With roots in marketing and a flair for the commercial, Jodie James’s transformation into a master visual storyteller has been noticed in the advertising world.

The latest signing to Film Construction, Jodie blends artistry and marketing in her approach to photography. For her, it’s not merely about taking pictures; it’s about comprehending the campaign’s essence, target audience, and desired impact. Her eclectic interests infuse her creative process with a unique perspective, allowing her to discover beauty and inspiration in the most unexpected corners.

But what truly sets her photography apart is her skill in uncovering hidden narratives within her frames, adding depth and intrigue to her visuals, and r capturing authentic brand narratives.

LBB> Your journey from a marketing and commercial background to becoming a creative commercial and editorial photographer is intriguing. How did your marketing experience shape your approach to photography and storytelling?

Jodie> Having a background in marketing gives me a deeper understanding of what the campaign needs to communicate in its final delivery. Rather than just taking pretty pictures, understanding the reason, the audience, the story, and the outcome that they are trying to achieve. Being a lot more collaborative with clients has been fantastic, as our magic working together can really shine.

Experience in marketing also helps me get more depth, emotion and connection in the story, as knowing the psychology behind marketing and selling allows me to craft the image.

LBB> How do your diverse interests influence your creative process and photography style?

Jodie> For me, inspiration and creativity are everywhere I look, I have taught myself to push through the creative blocks, to see beyond what is right there and to make something extraordinary out of everyday things. I am so intrigued by the psychology behind what we do, how we buy, and what makes us tick that I’m constantly expanding my knowledge to understand people better.

Widening the gap of where I look for inspiration allows me to come up with new ideas and go in directions I never thought I would.

LBB> The imagery you capture aims to tell authentic brand stories. Could you share an example of a project where your photography successfully conveyed a brand’s narrative uniquely and unexpectedly?

Jodie> I worked on a beautiful internal campaign for Fonterra with D&Co, which, unlike most other campaigns, was to promote a more serious topic. We worked with local farmers around Canterbury to communicate the importance of the discussion & to encourage everyone to voice their opinions. We took a more stoic, serious tone than the usual shoot & it gave us a fantastic range of content to communicate the importance of the project.

LBB> Your work is praised for its ability to capture transitional and unnoticed moments. How do you navigate the process of integrating these hidden narratives into your photography, and what role do they play in making your work stand out?

Jodie> It involves a lot of planning to craft a story and a deeper narrative of an image. Still, sometimes, it’s about letting the moment develop authentically and continuing to shoot outside the ‘normal’ parameters. A lot of it is being patient, connecting, and collaborating. Sometimes, it’s just letting the brief percolate subconsciously for a while, and like magic, an idea will form. Creativity often needs space.

LBB> Being based in Wanaka, New Zealand, offers incredible natural landscapes for your photography. How does your unique location impact the themes and settings you choose for your photoshoots?

Jodie> Most people say I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It was just today, I was skiing on Treble Cone, where I have skied for 25 years, and I looked at the view only to see it as incredibly beautiful as the first time I saw it.

A lot of clients come and shoot campaigns here from all around the world. The significant advantage I have is that I have lived here most of my life – it means I know unique locations that are off the beaten track, I know how the weather works, where the sun will be and how quickly you need to get off the lake in your boat when the wind picks up! Most people don’t realise how diverse the landscape can be here; there are secret pockets that look like Mars to lakes off in the mountains that could be anywhere in the world. This area really does have so much to offer, so I am very lucky.

LBB> Joining Film Construction’s stills roster is a significant step in your photography journey. Could you discuss your perspective on being part of this creative powerhouse and how it aligns with your creative vision?

Jodie> Being part of the FC team is epic – these guys really align with everything I strive to be. They are kind, welcoming and ambitious. They are creative, funny, and not afraid to be brave. I am super stoked to have joined them and so excited to work with such a vast experience of knowledge. I love to create, if I didn’t get paid, I would still constantly build, design, photograph, draw, paint and whatever else comes to mind (you should see all the notes, ideas, and personal projects of all sorts that are around my home!) So, to be able to create with these guys is exciting. 

LBB> The press release mentions your goal of empowering viewers to embark on a visual treasure hunt within your work. How do you achieve this sense of discovery and engagement in your photography?

Jodie> I do love to really think about images before I take them. I love to think about the composition, where the viewer will look first, then second… I love to think about the impact the colours have on the emotion the viewer will feel. I love to trigger an emotion, regardless of whether it’s a good or bad one, rather than just take a pretty picture. The images I am most proud of create the opportunity for viewers to create their own story, to use their rose-coloured glasses to see what they see. I try not to spell everything out but to let them experience it themselves.

LBB> As the current president of the New Zealand AIPA, you undoubtedly have a deep connection to the photography industry. How does this leadership role influence your work and approach to photography? 

Jodie> I am new to this role, so it has not had much influence on my work yet! However, I have always wanted to build connections and help people wherever possible. Being a creative can be a lonely journey, I love any opportunity to collaborate but, more importantly, share my knowledge and help others be the best they can be. I have had and continue to have plenty of wonderful people in my life who have helped me along the way, so the least I can do is pass it on. Being the president does feel a little scary as I hope I can do all our members justice and continue to create an organisation that is a fantastic group to be part of.

LBB> Film Construction has highlighted your ability to find beauty in everyday scenes and people, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. Could you share a story behind a photograph where you achieved this transformative effect?

Jodie> I love adding some quirk to my images, especially a touch of humour. I love it when I see an image that makes me laugh…even if, after my first reaction, it actually makes me a little sad.

One example that will likely make you laugh is the Wrapped Christmas Tree. It was close to Christmas, and I was thinking about how ridiculous the amount of presents my niece and nephew get… inspired by oversized gestures, I jokingly said to my partner, “I want to wrap up one of our trees”. So, on his next visit to Kmart, being the wonderful, generous person he is, he called to ask if I needed anything. I said as much wrapping paper as you think I would need to wrap the big round tree – oh, and a big bow.

By the time he got home, I had lost the excitement; however, a few days later, I suddenly had the urge to go and do it. Sadly, because the sport was on television, I was left to battle alone with three thin wrapping paper rolls. I don’t know what my neighbours thought I was up to, but it was definitely entertaining for them. After about a 30-minute wrestling match, I made it acceptable and had to rush to get my camera before the sun went down. If nothing else, it was a great afternoon outside and my neighbours got some light entertainment.

LBB> Your work is described as having intentional undertones that lend immediacy and gravitas to your imagery. How do you infuse your photos with these subtle yet impactful elements that resonate with viewers?

Jodie> Usually, quite a lot of thoughtful planning. I do waiver between shooting, getting in the groove and seeing what happens to intentionally planning almost every part of the image. I love taking inspiration from others’ work, but I love problem-solving, and I think a considerable amount of photography involves precisely that.

A photo of a golden horseshoe crab —one of the world’s most ancient and highly endangered animals— earned a marine photographer the grand title in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest. The Natural History Museum in London, which runs the competition, made the announcement Tuesday.

The picture, taken by Laurent Ballesta, shows a tri-spine horseshoe crab on a seabed near Pangatalan Island in the Philippines, as it is followed by three golden trevallies. Ballesta documented the horseshoe crabs as they moved through water, fed, mated and provided a home to other animals, according to the museum.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest is produced by the Natural History Museum. Ballesta’s photo was chosen from nearly 50,000 entires across 95 countries. Kathy Moran, who was the chair of the jury, called the image “luminescent.” 

“To see a horseshoe crab so vibrantly alive in its natural habitat, in such a hauntingly beautiful way, was astonishing,” Moran said. 

“We are looking at an ancient species, highly endangered, and also critical to human health,” Moran added. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed the tri-spine horseshoe crab as “endangered.” 

It’s the second time Ballesta has won the grand prize, after he earned it in 2021.

Horseshoe crabs are typically found in waters off southeast Asia and despite their name, they’re more closely related to spiders and scorpions than crabs. According to the Natural History Museum, the horseshoe crab has survived relatively unchanged for around 100 million years —meaning they were around when dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex were roaming the planet. 

However, their existence is under threat. Its blue blood is critical for the development of vaccines, and it’s used to test for potentially dangerous bacterial contamination. In addition, the arthropods are used as bait to catch other species. Overhfishing, paired with habitat destruction and ocean pollution, has led to all living species of horseshoe crabs being at risk.

The young Wildlife Photographer of the Year title went to 17-year-old Carmel Bechler, who took a long-exposure image of two barn owls in an abandoned roadside building. The teen from Israel said he hopes to share in his photography that “the beauty of the natural world is all around us, even in places where we least expect it to be.”

Moran said Bechler’s photo “has so many layers in terms of content and composition.”

“It simultaneously screams ‘habitat destruction’ and ‘adaptation,’ begging the question: If wildlife can adapt to our environment, why can’t we respect theirs?” Moran said. 

Ballesta and Bechler’s photos were chosen from 19 other category winners. All of the images will be on exhibition at the Natural History Museum beginning Friday. 

Christopher Brito

Christopher Brito is a social media manager and trending content writer for CBS News.

I have been searching for a portable power station that can meet my energy needs on the go and power my home office during power outages for some time now. And with the Bluetti AC60, I found a compact solution.

The Need for a Power Station

Additional power on the road is always welcome. As photographers, we have quite some gear to charge, and we also want to review our photos, for which we have to power our laptops.

A few years ago, I rented an RV for a trip through France. Being a rental, its batteries didn’t have enough capacity for more than one day off the grid. Hence, I had to find powered campsites most of the time. Back then, a portable power station could have given me more flexibility.

But portable batteries are expensive and might seem hard to justify unless you’re on the road a lot. That’s why the perfect solution should also work in a home setup. UPS mode, which stands for Uninterruptible Power Supply, is a great additional feature for that. You can plug a station supporting UPS between the grid and the devices you want to power. In case of a blackout, the power station seamlessly takes over, and you don’t even notice that the grid is down.

Where I live, we don’t get many outages. In the last 12 months, we had two. Although annoying, it still doesn’t justify the investment in such a battery. But we also get plenty of thunderstorms, during which I usually unplug all my equipment. That time can add up, so in that case, a strong enough battery to power my office for a couple of hours would be a big plus.

Important Information About Power Stations

I was already aware that the inverters used in power stations to convert the DC current from the battery to AC, require power to operate. However, I wasn’t fully aware of the significant difference in efficiency that can result from using such power stations with different AC loads. If you use low-powered AC devices, the efficiency can drop to 70, 60, or even 50%.

This knowledge is essential when choosing a power station, as those don’t only come with varying capacities but also with different inverters. The Bluetti AC60, for example, has an inverter that can power an AC load of up to 600 watts in normal mode. For short periods, it can double the load. Bigger stations support even higher loads.

But bigger is not always better. If, for example, your typical load is less than 100 watts, the efficiency can be quite low for large stations. That’s why you should get a wattmeter before you buy a power station. Make sure to measure the load of the devices you intend to power and choose the battery’s capacity and power accordingly.

Bluetti AC60

Thankfully, power stations like the Bluetti AC60 also include a set of DC outlets. The AC60 has one 12V car cigarette lighter port, which you could use to power a DC fridge, two 15-watt USB-A outlets, and even a 100-watt USB-C outlet. With such a variance of DC outlets, you often don’t need to use one of the two AC outlets, as even a laptop can directly plug into the USB-C. Charging your phone works wireless by placing it on top of the AC60.

The loss when operating the AC60 in DC mode is low. You’ll lose some power if the fan becomes active at higher loads. Otherwise, the efficiency is very good. I did a test drawing 60watts from the USB-C and got 90% efficiency.

But what about the AC efficiency? My office setup consists of a Dell XPS, a monitor, and a Sonos speaker – that’s it. At this relatively low load, I get an efficiency of 77% from the 403Wh battery of the AC60. It can power my office for 4.5 hours. For higher loads, the efficiency should increase, as I explained above and as other tests I’ve read confirm.

More capacity would have been welcome, but I guess there’s always a compromise with batteries, especially if they come with the set of features of the AC60. It’s very robust, made of high-quality materials, and water and dust-resistant. The inverter is also relatively strong for a battery of its size. Another great feature is its extensibility. The AC60 comes with two ports for plugging in Bluetti’s B80 packs. This way, you can extend the capacity to a total of 2015Wh.

The ideal use is to have the AC60 for the go, where you can mostly use its efficient DC outlets. You’ll value its compact size and weather-resistant build for that. An extension might be necessary to use it in the office for a longer time, and I hope to get my hands on one for a future test. So stay tuned for that.

What I love about the AC60 is its fast charging capability. The integrated inverter works both ways and allows you to directly plug the AC60 into a wall outlet for a maximum input of 600 watts. With it, you can charge the AC60 to 80% in less than an hour. I got to a full charge in 71 Minutes. In normal mode, it took about two hours. Note that you’ll again lose some power in the process. I measured an efficiency of around 90%.

On the road, the 12V cigarette port can also serve as input. Or you can get Bluetti’s PV120 or PV200 portable solar panels to get up to 200 watts of solar charging.

At the beginning of this article, I also mentioned the UPS mode. The AC60 includes this feature with a less than 20ms switch-over time. In the feature video, I show this mode in action. Be aware, though, that continuously operating such a power station in UPS mode will consume energy. I also noticed it with the AC60. Doing some research, I found that this is normal. However, as it may come as a surprise to some, I wanted to mention it here. It happens because the AC60 also draws energy from the battery to power its internal components. Because of it, the battery drops to 99% every 15 to 20 minutes. Recharging means an extra 15 – 20Wh drawn from the grid each hour. It can become a factor if you plan to use the AC60 in UPS mode continuously.

When buying a battery, it’s also important to understand the difference between Li-Ion and LiFePO4. Li-Ion batteries are more compact and offer a higher energy density. But they also have a significantly shorter lifespan and are less secure. The AC60 uses LiFePO4 batteries, which allow up to 3000 recharges until the capacity drops below 80%. It roughly equates to a lifetime of 10 years when used continuously. Bluetti backs the longevity of their products with six years of warranty.

And what about noise? Power stations produce heat and usually require a fan to handle it. With less than 45db when the fan is active, it is silent compared to many competitors. But as I show in the feature video, it might still be too loud if you intend to record videos in the same room.

The final feature I want to mention is the Bluetti app. Using the QR code on the AC60, it was easy to connect it. From the app, I get an overview of the different currents and loads in the AC60. I can also control features like fast charging or ECO mode. Firmware updates are also handled via the app. Those are important because the AC60 is still a very new power station, and Bluetti uses those updates to tune things like the operation of the fans, for example.

What I Like

Here, I want to highlight a few features I particularly like about the AC60. For one thing, it’s the robust build and the IP65 rating. When I bring it on a camping trip, I won’t have to worry about it. I also appreciate the 100-watt USB-C outlet. It’s perfect for powering my Dell XPS on the road. I was also surprised by the quick and efficient charging, which doesn’t require an additional adapter. I can plug the cable directly into the AC60 for charging.

There’s one more thing that can be a game-changer: the extensibility. By getting just one B80 from Bluetti, I could power my office setup for more than 13 hours based on the efficiency I measured. Now, that’s some piece of mind right there.

What Could Be Improved

While I appreciate the extensibility, it would have been nice for the AC60 to have more capacity. Comparable power stations usually pack 512Wh. With 9kg, the AC60 is also not very lightweight. The reason is most likely due to the use of LiFePO4 vs. Lithium-ion. Considering it, more weight for security and a longer lifetime is a good trade-off.

As for the inverter efficiency, I hoped it would be higher for my typical loads. As I wrote in the beginning, the advertised efficiencies usually refer to higher loads and ideal conditions. It’s good to know though, that the formula in the AC60 manual to calculate the efficiency is correct. I value such transparency, even though it requires digging a bit deeper. I downloaded the manual of some competing brands, trying to find a similar formula, but I couldn’t.

Conclusion

The Bluetti AC60 is currently available for $699. It is a robust and feature-packed power station strong enough to supply power throughout a weekend photo adventure. The installed LiFePO4 batteries and the 6-year warranty provide some piece of mind after making such an investment and its extensibility flexibility. And while for me, the capacity of the AC60 is sufficient for now, it’s good to know that Bluetti also has bigger stations in their AC line. As I wrote in the beginning, first measure how much power and capacity you need to make an informed decision.