ROB TARR

 

 

The journey

Rob's first exposure to the enjoyment and challenges of photography was in his schooldays when his dad handed him his fully manual Voigtlander camera for a hike along the fish river canyon in Namibia. Those 35mm slides (and the camera) are still cherished possessions. Then, during his career in marine biology, he enjoyed the challenges of underwater photography with his Nikonos IV and SB101 strobe, as well as darkroom experience, printing from slides using Cibachrome systems. Aerial photography of kelp beds using colour infra red film was an added interest, as was his pioneering photography of living seashell specimens during his time as an enthusiastic shell collector.

But it was with impatience that he awaited the advent of good digital systems, as the prospect of having all ones images at hand on a pc, as well as being able to edit and enhance these, was enticing!

Finally in 1992 Rob acquired his first digital camera: a Canon G2, and was immediately hooked! Thereafter a progression was inevitable: Canon 450D, Canon 40D, Canon 7D and now a full frame Canon 5D mark III.

Achievements

Rob is a Fellow of the Photographic Society of South Africa and a past Chairperson of the Fish Hoek Photographic Society. In the 2008 Western Cape Interclub competition, Rob won the best digital image as well as being second in the print category with another image. In 2012, Rob won the best print category in the above competition.

Rob has successfully participated in many national and international photographic competitions, and in 2010 won first and third place in the prestigious Africa Photographic Awards: Photojournalism (Current Affairs) category. Rob has also won gold medals in a number of international competitions, and recently won the 2013 Oceans of Life Photographic Competition.

Published

Rob has images published in numerous arenas, including cover pictures for Full Circle magazine, Journal of Shellfish Research and African Journal of Marine Science. In addition, his photos have appeared in a range of books and magazines such as African Wildlife, Getaway, The Living Shores of Southern Africa, Two Oceans and Oceans of Life off Southern Africa. Examples below ...

In my camera bag

• Canon 5D mark III
• Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8 L USM IS II
• Canon EF 100-400mm F4-5.6 L USM IS
• Canon EF 24-105mm F4 L USM IS
• Canon EF 16-35mm F2.8 L USM II
• Canon EF 100mm F2.8 L IS USM Macro
• Canon 580EX E-TTL II Flash
• Manfrotto carbon fibre tripod with Kirk ballhead
• plus various extenders, Lee filters, etc.

Services offered

My day job as a marine biologist managing a bunch of scientists keeps me pretty busy, but I am open to any photographic challenge or project.

Contact me for:

• Product photography
• Coverage of any events, particularly outdoor or marine

Prints of my images are available, on canvas, standard prints or with archival quality ink on fine art papers. These can be shipped anywhere in the world. Prices on application.

Photo stories

I love telling a story with my images. Download these PDFs and enjoy. (Image quality is not as good as it could be, due to the need to keep file size reasonable. You will need ADOBE READER to view these files.)

• Noordhoek Whale stranding (PDF – 3.4Mb)
• Hout Bay Sardines (PDF - 2Mb)
• Hout Bay Sardines (PDF - 2Mb)
• Kalk Bay Spring Storm (PDF - 1.6Mb)
• Kommetjie Whales (PDF - 2.4Mb)
• Stranded Fishing Boats (PDF - 900Kb)
• Yellowtail Trek Net (PDF - 2.6Mb)