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It is hard to believe that in just a few days I will be leaving Australia again and making the short hop across the pond to the South Island of New Zealand for my sold out 2017 Masterclass workshop (it really does feel like I just arrived home from winter in the Arctic). Much of what I was hoping to accomplish in terms of post production, printing and office work before I left for New Zealand is  still residing in my inbox; where it will now stay until sometime in June when I return from my Puffin Workshop in Iceland (after I finish in New Zealand I will guide a small private tour through Tasmania before I head straight to Iceland). I have found time to process and print a few of my favourite images from Svalbard this winter, but I have only just begun to scratch the surface.

As is traditional, I like to post a packing post of what equipment I am planning to carry and use during the workshop. For my Masterclass workshop this year I have decided to travel super light (first time for everything!) and only take a very limited selection of equipment. This particular workshop is solely about landscape photography so there is little need for big heavy telephoto lenses or high speed cameras. Truth be told, I am actually really looking forward to travelling with such a  light load for a change (I will have plenty of heavier equipment when I head back to Iceland for the Puffins).

For New Zealand I have decided to take both my tilt and shift lenses (17mm and 24mm) instead of  a wide angle zoom. I have found in recent times I prefer the movements of the tilt/shift lenses to the flexibility of a zoom lens when I am working from tripod. It is a trade off I find acceptable when I am predominately working with landscape on a tripod. Although we have quite a bit of aerial photography from helicopter planned for this workshop experience has shown me that 24-70mm is usually a better focal length than 16-35mm for this sort of work.

My camera bag for this trip is actually a small non-dedicated backpack that I can easily accomodate my equipment in and still have room for filters, a rain jacket and accessories.

Camera Backpack (Carry on Luggage)

There is one other important piece of documentation I will be taking with me on this expedition and that is an Australian Customs Declaration form. If you are travelling internationally from Australia you can read about the benefit arming yourself with this documentation HERE.

For the astute readers amongst you; you may have picked up that after I finish in the South Island I will be running a private trip to Tasmania. This Tasmania trip will be something I am offering in May 2019 for a small group of just six photographers. The workshop will take in iconic areas such as the Cradle Mountain National Park, Freycinet National Park, The Wild West Coast and much more. I will have more details later this year – but you are welcome to register your interest to be amongst the first to be notified when details are finalised (no obligation at this point). See you in New Zealand!