What We Do
We meet up. We walk somewhere in Auckland with cameras, talk nonsense, stop for coffee, and come home with a few frames we're proud of. Sometimes there's a loose theme or a challenge to keep things interesting.Sometimes there isn't, and that's fine too.You don't need good gear or a folio to show up. You need a camera (phone counts) and a willingness to stand around in the cold at golden hour with strangers who are quickly not strangers.
Upcoming Walks
This is the heart of the whole thing.Every walk is a couple of hours wandering somewhere in Auckland with cameras, no set route we can't wander off, no pressure to keep up, just a loose plan and a group of people who'd rather be out shooting than talking about shooting.Some walks have a theme, a particular street, a certain kind of light, an excuse to explore a part of the city we haven't properly walked before. Others don't, and we just see what turns up. Either way, you'll come home with a few frames worth keeping and probably a coffee in hand by the end of it.New to the group?Just show up. You don't need to know anyone, and you definitely don't need to be any good. Half the people who turn up are figuring their camera out as they go, same as everyone else once did.Check what's coming up, where we're meeting, on Eventbrite to lock in your spot.
Classes
Beginner Basics
Get off auto and actually understand what your camera's doing. We'll cover exposure, focus, and composition, the stuff that turns "nice photo" into "you took that?" No prior knowledge needed, just curiosity.
Phone Photography
Your phone is a genuinely good camera that most people never learn to use properly. We'll get into composition, light, and the editing tools already sitting in your camera roll.
Long Exposure
Waterfalls that turn to silk, city lights that streak and blur. We'll cover the settings and timing that make long exposure work, and the handful of small tricks that separate a blurry mistake from a deliberate one.
Black & White
Colour is a crutch. We'll train your eye to see contrast, shape, and light the way the old masters had to, then show you how to bring that vision out in post.
Night Photography
The city looks completely different after dark, if you know how to shoot it. We'll cover low light settings, handling noise, and getting sharp shots when there's barely any light to work with.
Street Photography
STreet photography is one of the most popular (and fun) genres of photography. Learn how to create great images even if you think you live in the most boring corner of the planet.
Enquire now
Sometimes you just want someone to point a camera with you and explain what's actually happening, without a room full of strangers or a rigid curriculum.That's what this is.Bring up to two friends, pick a topic, and we'll spend two hours working through it together, at your pace, on your questions, in whatever corner of Auckland suits what you want to shoot.No wrong questions, no assumed knowledge. Just two hours of proper one-on-one attention, aimed at whatever's actually been tripping you up.Pick a topic or bring your own focus:
Fill out the form below with a few details about what you're after, and we'll get back to you within a day or two with times, availability, and everything you need to know before your session.
Zines
Every so often I put together a small collection of photos and pull them together into something you can actually hold, or at least page through properly, instead of scrolling past on a phone. These are the zines. They're a chance to slow down with a set of images that belong together, whether that's a theme, a place, or just a run of shots I couldn't stop thinking about.They're mine, made in whatever spare time I can find between walks and everything else, and they're free. No email required, no catch. Download them, share them, print them out if you want something physical to flick through.There are two out so far, with more on the way whenever the next collection feels ready. Come back and check in every now and then, or just keep an eye on Attic Studio, since that's usually where a new one gets announced first.How to access: Click on a zine on the right to open its PDF download screen.
Our Photo Guide
Everything I wish someone had handed me when I first picked up a 'real' camera.This real paperback book is a straightforward walk through the stuff that actually matters, cameras and lenses, exposure, focus, composition, and enough post-processing to get you started, followed by practical tips for street, portrait, and landscape work.No jargon for jargon's sake. Just the basics, explained clearly, from someone who's made every beginner mistake in the book so you don't have to.Just $29.95, delivery included.Limited print run of 60 copies. Once they're gone, they're gone.
Thank You
Thanks, got it.We'll take a look and get back to you within a day or two.Talk soon,
Photography4Fun
Beginner Basics
There's a particular kind of frustration that comes with owning a decent camera and still taking photos that look worse than your phone.You know there's more in it than "auto" is giving you, but every guide online throws jargon at you before you've even worked out which dial does what. This class exists to fix that, in person, at your own pace, with someone who's made every one of those beginner mistakes already.Over two hours, we'll work through the fundamentals:
- understanding your camera (whatever type you're shooting on),
- the exposure triangle of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, getting off auto with real confidence,
- mastering focus
- the composition principles, rule of thirds, leading lines, framing, depth of field, that turn a snapshot into an actual photograph.
- core composition
- shooting RAW vs JPEG
- and common beginner mistakes (and how to avoid them).
What to bring:
- Your camera (any kind, DSLR, mirrorless, or compact) and a spare battery (just in case).
- Weather appropriate clothing
- Comfy shoes
- Your desire to learn
PACKAGE & PRICING
- Group size: up to 3 people (you plus two friends)
- Duration: 2 hours
- Price: $150 for whether it's just you, or your group
- Includes: a free copy of A Simple Guide to the Basics of Photography, yours to keep.Ready to actually understand your camera? Fill out the enquiry form and we'll get back to you.
Enquire now
Fill out the form below with a few details about what you're after, and we'll get back to you within a day or two with times, availability, and everything you need to know before your session.
Phone Photography
Your phone is a genuinely good camera, arguably a better one than plenty of people's first "real" cameras, but most people only ever use about 10% of what it's actually capable of. This class is about closing that gap. No extra gear, no new purchases, just getting properly good with the camera you're already carrying everywhere.We'll spend two hours working through composition and light the same way we would with any camera, then get into the phone-specific stuff that actually makes a difference:
- using grid lines and tap-to-focus properly,
- locking exposure so the sky doesn't blow out every time you point at something bright,
- working around your phone's limitations (particularly zoom, which is worth avoiding more than you'd think)
- getting comfortable with portrait mode and night mode so you know when they help and when they get in the way.
- and common beginner mistakes (and how to avoid them).
What to bring:
- Your phone, fully charged, with a bit of free storage space, and a spare battery (just in case).
- Weather appropriate clothing
- Comfy shoes
- Your desire to learn
PACKAGE & PRICING
- Group size: up to 3 people (you plus two friends)
- Duration: 2 hours
- Price: $150 for whether it's just you, or your group
- Includes: a free copy of A Simple Guide to the Basics of Photography, yours to keep.Ready to actually use what's in your pocket? Fill out the enquiry form and we'll get back to you with times.
Enquire now
Fill out the form below with a few details about what you're after, and we'll get back to you within a day or two with times, availability, and everything you need to know before your session.
Long Exposure
There's something close to magic in watching a waterfall turn to silk or city traffic dissolve into ribbons of light, and it's one of the more accessible creative techniques once you understand the handful of settings actually driving it.This class is built around getting you from "I've seen this effect and want to try it" to actually pulling it off, deliberately, on your own gear.You know there's more in it than "auto" is giving you, but every guide online throws jargon at you before you've even worked out which dial does what. This class exists to fix that, in person, at your own pace, with someone who's made every one of those beginner mistakes already.Over two hours, we'll work through:
- the exposure triangle again, but from the long exposure angle specifically: how shutter speed stretches out to seconds or minutes, why a low ISO and narrow aperture matter here more than almost anywhere else in photography
- We'll also touch on two low shutter speed techniques worth having in your back pocket, subject motion blur, where you let a moving subject blur against a sharp, still background, and panning, where you track a moving subject to keep it sharp while the background blurs instead..
- Camara handling techniques to handhold at shutterspeeds down to 1/8, 1/4 or lower
- Proper tripod technique, since camera shake ruins more long exposure shots than any setting mistake does, along with using a remote shutter or timer to avoid touching the camera mid-shot
What to bring:
- A camera with manual controls,
- A tripod (essential, not optional here),
- A remote shutter (optional) or your camera's self-timer if you don't have one.
- Weather appropriate clothing
- Comfy shoes
- Your desire to learn
PACKAGE & PRICING
- Group size: up to 3 people (you plus two friends)
- Duration: 2 hours
- Price: $150 for whether it's just you, or your group
- Includes: a free copy of A Simple Guide to the Basics of Photography, yours to keep.Ready to slow your shutter down and see what happens? Fill out the enquiry form and we'll get back to you with times.
Enquire now
Fill out the form below with a few details about what you're after, and we'll get back to you within a day or two with times, availability, and everything you need to know before your session.
Black & White
There's a moment every photographer hits where colour stops being enough, where you start noticing that some of your best shots would actually be stronger without it. Black and white isn't a filter you slap on afterwards to make something look artistic. It's a completely different way of seeing, one where shape, light, texture, and contrast have to do all the work colour used to do for you.This class is about learning to see that way before you press the shutter, not just convert to it after.Over two hours we'll work through composing specifically for monochrome, including:
- Reading shapes, lines, and patterns the way a black and white image will render them, and learning to spot when a scene that looks flat and boring in colour is actually full of tonal drama waiting to be pulled out.
- We'll get into the zone system and grey scales, so you understand the full range from pure black to pure white and how to expose for it properly.
- Reading your histogram for exposure and tonal balance, to catch clipped shadows or blown highlights before they're unfixable.
- We'll cover how light and contrast shape mood, direction of light, hard versus soft light, and dodge-and-burn thinking, plus a look at how coloured filters (yellow, orange, red, green) shift tones like skies and foliage
What to bring:
- Your camera (any kind, DSLR, mirrorless, or compact) and a spare battery (just in case).
- Weather appropriate clothing
- Comfy shoes
- Your desire to learn
PACKAGE & PRICING
- Group size: up to 3 people (you plus two friends)
- Duration: 2 hours
- Price: $150 for whether it's just you, or your group
- Includes: a free copy of A Simple Guide to the Basics of Photography, yours to keep.Ready to see the world in tone instead of colour? Fill out the enquiry form and we'll get back to you with times.
Enquire now
Fill out the form below with a few details about what you're after, and we'll get back to you within a day or two with times, availability, and everything you need to know before your session.
Night Photography
Most people's night shots end up as the same disappointing result: a grainy, blurry mess, or a flash-blown mid-ground with a wall of black behind it. The city, and the sky above it, looks completely different after dark if you know how to actually shoot it, but almost everything that works in daylight stops working once the sun goes down.This class is about relearning your camera for low light, so you come away with sharp, clean shots instead of noisy guesswork.Over two hours we'll work through the settings that actually matter at night:
- Getting comfortable with a wide aperture and slower shutter speeds, understanding how far you can push ISO on your specific camera before noise takes over.
- Understanding how your camera sees light and using exposure compensation to exposue correctly in dark scenes.
- Reading your histogram for exposure and tonal balance, to catch clipped shadows or blown highlights before they're unfixable.
- Using manual focus properly since autofocus tends to give up in the dark, and tricks to get your aotofocus working anyway.
- Using white balance to correctly capture artificial lighting.
What to bring:
- Your camera (any kind, DSLR, mirrorless, or compact) and a spare battery (just in case).
- Your tripod (surprisingly enough - it's optional)
- Weather appropriate clothing
- Comfy shoes
- Your desire to learn
PACKAGE & PRICING
- Group size: up to 3 people (you plus two friends)
- Duration: 2 hours
- Price: $150 for whether it's just you, or your group
- Includes: a free copy of A Simple Guide to the Basics of Photography, yours to keep.Ready to see the city after dark the way it's meant to be shot? Fill out the enquiry form and we'll get back to you with times.
Enquire now
Fill out the form below with a few details about what you're after, and we'll get back to you within a day or two with times, availability, and everything you need to know before your session.
Street Photography
Street photography looks like luck from the outside, being in the right place with the camera up at exactly the right second, but the photographers who consistently get those shots aren't lucky, they're prepared.It's a mix of planning, sharp observation, patience, and knowing your camera well enough that it never gets between you and the moment. This class is about building that combination, plus the confidence to shoot people in public without feeling like you're doing something wrong.Over two hours we'll work through:
- Scouting and reading a location
- Spotting the light, the backdrop, and the kind of activity that makes a street corner worth stopping at.
- Training your eye to notice the small human moments most people walk straight past.
- We'll cover zone focusing so you can react in the split-second a scene comes together instead of waiting on autofocus.
- how to read light and shadow through the day (including why overcast or even wet weather can work in your favour, not against you).
- How to find a genuine perspective rather than just pointing and shooting from eye level.
- We'll also get into the practical side of shooting candidly, and the ethical side of photographing strangers in public, so you know exactly where you stand.
What to bring:
- Your camera (any kind, DSLR, mirrorless, or compact) and a spare battery (just in case).
- A longer lens is handy if you have one, but not essential.
- Weather appropriate clothing
- Comfy shoes
- Your desire to learn
PACKAGE & PRICING
- Group size: up to 3 people (you plus two friends)
- Duration: 2 hours
- Price: $150 for whether it's just you, or your group
- Includes: a free copy of A Simple Guide to the Basics of Photography, yours to keep.Ready to start seeing the stories already happening around you? Fill out the enquiry form and we'll get back to you with times.
Enquire now
Fill out the form below with a few details about what you're after, and we'll get back to you within a day or two with times, availability, and everything you need to know before your session.