Continuing our series of interviews with the prestigious photographers who will be speaking at this year’s Infocus photography conference, D-Photo catches up with the uniquely talented Sara Orme.

Sara produces beautiful work across a staggering array of styles, from fashion, beauty, and advertising to lifestyle, documentary portraiture, and fine art. Uniting her diverse portfolio is a superb technical mastery and an organic ability to convey emotion that permeates all she produces.

You’ve almost definitely been exposed to images Sara has created in big campaigns for the likes of Tourism New Zealand, Max Fashions, and Campaign for Wool, amongst a long list of other impressive clients. But with a background in both psychology and art history, the photographer is just as at home outside the commercial world, shooting her own self-directed art projects.

Sara will be delivering a talk entitled ‘Traversing different genres in 20 years’ that is sure to be full of excellent advice accrued over a truly impressive career. We put a few quick questions to Sara so you can get to know her a little better before the big event:

...full story

Next month one of the biggest events on the local photography calendar kicks off; from August 3 the three-day Infocus photography convention begins in Rotorua. Organized by the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography, the event will see some of the biggest names in the business converge on the Emergy Events Centre for a programme of inspiring talks, hands-on workshops, industry exhibitions, and general merriment.

In the weeks leading up to the event D-Photo is bringing you interviews with some of the illustrious photographers who will be speaking at Infocus, so you can get to know them beforehand and gain even more from their presentations. First up we have the ever-lovely Rachel Callander, wedding and portrait photographer extraordinaire at Timaru’s Callander Girl Photography.

As well as being named New Zealand Wedding Photographer of the year in 2011 and pulling in a litany of accolades at the Iris Professional Photography Awards, Rachel is just about to release a very special photographic book, entitled Super Power Babies. Dedicated to celebrating the unique spirit ...full story

In D-Photo’s continued push to help beginners move away from shooting in Auto mode, we speak with Matt Nixon of Photo & Video International about getting creative with the Priority modes

In Issue No. 53 we looked at shuffling that mode dial off Auto mode and starting to come to grips with exposure basics in Program mode. Now we’re going to get a little braver and explore Aperture Priority (often denoted as A or Av, for aperture value, on the mode dial) and Shutter Priority (S or Tv, for time value).

Why use Priority modes?

Most modern DSLR cameras will do a pretty decent job of exposing a shot when set in Auto mode, but by just pointing and shooting you’re not learning much as a photographer, and you’re sacrificing most of your control. As Matt Nixon from Christchurch’s Photo & Video explains, if you really want to get creative with your camera you need to move beyond Auto. (more…)

Those of you who’ve picked up D-Photo no. 61 have already been exposed to the wonderful work of Edin Whitehead, gracing the cover as this year’s New Zealand Amateur Photographer of the Year.

Whitehead came out on top of a truly staggering pool of 5783 entries, the most we have ever received in the competition’s history, with her beautifully tranquil image of a Western Cattle Egret, taken during a trip to South Africa.

We caught up with the 20-year-old Auckland University student, originally from Rotorua, to ask her how she felt about winning the top spot in the 2014 Sigma D-Photo Amateur Photographer of the Year competition:

“I think excited is probably the best word, once I got past the initial disbelief! I’m excited because for me, it means that I’m going in the right direction with my photography, which is really rewarding to know.” (more…)

Dance pose, Peter Jennings

Regardless of where you live in New Zealand, you can be sure you’re not far from a regional camera club — and if you live in one of the bigger population centres, you may just be spoiled for choice. For example, in Auckland you might want to be a part of the Auckland Photographic Society but, depending on your location, you can also embrace a more intimate suburban option, such as the Eden-Roskill Camera Club.

A small, friendly group of photography enthusiasts, this central Auckland club has been running for 40 years and has developed a unique personality of its own. According to member Noel Dawson, the club has evolved a curious and conversational culture and embraces critiques and discussions from photographers and judges of all backgrounds. (more…)