Back in February and March I escaped the winter of Colorado and took a trip to New Zealand, rebooting an itinerary that had to be canceled in March of 2020 for reasons we’re all too familiar with. My plan was to just visit the South Island as the mountains and glaciers were my biggest interest, so I booked a flight and a tiny one-person camper van for about 20 days. I also knew that I wanted to use 4x5 film as it's the system I’m most familiar with and the results always please me more than medium format film, though I will admit that the smaller roll film is much easier to travel with. This trip was an absolute blast with stunning scenery, wonderful people, and a very easy travel experience. For this article I want to talk a bit about how I got there with my large format film, and what it was like to wander around the island for a few weeks with the goal of getting as much photography time in as possible. It will also just be a way to share all of the images, now that I’ve had some time to develop everything and scan in the good ones.
“Brewster Lakes” - Vibrant blue pools beneath the Brewster Glacier. Ektar 100 4×5, 75mm lens, ¼ second at f32, no filters Prints available.
The Landscape
Most people that find their way to this blog probably already have some ideas about New Zealand in their minds. It’s known for rugged glacial mountains on the South Island, and tall volcanoes and hobbits on the North Island. My experience of the South Island took my mind back to time spent in Alaska, especially in the areas where I was able to get up high enough around Mount Cook to see the huge glaciers up close. But it was much more than just an analogue for Alaska, the forests were lush and chaotic and some of the greenery and coastal hills reminded me of Hawaii. The sheep-strewn ranch lands took me back to the rolling landscape of California’s central coast. In all reality, it’s just unlike any place I’ve seen before. It’s easy to quickly become overwhelmed with such variety, but I found familiarity in the landscape once I hiked up high to points above treeline which meant I spent as much time as possible hiking the incredibly steep trails to get the views.
“Hooker River” - Glacial runoff creates a special color in the Hooker River below Mount Cook. E100 4×5, 200mm lens, ½ second at f32, polarizing filter. Prints available.
The Itinerary
…or lack thereof. As with many of my trips, I mostly just head out with a lot of locations pinned on a map and several hikes in mind. I don’t usually try to string everything together well before the trip and prefer to leave some flexibility while traveling. Since I would have a van that I can sleep in, there was no need to book accommodations (aside from the campground at Mount Cook) so I could wander around on my own schedule. A good number of the vehicle campgrounds don’t really “fill up,” they just let you drop $15 cash into a slot and park on the grass. There are a few exceptions to that, so if you’re going to wander around New Zealand you’ll want to use both the Rankers and CamperMate apps to find legal places to stay and get a little info about them before you go. Cell service was surprisingly good for a mountainous rural country, so it’s pretty easy to plan things out on the go. There wasn’t internet everywhere, but more places than I expected.
“Moke Sunrise” - A colorful morning from Moke Lake. Ektar 100 4×5, 125mm lens, 10 seconds at f22, 1 stop soft GND filter. Prints available.
I wanted to do a few overnight hut stays, and I did find some availability at the Brewster Hut for just one night a couple of months before the trip. If your goal was to do some of the Great Walks (Milford, Kepler, Routeburn, etc), you would certainly want to plan them out many months or even a year in advance as those huts fill up quickly. Sometimes there are some last minute cancellations, as a check of the Mueller Hut bookings the day after I landed in Christchurch showed that a bunk had opened up so I snagged that spot and headed towards Mount Cook as quickly as possible.
“Cook Pond” - A late afternoon view of Aoraki / Mount Cook from high above the valley floor. Ektar 100 4×5, 125mm lens, 1/8 second at f22, polarizing filter. Prints available.
This first night was an excellent start to the trip! I had to get some supplies and it was a 4.5 hour drive, so I didn’t get to the trailhead until 3pm. I quickly loaded up my backpacking bag and started up the endless staircase to Mueller Hut. Well over 1000 meters above the valley floor in just a few kilometers of hiking, the trail was incredibly steep but I made good time and got up there in a few hours with time to spare before sunset. It felt like being thrust into a different world, as just the day before I had spent 18 hours traveling by plane from Colorado. After a certain point, the trail and landscape becomes just a bunch of rocks, with views in all directions of towering peaks and large glaciers. It was almost overwhelming but I got right to work behind the camera and enjoyed a lovely sunset. Then it was a few hours of not-so-great sleep in a 48 person hut followed by a nice sunrise and great golden hour light. Many of my favorite images from the trip would come from this first overnight hike.
“Mount Cook Dawn” - Morning light on glacier-capped peaks above a sea of clouds. E100 4×5, 200mm lens, ¼ second at f32, 812 filter. Prints available.
From there I spent a few more days in the car campground at the bottom of the valley, letting my legs recover from the steep hike while enjoying some flat walks along the valley floor. The view of Aoraki/Mount Cook was quite different from this lower vantage point, it really loomed over the entire landscape and always made my jaw drop in awe.
“Mueller Fog” - The Mueller Lake and River in morning light, with towering peaks glowing through the fog. Ektar 100 4×5, 75mm lens, 1 second at f22, 2 stop soft GND filter. Prints available.
I don’t really plan to share my entire itinerary in such detail, after leaving the Mount Cook region I just wandered around the island. Sometimes I would take a hike through quiet country lands with rolling hills, and other hikes had me scrambling up steep climbs to get over the treeline. The views always got better with altitude as trees gave way to grass tussocks where Kea birds could be heard squawking about. Most hikes required a thousand meter climb in a very short distance, the hikes on this trip being some of the steepest I’ve ever done.
“Routeburn Boulder” - Moody afternoon light from a view well above treeline. These high altitude hikes were just sublime. Ektar 100 4×5, 75mm lens, 1/15th second at f22, no filters. Prints available.
Parts of the island felt very empty and remote and others were flooded with tourists. This is often the case in my home state of Colorado as well, one trail might have all the internet fame while a trail just the next valley over hardly sees any human traffic. One thing I didn’t really see at all was photographers. Sure, there were people wandering around with cell phones and an occasional camera being carried in hand, but over the entire trip I never did see another camera on a tripod aside from my own. Nearly all locations were completely deserted around sunrise and sunset, even the spots that would see huge crowds during the middle of the day.
“Milford Moonrise” - The moon over towering peaks along the Milford Highway. Ektar 100 4×5, 125mm lens, 1 second at f22, 2 stop soft GND filter. Prints available.
I most certainly could have spent more time on the island, it would be easy to spend months getting to know the landscape better. I generally don’t like to rush myself and try to see all the destinations, so there were a lot of regions I never got to. The drive up the west coast didn’t fit into my travels, and neither did anything north of Christchurch. Now that I have a feel for the country it would be easy to return with more time and more ideas to focus on.
“Christina Reflections” - Mount Christina reflects in a small tarn, with morning fog working its way up from the valley below. E100 4×5, 125mm lens, 12 seconds at f22, 812 and 1 stop soft GND filters. Prints available.
Traveling With Sheet Film
With the introduction of CT scanners at airports, traveling with sheet film continues to become a greater challenge. Many security agents are aware that CT scanners can destroy film and will happily hand check rolls, but I haven’t had the same luck when it comes to boxes of sheet film. This is particularly true for boxes that have been opened and are stuffed with exposed sheets, which is just a necessary part of using large format film. These unsealed boxes look too suspicious and I’ve had agents tell me that I need to open the box in the daylight or put it through the scanner. Your mileage may vary, but taking sheets through airports hasn’t gone well for me.
“Sefton and Cook” - Sunrise light on a wild mountainous landscape. Ektar 100 4×5, 75mm lens, 1 second at f32, 1 stop soft GND filter. Prints available.
With that in mind, I decided to ship my film both ways for this trip. I overstuffed some boxes of E100 and Ektar to hold 20 to 30 sheets each (easily done if you take out the plastic bags inside the box) and shipped 190 sheets via DHL. I reached out to the company that I was renting a van from - Mad Campers (excellent customer service!) - and asked if they would hold onto a package for me if it was shipped to them. They happily did so, and I sent the film about a month ahead of my trip just in case there were any delays in shipping. It arrived in only 3 days and they informed me that customs had opened the box. After a few emails and photos of the package, we could confirm that customs had only opened the main package and sifted through it, but hadn’t actually opened any of the film boxes. I was glad that I had put some of my labels to seal the film boxes so that it could easily be seen that they weren’t opened. If you were taking a trip and wanted to mail the film, I’m sure you could ask a hotel, airbnb host, rental car facility, or any other number of places if they could hold onto a package. There are also shipping retail stores that would likely hold a package for pickup in most cities.
“Pyke Valley Fog” - Fog swirls around mountain tops at sunset, creating a mystical view of the valley below. Ektar 100 4×5, 125mm lens, ½ second at f32, no filters. Prints available.
When I landed in Christchurch, I picked up my van and film and then used my changing bag to load up the film holders so I’d be ready to go the next day. On the way back home, I went to a Pack & Send location where I was greeted with excellent customer service to ship the film back to me via DHL again. It arrived home just a couple of days after I did, and in this particular case the US customs did not open the package. This method of getting my film over the ocean worked very well on this trip, but of course there are variables that can’t be controlled. I have no idea if some shipments could receive strong x-rays, what customs may do to a package, or what other perils film could see on such a journey. I chose a company that actually has operations in New Zealand (DHL) and uses their own planes. It's possible that some shipping services may use cargo space in normal passenger planes which would end up going through the dangerously-strong checked bag x-rays.
“Cook Moonrise” - This sheet of film did go through a single CT scan and seemed to come out just fine. E100 4×5, 200mm lens, 1 second at f22, 812 and 1 stop soft GND filters. Prints available.
Since I was flying out on a Sunday and Pack & Send only had weekday hours, I kept a small bit of film loaded in my holders in case I found anything worth shooting. I unloaded this film into a box before flying and the security agent in Christchurch absolutely refused to hand check the film unless I would open the box in the light. So, I put it through the CT scanner. This didn’t bother me too much as I wanted to see what happened, and I really can’t see any notable difference in the film. I’m not saying that you should just run film through CT scanners with reckless abandon, as additional scans could add up to a real problem and many people report that a single scan ruined their film. But, it’s possible that you may not need to panic if your film goes through one or two CT scans.
“Wilson Falls” - A magical lush valley with a towering waterfall in the distance. E100 4×5, 125mm lens, 1 second at f32, polarizing filter. Prints available.
I decided to bring just the two film types for this trip to simplify things and cut down on the number of boxes needed. Ektar for negative and E100 for slide, both of which are rather flexible films that would let me capture a mountain environment in a variety of lighting conditions. I’m very happy with this choice, these two films have been my go-to for wilderness photography as they were mostly what I shot during my Alaska trip too.
Trip Highlights
As you can tell, many of the images that came out best are from the Aoraki / Mount Cook region. There’s a reason it’s popular, as nothing quite compares to the beauty of an ice-capped peak with valleys leading into it from multiple directions. Of course the area around Wanaka was breathtaking, I can’t really imagine a more picturesque setting for a town. I didn’t bother to get in line with the throngs to walk Roys Peak while I was there, opting for some more quiet vistas instead. Any time I got above the trees and had those grand 360° views was a treat well worth the effort. The country looks so incredibly different up high than it does from the low valleys where the highways snake between mountains. While the rental van was a cozy home base, the most memorable nights were spent up high in a hut or tent.
“Wanaka Sunrise” - The view from high above Lake Wanaka at sunrise. E100 4×5, 75mm lens, 1 second at f32, no filters. Prints available.
But honestly, one of the real highlights were the people. I’ve never met such friendly people, it’s apparent as soon as you step off the plane and the feeling that kindness is baked into their culture stays with you through the entire trip. The rental van I had was oddly conspicuous, which actually led to many delightful conversations with locals. Even the language is lovely, using the words like “walk” and “tramp” rather than “hike” and backpack” to describe backcountry travel. I most certainly fell in love with the landscape of New Zealand, but the wonderful people would make me feel comfortable spending a much longer time there.
Over the entire trip I shot about 120 sheets of film, and it felt like a nonstop adventure from beginning to end. Nearly every day I was out for sunrise and sunset, only resting one or two mornings when I woke up to hear rain pattering on the van’s roof. The weather was mostly wonderful as mountain summers often are, though at times wind could make shooting large format a challenge. When I return again I’ll have to make the choice between bringing a 4x5 camera system or opting for medium format for a little more spontaneity and easier travel. I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into my New Zealand travels, if you have a favorite image please let me know in the comments!