Canterbury
Photography Courses in Christchurch
Every New Zealand Photography School course is studied online: you shoot the assignments in Christchurch, upload them, and a working photographer writes back with feedback on your photographs. There is no campus, which suits a city where the best light is on the Port Hills at 7am and the best subjects change with the season in Hagley Park.
Christchurch is an unusual place to learn photography because the city itself is still being made. New buildings sit beside heritage façades and empty lots, the river corridor is turning back into wetland, and the flat light of the Plains meets the Alps on the skyline. This guide covers where Christchurch students practise, the calendar, the local market, the other ways to learn photography in Canterbury, and what to expect from us.
Christchurch students receive the optional optional Digital Camera by courier anywhere in Canterbury; there is no campus visit at any point in the course.
Also studying with us from Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Rolleston, Lincoln, Lyttelton, Akaroa, Ashburton, Timaru and nearby.
Great Places to Shoot in Christchurch
Christchurch Botanic Gardens and Hagley Park
Seasonal colour, macro, portraits in open shade, the Avon and the punts
Best time: Autumn (late April to May) for colour; late September for blossom and daffodils
Access: Free, central, flat. The most-used practice location for Christchurch students, for good reason.
New Regent Street
Pastel Spanish Mission façades, trams, café life
Best time: Late afternoon
Access: Small pedestrian street; trams pass regularly, good for panning.
Riverside Market, Tūranga and the Terrace
Street and interior photography, food, people
Best time: Weekend mornings
Access: Ask stallholders before close portraits.
Ōtākaro Avon River corridor (the former residential red zone)
Regenerating landscape, birdlife, wide skies
Best time: Dawn; fog in autumn and winter
Access: Flat cycling and walking paths from the city to New Brighton.
Godley Head
Coastal landscape, WWII gun emplacements, the harbour entrance
Best time: Afternoon
Access: Regional park; free parking.
Sumner, Cave Rock and Taylors Mistake
Seascape, surfers, sunrise from the east-facing beach
Best time: Sunrise
Access: Sumner Esplanade is easy; Taylors Mistake is a short drive on.
New Brighton Pier
Sunrise over the Pacific, long exposures under the pier, the hot pools
Best time: Sunrise
Access: The best sunrise location in the city and the easiest.
Lyttelton
Working port, containers, cranes, harbour light, Saturday farmers market
Best time: Morning
Access: Through the tunnel, 15 minutes from the city.
The Christchurch Photography Calendar
Late April to May
Autumn colour in Hagley Park and the Botanic Gardens
The best fortnight of the Christchurch year
June to July
Matariki; KidsFest
Night sky and dawn; event practice
Late September
Blossom and daffodils, Hagley Park
Macro and colour
November
NZ Cup and Show Week: races at Riccarton and the Canterbury A&P Show
Movement, panning, people, animals
Year round
Nor'wester arch clouds over the Alps
The Canterbury sky as a subject
The Christchurch Photography Community
Industry
NZIPP Canterbury/Westland region; PSNZ.
Ways to Learn Photography in Christchurch
Christchurch Photographic Society
Club nights, competitions, outings
Annual membership
You want community and critique
New Zealand Photography School
This courseOnline, structured assignments, tutor feedback on your photos, start any week, up to 12 months' access
From $35 per week
You want a certificate and months of feedback around work
Courses Available From Christchurch
FAQs for Christchurch Students
Ready to start from Christchurch?
[Compare the seven courses](/locations/christchurch/compare) or [talk to us](/contact).