Photo Gallery, New Zealand pictures

Photography © John Baker Photographer LLC/Travel Images.com/JayBeeStock.com

The following images represent the typical range of subjects for this particular Travel Images photo tour or workshop. They were selected with the knowledge that all our clients are able to obtain similar images, but should a particular technique be new to you I will share everything I know so that you reach every one of your photographic goals.

Please scroll down for images taken on Travel Images photo tours by the leader John Baker.
In most cases, links to client images from this destination are at the bottom of the page

Sheep outnumber the locals 40 to 1 in New Zealand, so photo ops of them come in many forms. This was captured in remote Paradise, and works because the back-lighting is enhanced by the naturally dark background.	On day two we head south across the Canterbury Plain to the 'white-stoned' town of Oamaru. They have their Victorian Days in November, but several of the locals are still to be seen in their period clothing, and sporting Penny Farthing bicycles such as this one.

Dawn on day three at the Moeraki Boulders. Exposures of a 15th of a second and slower turn the water to a 'mist.' The Moeraki Boulders are like no other on our planet as they are completely round, and only found on the east coast of South Island. Accordingly, many legends have attached themselves to the boulders, but this I know for sure, they are very photogenic!

We continue on via Dunedin and make a stop to photograph the superbly ornate railway station etcetera. The town of Dunedin has a Scottish theme and is known appropriately as the 'Edinburgh of the south'.


We then head onto the Otago Peninsula where New Zealand boasts the only mainland nesting colony of Royal Albatross in the world. All the others nest on islands. On our trips they'll fly overhead, and you'll get shots such as this.

Looking inland from the Albatross colony, one is often blessed with some moody light on Dunedin harbour. When the shot above was taken we were all trying to frame the various Gulls in our shots as they flew by.

A Stilt searches for sustenance on the Papanui inlet.	The Yellow-eyed Penguin. A visit to a Penguin Colony is a part of all my New Zealand photography tours.

A Black-Billed Gull.

The group was out at Taiaroa Head for the sunrise, which was actually quite disappointing. But, on our return for breakfast we were blessed with this! Oddly enough, it rains in New Zealand, but wherever you get rain you're gonna have rainbows!


. . . And this is what a normal Taiaroa Head sunrise looks like! Plus myriads of seabirds in flight.


There is a section of the New Zealand trip which yields a high percentage of bird images, and just after dawn on one trip we encountered these Terns that 'danced' for the group for 10 minutes or more.

After leaving the Otago Peninsula we head south for Nugget Point lighthouse . . .


. . . and Purakaunui Falls. Purakaunui is 'multi-faceted' in that it is wide and can be photographed from many different perspectives. It you like the 'soft water' effect, a tripod and a shutter speed of a fifteenth of a second and slower will give you the desired effect.


Yes, New Zealand is noted for it's Sheep who outnumber the locals 40 to 1. Once in a while though we serendipitously stumble upon Cows being herded down a country lane. Always a good photo op.

On westwards to our next stop in Te Anau, with most late in the day stops looking something like this . . . typical New Zealand with Sheep and a mountain backdrop.


An atmospheric image on Lake Manapouri which is a stitch shot from two frames. New Zealand to the Maori is the 'Land of the long white cloud', but they were referring to the clouds above the mountains!

New Zealand's wild Lupine. The greater the contrast, the greater the impact your shots of this type will have. New Zealand's spring produces an abundance of them such an expanse of lupine that follows below.	Selective focus is the technique used for this shot. A long lens works best as one shoots through a clump of flowers to pick out a single flower. The wind can be blowing, but as you should be shooting wide-open for such an effect you'll have a corresponding fast shutter speed.


Milford Sound is a truly awesome place for photography, but it is also one of the wettest places on Earth. So far my groups have photographed it pretty much like this on every trip since 1995!

Birds will desert their nests if us photographers linger too long, so the first step is to wait until the eggs have hatched and the likelihood of nest abandonment is greatly reduced. This Oystercatcher was captured in Milford Sound, and it was a case of shoot and be gone so that the bird's stress was minimized	Another Milford Sound perspective using a graduated grey/split neutral density filter, and getting down low. The Sound, really a fiord, was named after a Welshman who hailed from Milford Haven in Wales.

Another perspective of Milford Sound. A wonderful place when the light and clouds dance together.


I could shoot close-ups of ferns etcetera until the cows come home! Pretty simple really. A long lens on a tripod, and making sure that my camera is square to the subject so that it is sharp from corner to corner.

A close up of a fern fiddlehead, the Kiwi symbol of new life. When doing close-ups/macro depth of field is very limited, so start by getting your camera plane as square to the subjects plane as possible. If you don't your more likely to have one section in focus and details in front and behind the focus point annoyingly out of focus.

A favorite spot on the New Zealand photography tour, not only of mine, but of my clients. So, one has a whole lotta Lupine, and the what can add to the memorability is how we compose our shots.

I advocate deliberate blur on all of our trips, and the subjects that often work best are forests with all the vertical lines, or in this case colorful Lupine.

Another early light effort deliberately shot against a dark background for the greatest impact. The early morning dew is also attached to a piece of a spider's web, hence the 'aberration' at the top of the image.

A slow shutter speed produces deliberate blur for this galloping horse near Te Anau.

A fudge shop window in picturesque Arrowtown provides some color.	The TSS Earnslaw has been chugging away on Lake Wakatipu adjacent to Queenstown for many years, but only once have I seen a rainbow over the boat as happened with this shot. If ya' want the rainbows, ya' gotta have the rain is so very true.

Queenstown New Zealand is considered to be, or considers itself, the adventure capital New Zealand, and perhaps the world. There are lots of ways to get a 'rush' in the area, and two of them appeal to our photography clientele. The first is jet boating on the Shotover River, and the other is . . . . . . . bungee jumping. Basically there are two photography options, either opt for deliberate motion blur such at left, or freeze the action, right. I prefer the blur on this occasion as the water is back-lit and adding to the magic of the fleeting moment.


The end of the road in Paradise Valley a fair clip from busy Queenstown. It's a very remote spot, and scenes for the 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Prince Caspian' movies were shot in this area. For you 'Lord of the Rings' fans, I'll point out several film locations during the New Zealand photo tour.

Don't be deceived by the look of this place! It's actually a high quality hotel, and has excellent food to boot. The 'old banger' parked outside adds to the illusion.

A Wanaka Lake sunrise . . . not much else needs to be added in regard to this shot except to say get down low use f.22, and add some foreground interest.

At over 12,000 feet Mount Cook, Aoraki to the Maori, is the highest peak in all of Australasia. It is often shrouded in cloud, especially on the west side which we avoid, and when the clearing takes place there is likely to be some dramatic lighting going on. This was shot with a 200mm lens from the valley floor.

I get immense satisfaction from seeing my clients getting the most from my photo tours, and this shot was captured at Lake Pukaki. The backdrop is Mount Cook.

Mount Cook at sunset. From the west coast you're lucky to get a glimpse of the mountain, but exploring as my groups do from the east side has always brought rewards such as this. The color is natural, and looks to me like an oil painting . . . brush strokes from the hand of the Artist as it were.

Yep, New Zealand is noted for it's Sheep, and here I was fortunate in respect of the dog's 'pose', the back-lighting, and the dust flying. Then again we need to be ready with all your camera settings at their optimum for such a serendipitous shot. The Sheep are Merinos.

The Church of the Good Shepherd on Lake Tekapo completed in 1935. cough It was the church that was completed in 1935, not the lake. ;o)


All the New Zealand photography tours end at a Maori 'Ko Tāne' and the fear the Maori can put in you is quite authentic! However, they're great and friendly people and a good photo op.


New Zealand by Laura Hall \| New Zealand by Dave New New Zealand by Mike Berry \| New Zealand by Richard Buchbinder New Zealand by Daniel Attema \| New Zealand by Tom + Ellen Judd New Zealand by Jana Jirak \| New Zealand by Tom Cooper New Zealand by Dick and Sylvia Turpin \| New Zealand by Jim Miotke New Zealand by Bill and Hester Heske \| New Zealand by Anthony Gross
New Zealand Spring brochure \| New Zealand Autumn brochure Also see Tasmania
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