Wellington

Photography Courses in Wellington

Every New Zealand Photography School course is studied online, so nothing about living in Wellington changes how you learn: you shoot the assignments here, upload them, and a working photographer writes back about your images. What Wellington changes is the subject matter. Few cities put a harbour, a hilltop lookout, a street-art strip, a wildlife sanctuary and a seal colony inside a twenty-minute radius, and few make you work as hard for a sharp frame.

Wellington's weather is a teacher in itself. The wind that empties the waterfront also clears the air, and the light that changes four times before lunch forces you to understand exposure rather than memorise it. This guide covers where Wellington students practise, the calendar, the local market, the other ways to learn photography in the capital, and what to expect from us.

Wellington students receive the optional optional Digital Camera by courier anywhere from the south coast to the Kāpiti Coast; there is no campus at any point in the course.

Also studying with us from Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Porirua, Kāpiti Coast, Wairarapa, Palmerston North and nearby.

Great Places to Shoot in Wellington

Matairangi / Mount Victoria lookout

The classic city-and-harbour view; blue-hour city lights; bracketing for a bright sky over a dark city

Best time: Dawn (the sun comes up over the eastern hills) and blue hour after sunset

Access: Drive-up or a steep walk from Oriental Bay. It is exposed; weigh down the tripod.

Oriental Bay and the waterfront

Reflections and long exposures on a calm evening; the Carter Fountain; people on the promenade

Best time: Still evenings, which are rarer than you would like

Access: Flat, well lit, safe at night. Te Papa, Frank Kitts Park and the wharves are all on the same walk.

Cuba Street

Street photography, colour, murals, the Bucket Fountain

Best time: Late afternoon and evening; Saturdays for crowds

Access: Pedestrianised section. Ask before photographing buskers closely.

Mount Kaukau, Khandallah

The highest point in the city: panoramas of the harbour, the Hutt and the Kaikōura Ranges on a clear day

Best time: Sunset

Access: Walk up from Khandallah Park or Simla Crescent.

Pencarrow Head lighthouse

Coastal landscape, lighthouses, long exposures at the harbour mouth

Best time: Morning

Access: Walk or bike about 8 km from Burdan's Gate, Eastbourne. No vehicle access.

The Wellington Photography Calendar

May to October

Fur seals hauled out at Red Rocks

Wildlife within city limits

August

Visa Wellington on a Plate; Beervana

Food and event photography practice

September to October

Tulips, Botanic Garden

Colour and macro

November to March

Lady Norwood Rose Garden in bloom

Botanical and portrait backdrops

Year round

Interislander and Bluebridge ferries; aircraft on approach over Lyall Bay

Movement, panning, long lens

Working as a Photographer in Wellington

Wellington's photography market is shaped by who is here: government, the screen industry and events. Ministries, agencies and the organisations that orbit them buy corporate portraits, conference and event coverage, and annual-report photography every year, and they procure it formally, which rewards photographers who can quote and invoice like a business. The film and post-production cluster in Miramar creates stills, behind-the-scenes and unit photography work and a deep pool of camera and lighting skills to learn from. Tākina and the waterfront venues run a year-round conference calendar. Cafés and restaurants are dense enough that hospitality photography is a real niche. Weddings tend to happen over the hill in the Wairarapa. Property photography exists but is a smaller market than Auckland's.

Read: Pricing Your Photography Business →