Autumn 2025

Writing
Written By Richard Young

Autumn arrived late this year, and the colours lasted well past the time they’re normally at their best. I have photographed the change of season around Wānaka every year since 2017, and have a good feeling for when the best conditions will happen. Back in March when the colours started to change I thought they might be a bit early, but in the end it was the complete opposite. This year’s autumn display played out differently to most due to very mild temperatures for the whole of April. Even now in mid-May, we’ve only had a couple of frosty mornings and a few trees are still trying to hold on to their last leaves. 

At the start of May I spent a really enjoyable few days exploring some favourite autumn landscapes with UK photographer, filmmaker and author Sean Tucker, resulting in some of my best work from the season. While we were together, Sean filmed some beautiful footage of me working in the landscape, which he artfully composed into an interview with me for his YouTube channel about my approach to landscape photography. Below are three of my favourite prints I made while with Sean. I hope you enjoy the exploration of this new work and the meaning behind its making. For me, being a photographer is more than going out and creating photographs. It is about living a creative way of life, and the photographs I make are only part of this.

An Old Friend

Poplar Tune, Wānaka, New Zealand, 2025

Every year I photograph this poplar tree, and every year the photos I make of it are different to the last as my approach to the landscape evolves. Coming back here each year it’s like visiting an old friend and I think of each year’s work as a new chapter in a continued conversation with nature, exploring my relationship with it. I’m happy with this year’s photograph and I feel that it represents the way I’m currently seeing and approaching the landscape. I feel it was also influenced by my time in Japan earlier this year. I know this is an image that I could not have made when I first met this tree eight years ago. Back then I did not know the tree, I did not know what I wished to say, what I wished my photographs to express.

Autumn Symphony

Autumn Birch, Mckenzie, New Zealand, 2025

I feel a real connection to silver birch trees; they were abundant characters in the county estate I grew up on, within the South Downs National Park in England. My father was a forester, and I would spend my weekends and holidays exploring our local woods. Even though these trees are not native to New Zealand, they make me feel at home here; they have integrated into this landscape just like I have. I loved the interplay of the branches I worked with while making this photograph, sitting them together to perform a beautiful symphony. I feel the relationship I have built with these trees enables me to place them within the landscape in a way that represents my relationship with it.

Calm & Balanced

Calm & Balanced, Aoraki/Mount Cook, New Zealand, 2025

As a photographer, I’m drawn to intimate representations of landscapes. These days I’ll often simply sit and enjoy a beautiful sunset over a grand vista and not feel the need to photograph it. If I do, I don't want sunset to dominate photographs as I like to work with soft and subtle colours within my work. This evening, a big lenticular cloud was positioned high over Mt Cook, being formed by the strong north-west wind that made setting up my tripod a challenge. At sunset, this impressive “Nor'west arch” ignited to a fiery pink; it was stunningly beautiful but felt far too vivid as an expression of what I wished to capture. I did, however, enjoy the softer tones that were sitting above the northern horizon—the scene felt calm and balanced. A small moon positioned above mighty peaks gives a sense of scale and place, making us remember how small we are within this grand landscape and the universe we sit within.

The Meaning and the Making

Inspirational book by Sean Tucker

I encourage you to buy Sean’s book The Meaning and the Making. It is an inspirational read and helped me to explore what drives me—as a creative person—along with the sense of balance I require to create personal and unique work. It is also available as an audiobook which is beautifully narrated by Sean himself.

Autumn Photography Workshops 2026

Anybody looking to photograph Autumn in New Zealand with me, I still have openings on both of my Autumn 2026 workshops.

Richard Young

Full-time nature and landscape photographer based in Wanaka, New Zealand.

https://www.richardyoung.co.nz
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Hokkaido 2025