Photographing Australia from Coast to Coast – Color Palettes and the OM-1 OM SYSTEM Mirrorless Digital camera
With regards to trusty sidekicks within the outback, you need loads of water, a hat and dependable gear that may deal with the weather. As somebody who isn’t an enormous fan of tenting, squirms on the concept of spiders inside 100m and might’t change a tyre (I do know!), I did loads 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 dwelling nation of Australia that at all times makes me fear about what might go flawed, regardless that the vacation spot is at all times well worth the effort and prep required!
One factor I didn’t must stress about was my digital camera gear. Having used the Olympus system since 2017 (see my International Ambassador profile + gear data 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 primarily based 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 as a result of 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 quite huge highway journeys for 2022.
The primary was from Brisbane to Hobart, protecting outback NSW, the Victorian coast and a whole circuit of Tasmania. Departing in late summer time, my associate Ryan (of The Soundscape Studio) and I packed all the things into my automotive. After I say all the things, I imply all the things as we left our rental and crammed the automotive 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 one more 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 automotive, 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 vast brim hats (as a result of I’m identified for by accident 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…after all petrol stations have water, I simply had this imaginative and prescient of us being stranded on the facet of the highway in the midst of nowhere. Fortunately that didn’t come true, ha!
So, quite than recount the journeys cease by cease, I needed to begin by sharing some highlights of each the panorama and digital camera options. The locations I liked, the settings I used most and a bit of peek at a number of the images captured. Extra photographs 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 when you haven’t but!) over the approaching weeks and months.
Reside ND Filter + Mount Discipline Nationwide Park, Tasmania
In the event 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 take advantage of the inner Reside ND Filter on my OM SYSTEM/Olympus cameras.
Blurring water, watching dwell because the scene is remodeled right into a shifting marvel has impressed me a lot over the previous two years, and I really like discovering alternatives to click on over to this function.
With Tasmania identified for its nationwide parks and pure magnificence, one location I had marked for this journey was Mount Discipline Nationwide Park, positioned beneath 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 numerous cascading falls, the right alternative for some Reside 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 needed clean, constant tones for my photographs and the encircling greenery to be actually lush within the late afternoon gentle.
All the Three Falls Circuit path, which incorporates Russell Falls, Horseshoe Falls and Woman Barron Falls takes the common walker roughly 2.5hrs to cowl the 6kms. Throw in two photographers, some sound recording and preferrred 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 photographs captured with the Reside 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 a lot of my favorite images, and this Australian highway journey included three scenic flights, a number of lower than meant as a result of climate situations.
One flight took my breath away.
Departing Yulara Airport earlier than daybreak, we flew throughout the desert panorama of Australia’s Crimson 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 one of the spectacular scenes I’ve witnessed.
Circling above Kata Tjuta to the west of Uluru, the sunshine was extremely photogenic with sturdy rays shining between the domes of this sacred Anangu Aboriginal web site. You’ll be able to learn extra concerning 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 prospect for some minimal aerial panorama photographs.
Pairing the OM-1 with the 40-150mm f2.8 professional lens for element photographs, 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 possibility when flying and at all times have two digital camera our bodies + 2 x lenses to make sure I can cowl a wide range 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 might {photograph} for the remainder of my profession and be one very joyful gal. Having photographed the Namib Desert in 2019, I wasn’t anticipating to be wowed by the dunes on my checklist in Australia, however wow was I flawed.
The South Australian coast is huge, remoted and plagued by pockets of essentially the most stunning sand dunes. Whereas I had a number of nationwide parks on my checklist, we truly 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 might 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 most effective half? We had all the place to ourselves.
Wearing denims and a jumper, I didn’t need to change and miss the daylight, so we went exploring with no concept they’d proceed for miles. Somewhat tip, sand dune and denims aren’t a fantastic 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 might 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 they usually didn’t disappoint. With an analogous setting to Sheringa, we spent the primary hour flying the DJI Mini 3 Professional, then captured photographs 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 checklist to Uluru and the Crimson Centre. I’d beforehand photographed from Perth to Exmouth and knew how gorgeous and numerous 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 facet is ocean and the opposite desert…endlessly.
Whereas I chartered a helicopter to seize the landscapes from above (which had been stunning!), it was the sandstone rock patterns at Gantheume Level that stored me occupied for hours at sundown, three days in a row!
Often called top-of-the-line 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 primary viewing spot, had me joyful dancing after I noticed how the pictures had been turning out. Losing no time, I switched the OM-1 to handheld high-resolution mode and set about taking 50MP photographs to make sure I captured as a lot element inside every picture as attainable.
*Simply to notice, when you’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 photographs are so wonderful and greater than sufficient!
Take a peek at a number of the loopy colors and patterns hidden throughout 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 dwelling nation in such a brief house 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 🙂
Whats up! 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 to your personal travels and would love to listen to within the feedback about your journeys and experiences around the globe.