nz winter photography workshop

Saturday 4 - Saturday 11 July 2026

Southern Splendour NZ Winter Photography Tour

Location: Ashburton Lakes, Canterbury High Country, Tekapo, Twizel, Mt Cook, Lindis Pass, Wanaka, Queenstown, Glenorchy

Workshop Length: 8 days

Investment:

$5,999 NZD (Deposit of $2,000)

Max attendees on tour: 3

Sponsored by:

Tesla logo in black on a white background.
Kase Filters New Zealand logo with "Kase" in large red letters
Lake Camp Morning Reflections, Canterbury
Southern Alps Aerial, Glenorchy Air Sunrise Flight
Church of Good Shepherd, Tekapo in snow
Moke Lake sunrise, Queentown
Sunset at Tasman Lake, Mt Cook
Routeburn river and mountain mist, Queenstown
Mackenzie Country Cattle grazing in a field with snow-covered mountains in the background.
Mt Earnslaw at Sunset over snow-capped mountain peaks with a dramatic sky, Queenstown
Godley Peaks Aerial view of a braided river, Tekapo
Foggy landscape with hills and a lake reflecting trees and autumn foliage, Wairepo Arm Twizel
Glenorchy Bare willow trees, NZ
Vibrant sunrise over Remarkables, Queenstown
Church of Good Shepherd starry night sky with Milky Way
Moke Lake Starry night sky with mountains reflected in a calm lake.
Starry night sky with Milky Way Meiklejohns Jetty Queenstown
Bobs Cove, Queenstown
Moke Lake sunset reflections, Queenstown
Routeburn Forest, a wooded forest path covered in moss and surrounded by tall trees with green foliage.
Coronet Peak Valley View, Queenstown
Aoraki Mt Cook Sunrise Lookout
Row of willow trees, Glenorchy
Lake Pukaki Reflections Mt Cook
Mt Blackburn snowy road, Mt Cook
Black and white mountains near Mt Cook
Lake Alexandrina snowy mountain reflections
Snow-covered mountain peak Mt Cook
Ruataniwha moody blues trees and snowy hills
Mt D'Archiac and Rangitata Valley view
Sunlit forest trail surrounded by lush green trees and mossy undergrowth, Routeburn Forest
Lake Heron snow-capped mountains, pine trees, cloudy sky
La Perouse peak Mt Cook National Park
Twizel view Lake Ruantiwha winter
Ben Ohau winter dawn
Autumn landscape snow-capped mountains Wairepo Arm
Church of the Good Shepherd at dawn
Lake Ohau Rocky shoreline with waves, a large mountain in the background
Scenic landscape Mt Cook National Park
Panoramic view at sunset overlooking Queenstown
Cloudy Peak view, Ashburton Lakes
Snow-capped mountains at Ashburton Lakes
Lake Camp, clear reflections of mountains and sky, surrounded by snow-covered landscape and scattered trees.
Starry sky with Milky Way over snow-capped mountains at Lake Heron
Snow-capped mountains of Ben Ohau reflected in Lake Poaka.

Overview

Winter is magical in the mountains, and you'll have the opportunity to capture an incredible variety of glorious NZ scenes on this 8 day landscape photography tour travelling the length of the Southern Alps from Christchurch to Queenstown with me and award-nominated Sony photographer Andrew Francombe. We'll explore pristine alpine lakes with glorious mountain backdrops, hidden alpine valleys and capture the stars under snowcapped peaks by night on this amazing photography adventure through the heart of NZ's high country. With a small group of only three attendees, you’re guaranteed to maximise your learning opportunities!

What you'll experience

It's one thing to visit amazing NZ landscape locations, but quite another to photography them in a way that truly captures the essence and feel of a place. On this tour we will help you create quality images in each location, finding unique compositions to really portray the beauty we find, whether it's a sunrise or sunset, long exposures, amazing reflections, serene waterfalls or astrophotography. The light in winter is much softer and lends itself to landscape photography, and we'll take advantage of that on our travels through the spine of the South Island. This will be a photography adventure to remember!

Your Host

Meghan Maloney

I'm a full-time landscape photographer, and my greatest passion is helping you discover your photography potential through photography adventures around New Zealand. Whether it's teaching you the art of capturing beautiful images with the help of filters, helping you to transform your raw images into stunning works of art in Lightroom, learning how to improve your workflow, or simply having a grand adventure together in amazing places, you will come away from my workshops filled with new knowledge and skills, not to mention amazing memories.

When not photographing and educating, I'm a mum to two teenage boys and I spend my time sideline supporting their football endeavours, and finding places to go hiking in NZ's outdoors.

A person wearing a knit hat and blue jacket takes photographs in a field of purple flowers using a camera with a zoom lens.

  • Day 1-2 Asburton Lakes & Canterbury High Country

    Meet at Christchurch Airport at 12pm for the short drive inland. We’ll spend the next two days exploring the Ashburton Lakes & Canterbury High Country.

    Days 3-5 Mackenzie Country & Aoraki Mt Cook

    Experience the magical Mackenzie Country! We'll be staying at a central Mackenzie location with easy, central access to Twizel, Tekapo, Aoraki Mount Cook, Lake Ohau and more.

    Day 6-8 Queenstown

    We'll take the scenic route to Queenstown via Lindis Pass and Wanaka and spend two days exploring Queenstown including a scenic sunrise flight over the Alps to appreciate the majesty of the mountains from on high. The tour will conclude at 12pm on Sat 11 July.

    • Professional photography guide tuition

    • 7 nights AirBnB accommodation in single share room (shared bathroom)

    • All breakfasts

    • Transportation for the duration of the workshop

    • Post-Processing sessions

    During the workshop, there will be time to go over post-processing to help you create images that will wow. I’ll assist you with your image selection process, and guide you through Lightroom and Photoshop workflows and techniques to bring out all the potential of your best images.

    The workshop is suitable for the photographer with basic knowledge through to expert level.

    • Airfare to/from Christchurch & Queenstown

    • Lunch & dinners

    • Camera and lenses - ideally to cover wide angle from 16-24mm right through to telephoto 200-300mm

    • STURDY tripod - very important

    • Torch or head torch

    • Spare batteries and charger (plenty of batteries as we are unlikely to be able to charge during the day while travelling)

    • Laptop with both Lightroom Classic & Photoshop installed

    • Plenty of memory cards and adapter to link with laptop for editing

    • Remote shutter control (unless your camera has bulb timer)

    • Neutral density filters (if you do not have your own set, please advise)

    • Warm winter clothing - it's midwinter so you will need merino layers, puffer jacket, hat, gloves, warm comfortable hiking boots and possibly gumboots

    • Umbrella, rain poncho and waterproof camera sleeve

    • The full workshop fee is $5,999 NZD

    • A deposit of $2,000 NZD is required to secure your place

    • Remaining workshop tuition amount is due 90 days before workshop. A reminder invoice will be sent out 120 days before the workshop commencement.

  • Click on the link to view Terms and Conditions.

Let’s sign you up!

  • See what my workshop attendees say

    “Meghan organised a very enjoyable Scent of Summer workshop in Tekapo. She is a very knowledgeable lady and can impart her knowledge very well. If you get a chance a workshop with Meghan is a very worthwhile experience. I can highly recommend her.”

    Hugh, Hawkes Bay

  • See what my workshop attendees say

    “Had a fabulous three days with Meghan. The more you learn, the more you realise how much you don’t know. Meghan fills in the gaps, and is a very good hands on teacher. I have come home a lot more confident in being able to translate the landscape I see into the image I want. Post processing help was invaluable. Thanks Meghan.”

    Lois, Tauranga

  • See what my workshop attendees say

    “This was my first long trip / workshop with Meghan (having done amazing one day workshops before) and I can’t praise her enough for her commitment and knowledge around conducting these workshops. Her enthusiasm is infectious and you come back falling in love with photography again! All fellow photographers were super amazing to hang out with and our comfort was certainly Meghan’s priority. I have come back with a wealth of knowledge about how to chase the perfect sunset. And I will always remember the first Astro session. Meghan made it so so easy that all I felt was the wonder and amazement at what my camera was capturing. Highly recommend her workshops - beginner or pro it’s a must if you love photography. I’m already looking forward to joining her again in the winter workshops in the coming years.”

    Keerti, Auckland