Chris Hillock Photographer

Chris Hillock Photographer Photographer, cinematographer, documentary maker, director, creative, story teller. Chris

I use AIPA terms & conditions for all my work.

Services we provide: Portraiture, Commercial, Product, Architecture, Editorial / Feature, Video, Aerial,

M +64 22 3962833

My experience: I started my professional career with the Royal New Zealand Air Force which took me around the world, meeting some fantastic and interesting people. Shooting lots of different types of work, from Aerial, to Sports, to Portraits, to PR, to Technical. The groun

ding in technique, photographic knowledge, and work ethic was second to none. After that, I went into the newspaper arena with the Taranaki Daily News and then the Waikato Times. That’s where I sharpened my edge, broadening my range of work, creative ability and vision. It certainly gave me the ability to work any situation and turn it into something beautiful. If you want to talk more photography and imagery you require please contact me. For further pricing and other details contact me with your inquiry. Awards: NZIPP Qualified Portrait Photographer | 2010 Qantas Best Single Pic (Junior) | 2010 First equal Fairfax Junior Photographer of the year | 2011 Canon Media awards finalist.

05/07/2026

Day one grabbing the first shots for a new short film by Paigefilm Larianova.

Shot with a long lens, (400mm with a Canon 1dmk3), from the try line. This image really told the story of the game, T...
06/06/2026

Shot with a long lens, (400mm with a Canon 1dmk3), from the try line. This image really told the story of the game, Taranaki slipping through the outreached arms of Wellington to win a historic game. Front page, with some positive feedback from the editing team. Their were two shooters from the paper that day, my boss and me. Happy to say that ran this image over his! Mark wasn't happy but I was stoked. It was a great boost for my confidence and helped me believe in my sports capability.

There wasn't much in the caption metadata but a quick search brought up a little information.

The main provincial rugby match played in Taranaki on the evening of 10 September 2009 was:

Taranaki vs Wellington
Competition: Air New Zealand Cup
Venue: Yarrow Stadium
Result: Taranaki won 29–16
Kickoff: 7:35 PM NZ time on Thursday 10 September 2009

That match was notable because it was Taranaki’s first NPC/Air New Zealand Cup win over Wellington in 20 years.

This is one of my first images I shot for the Taranaik Daily News, single flash from the left, as you might guess. I ...
30/05/2026


This is one of my first images I shot for the Taranaik Daily News, single flash from the left, as you might guess. I used the shadow to tell the story of the relationship (at the time) between Mr Crow and the RSA. Exposing for the clouds and using a single flash to illuminate the foreground gave me mood and contrast. The image ran full width above the fold. Not bad for a few days in the new job.... and also a key image that helped me get to the Waikato Times 6 months later... telling stories is a powerful thing.

This shot got some positive responce from the editorial staff, very narrative. It gave me some confidence as I was new to the job. For me it was a crucial step in my story telling journey. Sometimes it can just be that little bit of a nudge to get you down the path.

091109 NEWS - Photo: Chris Hillock. Mr Steve Crow in front of the New Plymouth RSA. The RSA and it's financial backers are at odds over it's management and financial issues.

This is a case study of an interveiw in a location that, at first sight, has nothing to do with the story. Those in ...
08/03/2026


This is a case study of an interveiw in a location that, at first sight, has nothing to do with the story. Those in the know will recognise that we met Steve at Ruakura Innovation park, a well known business hub here in the Waikato. However to the casual ready, ... where?

This was defiantley a case of make it dynamic with lighting and composition. The location was lit by skylights above and mixed lights from the sides of the open atrium. Happily that meant I didn't have to gell my flash to either match the available light or make it a colour source, (not really appropriate for this story)

So I got Steve to sit in the chair I wanted and the reporter to sit where he would look in a direction that I could work some angles, and have leading lines from the corridor behind him. One big wide corridor.

In this case I used one bare flash on a stand at a fraction above his eye line and well off to the side set to wide to help illuminate the seats around him. The bare flash gave me some strong shadows and really made his eyes and skin (and beard) pop which is great to make the image stand out on the newspaper print that really does swallow details when you put a photo on it. (Always bare in mind the final output of your photos).

Let me know which photo you like the best and your guess on which one the paper printed!

Waikato Times Caption
100511 BUSNESS Photo: Chris Hillock / Waikato Times. Steve Barclay is the Hong Kong Director of trade visiting Hamilton from his Austrailian base in Sydney. He is looking at ways to develop businesss relationships between New Zealand and Hong Kong.

What does free range actually mean? That was the mission to find out on this assignment. FRENZ invited us out to hav...
02/03/2026

What does free range actually mean?

That was the mission to find out on this assignment. FRENZ invited us out to have a look at their farms.
Rob with chickens.

17/02/2026

Great to support this cool team and sport. If you've ever wanted to try a different sport for fitness and team work this is the one!

As a visual journalist you're often sent out with a short amount of time to tell the story. (Yep it's always about cre...
15/02/2026


As a visual journalist you're often sent out with a short amount of time to tell the story. (Yep it's always about creating a story.) In this case I've to come back with a set of images the amazing Richard O'Brien, famous for the Rocky Horror Picture Show (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0639782/) many other things.

I started off taking head shots while the interview was going on. Looking for emotion, gesture, and expression. I positioned myself so that the light from the street side fell nicely across his face and the wall on the left handside acted as a negative fill (creating shadow). My job was to be as quiet as I could, let the reporter do their job and wait for Richard to talk and express himself.

Richard was great, an actor and writer and very expressive. Once the interview was complete I took Richard down to the Rocky Horror Picture Show statue just down the street, and set a single flash on a stand on the long side with the statue behind. I think the dynamic of Richards gestures and statues work well with a strong left to right flow.

Any guesses on the shot that was choosen for the story?


























231111 - NEWS - Photo: Chris Hillock / Fairfax NZ. Richard O'Brien has just found out that he has been given citizenship to New Zealand and is putting on a show at Founders Theatre Hamilton.

Alex Ellis is an extraordinary performer. As part of the Fuel Festival 2012, Alex played Victoria Lake in "Drowning i...
17/01/2026


Alex Ellis is an extraordinary performer. As part of the Fuel Festival 2012, Alex played Victoria Lake in "Drowning in Veronica Lake". I took these images as part of a promotional piece for the performance and the festival. However, and there's always a hitch, it would be a while before the performance and no access to the performance location, props or other actors. So, what to do?

As you can see we did have this fantastic costume, and had arranged to meet in Garden place. Garden place was not relivant to the story, so that had to be minimised or hidden.

My everyday cary was a Canon 1 D mark iv, lens set 16-35, 35-70, 70-200mm, a couple of flashes and remote syncs, a light stand, and a monopod. Tactic 1 is to darken the background using High Speed Sync, and a flash. Mounting the flash on a light stand gives me the ability shape the light and it's direction, creating texture, shadow and Rembrant lighting when you need it.

So in this case HSS to help drop the background, and put the focus on Alex, wide angle to capture all of the dress. Mount the camera on the monopod for the high shot, and lie down to get the upward angle. Lighting to suit each shot.

Given the nature of the play and Veronica Lake's story of cultural icon, I really felt the low angle shot with the sun behind her really has a strong punch.

Can you guess which image they used to illustrate the story?

Image from Waikato Times. Orginal caption.
220612 - NEWS - Photo: Chris Hillock / Fairfax NZ. Fuel Festival launch with Alex Ellis playing "Veronica Lake" in "Drowing in Veronica Lake".
https://aucklandactors.co.nz/actors/alex-ellis/

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