Tomorrow, we’ll be at Carrington’s cafe on the Mt Albert Unitec campus, for the finals of the Life FM wedding season promo.

Many of the vendors involved with the promotion will have displays of their lovely wares – and we’ll be there from 10am onwards with our lovely Queensberry albums

So if you’ve been wanting to meet us – either to chat about your wedding day, or to see what a Queensberry album looks like, or even just to geek out about photography – this is a great time!

Here’s a map to Carrington’s (who are the venue hosting the free wedding that Life FM are organizing)

Life FM will be doing a bit of live broadcasting from the event, and the finalists will be selected on the day too. I’m pretty sure that finalists need to be there in person to qualify, so there’ll be plenty of hopeful couples there!! The doors open at 10am, and we’ll be free to chat until around 2pm.

Then we’ll be off shooting an engagement session marathon – as each couple that makes the finals will get an engagement session, which we’re shooting on the day

Special offer alert….

We have some free session vouchers – they can be used to get either an engagement shoot, a Trash the Dress shoot, or a family portrait shoot. If you come down & chat with us tomorrow, and mention that you saw this offer on our blog… we’ll hook you up with a free voucher.

Plus – you get to check out our amazing album that we’ve just put together for one of Auckland’s most exclusive wedding venues.. which we received back from Queensberry yesterday, will be on display at the show tomorrow, and then delivered to the venue on Sunday. So come & have a look before we (unfortunately) give it away!

Look forward to meeting some of you gorgeous people tomorrow.

Isaac & Amber.

Exactly 2 years on, we were again out in the winter air – this time in Raglan instead of Auckland – photographing the same gorgeous couple again.

Matt decided to surprise Mel with a weekend away in Raglan for their anniversary, along with a fun portrait shoot down on the beach.

It was so much fun to catch up with them again, and the late afternoon light was delicious. It was SO cold & windy – but totally worth it for some beautiful shots.

Here’s a little peek at what we got up to…

We started off with a few shots at her home…

And then headed down to the beach to burn off a bit more energy!!

So gorgeous – the hardest part was keeping up!!

Our day kicked off with a few shots of the guys, still in relax mode back at their hotel. Shaun kept assuring us that he wasn’t nervous at all – and even right through the ceremony, I think he actually meant it too!

Here’s the man himself:

Then it was off to the girls – where we found Kimberley looking gorgeous!

Even when it’s your wedding day… you still can’t forget the essentials:

A kiss from Dad.

Both Amber & I noticed this light as soon as we walked upstairs… an arch window with vertical blinds – just the kind of thing we love to play with!

Sometimes, it’s just fun to have a play around – I liked the way the light was filtering through the blinds.

Kimberley looking stunning in her dress.

And with gorgeous bridesmaids.

We then raced out to Markovina, where we met the boys – and also our favourite celebrant in the whole wide world – Peta Hardley. (who is also Amber’s mum!!)

Kimberley arrived, with her Mum & Dad walking her in, and then Dad walking up the aisle with her:

I loved that they had a sand ceremony – mixing two separate containers of sand (which were in their wedding colours) into one jar, which they can always keep Very special.

After some canapes and mix & mingle time, we headed off with the bridal party for some shots around the grounds at Markovina.
It’s so beautiful there, with a huge range of both sculpted gardens, as well as more ‘wild’ rambling sections.

These must have been some of the first blossoms of the year – out for an early start in mid-August..

Throughout the day, there were some on-off showers – which gave us the chance to get our umbrellas out for a play..

This time of year is absolutely perfect for subtle, earthy tones.. and mix them with two complete naturals in front of the camera, and you don’t even have to try to get amazing shots

Amber looked most annoyed when, after she’d dragged the lighting gear all the way across to where we were shooting, I said that I was loving the natural light so much that I wasn’t too fussed on using the lights… but seeing the final result when we did use them makes me super glad she took the trouble..

We finished up with a few nice shots down the row of trees…

Then it was into the warm – where food followed soon afterwards, welcome after a few hours in the winter air, I’m sure!

There were also nice fairy lights everywhere…

It was a fantastic wedding – and we had such a good time with you guys.

Enjoy the photos – and there’ll be more to come soon!

Isaac & Amber.

Here’s part two – the Sunday Photoshop seminar “Learn Cooler Photoshop Stuff”.

It’ll be at Auckland Grammar School, and again, is divided into a “beginner & advanced” section.

$140 for this seminar only, or combine with one of our “Take Better Photos Of People” seminars on the Saturday and get both for $250.

We’ll be running our “Take better photos of people” seminars in Auckland on Saturday 25th September, and also 2 Photoshop seminars on Sunday 26th.

Here’s a flier for Saturday – Photoshop one coming soon

Email us if you’d like to register your interest!

Starting off with the gear ones… I’ve grouped a few together that address similar topics.

Q: I am just wondering what lenses you shoot your weddings with and why your prefer them over others? – Kate.

Answers:

OK. I’ll start off by listing what we currently use.

We have four Canon 5DmkII bodies, and also a Canon 30D and Canon 40D – which are the backups of the backups! On weddings, Amber & I each shoot with 2 of the 5DmkII’s – one hanging off each shoulder. This is so that we can use different focal lengths without needing to physically change lenses. Also, it means if *touch wood* there was ever a problem with one camera, we’ve got coverage of the day split between 4 cameras.

Then come the lenses. We tend to prefer prime lenses (eg – they don’t zoom) over zooms, as they are sharper, more contrasty, and most importantly, go down to really low apertures like f1.4 or 1.2 – which is good for getting a beautiful background blur & using in low light.

The lenses in our kit bag are: Canon 35mm f1.4L, Canon 85mm f1.2L, Canon 135mm f2.0L, Canon 17-40mm f4L, Canon 70-200mm 2.8 ISL, Canon 100mm f2.8 macro, Sigma 15mm f2.8 fisheye, and Sigma 50mm f1.4

So to answer Kate’s question – these are what we use. We use them mainly because of the low aperture & sharpness. And Rachel’s question – obviously we recommend Canon, but Nikon are equally as good. You can’t really go wrong with either of those two brands.

Catherine’s question – in terms of a good “all around” lens, I’m going to recommend a 50mm prime. Canon make a 50mm f1.8 version which is only about $200 – about as cheap as you’ll ever get! And the Sigma 50mm f1.4 – for either Canon or Nikon, is around $800 and a fantastic lens. 50mm (although it can’t zoom) is a good lens to learn the ins & outs of composition, depth of field, etc. It forces you to think about your shot, and actually move with your feet to get a better composition, rather than being lazy & zooming in or out. Holly (our assistant) shoots almost exclusively with a 50mm lens, and loves it.

Finally – Janelle’s question, most of our editing is in Lightroom, where we do all the colour correction of RAW files. Then the ones that get picked for the blog, or go into albums, also get the Photoshop treatment, where we do the more advanced stuff – dodging & burning areas, skin retouching, tucking in any bits that need tucking in, etc.

Right – now onto the lighting questions!

Q. I’m a big fan, I always check out your blog and portfolio as it is so inspiring to me.
My question is – For school balls etc what do you use as a backdrop? Is it portable?
I have a backdrop but it isn’t very portable as it’s on a very long roll and was wondering is there a place that you go to to get a really nice portable backdrop. – Laura.

Usually, the school organizes the backdrop (although, we do require some input into this to ensure that the students, the creative designer, and ourselves are all on the same page. Then we just rock up with our lights & set up. If you’re after a backdrop, check out Progear in Newmarket – they have (or can source) pretty much anything photographic.

Q. What is the best way to achieve great lighting in a picture without the use of studio lights?
What would your top tips be in regards to photographing people/portraits? – Rachel

Q. Everyone wants to take good self portraits or portraits of family or friends, even if its just snap shots.
What are the major do’s and Don’ts for this? Particular positions? Backgrounds? – Liz

The key to getting great lighting in an image is to learn to “see” the light – ie, experiment in all sorts of different lighting situations, and work out what situation yields which result.
Generally, a few tips are:
Try and shoot in the late afternoon – rather than at midday. The sun is much lower in the sky, and doesn’t create ugly shadows on people’s faces.
Look for “open shade” – eg the side of a building, thick tree cover, etc. Even in the shade, the light will be coming from a ‘direction’. You can determine the direction by holding your hand out in front of your face & turning your body throughout 360 degrees. You’ll see the shadows become more or less apparent between your fingers. Where the shadows are least, the light is hitting them from that direction. Usually, you’d face your subject towards where the light is coming from – which will light up their eyes nicely.

A good basic pose for a person is to turn their feet 45 degrees away from the camera, and then twist their shoulders & hips towards the camera. This naturally appears to slim their waistline, and gives a nice angle to the camera. You should still be able to see their far shoulder, but on an angle. Experiment with asking them to tilt their head, or lift their chin, until it looks great.

If you look out for areas where light fades from bright > dark – it’s an easy way to achieve an effective look. A good example is at the back of a window, where the light falls off. Position your subject in this area, with the window providing the light. The background will expose darker than the subject, making them really ‘pop’.

Perhaps the most important aspect of photographing people is getting your subject relaxed & comfortable in front of the camera. If they don’t feel comfortable, the images will look stiff & un-natural. Everyone has their own way of relaxing subjects. I joke a little, show them some good shots on the back of the LCD to show them how good they’re looking, and basically just reassure them that they’re looking great.

Q. I am just starting out in photography doing portraits.I would really appreciate any tips on how to get the backdrops to look their true colour in the photos.The people are the correct colour and exposure but the black backdrops are coming out lighter and the white darker. Do you have any in camera tips/editing tips? – Kelsi.

To get the white backdrop whiter, you need to turn up the lights on the backdrop. Usually 1 1/2 to 2 stops brighter does the trick for white high key – so if your light is exposing the subject at f5.6, then put the background light up to about f9 – f10 and you should get that real separation & white background. If you’re shooting natural light, you need to shade the subject more so that you can open up the aperture / shutter speed while still keeping them properly exposed.

For black backgrounds – move the subject further away from the background. This will stop light falling off & hitting the backdrop. Also, having the subject close to the lights means they’re closer to the area where the contrast is greatest. So there needs to be space between subject & black backdrop, and also the subject needs to be close to the light source.

Q. Are there wedding videographers that you prefer to/frequently work with, and does a request for videography impede logistics/your creative flair? (ie prefer not to deal with one) – Sheryl.

I love working with videographers (when they’re not annoying). There is one company who we’ve had a pretty bad experience with (ie – their videographer set up at the very front of the aisle (next to the parents) in the center, and then stood behind the camera the entire ceremony & didn’t move. Not only could we not get any wide shots looking right up the aisle, but the guests sitting 3-6 rows back couldn’t see the B&G at all. Not cool.

I’ve never quite understood why photographers get so up in arms about videographers though. In my opinion, each discipline is an equally artistic, challenging, and creative field.
They’re also very, very different. I’ve yet to come across a NZ company that can REALLY rock both video and photography.

Probably my fav company to work with is SODE The first time we worked with them, it was a bit of a shock – there were 3 videographers, all full on with gear, shooting quite close in, etc. Add to that 2 makeup artists, 2 photographers, and you’ve got a really busy kitchen! But their work is top notch. I also really like handing over to the video guys & asking what they’d like to do. This way, I’m getting setups & shots that I might otherwise have not thought of. Often, video needs the movement factor to look really cool – and that’s something that conversely, photography is often lacking – so they compliment each other nicely. Basically – I view photography & videography as two equally creative disciplines, and there’s no reason we both can’t work harmoniously together to produce something really awesome.

Q. Are you potentially God’s gift to women? – Isaac.
Undoubtedly. Amber wouldn’t disagree…. (well, she can’t anyway, coz she’s not here.)

Thanks so much everyone – great questions!
Will do this again soon

Isaac.

Wow – it’s been a while since I’ve updated on here! tsk tsk.

A few weeks ago – I caught up with the gorgeous Anariama – who is a local singer songwriter.
She was after some promo shots to include in her application to perform at the Parachute Festival in 2011.

So we rocked on down to the Wintec Studio and had a fantastic time.

Here are some of the images from the shoot…

Behind the scenes… Most of this shoot was lit through 2 big softboxes, set up in a “clamshell” to give a really full, shadowless light. It suits Anariama perfectly. (You need beautiful skin to pull off this lighting, as it’s VERY revealing!!)

And this is what it looked like from the camera side…

We then moved over the the black backdrop, changed up the lighting, and shot some on black – with a nice rim light coming through from behind her.

This is Anariama’s grandfather – who came along to the shoot with her. I just couldn’t resist shooting a few frames of him – the lighting setup suited him perfectly.

Final shot of the day I turned off all the other lights, and shot one really low key. It’s one of my favs.

Thanks to Anariama for being patient, and gorgeous!

We’ve just returned from Raro – where it was lovely and warm and sunny.

New Zealand is cold & rainy. Can’t wait to get back over to Rarotonga & lap up the sun again!

Here’s a little photo essay of our trip – including some gorgeous sunsets

These images are also available for purchase as framed wall prints or canvasses – and also for use as stock imagery.
If you’d like to buy one, just get in touch with us here.

Remember, we’re also taking wedding photography bookings for Rarotonga in July / August 2011 – we’ll be based there during this time.

Day One

We arrived in Raro & settled in to our gorgeous accommodation at the Royale Takitumu villas in Titikaveka.

They were self contained units – allowing much more privacy & relaxation than the business of the bigger resorts.

Another great benefit of having our own little self contained unit is that we had a fully equipped kitchen, perfect for taking advantage of the delicious local fruits!

This is the beach down on the lagoon – at sunset on the first night. At this time of year, you don’t see the actual sunset from Titikaveka (but you do in summer) – still gorgeous though!

Day Two

We hired our trusty scooter – we called him “Donkey”. This arose from Shrek – as I was telling Amber to hurry up & get on the back of our noble steed… and then ‘Donkey’ just stuck.

We also went out for a kayak in the lagoon. I was too chicken to take our big camera along, but I did wrap up our little Canon G10 in plastic bags and gingerly paddle out to get some shots of our beach, looking back from the lagoon….

In the evening – I headed around the corner of the coast on the scooter to catch a sunset. I wasn’t disappointed. This was around the Arorangi area..

So beautiful. Definitely worth a face-full of bugs on the ride back!

Day Three

We decided to go for a walk along the beach from Titikaveka to Muri.
It took just over an hour, and was gorgeous. A bit of rock hopping was needed, as the tide was nearly full – making it impossible to just walk around the sand the entire way.

All along the beach, there are coconuts that have fallen from the trees…

We arrived at Muri – which is the more “touristy” beach. It was still fairly quiet though.
Here’s a “postcard” shot of Muri lagoon, looking across to one of the Motus.

Later in the day we headed into town to stock up on supplies. Just out of Avarua was this cool little spot…

There are many places like that on the island. When I posted this image on our business Facebook page – one of the comments was that it just needs a bride in one of the doorways – I couldn’t agree more!

We cruised back home along the inland road – looking up towards the mountain…

A lot of the produce & fruit is grown inland – like this pawpaw plantation:

Last rays of light hitting the mountain – we planned to climb up here today, but the top was totally in the clouds.

Finally, the last bit of sunset – about 100m along the beach from our villas.

Day Four

This morning I went for a wander through the old abandoned resort. It was started by the Sheraton Hotel chain, and then funds ran out and the work just stopped. The site sat abandoned for years, and it was resurrected by the Hilton Hotel chain – who put another 2 years of work into it, and again had to abandon the development. It’s a spooky feeling place.

Coconut trees through the shattered glass..

I love some of the shops around the island. The names, the colours, and the fact that they sell pretty much anything & everything!

The “Palace Burger” from Palace Takeaways in Avarua has reached legendary status amongst my friends – so I had to try one.
Shown here with my iPhone next to it, for a sense of scale..

I sat on the beach and ate my Palace Burger while watching the sun going down over one of Raro’s best bodyboarding breaks.
Unfortunately, the winds & swell weren’t right for this spot the whole of our trip.

Day Five

I set my alarm and was up by 6.00am – to head down to Muri on noble “Donkey” to hopefully catch a sunrise.

It was still pitch black when I arrived, so I just sat on the beach & waited.

As the first light splashed the skies over the lagoon, a couple wandered down from the Pacific Resort to watch the sun coming up. They took a few steps into the water.
I sneakily grabbed a few shots – I love their silhouette in this shot.

As the sun rose over the sea, I was treated to some lovely colours:

Once I made it home, I even managed to slip back into bed & keep reading my book – when Amber woke up I just casually wandered over, grabbed the camera & said – “check these out”… she had no idea I’d even gone.

Later in the day, we did the cross island walk. It was about 4 hours of either steep ascent, or steep descent. Pretty heavy on the body – but a great sense of achievement from the top!

It doesn’t look it in the picture, but this is about a 45 degree incline. And it’s the track.

The sun was hitting this little patch of moss growing on a twig, and it caught my eye.

Love the interplay of the symmetry of the leaves being broken by the shadows on top.

Looking across from the top:

We ended up quite high:

On the way down, a little fern down near the base of the track reminded me of home:

Day Six

We headed into town for the Saturday morning markets. It was a great mix of people, food, and their wares. Surprisingly, most of the fresh fruit in the stalls could be purchased cheaper at the little local fruit stall across the road from us – so we didn’t even end up buying much!

On the way back from town, we noticed a huge ship had arrived, and was ferrying it’s passengers into the port. You could tell the people from the cruise ship (who were in town for one day) as you saw them in dribs & drabs along the beaches that day… socks & shoes, sometimes long pants even!

As you most likely know, we’re coffee addicts. In NZ, we don’t start the day until we have arrived at our local cafe for our morning coffee… every single day, without fail.
So it was a relief to find Deli-licous in Muri, who make great coffee, even by our standards!

These cups remind me of being a kid. Don’t think they make them in NZ any more (at least, not that I’ve seen in a long time)

It was our second to last day, and we needed to get rid of some fruit! So we made an amazing fruit salad, with apple; pear; banana; starfruit; orange; grapefruit; pawpaw; pineapple; kiwifruit; and passionfruit – all in one. Topped with some natural yoghurt = yum.

In the afternoon, we headed down to Trader Jacks – where we watched some canoe racing (from the safety of our table, complete with chips & beer).

Trader Jacks is a great spot – right on the waterfront, plenty of colourful patrons & tall stories, good chips, and good beer. All while watching the sun go down over the sea.
This pretty much sums it up.

Day Seven

On our last day, we took a few shots of things that had been memorable for us, so that we’d always be able to look back on this trip & tell it apart from others!

This is Salvador. He is resident cat at Takitumu. Our cat (Dahli) in New Zealand was named after the artist Salvador Dali – so to find her “other half” in Raro was very special.
He was a total pro at ignoring the camera & turning his head away!

Our lovely villas:

You could just grab a kayak whenever you wanted, drag it down the beach, and paddle around the lagoon.

Or, you could relax in one of the sun loungers & read your book. The lagoon was often this deserted too – just us, the sand, and the ocean. Magic.

This is the village church in Titikaveka. On Sunday morning, the singing was amazing – you could hear it from the beach!

A final loop around the inland road before we left.

One of the spots that jumped out to us, as a cool potential wedding photo location.
Unfortunately, we rounded the corner & discovered it’s inside Aorangi Prison!

Scooters – the best way to get around the island! No helmets needed, just the sun on your face & the wind in your hair.

And then we had to come home

With the exception of the two photos I took on the G10 from my kayak – every image here was taken with just one lens.

I wanted to test myself a little & push outside the box. So I only carried one camera (a Canon 5DmkII) and one lens (35mm f1.4) to Raro. I left everything else at home.
The 35mm is a prime lens, which means it has no zoom. You want to zoom in? Walk forward. Zoom out a bit? Step backward. It meant I really had to think about my composition, rather than being lazy & just zooming in or out.

The lens was fantastic – a great focal length for multi-purpose shots.

I’ve just sent all the above images through to our print lab. I’ll put them into an album at some stage when they get back.
I can’t stress enough how important this is. In this digital age, it’s SO EASY to lose entire sets of photos. Whether they get accidentally deleted, or you reformat your drive, or your computer gets stolen.
Looking back through a set of prints is just special. Do it now – go find your latest holiday shots – or your favourite shots of your kids, and print them out.

Hope you’ve enjoyed these photos – they’re something that we’ll enjoy for many years to come.

Get in touch if there are any you want to buy as wall prints, canvas, or use as stock.

Cheers!
Isaac.

Yesterday, we headed out in the blistering cold with our gorgeous models – Sharnee, Petra, and Zildjian. We met up with fellow photogs Mike Hill and Dave Lashlie, and were ready to go.

We had hired a smoke machine for the shoot, and also a petrol generator – as the power required was more than our little battery packs could handle.
Both were a huge success! The generator meant we could (and did) shoot all day long, and the smoke provided a perfectly eerie background to accompany the images.

Make sure you also check out Mike’s shots and Dave’s shots.

So… who’s bringing a smoke machine to their wedding now???

Isaac’s images:

Amber’s images: