love the images we produce. Sometimes the jobs have a very tight deadline of only a few hours until the images have to be delivered.
We work around around the builder who do the last bits and pieces, take some photos at dusk and do the post-production over night to deliver the images the next morning to the printer. And we never ever missed a deadline.

See some sample images below and check out the APHomes website for more photos and their houses and land packages and also check out their web developer Marc Newport and his stunning WordPress powered web-design.

“Thought you might get a kick out of the attached article (or part of it) from the biggest newspaper in Singapore that was published yesterday. Recognise the photo?!”

We took the photo which is featured in ‘The Straits Times’ just a few weeks ago during a corporate portrait photo session with Lisa. Thanks to the article published, she is now fielding enquiries from Singapore.

Lisa is a farmer’s daughter and ex-scientist who is now a cheese-maker. She and her mother Julie run and manage Sherrington Grange, a large elegant farmhouse offering country accommodation and cheese making. Lisa’s brothers Hamish and Rob produce Manuka Honey.
Making cheese is something the Harper women have done for generations and Lisa’s cheeses are made from local Marlborough products; award winners and absolute delicious.
I am always curious when Lisa calls for a photo shoot of a new creation and the following cheese tasting becomes the highlight of the day.

Although beforehand Lisa told us she doesn’t like having her photo taken, she did do a wonderful job and for sure, she can say “cheese”.

Even worse, almost everyone has a friend, an uncle Bob, or knows someone with a “big” camera these days and entrusts them with once-in-a-lifetime events, like their wedding. The results are often disappointing. Uncle Bob is also great in shooting inconsequential stuff like commercial-quality photos for your company.

Remember, the images you present in your advertising, brochure, website, etc., do reflect the quality & appearance of your business.

Photography is much more than just having a “big” camera!

When you hire a pro photographer, you are paying for their time investment more than anything else. Many hours go into creating quality images and delivering a polished product that you will cherish. It is this time spent after the shutter is pressed that often makes the difference between just another snapshot and a great photograph.

Let’s take Real Estate for an example. Estate agents generally aren’t trained in photography. But they’re in the business of marketing property and try to sell a product worth hundred thousands of dollar with those photos. Photography sells real estate.
Buyers use photographs to decide which homes to see in person. Homes with poor photographs are often screened out of the selection process. So, attention desperate home sellers. Don’t want to lower the price on your house? Consider better photos ! Read more >>

Below are photos taken by a Real Estate agent and our photos (shot without flash lights). The agent’s images are first, ours are second.

Time the shoot favourable to the sun.

Elevation changes the point of view.

Use the ambient light to your advantage.

A general photography rule of thumb is the closer the subject, the better the photo. But in these photos you can see the impact of taking a few steps back (or using a wide-angle lens to give that impression). It gives the viewer more context and makes the place seem more spacious.

Level the camera straightens the verticals.

When the Real Estate agent saw our photos she said:

“It is hard to believe that it is the same house.”

Image taken for Smiths Farm Holiday Park.

Why didn’t it happen ? Because my daughter Chiara captured the moon so that it couldn’t harm !

Shot handheld with Nikon D3s, 200mm lens and cranked up ISO setting.

A while a ago I created a series of 20 Virtual Tours for the Christchurch City Council. Many of the buildings I captured are now seriously damaged or gone…

If Google sees a benefit in Virtual Tours, you may should too !

A 360˚ Virtual Tour is definitely a great way to introduce new visitors to your website. And for past visitors, they can show their friends and family and relive the moment. A Virtual Tour really does allow a visitor to get as near to visiting your venue as is possible from their home.

Whatever your business – a hotel or function room, whether it is inside or outside, use a panoramic tour to show it in the best light possible. Think how important this is for a wedding venue, where the bride and groom will want to get a feel for their special day. Show your facilities off.

Adding a panoramic tour to your website will allow visitors to walk around. They’ll be able to do everything from zooming in, to virtually walking round your venue.

A panoramic tour definitely makes a location and your website more interesting and worth returning to.

Virtual Tours have been around a long time, but not many businesses truly understand the benefits they can bring. However, you do now! So now you understand just how 360˚ Virtual Tours can attract more visitors. A Virtual Tour definitely pays for itself.

As a sample, below is the Virtual Tour of the entrance to the Lake Timara Lodge – one of the country’s most luxurious and private lodges.
Click here to take virtual tours of the charming rooms at the Timara Lodge.

Check out a few of our Virtual Tours and see how they got embedded into existing websites:

• One at a time – services and restores all versions of the classic Porsche 356
• The Helmsman – luxury cruises in the Marlborough Sounds
• Copthorne Hotel Marlborough
• Marlborough Convention Centre
• Copthorne Hotel Commodore - Christchurch airport
• Garin College - Richmond, Nelson
• 
  

The photo wasn’t an easy task. We had to take the shot at a particular day in September on a particular time, just before the volunteer committee meeting of Hunter’s Garden Marlborough team.
Bev Doole, who wrote the story, had requested from the committee to bring their favourite garden tool.

It was a grey evening with no sunlight to utilise and only a few minutes to get the shot in the box.
To light the group I decided to use a simple three lights set-up. Two SB-800 Speedlights, positioned behind the group and facing toward the camera to create a rim-light / hair light for the ladies and one SB-800 camera left as main light.
All lights were triggered by another SB-800, mounted on top of the camera.

The day after the shoot, I found out that the image would run over a double page spread and would need a 20 mm bleed in the middle. Sigh… thanks for telling me today.
So I ‘photoshopped’ the volunteer’s president, Viv Peters, a bit to the left to make room for the bleed. I also replaced her head with an image where the head is a bit more tilted.
It just looked more friendly.  And because it was so much fun, I replaced a few other faces too.
Below is the original image. Find out how many faces got changed and get the change to win a …

Check out the Garin College website and download a copy of the Prospectus.

The video below was produced for HARCOURTS Real Estate. The owner of the house had moved to Christchurch and the house in the Marlborough Sounds was empty. To make the video more attractive we persuaded the owner to appear in front of the camera to talk about the place and its features to give it a ‘personal’ touch. A different approach to the usual Real Estate Video.

The video is now linked to a listing with HARCOURTS Picton website and has attracted within the first month more than 60 views from Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

UPDATE: After a total of 250 views, the house is now SOLD.

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 ! ”

Between the “official” sessions, we pulled the kids out for some fun-fashion-shots. How do you like the images below ? Our first try on fashion photography…

Philip wanted some photos to show the size and opulence of the Nirvana and the splendid service his team provides. So we set out in the morning with the Nirvana and another slightly smaller vessel for me to shoot from.  Two couples joined us as photo models and Jeanette prepared and served plenty of delicious food and wine to survive a busy 13 hours photo job.

Kelly Bryant, the captain of the Nirvana decided to show us some action by riding with high speed through the waves our boat created. I mean, pushing a multi million dollar luxury cruiser through the sea spray is not what you see every day.
Working without an assistant I was totally exhausted at the end of the day, but this photo session finally resulted in the images Philip wanted for his business.

Check out The Helmsman web-site for more info and photos and have a look at the interior Virtual Tour we produced too.

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.