Photography Locations in New Zealand

[ian in lancs]

I have a chance to go to New Zealand - flying into South Island and heading north to a wedding north of Auckland - what's a don't miss location for photographs?

[RobDickinson]

Ouch how long have you got & how specific do you want? What time of year will it be?

[ian in lancs]

RobDickinson said:

Ouch how long have you got & how specific do you want? What time of year will it be?

2 weeks in April

[Simpo Two]

Everywhere, just keep your eyes open and your foot over the brake pedal

I took 3,000 photos in a month on both islands and some of my favourites are at www.blokewithacamera.co.uk/NZ.htm

[ian in lancs]

Simpo Two said:

Everywhere, just keep your eyes open and your foot over the brake pedal

I took 3,000 photos in a month on both islands and some of my favourites are at www.blokewithacamera.co.uk/NZ.htm

Thanks for that, I'll take a look! 3000 in a month? Look like I'll need more memory cards and a backup device/laptop. Anyway, pah you're not trying! My nephew who's getting married to a kiwi took 25,000 in three months on a European tour. His 5mth old 'new' D60 is looking a bit polished now!!!

[Olf]

As already said - everywhere. But, I think you should be looking for out-of-the-ordinary sights. On that basis my favourites would be:

Milford Sound
Kaikoura
The Glaciers
Abel Tasman
Tongariro Crossing
Sailing in Northland (out of Russell in our case)

Can post some pictures if you wish.

[RobDickinson]

ian in lancs said:

RobDickinson said:

Ouch how long have you got & how specific do you want? What time of year will it be?

2 weeks in April

OK so wil be little snow around on most of the smaller mountains but days will be getting shorter and let you at those dawn/dusk shots easier, daytime sunlight in NZ is nuclear and kills good landscapes usualy.


From the south up...

Milford sound & Mitre Peak - classic location
Catlins - Nugget point, Porpoise bay
Dunedin - peninsula and Royal Albatross Colony , Surf.
Queenstown - Lake Wakitipu, Remarkables, Glenorchy, Deer park heights, Moke Lake, Arrowtown
Queenstown-> Wanaka over the crown range - cardrona
Wanaka - The lake, everywhere, stunning, OMG. Rob Roy glacier etc.
(ps remembe to check out the Ski field access roads (will be OK with a 2WD) for great elevated views.
Lindis Pass, best in the evening I think.
Otago High country, everywhere
Lake Ohau + Ohau ski field access road
Mount Aoraki/Mt Cook
Lake Pukaki & views of mt cook.
Lake Tekapo, Church, observatory.
Then inland scenic route to chch via Peel forest, MT Sommers, Rakaia gorge.
From Chch over porters Pass to Arthurs pass and west coast. West coast is stunning, everywhere.
Then back up to Nelson lakes via Buller river,
Nelson & Malborough Sounds
Abel Tasmen - stunning beach & bush.
Golden Bay - Farewell spit :O
Kaikoura - whale watch (spew) seal colony and peninsula.

Thats some of the highlites of the south island.

[Simpo Two]

RobDickinson said:

daytime sunlight in NZ is nuclear

I'd forgotten that - although it may seem like an English summer day you will burn much quicker.

I wasn't looking for moody landscapes particularly so photographically it wasn't a problem, but a polarising filter is a good extra.

[ian in lancs]

Thanks everyone for the great info. I've printed it off and will studying maps and books to plan out an itinerary! I can't wait.

I hope I'll be able to carry all my camera gear on board the aircraft rather than gifting it to the handlers - I still have nightmares remembering watching my road bike being dropped about 2m onto a baggage trolley in Greece. I guess I'll leave the hard case at home and dig out my backpack.

I'll be taking my D300s with the 18-105mm VR Nikkor, my retired D80 as backup/wife's camera with an 18-50mm f2.8, plus a 70mm f2.8 Macro - both very sharp Sigma's and a Nikon 70-300mm VR. I might regret recently selling my 10-20mm Sigma but I didn't like it or use it much so it went.

The Nikon AF-S VR 70-200mm f/2.8G IF-ED will probably be staying at home although I'd like to sell it!

I'm tempted to get a D700 and a Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED and take those two with the 70-200mm and use the D300s as a backup. Two bodies, two lenses. Simples! Decisions, decisions!

[Rob13]

I will bear this in mind for when I go to NZ later next year (November). I'm off there for 3 weeks.

[RobDickinson]

ian in lancs said:

I'm tempted to get a D700 and a Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED and take those two with the 70-200mm and use the D300s as a backup. Two bodies, two lenses. Simples! Decisions, decisions!

Well a D700 and 24-70 would be incredable, the D300s is no slouch. Personaly I'd want wider than 18mm on a crop, 24 on a full frame is OK and you can always stitch, I love my 10-20 here.

You way want to bring a tripod or monopod (or bean bag/gorrilapod), def bring a polariser and IMO a 2 stop ND grad at least, and lots and lots of memory...

[ian in lancs]

RobDickinson said:

bring a polariser and IMO a 2 stop ND grad at least, and lots and lots of memory...

Already in the kitbag. As for a tripod I'll borrow one from my nephew or buy a cheap one when I get there! What I normally do when traveling is fill pop-socks with rice or dried peas and chuck it away when leaving to save packing and space.

Edited by ian in lancs on Thursday 31st December 23:28

[havoc]

RobDickinson said:

From the south up...

Milford sound & Mitre Peak - classic location prefer Doubtful as an experience (overnight cruise with RealJourneys was fantastic), but probably not for photos
Catlins - Nugget point, Porpoise bay
Dunedin - peninsula and Royal Albatross Colony , Surf.
Queenstown - Lake Wakitipu, Remarkables, Glenorchy, Deer park heights, Moke Lake, Arrowtown
Queenstown-> Wanaka over the crown range - cardrona
Wanaka - The lake, everywhere, stunning, OMG. Rob Roy glacier etc.
(ps remember to check out the Ski field access roads (will be OK with a 2WD) for great elevated views.
Lindis Pass, best in the evening I think.
Otago High country, everywhere
Lake Ohau + Ohau ski field access road
[b]Mount Aoraki/Mt Cook
Lake Pukaki & views of mt cook.
Lake Tekapo[/b], Church, observatory.
Then inland scenic route to chch via Peel forest, MT Sommers, Rakaia gorge.
From Chch over porters Pass to Arthurs pass and west coast. West coast is stunning, everywhere.
Then back up to Nelson lakes via Buller river,
Nelson & Malborough Sounds
Abel Tasmen - stunning beach & bush.
Golden Bay - Farewell spit :O
Kaikoura - whale watch (spew) seal colony and peninsula. Try Akaroa instead - very twisty drive over the ridge, interesting bay (scenery and sea-lions), and you can go on dolphin cruises instead (Hectors), where they try and find a playful pod to drop you in the water with (in drysuits).

Thats some of the highlites of the south island.

My comments in italics and favourites in bold.

North Island has some great sights too, if you're going to be up there:-
- Coromandel Peninsula is very different to much of the rest of NZ - beaches, palm trees, lovely coastline;
- Rotorua/Taupo areas - thermal springs, mud pools, Lake Taupo and its volcanic sand shoreline, plus Tongariro Park with the three cone-volcanoes.

Photos from our trip in Sept-08 (13 days NZ, 5 days Cook Is) here. We really struggled to decide where to visit / where not to:-
http://s101.photobucket.com/albums/m54/martin-w/Ho...

[Simpo Two]

One proviso - on such a flying trip you'll probably only be able to stay at each place for a day or two. So don't expect to be able to nail a chocolate box photo of each place because (if my experience is typical) 2-3 days will be rained out. So for me, Mount Cook, Nugget Point and Doubtful Sound were wiped out. Even when the day is good, the light may well be wrong or the flowers not in bloom etc. In fact I'd say that getting 'the perfect landscape' - the kind you want to hang on the wall for a few years - is almost impossible on such a schedule. You should easily get hundreds of good photos though

[havoc]

Simpo Two said:

In fact I'd say that getting 'the perfect landscape' - the kind you want to hang on the wall for a few years - is almost impossible on such a schedule.

Depends how fussy you are...we were lucky enough to get a couple of awesome shots in the Mt Cook/L. Tekapo area, and at least one more in Coromandel. One is already a canvas and we're toying with getting another done...

As you say though, some areas WILL be a washout - we didn't even get to SEE the Tongariro volcanoes, so bad was the weather on our first two days.

[grumbledoak]

Much of NZ, though the south island in particular, is very photogenic. Expect to give Rob's list a thorough pruning- two weeks isn't much time. Use Google etc. to choose where you want to go.

But, don't believe the Kiwi's normal spin that the place is big; it isn't. Some of the most diverse landscapes you could find are only hours apart. But, it is long and thin, and some places aren't that accessible.

[Simpo Two]

grumbledoak said:

But, don't believe the Kiwi's normal spin that the place is big; it isn't. Some of the most diverse landscapes you could find are only hours apart. But, it is long and thin, and some places aren't that accessible.

Much of South Island is effectively a one-way circuit than you either do CW or ACW. Whilst it's the same area as GB, as Grumbledoak says the visited places are a very small part of that. In fact when I posted on this subject on the NZ forum before my own trip, somebody said 'Look out for the Cheshire Cat'. I had no idea what they meant, but one day I looked up into a large tree, and fk me, there was a Cheshire Cat! That's how small the place is in tourist reality.

Other places to add to your list are Cape Reinga and Stewart Island, which I was fortunate enough to visit in lovely weather. From the book I haven't published yet, 'Travels of a Simpo':

'We have to be at our motel near Fox Glacier by 9pm, and we have a lot of miles, and even more kilometres, ahead of us. At least there’s no navigating to do, it’s State Highway 6 all the way from Wanaka to Fox. The only interruption to our swift progress is that I’m still casting around for interesting things to photograph. In particular I’ve become fascinated by the old and derelict timber dwellings, no doubt built by the first inhabitants, and now just left to decay gradually. Some are more photogenic than others, and they crop up at completely unpredictable intervals, so despite charging along at around 100kph I’m always looking left and right to find what David calls, with a deadpan satire born of much practice, ‘dead sheds’. Most times there’s no warning, and if I think it’s worth exploring, I have to brake sharply to avoid too much of a walk back. David is by now well used to having his reading interrupted by these emergency stops, and with practice has learned to stop his head from striking the dashboard. It’s hard to tell whether he’s annoyed, stoical or simply doesn’t mind – by the time the car has stopped in a handy lay-by or on a piece of verge, he’s already picked up the sentence from where I stopped him, and I’m free to grab the camera bag from the back seat and trot back to the ‘dead shed’ for a brief photo sortie. As a photographer you’re never off duty. You never know what may present itself, and if you don’t grab the chance, you’ve missed it for ever.'

Edited by Simpo Two on Friday 1st January 21:37

[Olf]

These are some of the locations I posted earlier.

[RobDickinson]

grumbledoak said:

But, don't believe the Kiwi's normal spin that the place is big; it isn't.

Oh its plenty big enough, the south island itself is bigger than England , the tourist route, and primary road loop can be done quickly , but you can spend a very long time exploring here.

[cottonfoo]

Simpo Two said:

Other places to add to your list are Cape Reinga and Stewart Island

Stewart Island is great, we were only there for three days last year and two of those were a bit wet, but we'll go back for a week next year. We did at least get to Ulva, although the weather was too bad to take a water taxi anywhere. We stayed at the South Sea Hotel, excellent blue cod and chips and a good bar

Mt Egmont was nice, I drove from Whakatane after a trip out to White Island through the Forgotten World Highway which was great, like a jurassic jungle. Manukau Heads is another good spot for taking photos.

This time last year, taking into account the time difference, I was just pulling up in Hokitika!