Sealy's uncle in Patoka is assumed to have been the first commercial portrait photographer in New Zealand, advertising his trade in 1848. It is assumed that Edward had learned photography from his uncle. In 1866, Sealy took his camera and other equipment to the upper Ashburton River and the Rangitata River, and the glaciers that feed these rivers. During the following year, he explored the whole length of the Mueller Glacier and took photos of Aoraki / Mount Cook from there. Dr Alfred Barker, a Christchurch-based doctor best known as a photographer, considered Sealy the best photographer in New Zealand at the time. Over Christmas and New Year 1867, the brothers caught up and over the space of a few days socialised with the Canterbury elite: Francis Jollie (a member of parliament) at Christmas Day, John Acland (by then a member of the Legislative Council) at Boxing Day, then on to Charles George Tripp (a large runholder) followed by Dr Ben Moorhouse (another large runholder). Moving on to Christchurch, the brothers then socialised with the family of Julius von Haast.