This was a food shoot I did last week for Savour magazine. It’s a supplement in the Herald On Sunday. The cam video was taken with a Flip mini HD, bolted to the camera with a flash bracket. It can give an interesting insight into a photoshoot.
I had a small window of opportunity to shoot this, which is so often the way with busy subjects. Sir Peter is the Prime Minister’s chief science adviser (one of his three part-time jobs), so he has good reason not to want to hang around too long for a photo shoot. He was in a car heading to the airport just minutes after this frame was snapped.
Sir Peter surely wouldn’t remember, but we go way back; I have photographed him several times over the years for newspapers, magazines and university public relations. He has a lot of drive and that comes through in the photos you take of him. A great subject.
I really like shooting portraits at a low depth of field. It’s a risk, though. If the subject is busy and moving around a bit, you’re going to have a lot of image fails. The proof sheet from this session rolled in at about a 60 per cent failure rate. I was stoked with the results, though — awesome layout work from Unlimited’s art director, Johanna John.
Unlimited, Sir Peter Gluckman. Photo Jason Dorday © 2010
Paul Hala is opening a new salon on K’Rd next month. These pictures where shot to illustrate the new staff, including Paul, for his website. That’s him on the top left — awesome stylist. The salon will be on the ground floor of the old George Court’s building.
Hala Hair. Photo Jason Dorday © 2010
These pictures where shot using a red head light source. Constant light, daylight balanced. They’re great for sussing out your lighting but the flip side is they do produce a fair amount of heat. You dont really want to stand in front of them for too long.
The light strength is also quite low so you are shooting with the lens wide open. Have to be very careful with your focusing and stability!
Makeup was by Lee-Ann Smith.
I took these shots of last weekend’s Queen St protest against Israel’s seige of a Gaza-bound aid ship for the Herald on Sunday.
I carried as little camera gear as possible — two cameras with a lens each — as well as a maxpedition backpack, a raincoat and my iphone. I know from previous experince that you dont want to be fiddling with cameras and camera bags when the crowd starts heaving.
Gaza protest. Auckland. Photo Herald On Sunday Jason Dorday©2010
There were about 300 people in total. It was a peaceful march with citizens of all backgrounds and ages voicing their right to protest — although this one was a bit different with its flag burning and shoe throwing at the end. The police kept a very low profile and the protest ended peacefully with no arrests.
Gaza protest. Auckland. Photo Herald On Sunday Jason Dorday©2010
However, it’s amazing how flag burning can hype a crowd. There were 30 seconds filled with elbows, kerosene, camera bits, lens hoods falling off, plastic smoke, screaming, dragging backpacks — with me trying to get a clear shot, with the flash maxing out, before it was all over.
Gaza protest. Auckland. Photo Herald On Sunday Jason Dorday©2010
When I started in photojournalsim I really enjoyed covering protests. The first one I covered was a rememberance march for the victims on the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. Covering street protests introduced me to a street level of political understanding that you can’t learn about in theory. It’s also a fantastic venue to explore photojournalism.
There were many photographers covering Saturday’s Queen St protest, shooting with all sorts of gear — everything from iphones, cell phones, HD SLRs , to news snappers like me and TV camera operators with their journos scurrying around looking for something for them to shoot. I tend to hang in the crowds a bit and pop out when something happens.
Ever been taking a photo of someone and suddenly a person who’s about to walk into the frame realises what’s happening and stands back a bit to let the photographic event take place? What they don’t realise is that the lens being used is usually wider than anticipated. In other words, they are still in shot.
Compac Ltd. Unlimited. Photo Jason Dorday ©2010
It happens quite a lot actually, especially when there are extra people on set or at the location. Journalists, assistants, advisors and PR people are the usual victims. In this case it was a machinist at the company Compac, who was talking on his cellphone. Unlimited magazine didn’t use this shot; they used a tighter frame in the end but it’s always good to file options for picture editors.
And it can be a good thing of course. It can push a photo to make it a bit more intriguing. Sometimes, if I can anticipate it, I will wait until an unsuspecting person wanders into frame and then shoot.
Sometimes when I am booked for an assignment I will take a few snaps on the side to remind me that this is a potentially good location for a future photo session.
This was a PR shoot for ANZ Corporate Affairs, for the opening of the bank’s new data centre in East Tamaki, complete with mega security and VIPs.
The scene was one of urban landscape — perfect for an industrial fashion shoot or portrait session.
ContactSheet. ANZ Jason Dorday © 2010
You can see from the proof sheets that while I’m photographing the brief as assigned, I am snapping quick frames in-between. This has its merits because there is always the possiblilty that a shot might have to be set up, and in situations like this you have very little time to organise it. A quick look back on the camera is like flicking through a notebook. Again, another spinoff is that it can be good for location scouting some time in the future.
This is a huge complex but few humans work there — just a few security guards and hundred or so CCTV cameras. The site processes 40% of the country’s electronic transactions so surveillance is intense.
A chilly environment in more ways than one.
ANZ Jason Dorday © April 2010
ANZ Jason Dorday © 2010
I knew this would make a good picture when I got the gig from Unlimited magazine. Any opportunity to shoot in an interesting location is always appreciated in the business world.
The person illustrated is the CFO of NZ Fresh Cuts, a fresh food company — hence the farm location. It was shot with twin speedlights and a radio slave setup. I had to be a bit careful where I trod.
I have always liked shooting in big expansive fields — probably inspired by watching a thousand Spaghetti Westerns over the years, with their big, dusty and bleached-out frames.
Freshcuts. Photo Jason Dorday, Unlimited © 2010
These images where shot for Hafele — the New Zealand arm of the German kitchen hardware designer. They have a showroom in Beaumont St, St Mary’s Bay. These are part of a series of shoots I am doing for them to illustrate their product range for brochures and magazine advertising.
© hafele, photo Jason Dorday 2010
© hafele, photo Jason Dorday 2010