Hawke's Bay

Photography Courses in Napier and Hawke's Bay

Every New Zealand Photography School course is studied online, so a student in Napier, Hastings or Havelock North shoots the assignments at home in Hawke's Bay, uploads them, and gets written feedback from a working photographer. There is no campus, and there is no in-person photography school in Hawke's Bay to compare us with anyway; what the region has is a polytechnic, a strong camera club and an extraordinary amount to photograph.

Napier's centre was rebuilt after the 1931 earthquake almost entirely in the style of its decade, which gives it one of the most consistent Art Deco streetscapes in the world. Twenty minutes away is one of the most accessible mainland gannet colonies anywhere, and behind the city are the vineyards, orchards and Te Mata Peak. This guide covers where Hawke's Bay students practise, the calendar, the wine-and-food market that shapes local photography work, the other ways to learn here, and what to expect from us.

Hawke's Bay students receive the optional optional Digital Camera by courier anywhere from Wairoa to Waipukurau; there is no campus visit at any point in the course.

Also studying with us from Hastings, Havelock North, Taradale, Clive, Waipukurau, Wairoa, Gisborne and nearby.

Great Places to Shoot in Napier

Marine Parade

The Norfolk pines, the Sound Shell, the Tom Parker Fountain lit at night, Pania of the Reef, the shingle beach at sunrise

Best time: Sunrise (the beach faces east) and blue hour for the fountain

Access: Free parking; a long flat promenade. Swimming is unsafe here; stay off the shingle edge in swell.

Bluff Hill lookout

The port, ships, the bay north to the Māhia Peninsula

Best time: Morning for the port; blue hour

Access: Drive-up. Napier Port is one of the busiest in the country in the cruise season.

Ahuriri and West Quay

The National Tobacco Company building, boats, waterside restaurants, the inner harbour

Best time: Late afternoon; blue hour for reflections

Access: Cafés and bars for practising available-light interiors.

Te Mata Peak, Havelock North

Sunrise over Hawke Bay and the plains, the vineyard patchwork below, paragliders, the ridgeline

Best time: Sunrise; also sunset over the Ruahine Range

Access: Drive-up. Cold and windy at dawn even in summer. Te Mata is significant to Ngāti Kahungunu: stay on tracks.

Ahuriri Estuary

Wading birds, reflections, big skies

Best time: Dawn and dusk; low tide for birds

Access: Walking and cycling paths from Westshore. Napier's best free bird photography.

Mission Estate and the Taradale wineries

Vineyard rows, heritage architecture, food and wine styling practice

Best time: Late afternoon; harvest (February to April) for activity

Access: Mission Estate is New Zealand's oldest winery (1851). Ask before photographing on private vineyard land.

Hastings' Spanish Mission buildings and the Havelock North village

Architecture and street

Best time: Late afternoon

Access: 15 to 20 minutes from Napier. The Hastings Opera House and Heretaunga Street.

Waimarama and Ocean Beach

Surf, dunes, sunrise, environmental portraits

Best time: Sunrise

Access: 40 minutes south-east. Bare Island (Motu-o-Kura) as a subject at Waimarama.

Ōtātara Pā, Taradale

Landscape and history: one of the largest pā sites in the country

Best time: Late afternoon

Access: Historic reserve; walking tracks. Photograph respectfully.

The Napier Photography Calendar

February to March

Mission Concert; grape harvest begins

Crowds and stage light; vineyard activity

March

Horse of the Year, Hastings

Equestrian action, panning, long lens

September to April

Cape Kidnappers gannets nesting

Wildlife

May

Hawke's Bay Marathon

Movement and people through the vineyards

June and November

F.A.W.C! Food and Wine Classic

Food and event photography practice

September

Hastings Blossom Festival and parade

Colour; orchards in blossom across the Heretaunga Plains

October

Hawke's Bay Arts Festival

Performance

October to April

Cruise season at Napier Port

Scale and the port from Bluff Hill

Year round

Vineyards changing through the seasons

Bare vines in winter, green in summer, autumn colour in April to May

Working as a Photographer in Napier

Hawke's Bay's economy is wine, food, horticulture and tourism, and its photography market follows. Wineries and food producers commission product, lifestyle and event photography constantly and compete on how their labels and cellar doors look online. Tourism operators, accommodation and the regional tourism organisation buy imagery for a destination that markets itself on Art Deco and gannets. The cruise season brings a surge of visitors and demand for tour and hospitality imagery from October to April. Apple and kiwifruit exporters need pack-house, orchard and corporate work. Napier Port is a large employer with its own communications needs. Weddings are a strong trade: the vineyards and Te Mata backdrops draw couples from Wellington and Auckland. Property photography is a modest, steady market across Napier, Hastings and Havelock North.

Read: Pricing Your Photography Business →