NZIPP PRO REPORT - December 2017 by NZIPP NZ Institute of Professional Photography

PRO Report BE INSPIRED, BE SUCCESSFUL, BELONG

NZIPP MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2017

NOT A MEMBER OF THE NZIPP YET? As an NZIPP Accredited Professional Member you have the support, networking opportunities and camaraderie of your peers within the photographic profession. Becoming a recognised professional also adds to your credibility with clients. Belonging to an institute that represents all areas of professional photography in New Zealand, with our focus on education, advice and a wide range of membership benefits, will help you improve the success and vitality of your business. Your Accredited Professional Member benefits will include: · · · · · ·

Epson / NZIPP Iris Awards (member rates); Infocus Conference (member rates); Meeting and Networking opportunities; Professional development; Membership discounts; PRO Report eMagazine.

Come along to the next regional meeting in your area and check out what becoming a member is all about! Contact: info@nzipp.org.nz

NZIPP MISSION STATEMENT To champion, embrace and communicate excellence and professionalism in photography.

CONTACT NZ Institute of Professional Photography (NZIPP) P.O. Box 133158, Eastridge, Auckland 1146, New Zealand w: www.nzipp.org.nz e: info@nzipp.org.nz

We welcome your feedback and thoughts. If you have something to say, send it through to: info@nzipp.org.nz

Cover Image: Image © Mandi Lynn

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

CONTENTS 04

President’s Report Ollie Dale celebrates 10 years being involved with the NZIPP.

Honours Report Having Your Say! Talking about the proposed changes to the NZIPP Honours Distinctions (Awards).

Regional Updates Auckland Waikato Bay of Plenty Wellington

Accreditation Programme A reminder about the NZIPP Accreditation programme and the contacts for those seeking Accreditation.

What’s In My Bag Chris Parker gives us insight into his photographic practice and the tools he uses to create such stunning images.

Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 Adobe expert Harry Janssen shows us some of the new features that can be found in Adobe Photoshop CC 2018.

Events & Useful Links Get Clicking to follow us on social media and the NZIPP’s Pro Report.

Regional and National Sponsors Special thanks to our Regional and National Sponsors who continue to support us in so many ways.

Director’s Report Gino Demeer celebrates NZIPP success.

Mature Cheese Bill Lindberg shares his experiences in the photographic industry.

Member Story Mandi Lynn shares her incredible story with her photographic passion project Finding Venus.

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

EXECUTIVE UPDATE

President’s Report Ollie Dale, F.NZIPP Accredited Professional

The end of the year is here already! 2017 feels like it only just started, yet here we are, Christmas shopping again. For me personally, it marks 10 years of being involved with the NZIPP. In December 2007, I had come to the conclusion that being a photographer in my own little bubble wasn’t helping me ‘grow’ very quickly. I did some research and found two professional bodies that might apply to me and my corporate photography; the NZIPP and the AIPA. I emailed both of them, I decided I would join the one who replied first. Pretty professional, hey? As fate would have it, the NZIPP replied first. Since then I have grown, both photographically and in my business, at least by a factor of 10, if not 100. There is no way I could have learned what I’ve learned, or experienced what I have experienced without being directly linked to the NZIPP. My love for video, inspired by the 5D2’s Video mode, was given a reason for being with the establishment of the fusion category in the Iris awards between 2012 and 2014. That category pushed my own boundaries and took me places my own professional clients wouldn’t dare go. Off the back of one of those year’s entries, I got a two-week job in Africa with Chris McLennan and Nikon. From being awarded the James White scholarship in 2011 I met Trey Ratcliff in 2012, and in 2015 went on a three-week trip around the USA with him. In January 2018 I have a job linked to that trip with Trey; in Washington DC I met a man called Guy, who called me a few weeks ago and asked me to go on a job with him in Micronesia. (See www.lostclipper.com for more on that exciting project)

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

Those are just the tangible results of my membership with the NZIPP. The intangible results include leadership training, commitment, insight into the workings of the Honours Council, huge growth in my visual literacy, and invitations to judge at local camera clubs, the iris awards, the APPA awards in Australia, and next year the WPPI awards in Las Vegas. All this stems back to an email 10 years ago, which was a decision made from a little bubble in Mount Roskill in Auckland to take the next step in my photographic career and join a community of professionals. Merry Christmas and thanks to that community of professionals, from someone who has gained so much from all of you.

From the N ZIPP Team

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

EXECUTIVE UPDATE

Honours Council Report Kaye Davis, GM.NZIPP, M.AIPP II, Accredited Professional Paul Daly, F.NZIPP, Accredited Professional Shar Devine, M.NZIPP, Accredited Professional Harry Janssen, GM.NZIPP, Accredited Professional

As was discussed at the Policy and Planning meeting, for your representatives to take back to their Regions, the NZIPP Honours Council presented a proposal for an overhaul of the NZIPP Honours Distinction System.

As a recap, the proposal indicated five areas for potential change: 1. Amend at what point a member is eligible to earn merit points 2. Adjust the merit points structure allocated through the NZIPP Professional Photography Awards

For a number of years now we have seen a significant escalation in the number of awards, particularly in the higher scoring ranges of Silver, Silver Distinction and the Golds. Over the years this has transferred to a greater number of multiple Honours distinctions presented, in conjunction with the rapid rate in which members are attaining or moving through the distinction levels. This includes Provisional Members earning points then skipping distinction levels when they become Accredited.

3. Adjust the scoring ranges 4. Adjust the requirements to attain the various Honours Distinction levels 5. Reduce number of entries allowed per year The fifth option was dismissed early on as we really didn’t want to reduce the number of entries a person could enter each year, believing the energy and vibe of the Iris Awards would dissipate with a fall in entry numbers.

The recent Members’ Survey highlighted both how passionate people around the awards and distinctions, as well as how strong the support was for change in the way we calculate distinction points, with many comments hailing the move as bold but necessary.

What has come out of the process however is a plan that both the Honours Council and the NZIPP Board are excited about, and one which upholds our commitment to encourage participation and support raising the standards in professional photography. We also want to encourage many more professionals to enter the awards and work they way through the system as a form of contributing to their ongoing professional development. In light of this, we believe that the “new” Honours Distinction system fits the needs of both the current and future photographic environment and NZIPP members.

The original proposal, as was shown in the survey, was presented as a “worst case scenario” and created a lot of “conversation”. From this, various scenarios were created and tested, to determine their impact on a wide range of current members awards. This was then further discussed with the Board, in sometimes heated but always constructive conversations.

Current Point Scoring

Level

Scoring Ranges Associate

Accumulated Points

Prof Standard

Bronze

Silver

Silver D

Gold

60-69

70-79

80-84

85-89

90-94

95-99

Master

Fellow

Fellow I Bar

Fellow II Bars

Fellow III Bars

Fellow IV Bars

Grand Master

Grand Master I Bar

160

Grand Master II Bars

320

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

Gold D

2018

Level

Current Level Equiv. Associate Master Fellow Fellow 1

Additional Points to Earn

Accumulated Points

Associate

Master

Master I Bar

Master II Bars

Fellow 2

Master III Bars

Fellow 3

Master IV Bars

Fellow 4

Master V Bars

Grand Master

Grand Master I

Grand Master I Bar

110

Grand Master II

Grand Master II Bars

145

Prof Standard

Bronze

Silver

Silver D

Gold

Point Scoring

Award

0.5

Scoring Range

60-74

75-79

80-84

85-89

90-94

95-99

The main points within the new system are: •

•

Removing the Fellow title and incorporating this into various levels of Master of Photography. There was an overwhelming level of support for the removal of a distinction that many people felt held less mana than the title of Master of Photography. Reducing the merit point values for each award scoring range. Many respondents favoured the addition of 0.5 for each of the distinction awards and this will be looked at going forward with any new IT system.

•

The Bronze scoring range, previously 70 to 79, will now sit between 75 and 79.

•

Altering the points required at each distinction level to align more with the reduction in merit point values of the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards. Associate moves to 5 points, from 10, and Master moves to 15 points from 20. This means that, despite the value of Golds and Silvers lowering to 2 and 1 points respectively, the target is still very achievable for a new entrant.

•

Bars to Master are now achievable with any awarded prints. We have removed the necessity to earn a specific recipe of Golds, Silvers and Bronzes in order to attain a Bar to Master. Instead, these bars are achievable on an ongoing basis, allowing entrants to keep striving despite whatever results they receive. Gone are the days of waiting years for that elusive Gold to advance up a level. Grand Masters will still need to have achieved specific targets, but we feel this is necessary for the title.

The main fear that came through feedback and discussion was how the new system would impact a member’s current achievement level. We can now assure you that NO ONE WILL BE DEMOTED from their current level. Current Fellows will be translated to their equivalent Master/Bar combination within the new system, everyone else will retain their current title.

Gold D

A number of conditions have been assigned to support the new approach and those who believe in what the NZIPP organisation stands for, again based on feedback: 1. Provisional Members retain the right to accrue merit points, but towards the Associate level only, being able to earn a maximum of 5 points. When Accredited they will be awarded the achievement and can continue to earn points towards the Master levels. 2. Affiliate Members will be treated the same as a Provisional (point 1 above) After looking at all the feedback from our members and after months and months of discussion, we feel proud of the changes we will now be implementing. It satisfies all the objectives we set out to achieve, while leaving a feeling of challenge and attainable goals. During the coming few months the Honours Team will be analysing each member’s current level and aligning this to the respective level in the new system. While you will be able to determine the level you’ll be on within the new system, there will be some adjustments made during this process in order to determine the exact position each person sits within a level. All this will be communicated to each person individually early in 2018 (please be patient). The new Distinctions System will take effect from the 2018 Iris Awards, so look out for the Call for Entries, in March. This will detail the exciting future of our Distinctions in recognising and awarding your achievements.

Merry Christmas from the NZIPP Honours Council!

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

NZIPP ACCREDITATION

Accreditation Programme Sarah Beaufoy M.NZIPP, Mel Waite F.NZIPP & Shar Devine F.NZIPP Accreditation Coordinators

ACCREDITATION

“”

We are very passionate about NZIPP and adhering to the professional standards of the organisation and industry as a whole. It is important for you to become accredited; it is a recognisable professional business standard and is valuable for your ongoing growth as a professional photographer and NZIPP member.

As a guide we would expect that members have a vast portfolio to select from when submitting. You would consider getting assessed for Accreditation after completing at least; 30 weddings OR 45 portrait shoots OR 45 commercial shoots as the lead photographer. For any questions please contact your Accreditation Advisor or the Accreditation Coordinators. PRE-ACCREDITATION CHECK

Please remember before you can submit for Accreditation you must speak to an advisor. If you don’t have one already, simply email us or contact your Regional Chair, who will help find the right advisor for you. For those already on the path to Accreditation, remember your Accreditation Advisor is there to help you; they have been chosen because they have great knowledge and skill and have a good understanding of what the judges are wanting to see in a submission. While they can’t guarantee a successful submission and we can’t make you use their advice, listening to their feedback, recommendations and suggestions will not only help your chances of a successful submission, it will also strengthen your photography practice overall. ACCREDITATION DATES 2018 dates TBC. For any questions please email: nzipp.accreditation@gmail.com

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

The strongest path to assured success, is together

Accredited Professional Photographer

SAMPLE LOGO

INFOCUS 2 018

WWW.INFOCUS.ORG.NZ #infocus2018

WELLINGTON

y t i s er v i D f o s ee r g e D A Dozen

INFOCUS 2018 SPEAKER LINE UP JULY 8TH & 9TH. SHED 6, WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

EXECUTIVE UPDATE

Director’s Report Gino Demeer, Accredited Professional

As 2017 draws to a close, the great news is the sun is still coming up in the morning despite the constant change around us. This year the NZIPP has seen it’s fair share of change as well. In particular personnel changes both regionally and at national level. However, the NZIPP remains strong and is a sound position for the foreseeable future. A key contributor to the success of this has been InFocus, Exposure and the Iris Awards. Due to the rapid growth of these events, the board in particular has been actively involved in the logistics and organisation of these events. Even though this takes up an enormous amount of the boards time other things (non-conference related) have been in the works behind the scenes. As mentioned the success of these events is an important element of the NZIPP, in saying that it needed a huge amount of energy and manpower to bring that to fruition. Now that we have been able to establish systems and processes around these events, we’ve been able to move forward by establishing an events committee. The event committee’s sole directive is to deliver the events, in a similar way the accreditation team has been operating. This is a crucial step to freeing up the board to concentrate on NZIPP projects. With that our membership is at the forefront of our thinking and in the coming months/year we plan to put a lot of energy into the NZIPP brand as well as working on ways to give members maximum bang for your buck. We also have a few operational projects going on in the background such as developing a new IT system to create operational efficiencies.

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

So that’s the boring stuff done, now it’s time to enjoy the festive season and I know for most of us that means a bit of well-deserved R&R (maybe not so much for all the wedding photographers out there). We want to thank all of our volunteers for the tireless effort and work you put in. Also to our extended family of suppliers and sponsors THANK YOU for all your support over the last year. This is a team effort and without the support of our members, sponsors, and volunteers none of this would be possible. So with that in mind from all of us on the NZIPP Board, we want to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season.

2018 IRIS AWARDS

JULY 5TH - 7TH. SHED 6, WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND

COMPETE WITH THE BEST!! Categories and Call for Entries OUT SOON!

NICKY KERR - 2017 NATURE & WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

MATURE CHEESE

Bill Lindberg NZIPP Life member, A.NZIPP Accredited Professional

A series of on-going Interviews by Mike Langford, NZIPP Honorary Member, GM.NZIPP, GM.F.AIPP This column is dedicated to those who are the building blocks of the NZIPP and who are a part of its history. Through understanding what happened in the INSTITUTE before many of us were born, is to have a greater understanding of the value it offers us today.

Bill Lindberg In 1950 20-year old Bill Lindberg arrived in Christchurch from Denmark speaking little English. Although he had completed an apprenticeship in the hospitality industry Bill found opportunities in the profession sadly lacking in post-war New Zealand. His first job was behind the bar in a city pub. There he met Charlie Waters, a local customer and photo studio manager for Green and Hahn, who introduced him to photography. Charlie took the young man under his wing and showed him the ‘ins and outs’ of photography as did several other local photographers. Bill became fascinated with the magic of developing and printing his photographs and learning the mastery of lighting. “In those days, the photographic industry was very different,” he said.

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

“There were no Labs to process your films. You needed a darkroom and a studio to become a professional photographer. All photos were in black & white and there was no such thing as electronic flash - just Tungsten or flash bulbs. We were the ‘Dark Room Photographers’.” Bill remains indebted to his late mentors who generously shared their knowledge; Guy Mannering and Pat Dolan of Christchurch and Barry Woods (Palmerston North) whom he describes as the ‘old masters’ of the profession. Bill joined the Christchurch Photographic Society and won the Novice Cup. This was instrumental in his decision to establish a small photographic business in 1955, Studio Lindberg, in Christchurch. Bill joined the New Zealand Professional Photographers Association (NZPPA) in 1957 and became an associate in 1972. He qualified as a member of the commercial group, and led it as chairman for two years. He was awarded life membership in 1997. In 1988 Bill became a member of the Professional Photographers of America. Later in 1957 he relocated to Hamilton and opened a new studio. Bill says he is primarily a ‘nuts and bolts’ photographer and operating as Lindberg Photography Ltd focused on industrial, advertising, agricultural and aerial photography. His clients included major NZ companies based in the Waikato as well as local enterprises. For this work Bill Lindberg used one of his four weighty 4x5 Linhof format cameras.

Â© Bill Lindberg

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

Â© Bill Lindberg

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

In the early 1970s Lindberg Photography gained a contract with the Ministry of Works while it constructed the Huntly Power Station, New Zealand’s largest thermal power station. The assignment began on day one of the building project and ended with its completion. Bill tells of carrying his equipment to the top of the 150-metrehigh chimneys. “Not something I could do today,” he says. “I loved the challenge of working with industry and seeing companies grow and develop; the dairy, energy, plastics industries and many others. Fortunately, my business grew with them,” he said. “Advertising was quite different. I appreciated the creativity of advertising and working alongside people in the graphic industry.” With his late wife and business partner, Joy Lindberg, Bill planned and built custom-designed premises in Hamilton city which in addition to a large studio and reception area incorporated three darkrooms (for developing film, printing black and white, and colour printing). Over the more than fifty years Bill was in business he employed and nurtured a number of staff members including the late James White.

Many Waikato people know of Bill Lindberg through his studio portraits and wedding photography. Bill particularly enjoys portraiture. “It’s simple; I love to photograph interesting people.” The challenges of the digital age led to a new interest in image manipulation and restoration. Nowadays Bill is as likely to be at his computer as using his camera. There is always something to learn, he says. To mark his fifty years in business Bill Lindberg produced a book (2007that gives a full, but far from comprehensive, record of his professional work. It includes photographs of a prime minister, an operatic diva, visiting overseas artists, theatrical productions and more: testament to a varied and exciting career. “I am a photographer!” he says firmly, “I never thought of being anything else.” Recently Bill was asked if he missed his life as a professional photographer. “I sure do!” he replied.

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

MEMBER STORY

Finding Venus Mandi Lynn, F.NZIPP Accredited Professional

This is a story about my photographic passion project that blew out of its seams, developed a life of its own and about how I got shortlisted for a grant from the New Zealand Film Commission, when I have never directed a film before. I suppose the only reason I wanted to tell you about it is to challenge you. Personally I find that big dreams stretch me as an artist. Safe dreams are the stuff of stagnation and boredom. Before I was a photographer I was a women’s nurse consultant, so when I started shooting glamour I morphed it into a way of continuing to work with a woman’s holistic health. I specialize in women who are camera-shy. I find that the camera can be like a Geiger counter for self-confidence fractures. The minute it turns in the direction of someone with body shame issues you can feel the crackling in the air of resistance. You see the mask face go up that is just hiding the fear behind it and the images look like rubbish... which creates a vicious circle, unless you can do something break the pattern of self-judgement and help a woman shift into a space of body gratitude. It is a big ask in the modern world. Also to do it well involves as much empathy and psychology as it does technical prowess behind the camera. But this is the area that fascinates me. The junction between a woman’s personal power and creative mojo and her body confidence. If her body confidence is very low it spills out and impacts all sorts of things. Here are the pretty concerning stats I have uncovered. Approximately 10% of women make it into adulthood liking their body. The other 90% have varying degrees of body loathing according to one study. Each day the typical woman sees 400-600 photoshopped images. Usually, those women represent a band of ‘normal’ that only considers about 1-5% of the population. Most fashion photographers do not work with women any larger than a size 6 or older than 25. Female self-esteem is estimated to peak at 9 years of age. Seriously. It is as if there is a culturally induced mental footbinding happening to the modern woman and the photography industry is partially to blame for it.

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

I don’t know about your studio, but in mine, most of the women are more concerned about hiding parts of themselves than showcasing their awesome. I worked years to become gifted at posing a woman to “show off her best bits” However I heard one too many “I really hate my (insert loathed body part here) can we avoid that area”. I felt I needed to do something about it... So along came my passion project. “Everybody is a Treasure”. It started with 6 women in my studio and some clay and golden Mica. I put the call out on Facebook and six women said sure...I’ll get my kit off and let you paint me gold. So I did. We had women who wore a size 6-22 in that first group. I mixed Bentonite clay with golden Mica and experimented to find the right mix to cover the women. I wanted to visually symbolize a treasuring with the golden clay. Later I realized I was probably subconsciously mimicking the Venus de Willendorf a paleolithic carving that always felt quite familiar to me as a child growing up in a world where no one in the popular culture looked like me. I decided that I would like to collect 600 images of women that represent the 95% of women not seen in the mainstream media. 600 to represent the 600 photoshopped images consumed daily. I didn’t know how long it would take but I would just start in my hometown. So I called the editor of the paper and told him my idea and he asked for the 6 pictures I had taken and I sent them along. He published the size 6 model only. Seriously? Did he not hear one word I said? I suppose I should thank him as it completely proved my point and made me realize that what I was doing was actually quite important. I called the Dominion Post and asked for a female editor and told her my story and what happened. She wrote a beautiful article about the project and we ended up with a waiting list of over a hundred women wanting to do the project.

Â© Mandi Lynn

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

So far I have photographed over 120 women and was asked to present the project at Berkeley in the Body Positive Leadership Summit. In August, I gave a talk there and did the photoshoot. The results have been heartwarming. I get random letters of thanks saying that by experiencing the project people have developed a brand new relationship with their body. Some say it triggered them and made them really look deeply at their self-talk. What I realised is that so much more work needed to be done around the project to do it safely for the women involved because it was pulling up heaps of issues for them and it didn’t feel right to take my photo and then leave them with a now open wound. So I developed the project into body positive workshop that preceded the photoshoot. I worked on a grant proposal to see if I could take the project on the road. There are 72 Creative Communities regions where you can apply for grants around New Zealand. I have asked for over $2,700.00 to put on the event, workshop and exhibition held over two days. I have applied to 10 North Island regions for a summer road trip and I have heard back from 6 of them. Three said no and Three said yes, so I will be bringing it to South Taranaki, Upper Hutt, and Waipa this summer and I am still waiting to hear from a couple more. Two years ago while travelling back and forth from Wellington to Auckland for the Kingsize scholarship, I sat next to a lovely chap on the plane and we got to talking. He was recently hired to the New Zealand Film Commission in the new talent development department and was lamenting that there were no documentary short films being made. This got filed in my mental Rolodex and when I started developing the Treasures Project I thought it would make an interesting documentary. So not knowing a thing in relation to filmmaking, I decided to write an application for a grant to make a short film. I was beyond naïve. The grant application was huge had words in it I didn’t understand and the competition included teams of experienced film makers with producers on board. Mine had me. But I put it in the weeks required to craft it anyway, because I figured it would be a bit like “build it and they will come”. And honestly that is exactly what happened.

I had all of this to showcase because two NZIPP photographers Victoria Vincent and Karolina Stus had supported me by shooting behind the scenes from my Treasures Shoot. I was able to prove that we had something special on our hands and women willing to be showcased on camera. They also felt that my film had a strong audience waiting for it. The same guy who I met on the plane was running the development lab and he and his team helped me to find not one but two female producers to help me make the film. Since attending the development lab our all female film crew has expanded to include a Director of Photography (as I will be in the film and directing it so I can’t actually film it at the same time). We also have on board an award-winning sound engineer who has worked with the Smashing Pumpkins, and three film mentors who are the top of their game in the industry, a director, a producer, and an editor. We now have had talent seeking out our project and offering their skills for free to be involved and work alongside the mentors we have lined up. We even had a post production suite offered to us to help us cut the movie. Even if we are not one of the seven successful films to get the film commission grant we have everything we need now to make the short and are going forward. The short film is a prequel to a feature length documentary I am really hoping to make. In the meantime, I am fundraising like a mad woman teaching my Creative Mojo courses alongside the Everybody is a Treasure project. It has been a logistical nightmare coordinating everything but the universe seems to be hooking me up with brilliant people right when I need them. If nothing else this film is helping me to trust in hard work and serendipity. We find out on the 18th of December if we have gotten the film commission grant. Cross your fingers for us! If you want to find out even more about the project you can do that here: www.iamfindingvenus.com. If you want to support the project by attending one of the Creative Mojo fundraising talks you can do that on the same link. At this workshop I help people to get out of their own way and help them materialize their own big brilliant dreams.

Only 5-9% of films submitted get funded. 70 treatments were submitted in this round and 24 of us got selected for a talent development workshop. Mine was the only documentary to make it through...like ever. When I asked them why they picked mine over the others with experienced filmmakers what they told me was this, and it made me proud to have come up through the photography ranks. They said that I had a passion for the subject, that I had a unique voice, and a visual literacy that was “breathtaking” ( their words not mine.) and that I had a proof of concept.

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

Â© Mandi Lynn

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

REGIONAL UPDATES

Auckland Region Words by Chris Traill F.NZIPP Accredited Professional

Our last event was a journey away from the usual trappings of Auckland. We headed north to Whangarei and met up with the Northland NZIPP members and a bunch of keen hobbyists from the northern region for a night shoot/workshop with astro photographer Chris Pegman. We started at the Parua Bay Tavern for some refreshments and dinner, then headed out to Ocean Beach to have a play in a genre of photography that most of us had never indulged in. Quite the adventure it was. The weather was kind to us, rainless, starting out quite cloudy, but clearing around 11pm to clear starry skies. A workshop like this was completely new to most of us including our host and it definitely had its challenges in trying to organise and coordinate 25 people in pitch darkness on a windy ocean beach. But everyone took it in their stride and rose to the occasion, experimenting and making art with painting light, fireworks, torches, glow sticks, burning steel wool and of course, a sky full of stars. It was a late one for those staying over. Back at our accommodation/bach at Pataua South, we chatted photography til 4 a.m. (as you do) That’s the part of NZIPP I love. I think we’ll make this an annual event but with a different workshop each time.

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

Thanks to Chris Pegman for your time and sharing your expertise. Thank you Blair Quax from Lacklands for giving us some lovely Nikon gear to play with. Also thanks to Tom, manager of the famous Parua Bay Tavern, for giving us that room upstairs with its multi million dollar views. Here’s a mix of pics from various people that tell the story. Our next event is our NZIPP Auckland Region Xmas get together at The Long Room, 114 Ponsonby Rd. 7pm. Wednesday, Dec 20. Ponsonby is always buzzing around this time of year. So come soak up the atmosphere and enjoy a few drinks and canopes, talk holidays, summer and all things photography with your fellow members. Free for members and their partners. See you there.

Meri Kirihimete and happy festivities to you all.

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

REGIONAL UPDATES

Waikato Bay of Plenty Region Words by Sarah Alloway Accredited Professional

Our November Waikato Bay of Plenty meeting in Cambridge was a really interesting night featuring Chris Parker talking about commercial contracts and licensing as well as a look into his timelapse and drone work. November also saw the conclusion of our â&#x20AC;&#x153;themedâ&#x20AC;? image judging. For the past 4 months, members have been invited to submit up to two images per month, according to a topical theme voted in the month before. Themes have included water, movement, and colour. Images are then viewed and scored according to the NZ Iris Professional Photography Awards points system, by members at the meeting, and the average scores per image decide the winner on the night. Members have reported appreciating the critique given by some of the more experienced photographers present, and the theme has helped them to push themselves more creatively while being helpful in narrowing down a topic for potential planned shoots. February will see a decision made about whether we continue with having a theme for image judging and it was certainly a very worthwhile experiment. The rest of the evening was filled with helpful information from Chris Parker. Chris showed us how he had adapted the NZIPP template with his logos and his specific conditions. He then loads these onto his own website and all his invoices to his clients are linked to this generic license for their reference. Ninety percent of his work is quoted on and priced before the shoot and he uses terms and conditions to tweak the fee if they request that he sharpens his pencil. He always prefers clients to know the cost before shooting, although the few that ask for a job without a quote first get the best deal for total use. Chris also showed us exactly how he fills out his licenses which was helpful.

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

Chris then went on to show us some of his architectural and construction time-lapse work. It was really impressive and with around 15 timelapse longish term jobs on per month, he had a great selection of files to show us how his work was not only profitable for him, but a good investment for his clients. He showed us some of his latest technology that takes photos on site at scheduled times and cameras that also mechanically pan in the process. Finally, Chris showed us some of his drone work. A highlight of the evening was seeing a commissioned video he took of excess waters being released at the Matahina Dam the day after the Edgecumbe floods. That was rather exciting! He has also used his drones indoors (while handheld!) to do promotional videos for his clients and his creativity and skills were apparent and inspiring. Check out some of his work on YouTube - Chris Parker Creative Timelapse Video Production or see his website www.photographics.co.nz.

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

REGIONAL UPDATES

Wellington Region Words by Catherine Cattanach, F.NZIPP III Accredited Professional

Unsurprisingly, when a Grand Master of Photography offers to share some Photoshop secrets, people sit up and take notice. Earlier this year we had GMNZIPP and Adobe certified PS and LR expert Harry Janssen come and talk to us in Wellington, and at our last meeting we heard from GMNZIPP Kaye Davis, who was none other than New Zealand Photographer of the Year in 2013. So now we Wellingtonians have no excuse for not producing beautifully polished images every single time… Photoshop 2018 had only just come out when Kaye visited Wellington, but already she had familiarised herself with it and was able to talk us through where to find all its impressive selecting and masking tools. The skill of clear-cutting something has always been something that has eluded me, even for basic objects to be honest. But now having seen Kaye quickly and accurately select the complex and feathery branches of a tree using PS 2018, I’m thinking it’s something that even I could tackle. PS 2018 lumps all the selecting and masking tools together in one place, and once you’ve selected one, you have a ‘select and mask’ option visible up on the tool bar. It’s a pretty amazing tool, with a transparency slider for ‘onion skin mode’, allowing you to see how the image layer relates to the one beneath. For the aforementioned tree foliage, Kaye used the Quick Selection tool and then brushed the Refine Edge tool over the result; all the extra bits that were initially selected magically disappeared. Very useful for masking hair! The Global Adjustments area allows you to refine the edges of your mask by feathering, adding contrast, or even shifting the entire edge in and out with sliders.

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

Kaye also shared how she uses Frequency Separation for portrait retouching. By separating out skin tone from skin texture, this method allows you to work on them independently. This means you can even out skin tone and fix all the usual issues like wrinkles, bags under eyes, redness and blemishes while retaining natural skin texture - it’s a very natural-looking result that doesn’t plasticise your subject. Being the amazingly efficient person she is, Kaye even emailed detailed notes after the event, complete with diagrams and screenshots. On behalf of myself and all other attendees with shocking handwriting, we thank you, Kaye. We really appreciated you coming all the way from Palmerston North to share your expertise with us. Thanks also to Mel Waite for hosting the event in her beautiful studio, and to Nick Servian for the photographs.

WHAT’S IN MY BAG

Chris Parker NZIPP Life Member, M.NZIPP Accredited Professional

Canon 5DSR, plus 5D-Mk 3 & 4, fast Canon glass, fisheye and wide zooms, DJI Phantom 4 Pro, eMotimo 3D motion time-lapse rig with slider, plus 18 Canon 700D cameras inside housings with 4G modems, FTP server control systems, solar panels, high-capacity Li-Po batteries, all mounted 18 different ways. I use a custom-built water-cooled PC with SSD drives for fast processing of batched files & 4Kvideo on Premiere Pro, Lightroom, and Photoshop, an iPad mini to fly the drone, Samsung android tablet to configure time-lapse controller parameters. Plus, a Fitbit to keep an eye on my heart rate! Time-lapse image capture has turned my whole business around with 18 camera systems around the North Island shooting around 1500 Hi-Res images each per month. This is really where stills meet video and the variety of work coming from this is so enjoyable and challenging. Aerial photography and video with a drone gives unique viewpoints, skills to master and enhances time-lapse projects. After mastering these skills, the goal is to inject creativity into all projects. Time-lapse contracts vary from 1 day to 3 years with the bulk of the time-lapse in the construction industry.

”

The term “Photographer” is a bit outdated for my workload these days. “Creative Visual Content” really encompasses what I do now, and as a result determines what is in my bag on any given day.

Currently, I am working on a time-lapse project for a law firm to portray a day in the life of this busy practice from sunrise to sunset, using close-up views shallow focus time-lapse and time warping for the 12 hr shoot to fit into 1 minute of online media looped video. Normal still photography is still very much alive with fashion, publicity portraiture, architecture, editorial and product shoots to squeeze into the workflows.

The goal is to inject creativity into all projects.

”

- Chris Parker

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

Photoshop CC 2018 Adobe Photoshop Fix

Adobe Photoshop Desktop & Mobile Versions

Harry Janssen G.M.NZIPP www.harryjanssen.nz

Adobe Photoshop Sketch

Adobe Photoshop Mix

Adobe Photoshop - Desktop & Mobile Versions Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 If you can think it, you can make it with Photoshop CC, the world’s best imaging and design app. Create and enhance photographs, illustrations, and 3D artwork. Design websites and mobile apps. Edit videos, simulate real-life paintings, and more. It’s everything you need to make any idea real. Designers, photographers, and artists around the world use Photoshop to make the impossible possible. Whether you’re looking for everyday edits or total transformations, Photoshop offers a complete set of professional photography tools to turn your snapshots into works of art. Adjust, crop, remove objects, retouch, and repair old photos. Play with colour, effects, and more to turn the ordinary into something extraordinary. Photoshop photographic art and illustration is not something that you just do or learn, it is an ongoing journey. Piece by piece learn new ways, new techniques to visualise your imagination. In this article, I will point out a few new features and throw in some tips too. There is an big range of Adobe Mobile apps that you can use and are compatible with the desktop versions of Creative Cloud. Mobile companion apps for Photoshop, Illustrator and design tools. Explore the range and find out how some of them could be useful to your work flow.

Adobe Photoshop Fix

Adobe Photoshop Mix

Adobe Photoshop Sketch

For pros and anyone who likes photos, Photoshop Fix is an Adobe mobile retouching app for iPhone, iPad , and And roid d evices built using the Adobe Creative SDK. Fix delivers features to mobile devices that were previously available only in Photoshop. Fix is easy to use and is as much about connectivity as it is about retouching. Fix works together with Photoshop Mix, the Adobe mobile app that lets you seamlessly cut out and combine photos. Both apps let you send files to Photoshop and save to your Lightroom Collections.

Cut out, combine and create amazing images, anywhere. Get the app that brings serious Photoshop editing to your mobile device. Photoshop Mix lets you cut out and combine elements from different images, blend layers and apply looks on your iPhone, iPad or Android device — all compatible with Photoshop CC. In Photoshop Mix, you can seamlessly move work to and from the new Photoshop Fix app, Lightroom for mobile, Comp, and Sketch. Mix is also compatible with Adobe Spark Video and Adobe Spark Page.

Photoshop Sketch lets you create expressive drawings anywhere using natural drawing tools like pencils, pens, markers, and watercolour brushes to get all the textures and blending effects you’d get on paper. Sketch gives you drawing tools that interact naturally with the canvas, including a graphite pencil, ink pen, and blending markers. Built-in brushes open up even more creative possibilities. Use Split View to keep your drawings and toolbox side by side on the same screen. Then send your sketches directly to desktop Photoshop CC to take them to the next level.

http://www.adobe.com/products/fix.html

http://www.adobe.com/products/mix.html

http://www.adobe.com/products/sketch.html

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 Some but not all of the new things Better brush organization Organize and save your brushes in the order you want. Drag and drop to reorder, create folders and sub-folders, scale the brush stroke preview, toggle new view modes, and save brush presets with opacity, flow, blend mode, and colour. Variable fonts With new font technology from Adobe, Apple, Google, and Microsoft, you can define variations within each supported font for weight, height, slant, and more.

Variable Fonts, create your own styles. Use VAR or SVG font types.

Copy and paste layers Copy and paste multiple layers in groups, keeping the same order and location instead of having to drag them to reorder. Copy layers onto your clipboard and paste them at the desired specific spot in your panel, within and between documents in Photoshop. Quick Share menu Share a flattened copy of your work via email, text, social networks, and more. This feature uses native OS sharing mechanisms, including already authenticated services. Access Lightroom Photos Get your photos from Lightroom Cloud Services right inside Photoshop via Search or the Start Screen. With deeper integration between all the Creative Cloud photography desktop and mobile apps, all your photos are synced and accessible everywhere.

Organise Brushes in folders & sub-folders

The Quick Share button is located in the top right corner of PS.

Curvature Pen Tool Create paths more quickly, intuitively, and precisely. Push and pull segments directly instead of having to modify Bezier handles, similar to the Curvature Tool in Illustrator. Simply double-click to switch between point types. Select and Mask improvements Get more accurate and realistic results with algorithm and performance improvements, especially in cases where the foreground and background colour are similar. Other usability and performance improvements include faster Quick Mask and more intuitive view mode settings.

A big time saver; the curvature pen tool.

Open images from Lightroom Cloud Services in PS

Turn to the next page to see Select and Mask in working

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

*Compositing Techniques using the new Select and Mask panel All the selection tools in one panel: Quick Selection, Refine Edge Brush, Brush and Lasso Tool along with the various viewing modes, Edge Detection, Global Refinements and Output options. The mission: replace the stark white background in the monkey image with a nice blue sky. Select the image layer to be worked on in the Layers panel and ensure one of the Selection tools is selected from the “Tools” panel (eg. lasso). Click on Select and Mask

Onion Skin mode allows you to change the opacity of the layer to see what it sits like on the underneath layer. As you select areas of the image, using the Quick Selection Tool (1) it shows those areas on the preview. Use View Mode to see different versions of selected and non-selected areas of the image. Refine Edge Brush Tool (2) uses Photoshop’s algorithms to select the detailed edges in the image.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Quick Selection Tool Refine Edge Brush Tool Brush Tool Lasso / Polygonal Lasso Tool Move [image] Tool Zoom Tool Add to or remove from selections Viewing mode options

Use the Brush Tool (3) for areas that blend in, or are similar tonal values, to the area being selected. Aside from the brush palette, edges of a selection can be altered using the Global Refinements and Decontaminate Colours options. When the selection is complete, decide how you want the mask to be applied: as a selection (ants), layer mask, new layer or as a new document.

Finished artwork with new sky

Applied mask, notice the fine detail in the fur selection

Double clicking the Layer Mask in Photoshop takes you back to the Select and Mask window where you can further refine your mask. Making good quality, detailed selections and masks is the key to making impressive composite imagery. Practice makes perfect. * Select and Mask procedures by Kaye Davis.

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

Exclusive brushes from Kyle T. Webster Access over 1,000 digital brushes from award-winning illustrator Kyle T. Webster, now available exclusively inside Photoshop. Creative Cloud customers will gain exclusive access to over 1,000 high-quality, digital brushes at no additional cost. Digital brushes offer illustrators, animators and designers a rich digital painting experience when working in Photoshop CC and Photoshop Sketch.

Get More Brushes In Photoshop open or create a new file. Select the paintbrush tool. You can get access to the brushes from within the app by selecting “Get More Brushes” in the brushes menu inside Photoshop Brush Preset picker (click the gear icon).

Install Brushes When you click on Get More Brushes, you will be guided to the download brushes page on the Adobe website. Select and download the brush(es) you like. They will be added to your “Downloads” folder on your computer. Brush files have a name such as: brushname.abr To add the downloaded brush(es) to Photoshop, do this: 1. Have a file open or create a new file 2. Select the Paint Brush 3. Open Brush Presets window 4. Click on the gear icon 5. Select Preset Manager from the menu 6. Click on the Load button 7. Navigate to your downloads folder 8. Select the brush file(s) you downloaded 9. No need to add one-by-one 10. Select all downloaded brushes 11. Click Open

In Preset Manager, you can rename the folders if you want. Create a new Group, drag ‘n Drop favorite brushes into this new group. You can also Drag ‘n Drop the folders to sort to your liking. Note: Painting, using these artistic brushes, works best when using a Wacom tablet. PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

Learn Photoshop In Photoshop open the Learn palette Window > Learn. These are step-by-step “Do” projects to learn some stuff.

Use 3D Content in your artwork Bring a new dimension to your creative work using 3D image creation, editing, and printing tools in Photoshop. Create a 3D design from scratch or load a 3D model from virtually any source and make it look amazing using the power of Photoshop. Photoshop delivers all the 3D editing tools that you need to create realistic shadows and reflections.

Painting in Photoshop - Getting used to your Wacom! Artists describe using a mouse like tying a pen to a bar of soap or a rock. A mouse has no pressure sensitivity. A Wacom tablet is more comfortable and offers an artistic experience much closer to traditional media, but getting over the learning curve can be daunting. The pen is designed to be a more comfortable way of working with a computer, so grab the pen in the most comfortable way you know how. Hold it as if it were a writing pen. The side switch is the left-and-right mouse button. To click on something, all you have to do is touch the pen to the tablet. The tip of the pen is a click. Just remember each corner of the tablet represents the corresponding corner of your display area. Rest your hand comfortably on the tablet just as you would a piece of paper, and like a pen and paper, don’t touch the tip to the tablet unless you mean to click. You may have moments where you relapse into mouse behavior, usually this will show itself as the cursor never getting to where you want it because you are shuffling it like a mouse. To come to terms with your new tool, play. Make some drawings and paintings in Photoshop using the new Kyle T. Webster brushes collections. You will get used to the tablet much faster. There is nothing to learn really, the difficulty is the habitual mouse-movements that you need to un-learn. Once again, Practice Makes Perfect!

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

Explore Photoshop Fix, Mix and Sketch for Mobile devices. There are many quality apps to help the workflow for photographers and designers. Or just use them because they are fun. Check out the new features in Photoshop, it may save time and effort. Find out how they can benefit you. Practise, practise, practise using the amazing new Select and Masking tool. Making accurate selections is one of the most important techniques in Photoshop. Not only for compositing, but also for successful retouching. Download and experiment with the range of Kyle T. Webster art brushes. They are so much fun to use. Painting in Photoshop is a brilliant way to up your skills using a Wacom tablet. Organise your brushes in the Preset Manager, create and sort your favorite brushes in folders. For the designers among us, take a journey through Photoshop’s 3D world. Find and use many, many 3D models to use in your design. May the Force be with you. The list is long, the learning never stops. Discover new things, re-invent yourself. Try stuff you haven’t done before. Get going!

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

GET CLICKING

click here to subscribe to PRO REPORT Subscribe to keep in touch with all the happenings in New Zealandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s professional photographic community and the NZIPP.

click here to find an NZIPP PHOTOGRAPHER Use the link to search for our recommended NZIPP Accredited Professional Photographers.

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP

NZIPP SPONSORS

A special thank you to our sponsors for their continuing support:

PRO Report / Magazine of the NZIPP