Bob Reed interview

by Monty Hayes McMillan

Monty: Hey, Bob. Please give us an overview of your career.

Bob: I studied photography at the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara California in the early 70's. Then I apprenticed for a photographer for 1 year, then opened my own studio in Hollywood. My clients were mostly corporate: Pennzoil, Playboy, Ralph's grocery stores, General Telephone, Xerox, the L.A. Times and many, many more. I met my wife in 1988 while on a shooting job down in Australia. We now live in Nelson, New Zealand and have a graphics design company, SeeReed.

Monty: What type of photography do you most like to do, and why?

Bob: Studio photography, because I can shoot day or night, rain or snow, and even riots.

Monty: And you and Jane left LA right before the 92 riots.

Bob: Yes. Lucky us.

Monty: You and I both grew up with film, and I know you've done large format for decades. Why are you moving to digital photography?

Bob: Like most professional photographers I used Polaroids for the test run before I'd start shooting with film. I'd set the scene and props, camera and lights, then snap a Polariod to get an instant look at how the finished photo was going to look.

Monty: A lot cheaper than snapping off 35mm or large format celluloid that was expensive to buy, process, and print.

Bob: Plus there was that turnaround time to get the contact sheets back from the lab.

Monty: Holding your breath the whole time, hoping it all worked out like you wanted it to. As I recall, they used to call you "One Roid Reed" because you were so good at setting things up right the first time.

Bob: Yeah… well, now that Polaroid has gone out of business I've been forced to go digital. At first I thought I'd just use the digital cameras like I used the Polariods, to set up the film shots. But it didn't take long for me to fall in love with the digital system. I'm quite happy with it.

Monty: How has going digital affected your business?

Bob: Well, there's one less step in the process since I don't do the test shots via Polaroid anymore. Plus I don't have to use labs anymore.

Monty: Instant results.

Bob: Instead of waiting hours or days to see what you shot and got. Faster and cheaper.

Monty: What was the most challenging project you ever did?

Bob: I had 68 classic cars to photograph! The client wanted studio lighting, but I had no studio lights! So I used quartz construction lights. Also, most of those old cars did not even run, so we ended up pushing them onto the photo set I had created in a large warehouse here in Nelson. I had to do 3 shots of each car (side view, front view and detail), and get it all shot in 2 weeks.

Monty: What was the most fun project you worked on?

Bob: When I went to the North Slope with you and Pamela to photograph the Alaska pipe line, the oil workers, and the locals. The most memorable part was when the pilot fell asleep while flying us from Barrow to Dead Horse.

Monty: Yeah, talk about high adventure at 80 below! And down there at the other end of the planet…when I visited you there in New Zealand, it was obvious that your light source from the sun is really different from here in the States. When you're doing those great landscape shots, how do you factor in the unique sunlight? 

Bob: When photographers come to New Zealand they comment on how everything seems to be sharper. It comes from the lack of pollution and a hole in the ozone over Antartica becoming larger from global warming. Also during winter the sun never gets very high in the sky which makes it dramatic but it can be difficult to shoot. One great thing for landscapes is that when you're in the States you have the "Great Golden" 15 minutes of light (15 minutes before sunset and 15 minutes after sunrise). Here it's more like an hour.

Monty: Thanks so much, Bob. From your descriptions and from the experiences both Pamela and I have had down there, we may have to bring the whole High Tech Media team and associates to New Zealand to open a branch office… and then squabble over who gets to stay there.

Bob, Monty, and Pamela met in Hollywood back in the 80's and have been friends and colleagues ever since, often working together on still shoots, documentaries, and commercials.

Bob and his wife Jane, a very talented graphic designer, head SeeReed Visual Communications Company whose clients include wineries, resorts, and many Maori businesses.