My second Barka adventure – A dog photography retreat in stunning Queenstown New Zealand

When I found out that the next Barka retreat after Barkjour in France was going to be in Queenstown New Zealand, I knew I just had to be a part of it. A dog photography retreat in stunning Queenstown New Zealand was definitely a bucket list experience. Queenstown is just over 2 hours flying time from Sydney so it really was a no brainer! I’m continually striving to develop my skills as a professional dog photographer. You don’t get any better development than immersing yourself in a Barka retreat with the world’s leading pet photographers both teaching and participating.

So off to New Zealand I flew on Sunday 31st of March this year. This time I left Neal at home to look after the #3dogkateers! As you are probably aware, we bought our dream farm late last year. The settlement date was the 18th of March so we had a lot going on by the time the Barka came around, so both of us going just wasn’t possible this time.

I don’t have all the personal travel adventure photos I was able to share like our time in France for Barkjour. I basically flew straight in and out of Queenstown for Barkzealand with very little downtime. This blog is mainly focused on the workshop and the amazing dogs and locations we shot at. However, I do have a few downtime phone pics thanks to various members of the tribe you’ll see below! We did get a day off and I opted to spend it going on the most amazing horse-riding trek with High Country Horses which was absolutely spectacular!

Departure day!

Sunday was arrival day and I met up with a couple of friends at Sydney airport as we were all booked on the same flight. Kristy from Central Bark Photography We met at Barkjour and were so excited to catch up with her again. Bridget of Bridget Davey Photography and Leslie of Leslie Leda Photography I only knew via Facebook so to meet them both in person was awesome. We all had a good old natter before jumping on the plane and before we knew it, we were landing in Queenstown.

We hired a maxi-taxi to take us and all our luggage to the Barkzealand HQ digs in Fernhill, Queenstown. Had a quick hello and hug to our mentors Nicole of Nicole Begley Photography, Charlotte of Charlotte Reeves Photography and Kaylee and Sam of Dog Breath Photography. It was so great to see them all again! We then headed back down to town to grab a bite to eat and check out the scene. Here are a few pics of our settling-in afternoon.

Day One… Sydney to Queenstown

So without further ado, below is a selection of photos from each shoot we did… enjoy!

Cromwell Heritage Precinct

Shotover River

Sheep Farm

Downtime – Horse Riding near Glenorchy

Arrowtown

Coronet Peak

Behind the Scenes

So I hope you’ve enjoyed this little visual journey of my experience at Barkzealand. If you are a professional pet photographer and you’d love to experience a Barka retreat for yourself, I highly recommend it! It truly is out of this world and you will learn and grow so much not only from the experience but from the relationships you form with the rest of the Barka Tribe.

Want to learn more about a Jo Lyons Photography experience with your dog? Learn more here.