The light at dawn and dusk is softer, making for nicer, more even photos. Photo / Vaughan Brookfield
The light at dawn and dusk is softer, making for nicer, more even photos. Photo / Vaughan Brookfield
Queenstown-based photographer Vaughan Brookfield knows a thing or two about embracing travel and capturing the moment.
Finding himself with a dislocated shoulder just weeks into what was supposed to be a Gap Year-style snowboarding season at a ski resort in Salt Lake City, he decided to stay and indulge his photographic hobby instead of flying home to New Zealand.
Photo / Vaughan Brookfield
"I didn't want to leave, I was having a great time — it was my first time away from home hanging out with all my mates.
"A lot of them were quite good snowboarders and some of them were professional to a certain extent and I thought... I'll just head out there and take some photos of them... maybe some of the companies (that sponsored them) will be interested in the photos."
Brookfield sent off his first submission and was pleasantly surprised some time later when his mother called to tell him she thought his photo was on the front of a magazine.
Then a cheque arrived in the mail.
"I was like 'woah, this is cool'," Brookfield remembers.
"It was quite a dramatic little beginning and I think that was kind of what got me hooked."
That was around 12 years ago, when digital photography was still in its infancy.
Photo / Vaughan Brookfield
Brookfield, who had only a basic 3 or 4 megapixel camera at the time, says he soon realised how quickly he was able to get photos out to potential clients compared with the professional photographers who were shooting on film.
"The companies seemed to be reasonably happy with the quality so I realised I could keep doing that.
"I think I was very lucky ... a lot of the film guys knew the cameras and the industry so well that they weren't willing to change in a hurry, whereas I was very open to it because I didn't have any major costs and it was just a hobby."
Brookfield quickly established himself as an action sports photographer and his career has since taken him all over the world.
"I spent a lot of time early on doing back-to-back winters between here, America, Japan, I went all over the show really ... I even went to Afghanistan for a trip."
Photo / Vaughan Brookfield
More recently, he's branched out into international location and lifestyle photography and now counts big-name corporate brands such as Air New Zealand, Corona and Subaru among his clients.
Brookfield says he still loves to travel but also enjoys finding the perfect Queenstown locations to shoot images for his clients.
The area's incredible scenery lends itself well to his photographic style, which he describes as "clean and cinematic", possibly even a little surreal, but never over-produced.
"I want my people to be natural in [the photos] and I don't stage people a lot ... I just let them do what they do and then try and capture the moment in the right way."
Let your subject fill the frame. Photo / Vaughan Brookfield
Vaughan's top tips for taking great photos
Pick your moment: The light's usually a lot softer in the morning and evening so shooting on dusk or dawn will give your images an edge.
"A lot of people think a bluebird sunny day is the best time to take photos but you'll actually get really soft, natural light when there's a bit of cloud around ... you'll get a much softer, nicer, more even photo when the light's not so harsh. It can be great shooting on a cloudy day, or even a wet day."
Get close to your subject: Let your subject fill the frame so the background blurs out a bit more and creates depth-of-field.
"Your image will stand out a lot more if you've got a softer background ... especially if you're shooting people."
Be creative: Don't be afraid to shoot scenes from unusual angles to create a bit of drama.
"If you're at your normal eye-height, that's where most people shoot from and things look very familiar and not very exciting. It's always good to just move around and try something different."
Alter your usual perspective for more dramatic images. Photo / Vaughan Brookfield
Seek inspiration from others: The Internet is a great place to glean information, find tutorials and learn little tricks about how to achieve the images you're after.
"You can Google anything you want these days and find a wealth or information. I just learn so much from other photographers online and looking at other work and watching videos. "
Snap away until you're happy: One obvious advantage of digital cameras is that you're limited only by the size of your memory card.
"You don't have to spend loads of money on film and development any more."
