A lot of my Canterbury photos are from one particular place I hold dear to me, the Hakatere Conservation Park or Ashburton Lakes. The images I took from a Lake Camp sunrise one chilly morning became some of my most famous on social media and I will never forget how beautiful that morning was.

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Hakatere Conservation Park or Ashburton lakes are around a 2 hour drive from Christchurch. The park covers nearly 60,000 hectares of rugged mountain country, tussocklands, beech forest and sparkling clear rivers and lakes between two mighty rivers the Rakaia and Rangitata.

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I have returned at least 4 times since that first morning and been able to photograph the beautiful lakes such as Lake Camp, Lake Clearwater and Lake Heron. A Lake Heron sunset will allow you to capture the mountains with golden flow, and a Lake Camp sunrise will have that same golden glow on a snowy Mount Potts in winter.

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Travel further past the lakes and you enter Lord Of The Rings country with Erewhon Station an Mount Sunday which was the location for Edoras.

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Other locations to photograph in the Canterbury area include the New Brighton Pier in Christchurch. I've shot a New Brighton pier sunrise on a moody morning and loved the atmosphere. The Christchurch Port Hills give a great view over the city.

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Foggy Peak near Castle Hill is a steep climb but we worth it for the view over Lake Lyndon and the Craigieburn Range.

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I hope by sharing these NZ images of the Canterbury area it might inspire you to come and explore Canterbury and New Zealand Landscape Photography for yourself.

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If you have any questions about buying a NZ landscape print please don’t hesitate to get in touch or check out my print info and online print store.

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