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Photojournalism Awards and..stuff.

April 11th, 2014

Photojournalism Awards and..stuff.

I was born and raised in New Zealand but I now call the United States of America and Minnesota home.
As a senior journalist and chief reporter I have published hundreds of news, feature articles and photographs. I enjoy the quirky, the funny and the unfair.
Over a period of seven years, several of my news photographs were chosen as finalists in the New Zealand Community Newspaper Awards, where I competed with nationally recognized senior photographers.
After two years in the news business I was chosen to lead and improve the editorial content of a twice-weekly community newspaper in a rural area. We exceeded all expectations and were nationally recognized along the way.
I have won numerous awards for my work.
In 2010 two of my photographs were named in the final 12 out of 250,000 photographs in the Peregrine Adventures "Images of the World" photography competition. In 2011 one of my photographs was also picked as a finalist in the The Nature Conservancy's 2012 Digital Photo Contest.
As chief reporter for a New Zealand newspaper, my photojournalism work has also been recognized. Over a period of five years, several of my news photographs were chosen as finalists in the New Zealand Community Newspaper Awards, where I competed with nationally recognized senior photographers. I was also a finalist in the Otago Wildlife Photography Competition five years in a row.
I have also published hundreds of news and feature articles along with several travel articles about life and death in the Southern Ocean and I am a regular contributor for an online magazine called "Eye on Fine Art Photography"
Most recently my King Penguin photography was featured in the online version of the Smithsonian Magazine.

The Joys of Photographing Minnesota in Winter

March 14th, 2014

The Joys of Photographing Minnesota in Winter

"Come to Minnesota," they said. "It's not that cold," they said. "You'll get used to it," they said.
Having just emerged from the hardest winter in decades, with the snow melting and the temperature here in the Twin Cities in the balmy upper 30's, I came to an ice shattering conclusion. You don't get used to it, and, an air temperature of minus 20 and a minus 50 degree windchill, is "that cold." Especially for a transplanted New Zealander where temperatures of below 30 degrees can be front page news.
However my photography portfolio was somewhat lacking in work from my new home and I decided to rectify this over the winter months...still believing what "they" said.
I started indoors with a newly renovated Union Depot Station in Saint Paul. Not yet connected to all the transport hubs in the cities the waiting room was warm, empty and immense, perfect for my 11mm wide angle lens. A Greek restaurant in the building was closed but still made for some interesting lines and perspectives. I returned a twice at different times but I preferred the emptiness of the first visit.
The next subject was the exterior of the Cathedral of St Paul and the Minnesota State Capitol at night. Snow had lightly covered the ground and the drop in temperature was becoming more apparent. I was shaking as I set up my tripod and still shaking when I pressed the shutter and the result was plenty of camera movement and blur. Again I returned a few days later with a remote and got much better results.
Downtown St Paul is beautiful at night, there are plenty of buildings and parks lit up all winter long and one of its more stately buildings, the historic St Paul Hotel, was my next idea. Again, freezing, again I was shaking from head to toe but that wasn't my only concern. It was Saturday night and there were plenty of people around. Hockey fans, Justin Timberlake and his followers, and several bridal parties were spilling out of various downtown venues. Again, out comes the tripod as I set up on the footpath with my 11mm in front the hotel but then out came the bride too. She was happy, loud, I suspect quite drunk and determined to mow down anything or anyone blocking her path to goodness knows where. Following her were the equally inebriated wedding party. I got one blurry shot before retreating into a dirty, wet snow pile emerging with a wet and dirty backside but I saved the camera and that is what is most important. Despite the bridal mow-down and a grumpy concierge guy I got a few shots I was happy with.
Being a highly brutal winter, ice covered much of Lake Superior and with a westerly wind the ice is blown up on to the shores just north of Duluth and makes for unique landscapes. My husband drove me to Brighton Beach, two hours north of Minneapolis. It was minus 20 degrees and it was breezy. I could see the ice about 30 feet away and he said "good luck with that," and refused to get out of the car. Muttering something about how Minnesotans were supposed to be tough I got out of the car and this wall of vicious frozen air hit me. Apparently I swore quite a bit, I don't remember, but I do remember taking 15 minutes to put on multiple layers and then waddling down to the shoreline like an obese penguin. I fell, I slipped, I tripped, I flailed around, it was not graceful but me and the trusty 11mm made it back to the car and the cackling husband with some nice pics of something I have always wanted to see.
Also in Duluth is Glensheen Mansion, a stately home on the shores of Lake Superior and the scene of two grisly murders in 1977. Now owned by the University of Minnesota the mansion is open to the public but they have only recently allowed visitors to photograph the interior. My intent was to photograph the interior in HDR and for that I would need my tripod. Being a frigid Sunday I thought it would be crawling with people looking for something to do indoors and I would have to join a slow, lumbering tour party where my tripod would be frowned upon. As it turned out, the car park was empty and there was no-one around so I was able to talk the lovely ladies into allowing me to go on a one-person tour with my tripod and a tour guide who appreciated the joys of HDR photography.
It was about this time, as a photographer, I began to really appreciate the coldest winter in Minnesota in some 40 years and the hardest winter of my life. Apart from brides and hockey fans, everywhere is empty. Even the much visited Sunken Garden at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in St Paul which in the 10 times I have been there, I have never been able to photograph it without humans in the photograph. A month ago, on a frozen Saturday, my 11mm and I got incredibly lucky for about three minutes and got several rare shots of a totally deserted sunken garden.
Now that Minnesotans are beginning to emerge from a long hibernation I am making the most the few empty days of late winter. The interior of the Minnesota State Capitol and other exciting places await before summer and all the greenery and photographic opportunity that comes with it.

 

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