Concept Images, cosplay

Wellington Cosplay Photofest 2019 – Chris

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The second shoot on Day Two of the Wellington Cosplay Photofest was with Chris who was dressed in a full stormtrooper uniform from the Star Wars movies.

I had discussed with Chris doing two very different types of shoot with him. Initially we started with a serious style shot in the grounds of Parliament. As stormtroopers all look the same it meant that I could take multiple shots of Chris and then blend them together in Photoshop.

Chris drew quite a bit of attention to himself and with practically every shot we had people asking to take photos of him.

For the second part of the shoot I had had an idea of recreating a famous photo from the Vietnam War protests of the woman putting a flower in a soldier gun. I had arranged with a local pub for Chris to be photographed at the bar, and when we walked in he attracted a lot of attention from the patrons, especially a little girl dining with her family. I asked her if she would put a flower in the gun which she if somewhat hesitantly.

I had wanted to photograph the stormtrooper doing regular things, and by sheer chance as we passed the cathedral next to Parliament the choir was just coming out. Three of the choir members agreed to pose with Chris as well as taking selfies.

We ended up at a local supermarket for a shot I wanted with an ATM. It was hard work for Chris to walk in the suit but we were both really pleased with the shots I was able to get.

Concept Images, cosplay

Wellington Cosplay Photofest 2019 – Rebecca

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Day Two of the Wellington Cosplay Photofest started early with Rebecca who was dressed as Rem from “Re:Zero” which is also a Japanese Anime series.

As we both lived in the Hutt Valley we decided to hold the shoot there and met at Percy’s Reserve in Lower Hutt. The reserve had a small waterfall that we decided to walk to.

Although the morning had dawned with clear skies the track and the waterfall were in areas of shadow, so I needed my battery powered strobes to add light into the images.

As we were walking back to the car at the end of the shoot I noticed a patch of sampled light and decided to use it for a low key look and was really pleased with the result.

Concept Images, cosplay

Wellington Cosplay Photofest 2019 – Briana

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The second shoot on Day One of the Wellington Cosplay Photofest was with Briana who was dressed as Arrietty from “The secret world of Arrietty Ghibli” which she explained was an Japanese Anime series.

For the shoot we arranged to meet at the Botanical Gardens as I wanted to incorporate a Japanese look into some of the images. We started shooting in the Begonia House by the large lily pond. Fortunately the area was not too busy and I didn’t have too much trouble with other people.

I liked the reflections that I could see in the water so for a series of images I positioned the camera closer to the water to get the mirror image.

Part of Arrietty’s costume is a throwing hook and rope so we tried to get an image showing Briana using it. Getting the timing right on this this proved a lot harder than thought especially as the version that Briana had created did not have the full weight that a proper version would have. Therefore it did not pull the rope as well.

Still it was a great shoot and a good end to Day one.

Concept Images, cosplay

Wellington Cosplay Photofest 2019 – Hayley

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At the end of 2018 I saw a Facebook post that invited photographers to take part in a weekend event being organised by members of the Wellington Cosplay community. Those selected would be paired with cosplayers and over the two days we would have four or five shoots.

I figured it would be a lot of fun, and so I applied and was accepted. The format was very similar to what I had been used to with the GTC collaborations except that once we were paired up we could arrange the time and place of the shoot.

When one of my original selections pulled out I was offered the opportunity to shoot with Hayley who was a special guest of the weekend and travelling from Sydney just to take part. She is a very experienced cosplayer and model which I knew but both make my job easier, but at the same time more difficult.

Now I have shot lots of models and costumes but cosplay was going to be different as I was dealing with a character that needed to occupy a world. Halley was outfitted as Battle Suit Cammy who is a street fighter. When I learned that it was obvious that the bunker at Palmers Head would be perfect.

The shoot with Hayley went very smoothly and it was a great start to what ended up being six shoots over the two days.

Fashion, Models

Noah (mildly NSFW)

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Regular readers will know that I am a member of the Fashion Collective which is a group of models, designers, makeup artists and photographers who get together and collaborate on projects.

Occasionally the group will have hang out sessions in one of the studios and anyone who wants to shoot can arrange something on the spot. It was at one such gathering that I met Noah.

We started off grabbing a number of items from the clothing collection and then headed into the studio that has a bedroom scene as one of the sets.

This enabled us to do a boudoir shoot in a space set up so that it had room for lights. In this case I was using two lights with fill light being provided by a large umbrella, and a smaller softbox as the main light .

Noah had a very European look so after a quick wardrobe change we headed up to the French Cafe in the grandstand and shot using natural light. I felt that the image was always going to be best in black & white.

At the top of grandstand ramp there is an area that appears to a wind trap for leaves and so we made good use of it.

For the final image in the sequence I wanted to portray Noah as a determined and confident person, and what better way that having her striding down the ramp.

Models

Amilee at the bunker

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At the start of the year I had a period where I was not in paid work, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to get some mid-week shots in.

I posted a casting call, and Amilee answered it so we arranged for me to pick her up in Wellington and we headed up the Palmer Head gun emplacement.

Amilee was in the lat days of a working holiday to New Zealand before she headed across to Australia and then back to Mauritius where she was originally from.

She had bought a couple of bags of outfits and we had fun mixing and matching with them. We also improvised with materials found at the bunkers.

Lighting for the shoot was a mixture of natural light and speed light. We had to be very careful where the lights were positioned as it was really windy and the lights were getting blown over.

We probably spent the best part of two hours shooting, and it was a really great day.

Models

GTC2019 – Shelley

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My second shoot at GTC2019 was with Shelley, who I had shot with a couple of weeks before. For this shoot we had selected an elvin styled dress and our makeup artist (Jamie Rameka) did a fantastic job of creating a stunning facial adornment.

In the original plan for the day, we had been told that the second shoots were to take place at Kaitoke Regional Park, which really pleased me as the location fitted in perfectly with the outfit we had chosen. For those of you not in the know, the Park was the film location for Rivendell in the Lord of the Rings movies.

As it turned out we were later arriving at Staglands than was envisaged, so it was agreed that we would do the second shoots in the park. As with the earlier shoot with Manuela, we moved around the reserve and shot in several locations.

We had been given very strict time instructions so we kept moving at a great pace. We never got to shoot in the old buildings, however a bridge across the river near them made a perfect location.

We got back to the meeting place on time to discover that na extra hour had been arranged with the reserves owners. However, by that time I was out of ideas and stuffed so we ended up just chilling.

While most of the images from the day were shot on the Lumix G9, I also took along my Nikon D600 and the Lensbaby lens, that lets you shoot some interesting effects.

Models

GTC2019 – Manuela

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This years Great Trentham Collaboration (GTC) was somewhat different from previous years. Rather than being held over two days in the grounds of Trentham Racecourse, it was turned into a mystery bus tour. Each photographer was allocated two models but we had no idea where we were going to shoot other than that it involves traveling by bus. The models and makeup artists travelled in one bus while the photographers had one to themselves. This allowed us to carry more gear.

Just before the bus was to depart, we were told that we were heading up to Staglands Nature Reserve which I had visited several years ago. That meant that I had an idea of where I wanted to shoot my first Manuela, who had borrowed a brides outfit.

My intention when we reached the reserve was to head to an old recreation of a timber camp and use the old buildings as backdrops. As it turned out we never made it that far, as we kept finding great locations along the way.

Trying to keep a white dress clean through the whole shoot was a little challenging but we managed.

Lighting for most of the images was natural balanced with my Godox 600 battery powered strobe in the 24inch softbox. For the shot in the barn a second speed light was attached to a bracket on the roof acting as a hair light.

While the gear is reasonable light lugging it around the park is quite a workout.

Models

Shelley at the beach (NSFW)

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For the final part of the shoot with Shelley we headed towards the Wellington South Coast where we hoped we would be in time for golden light. Those hopes were quickly dashed as we ran into rain in Lower Hutt, and as we approached the Ngaranga interchange, with the wipers on full, I was close to calling it off and taking the girls home. But then I looked across to the airport and could see clear sky on that side, and as that was where we heading hoped for the best.

As it turned out we were ok at beach. I had chosen Breaker Bay because it is a clothing optional beach so I knew that we types of shots we had planned there would not cause offence. As it was we pretty much had the beach to ourselves anyway.

We started in a black corset that Shelley totally rocked, then moved onto the fabric drapes. As we were trying to travel light the Godox AD600 was used in a collapsible beauty dish.

I love shooting with drapes, and with the rapid recharge available in the lights, you can let the model simply play with them and then chose the best.

While the setting sun did briefly light up the lower lighthouse at Pencarrow Head there was never any form of golden light on the beach itself.

As Shelley is not self conscious about her body we finished with a series of full nudes. When the images were loaded I got a great comment from Shelley.

Thank you so much for the amazing day & such professional work 

Landscapes, Photo a Day

A major milestone

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At the start of 2011 I started a photo a day challenge, and this year I am now into the ninth year of doing it. Yesterday (19 March 2019) I reached a major milestone.

This image of the moon rising over the Hutt River was the chosen image of the 3000th day of the challenge.

A photographic journey