A week until Christmas - the panic sets in about what presents to buy. There's an easy solution this year: a Graeme Murray MTB calendar.
Murray has documented mountain biking in Rotorua, since the mid-1990s. More than that, he has created images that have a magic quality. Iconic is a word that is over-used, but in his case it's convenient shorthand for what he does.
As a TV director, I have a decent enough eye for composition. But I'm lucky to work with some extraordinary visionaries, like Murray, who have something more - a different way of looking at the world. I've tried to articulate what that is, without success.
A couple of weeks ago I finally figured it out when Murray showed me the calendar's cover photograph. It was taken at sunset from the top of Tokorangi looking west to Mount Ngongotaha. Where most of us see a view, he saw something else in that view - a rider in flight. It's a sense of spatial awareness that is a gift.
Too often we see a photo in isolation - even a great one. It's easy to forget the work on either side of that one frame. In the case of Flight it was more than just test shots and multiple takes to get it right on the day. There were weeks of planning, getting permission and building the jump ramp and landing. A lot of people think they can take good photos and they're often right.