Tour Starts – Queenstown:
Day 0 or Pre Tour accommodation is located in central Queenstown – check in Tuesday, 29th April from 2.00 pm.
You are at your own leisure until the next day’s pick up Wednesday, 30th April.
Tour Finishes – Queenstown: The tour finishes in Queenstown. We will be arriving at the airport at 3 pm for domestic flights scheduled no earlier than 4 pm. Be sure to confirm your required check-in times for international departures. Please avoid booking flights earlier than this, as it may result in missed departures.
Accommodation Type: This tour uses a standard of 4-4+ star hotel/lodge accommodation and we try where possible to stay 2 nights at each hotel. We sometimes will book a 1-night stay at a 3-star motel to be close to a place where we are shooting for sunrise/sunset at a location that does not have any other options.
Single Room Upgrades: Tour price is based on twin/double share rooms. If you are travelling alone you can book a single room upgrade or we can try and pair you with another traveller for all/part of the tour. If we can not pair you with another traveller for all/part of the tour you may need to pay for a single room upgrade. Please note the single room upgrade is for 10 nights: This excludes a single room upgrade for 2 nights on the Doubtful Sound boat, single rooms are available on request but require booking out an extra bed on the boat. Please inquire for a price.
Food: The price tour includes breakfast each morning, this is normally at the hotel but sometimes a local cafe. Lunch and dinner (apart from any listed as being included) are at your own expense. We will stop at a cafe/shop for lunch and book a table for the group for dinner each day at a local restaurant. Sometimes evening meal times might be early/late to fit around the time of sunset. New Zealand has great food and caters well for any preferences like allergies, vegetarian etc.
A minimum level of physical activity is necessary to enjoy this tour. A lot of locations we shoot require a short walk (10-20mins one way) along the forest tracks or the coastline. These are sometimes uphill, over uneven ground, or rocky beaches and you will be carrying your own equipment. On this tour, there may be a couple of longer walk options (30-45 min one way) but if these are difficult for the group, we do have the option to split the group at these locations. If your fitness or mobility is an issue please let us know.
A non-refundable deposit of $1500 of booking total, is required to reserve your space for the workshop. The remaining balance is due 60 days prior to the start of the workshop. You may pay in full at time of booking, the balance (minus the deposit) will remain fully refundable until 60 days before the workshop.
Booking and Cancellation Policy: Please click here for our booking and cancellation policy.
This tour runs with a maximum group size of 8 and 2 tutors, offering 1:4 ratio of tutors to guests. Limiting group sizes ensure we provide you with expert guidance, instruction, and personal attention according to your learning style. Smaller groups of up to 4 may only be led by one tutor.
Our exact schedule each day will be determined according to the weather to allow for the best shooting, we may choose to swap out locations for others that are better suited to the conditions and we keep a flexible itinerary to accommodate this. We focus on spending as much time as possible out shooting, often from before dawn until sunset. During the tour, we will make time for some image review and processing session, we will fit these around times that are not optimum for shooting.
Ideally, you will have a basic knowledge of photography and be comfortable adjusting camera settings such as aperture and shutter speed. An aim of this tour is to get you to the best locations, in the best light. While providing you on-location help from our experienced tutors, to come away with the hero shots of your own personal vision. We will have a brief session at the start of the tour, covering camera settings and controls, to be sure everyone is up to speed.
Camera Equipment: Our tours focus on how to use your camera, not your type of camera. A basic list of recommended camera equipment can be found here
Clothing: A list of recommended clothing to bring on the tour can be found here
I participated in the New Zealand Icons Photography Tour. It ticked the most boxes of places I wanted to visit on the South Island when compared to other tours I looked at. The stay at Larnach Castle and the Doubtful Sound Cruise were unique experiences not offered by other tours I looked at.
The entire staff at New Zealand Photography Workshops were friendly and helpful and communication was great. The photographer guides were knowledgeable, helpful, and good teachers. I would absolutely book another tour with them if I travel to New Zealand again.