Taking photographs in New Zealand
Taking photographs in New Zealand |
| Monday, 27 July 2009 20:32 |
 New Zealand's South Island - Have you ever considered throwing your photography into the depths of winter for your summer holidays? This incredible country's winter scenery will simply knock you off your feet. Advice on what to take and what to shoot in this winter wonderland. With the holiday season only a month or two away, it’s perhaps a little late to plan a round-the-world trip like the one I undertook in August last summer. After pricing a trip to Japan (an island I have longed to visit since my over active thirteen-year-old ‘Karate Kid’ imagination ran away with me), it turned out that adding another £250 could turn this adventure into a dream. With five weeks to play with, ‘number two son’ was an easy choice - New Zealand, the South Island in specific. After research and planning, I allotted twelve days shooting with two days for travelling at either end, before a leap frog to San Francisco and beyond, all a complete bonus as far as I was concerned. If you have ever considered travelling there yourself one day or are clutching those precious tickets this minute, then here’s a whistle stop tour and some shooting advice to spark your imagination into action. 
 Take as much camera gear as you can pool between you and your partner. I took the usual oddball selection of alternative lenses but a 17-300mm should suffice to cover most landscape eventualities. If you have two camera bodies take both just in case – there is nothing worse that technical failure thousands of miles from home. A sturdy but light tripod is also essential with plenty of tripod plates. Ensure all the kit is dependable, there is nothing worse than a screw falling out; it can cause all manner of dilemmas, arguments and unnecessary driving. Winter sun is low in the sky, even at midday and guess what – it’s the wrong way around! The sun rises in the North East and sets low in the North West. This is somewhat confusing at first but this is the same orientation as our summer. Packing a mini compass is also a good plan.  Unlike the UK, there is a distinct lack of public footpaths, so yet again its back to that all important pre-flight research to make the trip a success. The coast can be very familiar looking; it all looks very British at a glance, but unlike the UK most of it is private property. Its only when faced with this disappointment do you feel very grateful we have such limitless public access. With mountains, lakes and other fantastic scenery, New Zealand has it all, including a positive disinterest in the cult of celebrity, how refreshing. If you feel that mountain air spiriting your imagination across the globe, don’t repel its magnetism, as the photography you could capture, even by roadside if you had to, will have you doing cartwheels for sure.
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