Nelson Local Photographer in the running for NZ Geographic Photographer of the Year Award, Andrew Macdonald

For me, photography has always been a great excuse for an adventure.

I started off capturing underwater images of my spearfishing adventures around New Zealand. As I used my camera more and more, I realised my interest was in photography and video rather than just spearing fish. Being able to come home after a trip to a remote reef and show people the amazing fish, anemones and crustaceans I saw became massively inspiring for me. Branching out from underwater photography, I brought a DSLR camera for “dry land” photography, and since then have never looked back!

Over the 12 years I’ve been taking photos I’ve photographed everything from weddings and fashion shoots to remote caves and the rarest frogs in the world. My work has appeared in magazines, books, newspapers and advertising campaigns throughout New Zealand and overseas.

For me, it’s a huge honour to have my photo included amongst the other incredible photographs this year’s NZ Geographic Photographer of the Year Awards. 

I thought I’d share a bit about what went into taking this photo. This was one of the most incredible and surreal things I’ve ever seen. In the early hours of the morning as we walked back to our accommodation on Takapourewa, we found the sky full of thousands and thousands of fairy prions. I quickly snapped a few photos before our lights disturbed the birds and we got too tired. 

In terms of taking the photo, I shot it on my Nikon D750 with a 20mm 2.8 lens. It was taken at 5000 ISO and f4 – exposed for 15 seconds. The birds were lit by a Nikon flash hand triggered by my friend Tansy. I used my backpack as a tripod and a 2-second shutter timer to keep it steady. 

When I’m not out taking photos, I’m co-founder / Managing Director of Absolute Wilderness (we make the tastiest freeze-dried meals in the world), planning adventures and trying to keep fit.  I’m also the co-host of a podcast called The Wild Podcast where Jonathon Carson and myself interview amazing outdoors people on what makes them tick.

You can find me on Instagram as @nz.andy and Kiwiplaces on Facebook.

I would massively appreciate it if you could chuck my photo a vote at https://www.nzgeo.com//

Cheers. 

Andy

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