I’m a freelance photographer based in Queenstown, New Zealand. I’ve got more than 15 years professional experience under my belt and I love helping businesses and individuals with their photography projects.

James Allan | Freelance photographer

When I was a kid growing up in Central Otago, I was obsessed with mountain bikes and motorsports. With a point-and-shoot camera, I captured events I thought were cool and epic and shared them on this new thing called the internet.

Fast-forward a few years, and my photography began to get noticed. I won a ‘proper’ camera in a national photography competition and I started to get serious about photography.

By the age of 19, I’d moved to Queenstown and got a job with local newspaper Mountain Scene. There I received training and gained valuable experience. In 2009, I won Community Newspapers Young Photographer of the Year.

Since 2012 I’ve worked full-time as a professional freelance photographer. I’ve photographed for great brands like Shotover Jet, MasterCard and RedBull, and my photography work has been published in top publications like The New Zealand Herald and The Daily Mail.

My photography has gone viral – twice. It’s seen me travel to far-flung locations, meet fascinating people and witness incredible things.

I’m still obsessed with capturing the epic. That perfect angle. That show-stopping moment.

I’m always interested to hear about new projects, events and cool things going on – contact me for a chat about your photography needs today.

McAuliffe Stevens Registered Architects commissioned James to take images of O’Connells after a major redevelopment. We had seen architectural images that James had taken and thought that he was the right photographer for the task. James embraced the challenge, shooting images in very difficult circumstances given the buildings context. James images assisted O’Connells in being shortlisted for two awards at the 2024 World Architecture Awards Festival, which we appreciate.

"James has always been a pleasure to work with on our Construction Projects and with our involvement with the Cancer Society. He’s professional, accommodating and the photos he’s created have been outstanding. We recommend him highly!"

"James is an absolute pleasure to work with. Professional and engaging from the get-go. He also has a great eye for the moment and has captured images that bring our events to life. I’m a big fan and will continue to use and recommend him”.

As seen in

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