Photo Gallery, New Zealand pictures

Photography © John Baker, Travel Images

The following images represent the typical range of subjects for this Travel Images photo tour, and were selected in the knowledge that every client is able to obtain similar images. That is my goal for each client.

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 Anthony Gross

This is a 'no click' zone! . . . just scroll on down . . .


Mount Cook at sunset, Australasia's highest peak. 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.

As we skirt Lyttleton Harbour on day one, we often get serendipitous shots such as this. I was initially attracted to the 'strength' of the silhouette of these Gulls, but also the mild humour I saw in the poses that are struck. For silhouettes, it really is as simple as 'point and shoot' on most occasions, but choose your subjects carefully.


A 'likeable' S-curve that is part of a grander scene that is Lyttleton harbour. It's long lenses for this shot, and wide angles for the vista. The point is, there is often more than one shot to be created.


Talking of birds, New Zealand boasts the only mainland nesting colony of Royal Albatross in the world. All the others nest on islands. On my trips they'll fly overhead, and you'll get shots such as this.

	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 as this next image . . .


November and December are the months for capturing such images 'down under'.


On each trip my groups photograph the Bungee jumping near Arrowtown. Basically there are two photography options, either freeze the action or opt for deliberate motion blur. This is the latter, and I'm fortunate that the water is back-lit and adding to the magic of the fleeting moment.


Dawn 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!

	Taken between showers at Nugget Point light on the south coast. I'm happy to say that my clients got the same shot but with a rainbow in the image too!


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.

	Just as with the image above, this is another long lens on a tripod set-up. Taken on a west coast beach on South Island, it's the 'complex simplicity' which gives it appeal.


A nice atmospheric image on Lake Manapouri which is a stitch shot from 3 frames. New Zealand to the Maori is the 'Land of the long white cloud', but they were referring to the clouds above the mountains!

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 at the head of Milford Sound, and it was a case of shoot and be gone so that the birds distress was minimized.


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.

	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.


Yep, New Zealand is noted for it's Sheep, and here I got 'lucky' in respect of the dog's 'pose', the backlighting, and the dust flying. Then again you need to be ready with all your camera settings at their optimum for such a serendipitous shot!


A close up of a fern frond, and a 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.

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.

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.

Many of the gull shots were lost against the sky, but this one stood out against a church roof, and is the benefit of having your camera in 'drive' mode when such situations arise.


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 above.


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!

Another placid Milford Sound scene shot at 200mm as the cloud was dispersing. The Sound, really a fiord, was named after a Welshman who hailed from Milford Haven in Wales.


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.

Of all the ferns I've taken most have been green, but I chose to show you this dead fern from an old growth forest, as I like it's bold 'spines'.


Another early light effort deliberately shot against a dark background for the greatest impact.

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

	Blue skies are OK as a rule, but for the most striking images one really should pray for changing light such as this in The Remarkables near Queenstown. Another 30 minutes and the cloud had burnt off and the best images were 'in the bag'.


The Yellow-eyed Penguin. A visit to a Penguin Colony is a part of all my New Zealand photography tours.


This is the Kingston Flyer being photographed by a Seattle client. Subjects on my trips are pretty eclectic, and a change of subject now and again is good for the soul methinks!

	A babbling brook at end of the road in Paradise Valley. It's a very remote spot, and scenes for the 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Prince Caspian' movies were shot in this area. Oh, for you 'Lord of the Rings' fans, I point out other film locations during my New Zealand photo tours.


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.

East of Te Anau one moody evening.

A Black-Billed Gull.

	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, but that drawback means that as 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.
Simply, silhouetted wild lupine set against Mount Cook.


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.

	Wild Lupine light up the Ahuriri river bed north of Omarama.


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.

	I get immense satisfaction from seeing my clients getting the most from my photo tours. This is Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, and on this particular morning our early start was a bit of a damp squid, but after breakfast, this happened.


A Wanaka Lake sunrise . . . not much else needs to be added in regard to this shot!


New Zealand Autumn brochure New Zealand Spring 1 brochure \| New Zealand Spring 2 brochure Also see Tasmania

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