Infocus Queenstown packed to the rafters
With the line-up of incredible speakers presenting at this year’s NZIPP Infocus Queenstown, held at Rydges Lakeland Resort over August 9–10, it comes as no surprise that the conference room was filled to the brim with attendees eager to devour the speakers’ advice. Corwin Hiebert brought to light plenty of inspiration and motivation for photographers to be able to manage their own photography business; Jackie Ranken played two awe-inspiring audio visuals from her and partner Mike Langford’s journeys in Tibet and Antarctica; and Alexia Sinclair showed an insight into her creative sphere with words of advice such as “bite off more than you can chew”. Tony Carter took the audience on a trip to Ohura, showcasing many of his images from his exhibition Another World: Portraits from Ohura; Paul Alsop outlined the intricate process of wet-plate photography; and Lucy Spartalis had plenty of words of wisdom about staying true to your creativity and inspiration when building a business structure. Leon Rose hosted an evening mixed-lighting workshop at local Queenstown bar Vinyl Underground with a live shoot being taken in amongst event goers. Day two of speaker inspiration kicked off with newborn and baby photographer Kristen Cook discussing the significance of your subject matter when it comes to evoking feeling through your imagery. Jason Naylor followed with his presentation about how embracing client demands can allow photographers the freedom to create. Hiebert was back for round two, and this time the idea of different marketing approaches was discussed. Robert Piccoli discussed ‘the psychology of offering products as a professional photographer, and finally Nick Tressider took the stage to discuss both the various elements of a photography business, such as copyright and licensing, as well as the lighting situations required when shooting food.
This year’s Infocus conference was highly inspirational, with a great turnout from photographers and industry members alike. Make sure you look at page 10 to see who the winners of the Iris Awards are.