Our photo tours are designed for photo enthusiasts wanting to see amazing landscapes and experience the magic of unspoiled nature. If you are an occasional snapper, a committed amateur, or even semi-professional photographer with an SLR camera – we have a tour for you. Our tours are fun for partners and friends too.
You don’t have to be a photographer to enjoy the amazing landscapes of Queenstown and the Southern Lakes and it might mean you get to model too.
Hell no! Weather is our friend. It gives us the opportunity to capture this spectacular region in its many evocative and dramatic moods, not just those postcard perfect blue sky moments. Our vehicle is warm, dry and comfortable and we carry umbrellas and wet weather gear on all our tours.
Tours are only cancelled when conditions are dangerous.
We carry snacks, water and hot drinks (tea & coffee) to warm us and keep our energy levels up. On full day tours, we stop for you to buy lunch in one of the local villages. It’s your choice. Sit down and enjoy a lunch break in a local cafe or pick up some food to have while we shoot.
Half Day Tours are designed to cover locations within an hour’s drive from Queenstown. Generally, we can make it as far as one of Queenstown’s neighbouring villages. The distance covered is dependant on the photographic approach you wish to take.
If your aim is to capture lots of different views and locations we’ll cover more ground than we will if you are exploring creative possibilities at fewer locations with the aim of creating truly individual expressions at each scene.
Full day tours can take us beyond neighbour villages and into their unique environments. Again, we cover more ground and see more sights if we stop often to shoot, but by taking our time at each location we can aim to create some unique images.
Unique sights and environments are to be found north, south, east and west of Queenstown. Our half days are designed to take you to locations around an hour’s drive from Queenstown, reaching some of our neighbouring villages and venturing into their unique landscapes.
Full days give us the time to head out to one of these regions and really explore its sights and character and experience changes in mood and light.
Our choice of destination is governed by your interests and preferences as well as weather and light conditions on the day. A bright, crisp and clear day might see us head toward Glenorchy along Lake Wakatipu, taking in views of deep blue waters, forests and distant mountains.
If conditions are cloudy and misty we might venture into the spectacular Skipper Canyon where these conditions just add atmosphere to this amazing other-worldly landscape.
Each tour starts with a discussion to find out about your photography, your interests, preferences and the options we have on the day – based on time, light and weather conditions.
Of course, you can! Guests are more than welcome on our photo tours, even if not budding photographers themselves. Even guests who are not interested in photography will get their money’s worth and can enjoy a trip that takes in the great scenery of this region spots only a local knows.
We’re here to help. If you have not used your camera yet, or you know only a little, our photography workshops will be particularly useful to you. Ideally, you will already know your camera’s main controls. It would really help if you bring your user manual with you since functions vary and we don’t know every model and brand.
The basics remain the same no matter what your camera. The aim is to have you taking better photos and capturing the magic you see on our tours. We look at creative techniques, composing your image to pull in the viewer, and using camera settings like aperture and shutter speed to affect depth and sharpness.
If you are an advanced photographer, we’ll take you to places where you can fully exercise you creative powers to produce memorable images.
Generally, any camera with manual settings such as shutter speed, aperture and ISO will be sufficient. Any DSLR or mirrorless camera will have these capabilities, as will many bridge cameras.
To expand your options, we recommend you bring any of your other lenses like a wide angle for capturing the breadth of the landscape, or a zoom lens for far away detail. A polarizing filter or ND filters will also add depth to what we can capture.
We have tripods available for use, but you are welcome to bring your own trusty camera mount. In case you you run out of memory, we have SD cards available to purchase. Lastly, don’t forget to come with a fully charged battery and spare.
