new zealand Oct 2018

New Zealand is currently enjoying a fantastic winter and is perfect for shooting snow projects in the mountains or snow and ice road shooting platforms, glaciers and ski fields.

With summer just around the corner, New Zealand is an ideal and diverse production location. Often thought of as 'a world in one country', from stunning lakes and rivers to tropical rainforests surrounded by dramatic surf beaches, cultured cities to country villages, volcanoes, cropfields, vineyards, coastlines featuring black and white sands, glaciers and rolling green hills: there are so many endless epic landscapes that take the breath away.

AJ Films has been thrilled to host multiple productions for repeat clients including Audi, BMW, Porsche, Volvo and Volkswagen. The production team has been busy coming up with new locations and managing shoots for Chugai, Dentsu, Goodhealth, Swisse Mulitvitamins and Powerade, and is currently working on snow projects with photographer Miles Holden, Descente and the Swiss Ski Team.

Spring has just sprung in New Zealand, and the Pacey Production Company has been making the most of the warmer weather and longer daylight hours at some of the country’s epic locations.

Maximum diversity of talent and locations, all within close proximity and serviced by a world-renowned crew makes New Zealand the best choice for the coming summer season - an amazing escape from winter in the northern hemisphere!

Pacey Production Company offers full production services for stills and motion shoots throughout New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific. Let them tempt you down south, with recent tourism work and spectacular NZ locations featured in this Showcase.

Proof is an Auckland-based agency representing and producing for photographers working across the Pacific and further afield.

The Proof philosophy is one of collaboration, inspiration and constant growth with an emphasis on creative, personal projects. Its photographers share a set of values including industriousness, passion, openness and humour.

Some recent clients include Mercedes, Adidas, Kathmandu, Coca-Cola, Land Rover, ASB, DJI, Giant Cycles, Villa Maria Wines, University of Auckland and Methven.

Amanda Aitken’s drive for perfection in her work is evident. Specialising in architecture and interior photography, she is also experienced and drawn to advertising, corporate and industrial. Over the last few years, Amanda has also been working with video and cinemagraphs.

Having spent time in London as Head photographer for a property marketing firm, she is now back in New Zealand. Along with her assistant Theresa, they effectively handle projects from large scope commercial, to the clean corporate headshot in Amanda’s newly built studio in Mount Maunganui.

With 16 years' experience as a commercial photographer and the previous eight spent in photo labs, Amanda’s technical ability is finely tuned. Her positive vibe allows her to approach any situation with a level frame of mind, no matter what the situation. Her creative working environment is focused, innovative and also enjoyable, whether she is shooting in collaboration or on her own.

For Amanda, striving to go above and beyond expectation is in her blood.

Established and experienced advertising photographer Diederik van Heyningen, made New Zealand his very own real world photographic paradise some 20 years ago. His permanent full time crew at his South Island studio consists of a full time retoucher of 15 years experience and a full time assistant, complimented by an extensive network of producers, make-up artists, stylists, and location scouts.

During his extensive travels, Diederik has amassed some of the world's most enviable, stunning and unique location access and GPS data to enable him to service his clients. Advertising campaigns, HDRI environments and 360˚ Domes for the CGI, advertising, and automotive industries created in New Zealand’s finest landscapes are his speciality.

Photographer and director Chris Searl’s imagery has a perceived ‘realness’ which makes his signature style a perfect match with the NZ sensibility.

Whilst Chris is based on the northern beaches of Sydney, he is a regular on NZ shores shooting both for NZ and international clients wanting to capture the essence of NZ. With the ability to shoot both motion and stills, often concurrently, clients have the opportunity to give their campaigns an overall coherence and identical look and feel across all media.

Clients include Qantas, Corona, Virgin, Coke, Samsung, Apple and Levi’s.

Mark Carter is a New Zealand-based, internationally awarded photographer. Creating moments that capture true emotions from his subjects in a relaxed, down to earth manner is an extension of his personality. His images are rich and immersive with a vibrant mood to them; capturing real moments that connect to the viewer.

With a technical skillset to match his vision, Mark has worked throughout the Pacific region and beyond. Clients include Cow & Gate, Johnson & Johnson Worldwide, Pfizer, Frontline Plus, Hyundai, Tru Green, Frucor, Samsung, Air New Zealand, Tower Insurance and MYOB, among others.

He was most recently selected to feature in Lurzer's Archive 'Top 200 Ad Photographers Worldwide 2018/2019', and has been featured in Communication Arts Photography annual among many other international awards.

Graeme Murray loves creating; his whole career has been in the image industry. After training in professional photography, his early days saw him working at one of New Zealand’s top audiovisual production companies creating, developing and producing product launches for the country’s largest corporations. Using various types of multi-media from theatrical lighting to video/slide projection and interactive graphics, set design and pyrotechnics, the desire to be shooting then led him into running his own successful photography business.

Graeme now works with clients and agencies on projects that include portraiture, people, lifestyle and sport related to advertising. He takes all his knowledge and experience from previous work in the AV and TV industries into his photography, so dealing with any situation is effortless.

He has a great rapport with clients and the production crew on jobs and goes beyond the norm to make sure the shoot meets and exceeds expectations. Clients include Red Bull, Adidas, Samsung, VW, John Deere, AIG, Bendon, Ozone, Atomic, Tourism New Zealand and Mac Pac Outdoor Clothing, among others.

Graeme can be found in the studio or shooting outdoors and is also an official Red Bull International Photographer.

Lucas Allen's passion for the photographic image began as a boy, when he converted his bedroom into a darkroom. This passion turned into a career which has taken him around the world creating images for magazines, hotels, interior designers and commercial clients.

Lucas loves collaborating with other creatives and his energy and generosity on set, along with his perfectionism and problem solving abilities, consistently delivers stunning results.

Supported by production teams in Australia and the USA, Lucas has experience producing both small and large scale shoots in various international locations.

"I am a director and DP with a creative vision combined with the technical skills to tell compelling stories. I started my career in a camera department in Germany back in 2001. Old school and respected DP’s told me to specialise. I always disagreed. Somehow, I developed an insatiable thirst for knowledge for visual storytelling.

After 18 years in the industry, I've worked in almost every step of the creative, TV and film production process. In every role I have brought the same enthusiasm and dedication to producing high quality work. Even though I'm originally from Germany, people here in NZ like calling me 'The Swiss Army Knife'.

My end-to-end knowledge of workflows and technical understanding has become my craft, helping complex ideas flourish on screen - even with limited budgets.

I've won international awards with New Zealand’s most successful creative agencies and my clients range from Air New Zealand, Spark, Sony, Vodafone, Visa, Samsung, Burger King, McDonald’s, VEnergy, Mountain Dew, BMW, Mini, Mazda, Hyundai, Land Rover, and more."