purefocus

Face in the rock

Diferent people see diferent things in this rock, a face, a sarcophagus, an arctic hunter

Untitled

I enjoy walking on beaches, and photographing my finds. This jellyfish, bubbleshell, and dead Titi remind me that different winds and seasons bring different things to the same beach.

Bubble shell

Common in the north of New Zealand, this bubble shell goes wheer the currents take it, floating on the surface of the sea. I was fascinated to find this shell and enjoy its striking colour.

Kelp tangle

Kelp Circle

I love the way the circle theme is repeated in this image. I also enjoy the lack of perspective and context of this shot

Kina

Elephant flipper

Taking photos of parts of animals is something I have done for a long time. It forces you to focus on parts of the animal often overlooked – such as this elephant seal flipper

Elephant seal face

Capstan cove, Campbell Island, New Zealand

Sea Lion

In many ways this is “just another sea lion photo”, however the background is almost colourless and this really highlights this young females light colouring. The marks in the sand behind this girl are from males defending their harem.

Coastal Cliffs

Without context this image is quite confusing. It is taken looking along cliffs which have been erroded to various shapes.

Brick

The contrast of wave worn bricks against the black of the beach rocks makes a striking image

Bright Kelp in the tide

I enjoy the brightness of he kelp and the small amount of motion in the water.

Old Beach Kelp

This large piece of kelp washed up on the beach very fresh and I photographed it through various stages of decomposition.

Lone Pingao

Olearia leaf

Cabbage leaf

While it is true that organic rubbish decomposes in the ocean, occasionally the result of a fisherman having Cabbage for tea one night, is a cabbage leaf on the beach the next morning.

From when I bought my first SLR camera at the age of 12, until a 4 or 5 years ago, the main focus of my photography was to take "nice" wildlife shots. I looked at the work and read about the techniques of photographers shuch as Geoff Moon. I spent hours in a hide photographing hawks, pukekos, and oystercatchers. I got some great results and loved it.

I began to realise that while I had some great results I was trying to take shots I hoped people would like, rather than taking time to think about how I wanted to capture the subject. I spent a lot of time discussing images with the artist Allan Hope, and began experimenting with a new digital camera using some ideas from Freeman Patterson. I began to leave more and more out of my photos and got some of the results you can see here. While I still enjoy taking the more classic wildlife photos, my aim is to combine the style I have developed in this phase of my photography, with the techniques I learned years ago to create clean, simple, interesting photos of more difficult subjects. Enjoy.

I am currently selling greeting cards of some of my images on ETSY

Purefocus sells images taken by Malcolm Rutherford. Purefocus images have been used in various publications including news media, magazine articles, as refernce material for artists, and in advertising. Images have also been exhibited as fine-art works and this is an anvenue I greatly enjoy.

Purefocus images are avaliable through Glowing Skies clothing stores. A range of local images can be found in the Wanaka, Waiheke Island, and Stewart Island branches of Glowing Skies. These images are avaliable as postcards, greeting cards, small prints, and large prints.

I have many more images than are on show here and am always adding to my collection. If I have an image you wish to purchase or use, or you wish to discuss a commission, I'd be excited to hear from you.

The majority of photos here are taken on a Canon A700. This is a 6 mega pixel point and shoot with a 6x zoom. A few of the photos here are taken on a 2 mega pixel canon A65. The majority of my photos are taken while I am walking on beaches, in the bush, or down the street. In these situations it is often quite impractical to have my SLR kit at the ready, therfore I stick with the point and shoot. My most recent work has been taken on a Canon Powershot G9. It is a point and shoot but very grunty which makes it ideal for travel..