Photographing Australia from Coast to Coast – Color Palettes and the OM-1 OM SYSTEM Mirrorless Digital camera
On the subject of trusty sidekicks within the outback, you need loads of water, a hat and dependable tools that may deal with the weather. As somebody who isn’t a large fan of tenting, squirms on the thought of spiders inside 100m and may’t change a tyre (I do know!), I did lots of analysis to make sure I’d survive driving into the centre of Australia.
Regardless of travelling to a number of the world’s most distant areas, from glaciers and deserts, Greenland to Chile, there’s one thing about my residence nation of Australia that at all times makes me fear about what may go fallacious, although the vacation spot is at all times definitely worth the effort and prep required!
One factor I didn’t have to stress about was my digital camera gear. Having used the Olympus system since 2017 (see my World Ambassador profile + gear information right here), travelling with the E-M1 MKII, E-M1X + E-M1 MKIII, I used to be excited to make use of this journey round Australia to check out the brand new OM-1, the brand new OM SYSTEM digital camera since their rebrand. I knew based mostly on the earlier fashions it might deal with the climate and a little bit of bush bashing, so had loads of waterfalls, dusty deserts, dunes and salty shores scheduled to go to.
To share a little bit of background into this journey, initially I used to be attributable to go to numerous places round Australia for a ebook venture in 2020, and everyone knows what occurred that yr with border closures and indoor time! The places and landscapes I had listed to {photograph} lined all states and territories, from east to west and north to south. As an alternative of slowly visiting them all year long as I’d deliberate for 2020, I created two itineraries and two moderately huge highway journeys for 2022.
The primary was from Brisbane to Hobart, overlaying outback NSW, the Victorian coast and an entire circuit of Tasmania. Departing in late summer season, my associate Ryan (of The Soundscape Studio) and I packed every little thing into my automobile. Once I say every little thing, I imply every little thing as we left our rental and crammed the automobile to the roof (with a tiny gap for the rear imaginative and prescient mirror!) with the intention of staying long run in Tasmania…however that’s a narrative for an additional day. This a part of the journey ended up taking three months, returning to QLD in early April to spend a while enhancing.
The second half of the journey was the most important, from Queensland throughout to Western Australia in late September. Once more, we packed the automobile, however this time with minimal belongings as we had been going additional and didn’t need the effort of repacking each cease. A suitcase every, digital camera bag every, 4 x extensive brim hats (as a result of I’m identified for by chance crushing them), and about 50L of water as a result of I had it caught in my thoughts that there’d be nowhere to hydrate at any level…in fact petrol stations have water, I simply had this imaginative and prescient of us being stranded on the aspect of the highway in the course of nowhere. Fortunately that didn’t come true, ha!
So, moderately than recount the journeys cease by cease, I wished to begin by sharing some highlights of each the panorama and digital camera options. The locations I beloved, the settings I used most and just a little peek at a number of the pictures captured. Extra pictures might be revealed as soon as the ebook is launched in late 2023, and I’ll even be sharing snippets of the adventures on The Wandering Lens and by way of the publication (join right here for those who haven’t but!) over the approaching weeks and months.
Dwell ND Filter + Mount Area Nationwide Park, Tasmania
In case you’ve been studying The Wandering Lens or following me by way of @the_wanderinglens on Instagram, you’ll know the way a lot I exploit the interior Dwell ND Filter on my OM SYSTEM/Olympus cameras.
Blurring water, watching stay because the scene is remodeled right into a transferring surprise has impressed me a lot over the previous two years, and I like discovering alternatives to click on over to this characteristic.
With Tasmania identified for its nationwide parks and pure magnificence, one location I had marked for this journey was Mount Area Nationwide Park, situated underneath two hours north-west of Hobart.
Dwelling to a number of the world’s tallest eucalypt forests, an array of wildlife and alpine peaks, there’s additionally quite a few cascading falls, the right alternative for some Dwell ND experiments.
It was the waterfalls I used to be planning to {photograph} and timed our arrival for the late afternoon to keep away from any direct daylight on the water. Patchy gentle creates contrasting highlights and darker areas throughout the water, and I wished easy, constant tones for my pictures and the encompassing greenery to be actually lush within the late afternoon gentle.
Your entire Three Falls Circuit path, which incorporates Russell Falls, Horseshoe Falls and Girl Barron Falls takes the common walker roughly 2.5hrs to cowl the 6kms. Throw in two photographers, some sound recording and superb situations, and all up we spent 5hrs mesmerised by these landscapes making it out on darkish.
Take a peek under at a number of the pictures captured with the Dwell ND filter and the OM-1. I photographed every picture hand-held as a result of the mix of inner filters with the 7.5 stops of stabilisation enabled me to shoot lengthy exposures with out the necessity for a tripod.
Outback Aerials – Uluru, Northern Territory
Aerial images has at all times been a significant ardour of mine, I’ve been hooked since I first flew over the Nice Barrier Reef again in 2009. Gazing down upon the patterns and color palettes from above has impressed so lots of my favorite pictures, and this Australian highway journey included three scenic flights, a number of lower than meant attributable to climate situations.
One flight took my breath away.
Departing Yulara Airport earlier than daybreak, we flew throughout the desert panorama of Australia’s Pink Centre as gentle gently filtered in from the east. A giant financial institution of cloud on the horizon meant the preliminary few moments of dawn wasn’t seen as we flew above Uluru, however when it did seem, the glow was immense, assembly a thick fog and creating some of the spectacular scenes I’ve witnessed.
Circling above Kata Tjuta to the west of Uluru, the sunshine was extremely photogenic with robust rays shining between the domes of this sacred Anangu Aboriginal web site. You may learn extra in regards to the Anangu tradition right here. Onward additional north, the dawn was permitting the numerous colors of Lake Amadeus to be revealed, with the most important salt lake within the Northern Territory offering the possibility for some minimal aerial panorama pictures.
Pairing the OM-1 with the 40-150mm f2.8 professional lens for element pictures, I additionally had the E-M1 MKIII and the 12-40mm f2.8 professional lens round my neck as we flew in a doorways off helicopter. I by no means need to miss a chance when flying and at all times have two digital camera our bodies + 2 x lenses to make sure I can cowl quite a lot of focal lengths in a single flight. This gear is right for low gentle situations along with being good and compact so I can simply alternate between the 2 cameras mid-flight.
Sand Dunes – South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula
Sand dunes are a panorama I may {photograph} for the remainder of my profession and be one very completely happy gal. Having photographed the Namib Desert in 2019, I wasn’t anticipating to be wowed by the dunes on my listing in Australia, however wow was I fallacious.
The South Australian coast is huge, remoted and affected by pockets of probably the most lovely sand dunes. Whereas I had a number of nationwide parks on my listing, we really skipped these and as a substitute opted to wander down any highway that led to our Google Earth discoveries.
Whereas driving from Port Lincoln to Streaky Bay on the Eyre Peninsula, we may see dune peaks within the distance and pulled over to see what we had been near. A fast Google Earth search revealed Sheringa Seaside, the place dunes are nestled between a lagoon and the seashore. The perfect half? We had the complete place to ourselves.
Wearing denims and a jumper, I didn’t need to change and miss the daylight, so we went exploring with no thought they’d proceed for miles. Somewhat tip, sand dune and denims aren’t an amazing combine!
Anyway, again to the purpose, I spent two hours mendacity within the sand, getting as shut as attainable to the textures with the OM-1 to make sure I may compose the scene earlier than me and do it justice.
As soon as we arrived in Streaky Bay, one other set of dunes had been on my radar, the Yanerbie Sand Dunes, simply 10mins from city. I’d deliberate to go to for sundown and so they didn’t disappoint. With an analogous setting to Sheringa, we spent the primary hour flying the DJI Mini 3 Professional, then captured pictures of the pastel sky with the OM-1.
Sandstone Patterns – Broome, Western Australia
When mapping out places to incorporate on this ebook venture, the Western Australian coast was second on my listing to Uluru and the Pink Centre. I’d beforehand photographed from Perth to Exmouth and knew how gorgeous and various the surroundings and color palettes had been, however the far north had at all times intrigued me.
The Kimberley Coast and landscapes of Broome are identified for his or her vibrant colors. From purple sands and desert scenes to turquoise tropical seas and sandy inlets, it’s like a tropical island however one aspect is ocean and the opposite desert…ad infinitum.
Whereas I chartered a helicopter to seize the landscapes from above (which had been lovely!), it was the sandstone rock patterns at Gantheume Level that saved me occupied for hours at sundown, three days in a row!
Generally known as probably the greatest places to see dinosaur footprints, the purpose options vibrant purple rock cliffs and layers of sandstone, some damaged up and jagged, others flat and revealing some unimaginable patterns.
One space, tucked nearer to the ocean behind the principle viewing spot, had me completely happy dancing after I noticed how the photographs had been turning out. Losing no time, I switched the OM-1 to handheld high-resolution mode and set about taking 50MP pictures to make sure I captured as a lot element inside every picture as attainable.
*Simply to notice, for those who’re utilizing a tripod the high-resolution mode is 80MP, however as I’m at all times preferring to shoot tripod free, the 50MP handheld pictures are so wonderful and greater than sufficient!
Take a peek at a number of the loopy colors and patterns hidden inside the sandstone layers.
I’ll be sharing extra insights and imagery from my time travelling round Australia quickly. It’s been such an journey to see a lot of my residence nation in such a brief area of time and it’s taking some time to kind and get my head round simply how a lot we’ve seen and photographed!
Lisa 🙂
Hiya! I’m the founder and photographer behind The Wandering Lens.
With 17+yrs expertise as an expert journey and panorama photographer, all recommendation discovered on this web site is from my private expertise on the highway. I hope it’s helpful on your personal travels and would love to listen to within the feedback about your journeys and experiences all over the world.