I have wanted to be a photographer ever since my early teens, I had an obsession with wildlife documentaries and wanted to be the guy behind the camera. In my final two years of high school I started pursuing that dream and took photography as one of my main subjects.  In my final year I earned scholarship marks in photography which helped me to gain a place at the Christchurch Polytechnic School of Professional Photography. I spent two years there and graduated with my diploma in the year 2000.  During my studies I also developed my skills as a chef, working weekends and holidays in the kitchen and it was these skills that would soon lead me down a totally different path. After spending a few years travelling, photographing and cooking my way around Europe and Asia I returned to my home town of Akaroa, (New Zealand) and at the enthusiastic and naive age of 25 opened my own restaurant, an experience that left me with no hair. But after ten years of hard toil, stress levels I am trying to forget and wonderful people and memories I will never forget it was time to turn my attention back to photography.

The last few years have seen me work on projects in some amazing places such as the Indian Himalayas and the Sub Antarctic islands of New Zealand, and with amazing clients such as  the Department of Conservation, BBC, Otago Uni and Three boys brewery…to name but some!

My photography goals are to use my skills to help improve people’s knowledge of our planet and its inhabitants, to enable people to experience other cultures and species, and hopefully do my tiny bit to help make changes beneficial to all of us! If you think my photography or other skills may be of use to your project, please get in touch.

Email me  at
steve@walkaboutphotos.com