Discover the South Island’s wildest places and sharpen your photography under the guidance of New Zealand’s most respected landscape photographers. This exceptional tour combines our NZ Landscape Photography Summit with our West Coast Wilderness Tour that captures the region’s most dramatic locations.
Begin your adventure on the West Coast at Punakaiki, deep in Paparoa National Park—a landscape of wild coastline, limestone canyons, lush rainforest, and river gorges. Here, the Summit unfolds: five days of inspiration, keynote talks, and hands-on fieldwork with Craig Potton, Richard Young, Ken Wright, and Matthias Risse. Small-group tuition coupled with evening presentations will help you refine your creative vision, develop expressive fine art nature photography, and master coastal imagery in an environment steeped in both conservation and photographic history.
Glen Howey guides the adventure southward from Punakaiki, following the iconic West Coast route. Travel through dramatic coastal scenery to Franz Josef Glacier, where ancient ice meets temperate rainforest. Then journey through the rugged beauty of Haast Pass, a region of remote river valleys and thundering waterfalls. Finally, arrive in Wanaka, framed by sweeping mountain ranges and a shimmering alpine lake, offering new opportunities to capture the Southern Alps in all their winter glory.
Timed for winter’s low, atmospheric light, every day offers fresh inspiration. Whether you’re seeking to grow your portfolio, experiment with fine art photography, or reconnect with nature, this combined Summit and West Coast Wilderness Experience offers a rare chance to explore New Zealand’s most dramatic landscapes while learning from four leading photographers.
Tour Starts: Christchurch – 4th June 2026: After early morning hotel pickups in Christchurch, we’ll begin our journey with a drive across Arthur’s Pass, the highest road pass over the Southern Alps, stopping to photograph its waterfalls and lush native forest.
Over the next five immersive days, you’ll be part of the NZ Landscape Photography Summit, working alongside leading photographers Richard Young, Craig Potton, Ken Wright, and Matthias Risse. Capture Punakaiki’s dramatic limestone formations and venture into Paparoa National Park to photograph sculpted river gorges, lush rainforest, and an untamed coastline where powerful waves crash onto deserted beaches. With a mix of fieldwork and classroom sessions, this summit is designed to refine your creative vision and connect you deeply with the West Coast’s wild beauty.
Glen Howey & Ben Wallbank take the lead on the next leg of the tour. You’ll spend two days exploring the magnificent rainforest of Te Wāhipounamu, a UNESCO World Heritage area rich in landscapes and biodiversity. Panoramic views of the Southern Alps rise beyond vast tracts of rainforest and shimmering coastal lagoons. We’ll also head south to Fox Glacier to visit the iconic Lake Matheson, renowned for its mirror-like reflections of Aoraki/Mt Cook and Mt Tasman.
For those who wish, there is also the option (at additional cost) to take a helicopter flight onto the Franz Josef Glacier, offering an unforgettable aerial perspective.
Based in Haast for two nights, we’ll explore Southern Westland’s dramatic coastline and forested landscapes. This area offers some of the best forest photography in the country, with opportunities along walkways, coastal lagoons, and wild beaches. Haast is also renowned for its fiery sunsets, with endless wild vistas backed by the distant snow-capped Alps.
Travelling inland via the spectacular Haast Pass, we’ll photograph a series of remarkable waterfalls, including a stunning 30-metre cascade nestled within stately beech forest. From our lakeside base in Wānaka, we’ll capture sweeping vistas of mountain ranges and the lake, with shifting light playing across rugged peaks and valleys.
Tour Finishes: Queenstown – 14th June 2026: After travelling from Wānaka, the tour concludes in Queenstown. We will arrive at Queenstown Airport by 3:00 pm, in time for domestic flights departing from 4:00 pm. Please book only flights departing after 4:00 pm to ensure sufficient time for check-in. For international departures, allow for the airline’s required check-in time when planning your onward journey.
Each day on the summit brings together the perfect immersion of time out shooting and conference room sessions to learn from our expert tutors. Each day has been carefully planed to allow for optimum time shooting sunset and sunrises coupled with learning opportunities throughout the day.
Sunrise Field Shoots – Start each day out on the beach with our expert tutors to capture sunrise.
Midday Conference Sessions – Hosted in Punakaiki Visitor Centre conference room, be inspired by talks from our leading landscape photographers, covering their unique approaches, post-processing instruction, and image critique.
Afternoon Fieldwork – Explore rainforest trails, rivers, and coastal formations with our expert tutors helping you to create unique photographs, finishing with a classic West Coast sunset.
Evening Social – After dinner each evening, enjoy our creative lounge discussion sessions. Print your best work from the day and share this with the group and receive constructive feedback from your peers
Award winning Craig Potton is one of New Zealand’s best known and respected landscape photographers and an ardent conservationist.
Richard Young is a full-time landscape and wildlife photographer based in Wanaka. He has been guiding groups of photographers in New Zealand since 2010, and in 2013, he founded New Zealand Photography Workshops.
Ken Wright’s seascapes speak for themselves, outstanding moments in time that capture sunrise and sunset. With 40 years experience in creative industries, Ken is highly skilled in design, illustration and photography.
Matthias H. Risse is a photographer and technologist who has dedicated his career to exploring the intersection of nature, technology, and human experience.
Glen has worked as a travel, documentary, and landscape photographer for over 30 years. As an educator at Massey University, The Photo School, and through photography workshops, he’s passionate about helping others discover and develop their own connection to photography.
Ben is a passionate guide and photographer dedicated to capturing the beauty of life through videography and photography.
Accommodation Type: This tour uses comfortable lodge accommodation and mainly 4 star hotels.
Sole Occupancy/Twin Room: Please select sole occupancy or twin share room when booking.
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 15% deposit is required to reserve your space (deposit is non-refundable). The remaining balance is due 45 days prior to the start of the workshop.
Booking and Cancellation Policy: Please click here for our booking and cancellation policy.
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.
Summit: For each location shoot, the group will be split into two groups of eight 1:4 tutor ratio. One group will be led by Richard and Ken, and the other by Craig and Matthias, with the groups alternating between instructors throughout the summit. This allows plenty of space at each location and to benefit from in the field experience with all four of the photographers. Summit has been designed for 16 participants and 4 tutors, with less numbers tutor ratios will reflect this.
West Coast Tour: 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.
Please bring 4 of your best images — or a small portfolio project — on a laptop or USB stick for review. This will help shape your learning goals and personal development over the week.
Having an Epson SC-P906 printer setup on-site gives you the opportunity to make prints of your work each day to help evaluate your work to refine your approach to the landscape.
No previous printing experience is required.
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.
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