New Zealand Photo Adventure – Stuck in Customs

New Zealand Photo Adventure


Join us for a New Zealand Photo Adventure

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Join us for our Autumn (April) Workshop in New Zealand, for a once-in-a-lifetime photo adventure of epic proportions! You’ll end up with great photos and stories at this Landscape Photography workshop, no matter your skill level. We limit the workshops to a small group of photographers, so reserve your spot quickly!

Contact [email protected] for any extra info on future workshops. Early bookers receive a 20% discount. Owners of Trey’s photography NFTs receive a 25% discount.


Landscape and Travel Photography Workshop

You’re invited to New Zealand for a once-in-a-lifetime photo adventure of epic proportions! You’ll end up with great photos and stories, no matter your skill level.

We’ve prepared a pretty intense plan for your time here. You won’t get much rest. At the end of the adventure, your head will be full of awesome new skills and your computer will be full of beautiful photos. When it’s all done, you’ll sleep as long and peacefully as a Hobbit in the Shire!

Watch a Preview and Hear from Past Attendees

Everything gets started the first evening with a group dinner and casual sunset shots. This will be an informal gathering where we can talk about the adventures to come…

What things might I see?

This is a small glimpse of the epic landscapes you’ll see while on this photo adventure! You should also check out the many New Zealand photos Trey has here on his blog.

Put on your headphones and turn up the volume to get the best experience!

What’s Included?

You’ll be part of an intimate group with plenty of one-on-one time instruction by Trey Ratcliff.

  • Registration covers your food, hotel, and transportation AFTER you get yourself to the hotel in Queenstown, NZ
  • You will be staying in beautiful private rooms at the Rees Hotel
  • All the amazing adventures and personalized instruction in the multi-day event outlined below
  • Personalized portfolio reviews by Trey and the other instructors
  • Many new friends, lifelong memories and a collection of portfolio quality photos
  • Plus, since we’ll be together for so long, we’d be happy to do anything else we can… just ask… anything within reason we can probably get done for you! 🙂
  • Bonus! Some of our best selling video tutorials are included so you can watch them before the event and arrive with a bit of a head start!

Day 1 – Your Arrival

  • You get yourself to Queenstown, NZ and arrive at the hotel
  • Clear off your memory cards and charge your batteries!
  • Meet for a group dinner and first sunset location
  • Be ready to take some fun, casual sunset shots (but very chill… no hardcore instruction yet)

The View From Above

Day 2 – Early to Rise

  • Wake up early (get used to it!)
  • Travel to an awesome location for the sunrise in Queenstown
  • In-field instruction and tutorials
  • Return to hotel for breakfast/coffee
  • Hands-on, step-by-step, Post-Processing session
  • Lunch and more Post-Processing
  • Sunset shooting, then dinner in Queenstown together

The Tolkienesque Bridge I normally don't put two photos from the same city (or even country!) back-to-back in consecutive days, but I decided to award Queenstown this honor.  It is very high on my list of cities to move to!  I just need to check on a few things like broadband availability and a good spot to plop the family down, and I'll be in business!This is from the main park in Queenstown.  It was as quaint as could be.  The evening light made everything a little bit extra-colorful, and some clever little hobbit-engineer, found it fitting to put this nice little stone bridge across the pond.  It is all quite nice, no?- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Day 3 – Sunrise to Sunset

  • Get up early for another sunrise at a new location
  • In-field instruction and tutorials
  • Return to hotel for breakfast/coffee
  • Detailed Post-Processing session
  • Lunch and more Post-Processing
  • Sunset shooting in new location then dinner

The Most Beautiful Road in the World I found it!I've looked at travel guides and driven on a ton of beautiful, scenic roads all over the world, but I think this road to Queenstown (on the way to/from Glenorchy) is the most beautiful in the world.  The road winds down one side of a perfect, fjord-like lake, and every few kilometers, the mountain views change dramatically.  Depending upon the time of day you travel it, the entire landscape transforms before your eyes.Wonder what it looks like on the other side of the lake?  You won't believe that it is in the same place!  See this photo called Mountainstorm that I took on a previous trip to this location.  It was shot later in the evening, so I wasn't able to properly capture the road that time.What's the prettiest road you have ever found?  I've seen conflicting guides of the most beautiful roads in the US... I'm sure everyone has their opinion... I'd love to know what you think!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Day 4 – Sunrise, Sheep & Stars

  • Rinse, Sunrise, Repeat – new location, new light!
  • Get up early for another sunrise at a new location
  • In-field instruction and tutorials
  • Return to hotel for breakfast/coffee
  • Post-Processing session, more advanced concepts
  • Lunch and more Post-Processing
  • Shoot late, well after dark, to practice shooting at night
  • Dinner and some much needed sleep

The Soft Hills on the way to Paradise, New Zealand Just beyond Glenorchy, which is just a shade beyond Queenstown, lies a little place called Paradise.  The road gets tinier and tinier as you get closer.  A few miles before the road becomes all dirt, I pulled over to these soft rolling hills.  They were covered with little sheep families, walking to and fro.One the rare occasion when I am in the field with students, I have them notice a bunch of things.  I've touched on this before, and this is another good example.  It has to do with the location of the sunlight.  There are three elements that can be lit here - the hills and/or the mountains and/or the clouds.  Every combination looks dramatically different in the final shot.  When you are there on the scene, the light changes so gradually, you don't notice.  So you have to teach yourself to be mindful of the untimely flow of light. - Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Day 5 – More Shots and an Epic Dinner

  • Wake up painfully early for another sunrise at a new location!
  • In-field instruction and tutorials
  • Return to hotel for breakfast/coffee
  • Post-Processing session, even more advanced
  • Lunch and more Post-Processing
  • Final sunset shoot and super-secret super-surprise dinner!

Morning Scramble in Queenstown

Day 6 – Return or Continue on…

Your adventure can end and you can go home… OR… you can stay longer in New Zealand and we’ll give you an itinerary of must-see places to go!

A Sunset Over Central Otago

What should I bring?

  • Your camera and gear (tripod, memory cards, etc.)
  • Your laptop so you can join us in the post-processing sessions (You’ll need Lightroom, Photoshop or equivalents)
  • Your own personal backup situation (we don’t provide ANY equipment at all…)
  • A headlamp (one of those flashlights that goes around your forehead)
  • Warm clothes for the day and a coat for the night… (layers, layers). View average temperatures
  • Good shoes for hiking, although we don’t anticipate any multi-kilometer hikes
  • A sense of fun and curiosity; Those two elements will be key to getting the most out of the workshop

NEW ZEALAND ADVENTURE

A once-in-a-lifetime experience with tons of hands-on photography instruction from Trey Ratcliff. Perfect for any skill level, from beginner to advanced.

SPEND A FULL WEEK WITH TREY EXPLORING NEW ZEALAND

An all inclusive New Zealand experience in beautiful Queenstown with hands-on instruction by one of the foremost Landscape photographers in the world.

  • 5 days. 5 nights.
  • Several exclusive locations
  • Breathtaking sunrises
  • Epic landscapes
  • Awe-inspiring sunsets
  • Crystal clear, star-filled nights
  • One-on-one Photography guidance and step-by-step Post-Processing instruction by Trey Ratcliff
  • Unforgettable memories and new close friends

Note: We are only taking a small group of people; So the spots will go quickly on a first-come, first-serve basis.


Join us for a future New Zealand Photo Adventure

Autumn and Spring are magical times of the year in New Zealand! Amazing colors abound! Mail [email protected] for the latest info on upcoming workshops or to be the first to hear about future events be sure to sign-up for our newsletter.


Some photos from past New Zealand Workshops

Bendemeer Estates

A Day of PhotographyAnd speaking of the subject matter at large – I decided to spend one day out of my birthday weekend out on a little photo adventure. I jumped in the car and drive towards Pyramid Lake just past Glenorchy.I was probably out for 10 hours, and I came back with 3 photos I really liked. That seems like a lot of time for just 3 photos… and, on the other side, I’m glad I came back with 3 photos! :)All in all, I took about 70 photos (many were brackets of 9 because I was out in the snowy conditions at one point. There is one more set still unprocessed… I have my fingers crossed that it will come out okay!- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the entire post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Jack’s Point in Queenstown I went out with Eden Brackstone the other night to take some photos. After he decided to wade callously into this crystal clear water and ruin the placid reflection, I had about five minutes to contemplate life while the ripples settled down. And then I took this one!Man, I do love this Sony NEX-7. And no, Sony didn’t pay me to say that or give me my camera…- Trey RatcliffClick here to read the rest of this post at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Unbelievable Colors in Queenstown and Arrowtown in the Autumn

Lupins in New Zealand

The View From The Barn At Lake Hayes

Walking Down To The Lake