January 22, 2020

Nathan White

Jaw Dropping Locations in New Zealand

January 22, 2020

Nathan White

New Zealand is one of those places where there are so many amazing locations to see, that it can be a nightmare trying to fit it all into one holiday. I’ve just come back from a 3 week stay on the north and south islands of NZ and all I can say is WOW!

So much beauty and so little time.…

Below I have included some shots from the most jaw dropping locations that I visited.

Lake Pukaki

In bright sunlight, the colour of this lake is a very unique shade of blue which is caused by finely ground rock particles washed down from the glaciers. Lake Pukaki is one of three lakes in the area that are running in a north/south direction. The other two are Lake Tekapo and Lake Ohau. At the northern end of the lake is the iconic Mount Cook.

Mount Cook is the tallest mountain in New Zealand (3,724m) and it's rugged slopes helped Sir Edmund Hillary to develop his climbing skills in preparation for the conquest of Everest. The mountain is known as Ao-raki to the Maori, which means 'cloud piercer.

Sony A7rII + Sony 100-400mm G Master lens

Nugget Point

An iconic location for photographers… and its not hard to see why. This panoramic vista is located on the lower east coast of New Zealand’s South Island. The lighthouse at the end of the point is one of the country’s oldest and just below it you will find a colony of fur seals! Sunrise is the perfect time to photograph this dramatic location, so be sure to book an overnighter in Kaka Point as it is the closest town in the area (about 15 min drive).

Castle Hill

The sunrise I shot at Castle Hill was brief, but intense!

Castle Hill is located just off the main highway running through Arthur’s Pass on New Zealand’s South Island, approximately 100kms from Christchurch.

Castle Hill is aptly named for its magnificent limestone boulders scattered throughout the area which are reminiscent of an old, run-down stone castle.

Cave Stream Scenic Reserve

This place is named for its 594m long underground cave system. Unfortunately I lacked the proper footwear and lighting to traverse the cave safely so I had to be content photographing the non-subterranean landscape outside. Fortunately the outside was pretty dramatic as well ;)

Redwood Forest, Rotorua

This 6ha Californian Redwood forest is located in Rotorua on New Zealand’s North Island. The spectacular trees here are approximately 118 years old and attract more than 600,000 visitors per year.

My time here was spent slowly walking through the trees, soaking in the atmosphere and looking for little pockets of light streaming through the canopy. Whilst it can be quite dark in amongst these massive sentinels, its these small lit up areas that can really add some dramatic colour and contrast to your images.

Tongariro National Park

Tawhai Falls (pictured below) is located in the UNESCO Dual World Heritage Tongariro National Park and is also a filming location from Lord of the Rings. Fans of the trilogy will know this place as 'Gollum's Pool'. The water here is so clean and clear. Tongariro was established in 1887 and was the first national park in New Zealand and the fourth in the world.

The third image here was captured at the entrance to the Whakapapa Nature Walk in the national park.

Lake Tekapo

Home of the iconic Church of the Good Shepherd with the snow capped Southern Alps as the backdrop. Lake Tekapo is located approximately 3 hours south-west of Christchurch and is part of a UNESCO Dark Sky Reserve. In short, it’s a pretty darn good spot for astrophotography….that is, when it’s not raining. I had only scheduled one night in Tekapo and it rained the whole time :(

The only reprieve was on the morning that I was to leave. Despite all that, the lake is beautiful no matter what the weather brings and I managed to grab this quick shot on the way out of town. Tekapo has this cool footbridge that takes you from the town centre across to the Church of the Good Shepherd. In this case, I thought the compression effect of capturing tourists on the bridge with my 400mm lens against the mountain backdrop would make for a cool image.

Waikato River, Taupo

I didn’t really do any shooting while in Taupo as I was there for Christmas, but I did capture this one image while out on a drive. The natural colour of the Waikato River is stunning to begin with, but then add in the reflections from this old tree and you’ve got a beautiful, intimate scene that I just had to capture!

Devil’s Punchbowl Falls, Arthur’s Pass

There is truly something special about photographing waterfalls. One of my favourite parts is the anticipation that builds during the hike. Especially when it’s a location that you haven’t shot before, it’s recently rained, everything smells fresh and all the trees are glistening. Then in the distance you hear the roar of the water that gets louder with every step.

Devil’s Punchbowl Falls was that place for me in New Zealand.

The falls can be found at the end of a 2km return hike, situated in Arthur's Pass Village. The walk through the lush beech forest is enchanting and the falls themselves are approximately 130 metres high. I experienced some rain and strong blow back from the falls while shooting here but the view is definitely worth it.

March 14, 2019

Nathan White

Photography, Commercial

Projects Retrospective - The Last 6 Months

March 14, 2019

Nathan White

Photography, Commercial

Recently my work has been extremely varied and while I’ve read a lot about how photographers really need to specialise in a particular style if they are going to make it as a business, I personally like the challenge and creativity that comes with trying a little bit of everything :)

My first love in photography will always be nature and landscapes as you have no doubt guessed from the posts on my social media feeds, however as a business I try to cater to a number of different styles to suit the needs of my clients.

The images below are a selection from my favourite projects that took place over the last 6 months.

Yeppoon Lagoon

This new waterpark has become the Number 1 destination for families on the Capricorn Coast this Summer. Due to the number of stakeholders involved in completing this project, I have had numerous requests for images of this location ranging from aerial, landscape and fixture details. It’s always a good day when you get to spend it photographing for clients down at the coast.

Capricorn Food and Wine Festival

Last year’s Capricorn Food and Wine Festival was the best I’ve seen and the new location on Rockhampton’s upgraded riverbank precinct was the perfect place to host our premiere foodie event. This was my first time photographing it and while I’m not normally the first to put my hand up to shoot an event, this was definitely a great experience. It was also a big help that we actually had dedicated models to follow around so we weren’t distracting anyone from their glasses of merlot :)

Blackwater Mine Sites

Having never been on a mine site before, the two seperate visits I’ve had to the Blackwater and Jellinbah coal mines were quite an eye opening experience. The size of the equipment there is mind blowing. Especially when you’re standing beside a rig where just the tyre is twice your height! I really enjoyed my time on both sites shooting for Central Highlands Development Corporation and Hitachi.

Blackdown Tableland National Park

I always love shooting in National Parks and Blackdown Tableland is no exception. This project was commissioned by the Central Highlands Development Corporation for their new tourism brochure and marketing materials. The entire project encompassed a number of areas in the Central Highlands but the Blackdown part of the shoot was one of my favourites. We had a beautiful young family as our models for the day and despite some recent fire damage and overcast weather, we managed to come away with some great images.

Portraits

I really appreciate great portrait images. While in the past I have shot the occasional formal or studio portrait, I am looking to do a lot more in this space over the next 12 months to develop my skills and take on more shoots. I even recently shot a wedding (something I swore I would never do), and I have another booked for September! My portrait work in recent weeks has been with some of the lovely models from local modelling agency, Elite Avenue.

Rockhampton Riverbank

Last but not least on my favourites list from the last 6 months is the Rockhampton Riverside Precinct. I have shot there a number of times recently, both personally and professionally. The last commissioned shots were for Woollam Constructions who were looking to capture their completed work on the redevelopment. As you saw earlier with the images from the Capricorn Food and Wine Festival, it is the perfect location to hold events, spend time with family or grab a bite to eat.

April 24, 2018

Nathan White

Photography

Tips for Photographing Waterfalls

April 24, 2018

Nathan White

Photography

I think I may have briefly covered this in a previous post but after recently shooting some waterfalls I figured it would probably be helpful to write about this topic in more detail.

Waterfalls and their surrounding forests are always a magnet for photographers of any skill level due to their serene nature, flowing water, beautiful green hues and glistening rocks. While these amazing locations look beautiful at any time of the day, photographing them can be a little tricky. Fortunately these issues can be overcome with a few easy steps.

As I mentioned above, I recently visited some falls in the Marysville region of Victoria. Being unfamiliar with the area and not knowing exactly what to expect, I arrived at the falls relatively early in the morning to allow time to explore. After a 1km hike through some semi-dense forest I came to the base of the falls. It was a beautiful sight. There was just one problem….The sun was shining down over the falls creating deep shadows and very bight highlights. Whilst these conditions don’t rule out shooting all together, they certainly can make capturing everything in one shot extremely difficult.

Just like any photographer, I love capturing that silky smooth long exposure effect on water. Our problem here though is that the dynamic range in this scene is far to great to capture in one shot without some minor tradeoffs. Yes we can bracket our images at varying exposures and blend them using Photoshop, but the end result can sometimes look a little unnatural. On this occasion I decided to try out a few compositions regardless of the conditions. I had taken the time to walk here, I might as well see what I can capture.

To try and combat the harsh sunlight around the top of my frame I added a graduated neutral density filter to darken the upper third of the image. Whilst that helped a little it doesn’t give the long exposure effect on the water. To achieve that, I also added a 6 stop neutral density filter to darken the overall scene and allow me to lengthen my shutter speed. Finally, to cut through the glare on the water and rocks I used a circular polariser.

To best capture a scene like this in one shot, I always expose for the highlights. You can always boost the dark shadows in your images to even out your exposure, but you will never be able to recover blown out highlights. How much detail you can bring back in your shadow areas will be determined by your camera and it sensor. For this shot I was using my old Nikon D800 which retains pretty good shadow details so I knew I would be able to bring back the dark areas with only small amounts of noise.

This is the RAW file straight out of camera

*ISO 100 | f/11 | 35mm | 1 sec - Edited and colour corrected in Lightroom*

Using these techniques I was able to capture the above image. I have included both the RAW file and the Lightroom edited version so that you can see the differences. Whist it is a true representation of the scene as it was, it is definitely not as pleasing to the eyes as what would be possible without the harsh sunlight. The result is a washed out and overly contrasty image. The easiest solution to this problem is to remove the harsh sunlight. To do this you can either pick an overcast day to come back and shoot, or in my case I noticed that the falls were situated in a valley surrounded by tall trees. All I would have to do is wait until later in the afternoon when the sun had set low enough that the hills and trees were blocking the light, bringing the entire location into shadow.

Now that our light is completely flat, there are no bright highlights or deep shadows. This removes the need for the graduated ND filter and (depending on how dark it is) the 6 stop ND filter. One tool that I always retain though for shooting waterfalls is the circular polariser. Despite the lack of sunlight, there is still reflection/glare on the water and rocks and cutting through that will not only improve your image but it will boost your colour and contrast. For this shot I still expose for the highlights however it is much easier to achieve a well balanced exposure due to the flat light.

The below image is from the afternoon shoot. The results are 100% better in my opinion. You can fully appreciate the colours and your eyes are not distracted by the overly bright highlights. I realise that in some situations it is not always possible to wait for a rainy day or come back at sunset. There have been many occasions where I just had to make do with the conditions available as that was the only time I had in that location. If however you have the luxury of time, I would definitely recommend visiting a location initially to scope out the area and compositions, then return when the light is right. It makes our job as photographers so much easier and it can take our images to the next level.

Summarised Tips

Shooting in flat, even light will always yield the best results
Always use a polariser
Graduated and regular ND filters can help control uneven lighting situations
Expose for the highlights
Always shoot in RAW to give you more editing power in Lightroom when it comes to boosting shadows and reducing highlights
Check out your shooting location ahead of time to work out where the light falls and the best time of day to shoot.

December 7, 2017

Nathan White

Photography, Commercial

2017 Projects In Review

December 7, 2017

Nathan White

Photography, Commercial

I realise that 2017 isn't quite over yet but I'm normally not very organised when it comes to writing blog posts so I figured I'd get on top of this while I think of it :)

Photography for me is a dream job and it is a profession that I hope to have the privilege of continuing in for a long time. Since taking my photography business full-time this year, I have had some fantastic clients and worked on a variety of projects ranging from aerial photography and video, 360 VR tours, event coverage, workshops, landscape prints, client Google Street View updates, portraits, formals, real estate photography and a few others.

One project in particular though stood out as the most enjoyable, the most challenging and the most rewarding. This job was shooting new destination and tourism images for the Southern Great Barrier Reef (SGBR) region. SGBR is the combined regions of Capricorn (Rockhampton/Yeppoon), Gladstone and Bundaberg.

Despite some monsoonal weather and a few other hinderances, I feel that I came away with some great images that will hopefully get put to good use in marketing these three amazing regions.

While most of you probably follow this page for my landscape photography... commercial photography actually makes up approximately 90% of my business. To give you a little taste of my work in this space, I have included a few of my favourite images from the recent SGBR tourism project.

Comments and shares are very much appreciated.

October 24, 2017

Nathan White

Photography

The Importance of Photographic Prints

October 24, 2017

Nathan White

Photography

The majority of us view images these days on our computers and phones, but it is becoming increasingly rare to actually view a physical copy of that image in person.

While I love admiring landscape and travel photographs posted to Facebook and Instagram, the experience can't compare to viewing an image in print. Especially when it's a large print.

There is something about seeing a physical representation of an image, the texture of the paper and the depth of colour that adds a completely new dimension. Even if you have seen the photograph before online, I find that its almost like seeing the image again for the first time.

Late last year I visited world renowned Australian photographer, Ken Duncan's gallery in Erina Heights, New South Wales. This was a revelation to me. I, like most people don't often have my work printed. Yes I have a couple of images hanging on my walls at home that I love, but the majority of my work can only be seen online.

Walking into Ken's gallery opened my eyes and gave life to a new inspiration and desire for photography that I had never felt before. It brought about the realisation that printing completes the cycle - From the eye of the photographer and the process to capture the image, to the digital post processing and finally the printing to create a piece of art.

In our digital society, photographs are shared/consumed online and within 24 hours they're gone. Printing your photography gives your images a life of their own. They no longer have an expiration date. For all the work that goes into making an image, it's a shame that after the initial post to social media, they then sit on our hard drives, never to be seen by anyone else again.

If you are a photographer, whether as a hobbyist, enthusiast or professional - you need to experience your own work in print.

While I know that 85-90% of my work will continue to be in a digital format, I don't think it will ever compare to the addictive rush of seeing a completed large scale print.

To finish off, check out this great video from one of my YouTube favs Peter McKinnon on why you need to be printing your photos.

NEW! Lightroom PRESET PACK: https://sellfy.com/p/QjNY/ - Edit your photos with 15 brand new presets! Colour Graded with my PM LUTS Pack : https://sellfy.com/p/EaHg/ The Music I use: https://goo.gl/IMZC9A - AMAZING for YouTubers My Crazy high Res Printer : http://amzn.to/2pbohYa What's up guys!! Have you ever wondered if you should be printing your own photos?

If you are tired of looking at that empty wall in your home or the office, please consider browsing my galleries for the perfect image to complement your space. My work comes in a variety of sizes and mediums ranging from canvas, metal and standard fine art prints.