What’s in my Bag

NZIPP Board Chairperson & NZIPP Accredited Professional Photographer

A. Profoto B1 with gridded hard modifier used either for side or hair light.

B. Profoto B1 with translucent parabolic umbrella key light

C. 2 x Profoto light triggers

D. Think Tank International Security, minimum 2 camera bodies

E. Profoto batteries, as many as I can carry

F. Duct tape and extension cords

G. Ona Brixton, laptop, Tether tools cable 10m, Tether clamp and Tether block

H. Reflector 1.5 tall, Manfrotto super clamp

I. Step ladder

J. Think Tank Production Manager 40

K. Profoto B1, short stand used as background light

As most of us are professional photographers I won’t bore you with the contents of my camera bag, instead I thought I would share some of the gear I use on a day to day basis when photographing corporate headshots. Being Auckland based 90% of my corporate work is based in the CBD. This means traffic, parking issues, long walks, stairs, lifts and small spaces. This all poses logistical challenges, so my kit is assembled with portability in mind without the need to compromise the set up.

The other consideration is that a lot of our clients have offices nationwide so being able to replicate shots anywhere is extremely important, so basically *everything you see here (including backdrop) is airline friendly, I can happily travel by myself within airline weight limits.

*The ladder stays home

Gino Demeer - Cactus Photography

Top Left - Packed gear © Gino Demeer Top Right - Labeled gear © Gino Demeer Bottom Right - Sample headshot © Gino Demeer

Sarah McGregor - M.NZIPP II; NZIPP Executive Director

I entered my first ever awards in 2013, with one single photo of my son. I still remember taking the photo. He was (and still is) such a cute little thing, with his big brown eyes and delicate little face. But he cried. He cried, and he cried, and the only photo I had of him was a crying photo. So I edited the photo as best as I could, and followed along in the Nikon Iris Awards facebook group, picking up whatever tips I could to improve my image. I sent my image off to Sean Dick at Evoke Studio in Auckland, and was so blown away when the print arrived. I’d never printed my work before and I was so shocked at how amazing it looked, as a printed product.

I patiently waited for the judging to come around. Back in those days the judging wasn’t livestreamed, so I sent my image to a friend in the audience and waited for her to let me know how it went. I was so excited when I heard that my image had received a bronze award, I was over the moon! I entered, because I wanted to know if my work really was ‘professional’. I didn’t feel like a professional at the time, but it gave me the motivation to carry on and pursue photography after that one single entry.

The first time I went to watch the live judging was amazing. You can’t even really explain the feeling that you get from being in the room watching those images being judged. I remember watching images that took my breath away when they came up onto the judging panel - it’s truly a magical experience. Being able to wander amongst the exhibition of awarded images and take it all in - the Nikon Iris Awards in itself is a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow as a professional photographer. When I went to my first ever conference, I didn’t really know what it was, but everyone was talking about it, and I didn’t want to miss out. I booked myself a ticket and headed off, into the unknown. I had lots of photography friends I’d met online but I hadn’t actually met any of them in person, so I was quite nervous about going.

I hadn’t really heard of any of the conference speakers before, so I wasn’t sure I was going to get much from the conference, but it sounded like everyone had heaps of fun there so it was worth a go, right?

This is what I learnt from my first ever conference. You will be MIND BLOWN. You will learn something from EVERY SPEAKER, no matter how irrelevant their photography genre is to your own work. YOU WILL BE INSPIRED and come home and try something new, and re-ignite your passion for photography if it is waning. And you will MAKE NEW FRIENDS like you’ve never made friends before.

The FOMO is very real with this event. NZIPP have a very unique community, who come together and build each other up like you have never experienced before. I could never miss this conference again – it’s the highlight of my year, and the best value-for-money I’ve ever experienced in my business.

If you’ve never been before, don’t worry, we will look after you. We have lots of social events, and you’ll be on our radar! We’ll introduce you to a few people and make sure you know exactly what is happening, and when. We want you to immerse yourself and enjoy every minute as much as we do.

We are so lucky to be able to meet in person in New Zealand. It is a luxury we have taken for granted, and realised its true importance last year when we couldn’t. I urge you to take this opportunity now and come and join us in Nelson this July. This is the best value-for-money photography event on offer, with two-day tickets from just $449.

Our wonderful event team - Justine Weatherall and Nicola Wilhemsen, supported by Peter Allen have done an outstanding job of pulling together an amazing conference in such a short time-frame for 2021.

Justine and Nicola have created a program that allows you to really get stuck in and get involved. Featuring speakers: Mike King - New Zealander of the Year 2019; Richard Wood - NZIPP Grand Master of Photography II and Photography educator; Jose G. Cano - Humanitarian and Underwater Fine Art Photographer; Amy Scott - Communications Expert; Katherine Williams - NZIPP Grand Master of Photography; Portrait, Wedding and Commercial Photographer; Bea Pole-Bokor - Social Media Consultant; Andris Apse - Landscape Photographer, and son Julian Apse - Adventure and Commercial Photographer; Johl Dunn - Business and Mindset Coach; and Fiona Andersen - Wedding Photographer.

Make sure you head to Nelson for the beginning of the live judging of the Nikon Iris Awards from 26th July - you’ll not only be able to watch the judging and see the image exhibition, but you can also join one of the workshops on offer, get a one-on-one business or photography review, and get a headshot image taken, or join one of our many social and sponsor events.

The full event schedule will be released in June in the conference magazine (the Judging schedule will be released following the close of entries to the Nikon Iris Awards), so keep your eye on your email for its release. Key Dates:

Nikon Iris Awards • Nikon Iris Awards entries close: 11.59pm, Sunday 13th

June 2021 • (Judging schedule released mid-late June 2021) • Prints must be received by: Friday 23rd July 2021 • Live Judging: Monday 26th - Wednesday 28th July 2021: • Gala Dinner: 7pm, Friday 30th July 2021

© TONY STEWART

Canon New Zealand Photography Show • Workshops, one-on-one reviews: Monday 26th -

Wednesday 28th July 2021 • Conference: Thursday 29th - Friday 30th July 2021

Ticket Prices: • NZIPP Affiliate/ Student/ Accredited/ Life/ Retired member: $449.00 - two day ticket • PSNZ/ AIPA member: $549.00 - two day ticket • General Admission and NZIPP Regional member: $649.00 - two day ticket

**Special offer: Regional members buying a presale ticket for $649.00 will automatically have their membership upgraded to Affiliate for no additional cost.

Presale ends 13th June 2021

Ticket prices from 13th June 2021 - 1st July 2021 • NZIPP Affiliate/ Student/ Accredited/ Life/ Retired member: $549.00 - two day ticket • PSNZ/ AIPA member: $649.00 - two day ticket • General Admission and NZIPP Regional member: $749.00 - two day ticket

Ticket prices from 1st July 2021 • NZIPP Affiliate/ Student/ Accredited/ Life/ Retired member: $649.00 - two day ticket • PSNZ/ AIPA member: $749.00 - two day ticket • General Admission and NZIPP Regional member: $849.00 - two day ticket

Andrea Jordan - Business Strategist, Writer, Photographer and NZIPP Member

Are you actively nurturing the relationships in your business? It’s so easy to let our lead management, a.k.a follow ups, slide when we get busy, yet reconnecting with people is one of the best ways to make money in our business.

Everyone buys in a different way. There are early adopters who leap in as soon as you post a new offer, there are researchers who want to know every single detail and there are last minute purchasers. Not everyone will buy the first time you talk to them so you need to make sure they don’t disappear off your radar.

Creating a simple follow up system will ensure that no opportunities are missed.

Do you feel that following up is too salesy, yucky or pushy? “If they want to buy from me, they’ll get back in touch”. Many of my clients have felt this way but following up doesn’t need to be a negative. After all, it’s not about you. No one is being forced to buy from you. It’s about helping your ideal people make the best decision for them.

To map out your follow up system you need to consider these factors: HOW: How will you follow up? E.G. By emails, phone, FB message.

WHAT: What do I say? There is no perfect method that will work for every business and every client. Let go of the need to be perfect, instead focus on that person, their goals and what they need. Once you find wording that works for you, or feels good for you, then save it as a template. Having a variety of templates will save you time when following up and will help with any mind set wobbles because you’ve got the wording you need all ready to go.

WHO: Who do you want to follow up with? E.G. Past clients? Potential clients?

WHY: Why do you want to follow up with those people? E.G. Sales to new clients? Nurturing past clients with a view to future sales or referrals?

WHEN: When will you follow up? Decide in advance what your policy is for following up E.G. Within two days of getting an enquiry email or on the 1st birthday of your client’s new born. Deciding in advance will help with any negative feelings you have, as all you need to do is stick to the policy you’ve committed to. WHERE: Where will you store the details of the people you’re following up with? EG Spreadsheet, Asana, CRM. Once you have your system in place be sure to set aside dedicated time each week to follow up, even when you get busy! By committing to consistent nurturing of your leads you can avoid the feast and famine cycle of so many businesses.

Andrea Jordan https://www.facebook.com/ AndreaJordanBusinessStrategist

Have you put a Business Continuity Plan in place? This is a great NZIPP resource available only to members. Contact us for access: info@nzipp.org.nz

PHOTO WAREHOUSE Great North Rd and Queen St www.photowarehouse.co.nz

AUCKLAND CAMERA CENTRE www.aucklandcamera.co.nz

PHOTOGEAR www.photogear.co.nz

PROGEAR LIMITED

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APIX www.apix.co.nz

JACOBS Photo and Digital www.jacobsdigital.co.nz

TOPIC RENTALS

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SNAPSHOT 1992 LTD www.snapshot.co.nz

IMAGELAND HAMILTON www.imageland.co.nz

LAZER PHOTO WHAKATANE www.lazerphotoco.nz

CARTERS PHOTOGRAPHICS www.cartersphotographics.co.nz

BRUCE WATT PHOTOGRAPHY www.brucewatt.co.nz

FRENCH PHOTOGRAPHICS www.digicam.co.nz

WELLINGTON PHOTOGRAPHIC SUPPLIES www.wps.net.nz

PHOTO WAREHOUSE www.photowarehouse.co.nz

SPLENDID PHOTO www.splendid.nz

PHOTO AND VIDEO INTERNATIONAL www.photo.co.nz

PHOTO WAREHOUSE www.photowarehouse.co.nz

HANAFINS Riccarton and Northlands www.hanafins.co.nz

NZ CAMERA CHRISTCHURCH

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KENS CAMERAS www.kens.co.nz

PHOTO WAREHOUSE www.photowarehouse.co.nz

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Guy Rencher from Coastal Surf Images is a new member from Papamoa. He is most passionate about action photography where he focuses on objects and subjects moving at speed with purpose and power.

Inspired to get into photography during the 2020 lockdown, Guy is enjoying the opportunity to express himself capturing images through the lens, while being able to explore creativity at the same time. He loves the challenges and rewards that come from trying to nail that one ‘perfect’ image.

Guy’s favourite jobs to date have been shooting for the recent WBCD Community Fun Days and the Doggy Day Out in Katikati. He loves the feeling of getting amongst his subjects while capturing the emotion and engagement rippling through the events.

The gear that Guy uses includes a recently purchased Nikon D500 for its fast auto-focus abilities essential for locking onto fast moving objects/subjects. He usually reaches for his 70-200G2 2.8 and the 150-600G2 Tamron lenses.

In the future, Guy is looking forward to becoming a proficient and confident photographer in all arenas of photography. He realises that he is very much on a journey of discovery, ‘almost akin to being an apprentice’ and wants to remember to enjoy the journey.

Check out more of Guy’s images on his website: www.coastalsurfimages.com

Marama Shearer Waikato Regional Representative www.thrivephotography.co.nz

What a difference a venue makes!

Through a lot of personal sweat and time, Karolina Stus has a fabulous new studio in a great location, just outside Paraparaumu looking out over green hills. Karolina has been most generous in making her new studio available for NZIPP events.

We started off 2021 with a creative session in February, run by Karolina and Jenny Siaosi. Karolina and Jenny introduced us to some in-camera photographic techniques to open up ideas and concepts many of us have been wanting to try but never knew how. For me this was a refreshing stimulation of creativity, rather than technique. Holding a lens by hand in front of the camera to produce surreal, soft and blurry images, after the challenges of getting eyelashes sharp in portraits with a f/1.4 lens. The dreamy images from an old Helios lens, instead of the latest Canon “L” professional lens. Or using a plasticky LensBaby lens – no autofocus!!! Shooting through objects, rather than avoiding them. After a year of covid uncertainty, this session provided a much-needed creativity boost.

We produced lots of stunning images, just a few of which are here:

Enhancing our coffees

© Rachael Hughes

One of the main reasons for our monthly coffee mornings has been for networking. However, our members were looking for more than conversations over coffee. Some have families and are not able to attend our evening sessions. So we started to add themes for discussion or learning.

In April, Karolina Stus hosted a session in which we watched some Sue Bryce videos on posing, discussed what we saw and then practiced on each other. How many educational videos do you have on your computer or linked in the Cloud? How often have you watched a video and then wanted to ask questions or suggest a different approach? This “coffee morning” was great for not only hearing Sue Bryce provide useful guidance, but also for us to be on the other side of the camera!

I was too busy having fun to record the event, but here is a quick photo of Karolina.

Bob Zuur Photographer bob@momentsoflight.nz © Shearer (027) 444 3210 www.momentsoflight.nz

Hello from Nelson! We have had a slow start to the year, but we did host an incredible day with the super star speakers at TONIC. I know that the people there learnt a lot and were really appreciative of the wealth of knowledge that was shared with them. The lengths of time Nick spent lighting cathedrals and sitting on thrones was mind blowing. Even though we struggle to get bums on seats, I believe that the more events we run the more our members will see the value in their memberships and come along more. So thanks so much for bringing Tonic to Nelson. Also feeling super lucky to have the conference coming our way soon. We promise to have stellar weather and make you all want to stay. In the pipelines we have an Iris print workshop in Sarah’s band new studio and a coffee with Ole from Canon. Hopefully he will leave his R5 behind so I can spend some quality time with it.

Victoria Vincent - Nelson/Marlborough Regional Representative www.abeautifulphoto.co.nz

February: In 2021, we started the process of meeting at different Studios for a tour and discussion on how each of us does business. This month, we met at PhotoWorthy Images / Ann Worthy Stephenson. Ann then spoke on her underwater photography.

March: In March, the Tonic touring event was the highlight. We had a great turnout, with lots of positive feedback. We all met for drinks and dinner afterwards, making it an overall great day.

April: Another great turnout to hear Catherine Cattanach speak on her Personal Photography. She gave a great talk, sharing insights on how she gets ideas, then explores them. Her photographs are all so impressive.

It was fun to have FOUR current/past NZIPP Presidents attending! Catherine Cattanach, Katherine Williams, Mike Langford and Craig Robertson.

Last part of the meeting was a panel of Catherine Cattanach, Craig Robertson, Kate Christie, Stephen Goodenough. Richard Linton emcee’d with a mix of prepared questions as well as audience questions. Great discussion!

Regards Ann Worthy Stephenson - Canterbury/Westland Regional Representative www.photoworthyimages.com

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