It is unusual to have photographers on our tours who are also videographers. Amy and Guy have a unique way of working together. Guy shoots the photographs. Amy films Guy and Guy edits the footage to make videos of their travels. This couple were the last people to join me on a photography adventure before New Zealand’s borders were effectively closed.
I knew this would be the last tour for some time. We were starting later in the day and finishing around sunset, so I took them up to the wild, sparse, high country of the Nevis Valley, east of Queenstown. Our guests loved this rugged region with its distant vistas and golden tussock-clad hills dotted with rock tors like giant sculptures dropped all over the landscape.
ABOVE: My guests published this video on YouTube of their day with Remarkable Imagery. This was a collaberation where we shared footage – from Amy’s GoPro and our aerial video shot with a DJI Mavic Air drone.
This was going to be a special day. We hit it off straight-away. A decision to work together to create footage and images was made over lunch at the Black Rabbit cafe in Bannockburn. Our plan was to share the content and to each make videos about the tour and the adventure we shared. Covid 19 was on the horizon, waiting to intervene.
IT MAY BE A WHILE BEFORE WE CAN SHARE THE BEAUTY AND MAGNIFICENCE OF THE QUEENSTOWN LAKES AND CENTRAL OTAGO WITH YOU IN PERSON, BUT WE WILL CONTINUE TO BRING IT TO YOU ONLINE. KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM AND LOOK FOR OUR NEW VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE.
While Amy and guy were able to go on to visit Doubtful Sound, Wanaka and Haast on the West Coast, their flights home and their tour of the north were cancelled and they found themselves having to hunker down, back in Queenstown for three weeks. Without fast internet and computers, there wasn’t much to do here but explore the many bike trails around Queenstown. Despite being just down the road from me – being in lockdown meant we couldn’t share files.
By the time our tourists were safe back home, I had already made the short film below, using footage mostly shot from my Mavic Air drone.
ABOVE: As the last tour for the foreseeable future, and with photographers who are also filmmakers it was time to explore an area I hadn’t really tackled before.
The collaboration continued when our guys arrived home. They couldn’t wait to launch into editing their images and making their own film. Our collaboration continued with a couple of (very) early morning emails requesting a filmed intro and my opinion on the final product. I’ll let you be the judge, but I think Amy’s GoPro footage is great. It makes a film so much better having a variety of types of shots – aerial, low angles, wide-angle, unusual views like from the back of a moving vehicle. This is a great record of a lovely day and it builds a story around the capture of Guy’s collection of magnificent landscape photos. Well done Guy and Amy. Thanks for allowing me to share this. I hope we can do it again someday.
See more of Guy’s videos on his YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfxbqpEBGOujsD1MIHEX5Hw
Check Remarkable Imagery videos on our YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbnGsuvSs4-OSm-NATg3UMA
