Exposure hosted by the NZIPP ~ Wellington 2017

Welcome to Wellington, the setting for The NZIPP, New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography, to have their annual shindig… The 5 days of festivities kicked off on Thursday the 15th of June, as we traveled from all over the country to make Wellington’s Shed 6 the biggest photography hub since yesteryear… The waterfront became the backdrop for all who attended & what a perfect place to host a gathering of like minded people all interested in the latest & oldest ways of creating art in single moments…

The atmosphere of the waterfront was thoroughly inspirational.. having found myself surrounded by friendly faces, music on the air all day long and colours & light that adorned all corners of life, I was encompassed by the buzzing excitement which flowed so completely from start to close…

For the first time in forever the Epson/NZIPP IRIS Awards, Exposure~’The NZ Photo Show’ & the InFocus Conference were held at the same venue as the year before… This had some amazing features to it, not only is Shed 6, on Wellington’s Waterfront, spacious, beautifully accessible & A-Mazing, but also the NZIPP Board did not have to reinvent the wheel by planning the event from scratch. They had the base well sorted and with support from the phenomenal Seven Events team, what was seen this year was the highest embellishment ever experienced by New Zealand’s photo industry…

Thus, while putting together the collections to this Almighty event, I came to the realization that it was just wayyy too immense to condense into only ONE post………. So I welcome you to the first movement of this Symphony…
Should you wish to Head through to the Second movement – Further Exposure
Or even flick through to the Third Movement – InFocus & the Gala Dinner

With 5 days of activities ahead, there were many amazing aspects to witness come together… And I for one felt incredibly privileged to be one who got to see a bit of pretty much everything and more…
Live shoots across all photography interests from 19th Century Wet Plate Collodians to some seriously energized Lightpainting…  Speakers with real lives; who create some beautiful inspiration in the face of adversity & aided with kindness…
Evening events hosted by the most experienced in the industry; including a 100th birthday & #thedressnz.. All the newest Gear to get your hands on & vendors to chat to.. Three days of the newest visual creations coming up for Print judging in the IRIS Awards. People from everywhere partying in our capital city.
Walls lined with Inspiration & Accomplishments. Old & new friends. A coffee shop in the building… AND to top it all off The IRIS Awards Gala Dinner on the final night… Needless to say, I can account for about 15 hours of sleep thrown in there somewhere.. who needed it anyway, the energy of the place was just such a hum!!! :)

So welcome to Shed 6.. The host to all sorts of wonder that is yet to come…
Thursday brings us a good slice of IRIS Award Judging, Leica has an interview with Cam McLaren & Nikon (if you don’t know them, go look them up) has a birthday party to celebrate operating for a century!!! That’s right 100 years of amazing cameras & glass!!!

Upon registration, Deanna and Melissa gave me a full low down on the days events, what was going on where and all the specific shoots & talks that I wouldn’t want to miss….

There were a fair few Awarded Prints adorning the walls already, as the Epson/NZIPP IRIS judging had been going since 8:30am, this was just the start though, as there were still many days ahead!!!

Here in Room 4 is where these visions come to life outside of the artists realm…. As a platform is realized for artists to express themselves three fold: The need – to create, the goal – to express themselves, and the bonus – to be awarded for doing so.. for putting their visions out there to be embraced, adored, scrutinised & lauded by all who come to view their works… summing up one of the single hardest, yet potentially rewarding, challenges any creative individual has to deal with..See this wonderfully joyous face, this is Ms Rachel Callander, she is awe inspiring!!! So, heads up, you’ll see a fair bit of her smile over the coming days.. :)

Judging is always up close and personal, and the best part – unlike many of the images we will ever see, these are all Ink on Paper, old-school so to speak, even if the techniques used are state of the art… Image presented below is by Lisa Saad..

Image presented below is by Richard Wood…

Image presented below is by Mandi Lynn…

Image presented below is by Lisa Saad…

To kick off the weekend’s entertainment, Leica organised a Conversation on Photography with Cam McLaren. A photographer for New Zealand Geographic, Cam is the man who completely submerges himself in his subjects, from the hidden world of NZ’s Methamphetamine use, to an isolated Christian Community, his collections speak volumes and he had some great stories to match them!!

Back over in Room 4 the Illustrative & Documentary categories are in full swing…

Image presented below is by Jessica Jones…

With judging now approaching the close of day one, the passions & sense of humour of those in the hotseats is still as fresh as ever…

Nikon hosted Friday Evening’s festivities – 100 years of providing photographers with a means to create, imagine and document their lives…

It was a great occasion for all to mingle and catch up, with old friends saying hi, and lots of new introductions, the social side of conference was starting to ramp up quite nicely!!!  Thus closed off Thursday’s intimate start to this wonderful gathering.

Friday kicked off beautifully… This was an action packed day!!!!! IRIS judging was in full swing, photo walks & live shoots, more prints to line the walls & the revealing of #thedressnz….

We start off with an inspirational and wonderfully intricate photo walk with Lisa Saad and her Anonymous Man #34….

After a chat about Lisa’s concept behind her Anonymous Man Series, she took us through her next design, her ideas, plan of action & aspects of Wellington’s imagery that will culminate in her newest work…

Lisa gave full disclosure as she went, with complete description behind her points of interest, with forethought of how to utilize a subject in post production & why she loves creating her visions in such a way… Read on to check out how Lisa puts all her visions together, but if you can’t wait, click here to check out her Wellington Inspired Anonymous Man Speed Edit that was released this last week – It is superb photography on a whole new level…

While it was truly inspirational to tag along with the group as we headed towards TePapa Museum…  I did need to leave though, as there was a whole other world waiting for me, The World of Fashion….

Introducing this incredible couple straight from New York City, Lindsay Adler & Chris Knight…  Both were to WOW the socks off of everybody over the coming days… Today was Lindsay’s go to inspire & educate, with her insightful views into the glamourous world of Fashion Photography…

Lindsay was more than happy to go into all aspects of her Portrait Photography business, she also gave wonderful insight into how she utilizes her creative outlets to attract her perfect clients…

Since we’re here to talk about photography, it’s all based around shooting in the first place.. So Lindsay gave a full run through of her favourite lighting, everything from her flashes & modifiers to the angles that different light densities will alter a subject…

Lindsay’s tips on posing and direction are invaluable. Her natural flow in communication with her subject taps right into her ability to create her visions with consistency & a fair bit of magic…

And this is where the WOW ramped up a notch!!! The World of Wearable Art were to collaborate with Lindsay for the live shoot during Saturday’s Exposure Show… So WOW sent on through a ‘warm up’ for her to have some fun with.. that saying though, the ‘warm up’ is still out of the world amazing, the WOW team definitely don’t hold back!!!

The garment featured below is called “Traditional Progress” and is created by Tsz Kwan Au, of the Hong Kong Design Institute
Modeled by Sophie Petley, Dressed by Felicity Mountford, with Makeup & hair by Damask Dewhirst & Ellie Whiting from Matt Forceman hair.

There were no stones unturned through this workshop, and even more to be said, so stay tuned to see more of Lindsay & Chris over the coming days…

Back on over to Shed 6, and the images in the Epson/NZIPP IRIS Awards were still flowing beautifully…

Wedding Creative Category was in full swing, with a full variety of amazingness to be witnessed… Image presented below is by Anthony Turnham…

Image presented below is by Nathan Maddigan…

With the many many prints entered, a huge shout out has to go to the teams who were operating out the back, from the Honours Board to the Hands & Helpers!

Back out into the Waterfront, we headed off to the Mac’s Function Center, for some beers & eats and to enjoy some dancing-light inspired hop, skipping & jumping… :)

Meet the lovely & smiley Amber Griffin, with her beautiful view into dance, photography & what can only be described as lightpainting of perfection..

Amber gets super creative with the use of flashes, concentrated ambient light, a professional dancer and a keen sense of timing…

Working together, Amber and her dancer throw together a variety of flinging moves to create a poetry in visual art…

It was amazing to witness her process unfold, with a touch of trial & error, the final images are well worth all the added attention to detail…

After a brief look into how Amber might process the images, she took questions and had a chat about how she loves her artistry & the power it gives her to express herself… We’ll hear from Amber a little later in the weekend as well…

I boosted it back over to Shed 6, where the place was humming about a dress…. Beers & Wines were flowing, the colour for the evening was red and the question that all were asking was ‘What is this #thedressnz all about???”…

Rachel Callander was there to MC the evening and spill some details for us along the way…

Canon & the CPS Team put on a stunning evening, all based around this Lacey Number, #thedressnz, 4 amazing photographers & compulsory creative time…

The rockstars of the hour were Jenna Young, Candy Capco, Danelle Bohane & Dan o’Day, who had all been sent the same dress, with a brief to create a single image, in secret, to whatever specs or ideas that they wished… And tonight was the first time these images were displayed… Check out their promotional video to go with it all…….. #thedressnz

Dan o’Day went with a simplistic shooting approach, using natural light, space & forest and his fiance as his model, which all fitted just amazingly! Then inspired by another of his accomplishments & interests, Dan embellished his vision by blending digital imagery with layers of paint & texture…

Jenna Young: “What can I say, I just love Tree Tunnels…”
“…Oh and Fantails… ”
“…And sticking ivy on a board with a glue gun…”

Jenna does love Tree Tunnels, we’ve met her on the side of the road before in hunt of an ever illusive secret tree tunnel, so she took her vision to a whole new level by creating her own Tree Tunnel, in a forest, with a stunning model, in a perfect dress, surrounded by fantails & magic!!!!!

As Candy Capco expressed how she had used a textured rockface that she’s been eyeing up for a while, now suddenly she had the perfect subject and a free license to make some magic…

Genevieve was on hand as the Canon representative who tied this creative idea together… What a perfect way to bring creatives together, and entice others to push their own boundaries and see what they can produce should they look a little deeper…

And with that brings Friday’s events to a close, as I said, it was a full on day, and this is just a highlight into all that went on.. So before I turn you all into Drones, take a breather and the next installment to this Symphony will be with you soon enough…

Ahead we still have IRIS Judging, a wrap party & a Gala Dinner, many live shoots, a whole heap more WOW and an ocean worth of emotion & inspiration during the InFocus conference…
Please head along to Further Exposure, the Second Movement in the Symphony that was the Epson/NZIPP Conference 2017…. :)

It was such a privilege to bare witness to the magic of the first couple of days, I know I had so much fun!!!!