This week I have been shooting for one of my regular clients – NZA fashion.  We have been shooting their outdoor fashion wear in a number of  locations around the North Island of New Zealand.
In this shot I had Jeroen and Peter are working in an old forge in Auckland.  As we were unable to make a real fire for this image I chose to light the scene and give it the feel of heat and fire.

Image 2 shows the scene prior to lighting,  I chose to underexpose the scene and let the Elinchrom Quadras do the work.

I mounted my first Quadra off the wall to the left of camera to imitate the natural light from the door opening..  As it was a confined space I used a Manfrotto super clamp and magic arm to attach it to the wall.  This meant no stands to trip over.  This light was fitted with the Elinchrom Rotalux 60 x 80 cm softbox.  The output was set to give a pleasant natural light level to expose the men.

The second Elinchrom Quadra was attached to the wall with a Manfrotto nano clamp and mini magic arm to the rear of the fireplace (see image 3) and was placed directly behind the men.  This light was fitted with my own custom made snoot and 2 full CTO warming gels.  As this light was hidden from the camera I set the level higher to give the feel of the glow from the fire and the feel of the heat.

I then had my client stand out of sight behind the chimney hood and on cue he would throw two handfuls of ash dust in the air, as this floated down I fired the camera.  The backlit dust and ash added to the mood and the effect of the “fire” and the rim lighting around the models and anvil made it even more successful.

Canon EOS1D mk4. Canon 50mm 1.2L.

2 x Elinchrom Quadra lights. Elinchrom Softbox plus my custom made snoot with warming gels.

ISO 400. f11 at 1/15 second.

Lexar Pro 600x CF. LowePro ProTrekker 400. Edited on HP Dreamcolor.

From the first time I visited Cobia almost 10 years ago I have really wanted to ride a mountain bike on some of the narrow goat tracks around the island…   Last week I finally got to be the first person ever to do it!  By all accounts from the TuiTai crew and the people of the one local village in the Ringgold Islands, Nalutu on Qelelevu, north of here, this was the first time anyone had ever had a bike on this uninhabited volcanic cone which made it all the more fun!   From the boat I rode, carried and dragged my bike over the rugged terrain and was rewarded with great sections of “goat trail” and of course the amazing unique views!

Cobia Island (pronounced Thombia), a member of the Ringgold Isles archipelago, which forms a very remote outlying group to the north of Vanua Levu, Fiji.   Cobia is a lush volcanic atoll.  The sunken volcanic crater has filled with sea water forming a beautiful blue lagoon.  The trees and their root systems seem somewhat Jurassic and it is like no other island I have visited.   There are goats, bats and the odd boa constrictor living on the island but it is far removed from any human population.  The TuiTai is the only regular visitor to Cobia.

I used my Hahnel Pro remote control to fire my camera whilst riding for many of these shots.   Thanks also to Kevin Michael Snyder for taking some of the other images.

Canon * Lexar * LowePro * HP * Hahnel * RAB * Rudy Project

For some time I had planned this shot in my head.  My goal was to use the Canon 8-15mm fisheye zoom at 8mm on a full frame camera and shoot from high up the mast during my TuiTai photography expedition.  This would give me the  ”globe perspective” I was aiming for.

There were a few logistical issues involved in achieving this.  Initially I was hoisted up the mast to see if I could get the shot.  I found that when using the 8mm lens it was impossible to show the complete boat due to the mast obstructing the view (the 8mm exaggerated the size of close objects).  I then tried walking out on the spreaders – this was better but made the image slightly off centre and in order to get my feet out of frame I would swing back into the mast…

Time to rethink and come up with plan B.  The next day we were anchored of Rabi Island in a stunning location.  This time I rigged up a hanging 3 point system for my Canon 1Ds mk3 and 8-15mm fisheye zoom lens.  This consisted of heavy duty zip ties through the strap loops and a third to my Manfrotto base plate.  With some adjusting I could get the camera to hang perfectly and pointing directly downward.  I had attached my Hahnel Pro remote receiver to the camera to allow me to fire it from the lower decks.  The setup was attached to a V setup formed by a line coming from each of two masts.  We began to hoist the camera and got half way up in a stiff breeze, at that stage one of the crew members called out for us to stop hoisting!  What we hadn’t taken into consideration was that the camera wasn’t heavy enough to enable us to lower it back down again…  Lucky for me, one of the very fit Fijian boys showed his climbing skills and shimmied up a diagonal cable to haul the camera down.  We then attached several dive weights to the lines and also attached a fishing line to ensure that we could indeed retrieve the camera.

The camera was hoisted all the way to the top and I created a series of very cool images by triggering the camera with my Hahnel remote.  I really liked this one with the tender boat leaving for a dice creating a fish hook shaped wake in the ocean.

Thanks to my friend Kevin Snyder and the Tui Tai crew for helping to make this happen.

CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY HONOR NEW ZEALAND  PHOTOGRAPHER CHRIS McLENNAN AT 5TH ANNUAL PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERS CUP

LONDON 3-11-2011 – Professional photographer Chris McLennan of New Zealand was presented with the 5th Annual Photography Masters Cup Honors Award and two further nominations in the category of sports.

Chris was also awarded two nominations in the “People” category and a further nomination in “Children of The World” category at the prestigious Nomination & Winners Photoshow. The live online ceremony webcast Sunday, October 29, 2011 was attended by photography fans in 83 countries who logged on
to see the climax of the industry’s most important event for color photography.

The awards international Jury included captains of the industry ranging from Hasted Hunt Kraeutler in New York, Brancolini Grimaldi, David & Goliath, Simon Studer Art Associates, Stills Gallery to Christie’s in London who honored Color Masters with 272 coveted title awards and 1099 nominees in 18
categories.

“It is an incredible achievement to be selected among the best from the 13,321 entries we received this year,” said Basil O’Brien, the awards Creative Director. “Chris McLennan’s six images were exceptional in their respective categories, representing contemporary color photography at its finest, and we’re pleased to present him with the titles of 5 nominations and one honorable mention”.

See the 5th Annual Winners at http://www.thecolorawards.com/gallery/

INTERNATIONAL COLOR AWARDS PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERS CUP is the leading international award honoring excellence in color photography. This celebrated event shines a spotlight on the best professional and amateur photographers worldwide and honors the finest images with the highest achievements in color photography.

Fire dancer, Korovu, Yasawa Islands, Fiji.

I created this image at Korovu in the Yasawa Islands of Fiji.

Whilst I created this image in Fiji the dance style originates from Samoa.

I shot the image in the evening glow soon after sunset.  There were various exposure issues to overcome to capture the mood and movement of the dancer and to create a successful story.

I set my camera to manual mode to give me the most reliable exposure.  The moving flames can throw your metering out as they pass through the frame.  I chose to use a slow shutter speed to highlight the movement, the selection of a low ISO setting enabled me to acheive this.

The subject was backlit from the direction in which the sun had set as well as having the erratic and ever changing flame light.

I wanted to add and control enough extra directional light to hold good detail on the dancer as well as give dimension and pin sharpness to his face and costume.  To acheive this I used a single off camera 580 EXII speedlite which I fired via my RadioPopper PX units.  On this occassion I controlled the flash output manually to ensure consistent accurate exposure with a scene that was constantly changing.  The remote speedlite was hand held off to the left by my assistant Virginia and was fired at full power via my RadioPopper PX system. The speedlite was fitted with a Hohnl 1/4 CTO gel to the flash to give the warm feel matching that of the evening clouds and flames.  As the dancer spun the fire sticks some excess burning parrafin spread accross the water to providing a very strong foreground before burning itself out.

I took a series of images and the exposures remained very consistent throughout.

Canon EOS 1Ds mk3.  Canon 35mm 1.4L.  RadioPopper PX transmitter and receiver.  Canon 580 EX II speedlite.

ISO 100. f9 at 1/20 second.

Lexar Pro 600x CF.  LowePro ProTrekker 400.  Edited on HP DreamColor.

My image of a cormorant fisherman on the Li River was awarded ”National Geographic photo of the day”.

National Geographic (click here)

On a recent photo shoot in the USA, I left Moab in the small hours of the morning for the drive and hike to photograph sunrise at the spectacular Mesa Arch.

It is an awe inspiring sight as the sun creeps over the horizon to expose the beautiful landscape sprawling before you.

The arch itself is hanging precariously off the front of the cliff and the golden sunlight bounces back off the rock face to light up the arch almost like a neon sign!  The light and reflections are constantly changing the appearance and colors of the scene.
I spent a couple of hours shooting the arch and for the first time I can remember I used every lens that I had in my trusty Lowepro Protrekker 400 backpack on the one single scene.  This included my 14mm 2.8L, 15mm fisheye, 24mm 1.4L, 50mm 1.2L and my 70-200 2.8L IS II.  I also created a stitch panorama from a series of six images taken on the 24mm 1.4L.

It’s an interesting exercise to do this and see how many unique images you can create of the one subject or location.  I also used a variety of different apertures to further vary the look of the images.  It also demonstrates that there is not necessarily a “right” lens to use as they all offer different benefits and bring their own qualities to your final image.

After a successful shoot it was back to town for a well deserved coffee and breakfast.

Here are some of the images I achieved that morning.

My recent review of the new Canon 300 2.8L IS mkII and 400 2.8L IS mkII lenses, including images.

The results from the new lens combinations were outstanding!

See my review and images here.

I was recently interviewed by journalist Fran Malloy for the cover story which appears in the recent Digital Photography & Design Magazine (published in Australia).  Click the link below to download and read the full article.

“It sounds like a dream job – and McLennan, who these days is based in Auckland, is quick to admit he leads a charmed life.  But it isn’t all banana chairs by the pool and schnapps by the fire”.

…”I really love what I do.  The reality is, its an enormous amount of hard work, so I couldn’t do this job unless I really loved it!”.

Digital Mag Profile

My recent interview and feature for cnet Australia by Alexandra Savvides.

Exposure Pro – Chris McLennan