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Photographing Australia from Coast to Coast – Colour Palettes and the OM-1 OM SYSTEM Mirrorless Camera
When it involves 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 a number of analysis to make sure I’d survive driving into the centre of Australia.
Despite 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, although the vacation spot is at all times well worth the effort and prep required!
One factor I didn’t must stress about was my digicam gear. Having used the Olympus system since 2017 (see my Global 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 digicam 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 resulting from go to numerous places round Australia for a guide challenge in 2020, and everyone knows what occurred that 12 months with border closures and indoor time! The places and landscapes I had listed to {photograph} coated all states and territories, from east to west and north to south. Instead of slowly visiting them all year long as I’d deliberate for 2020, I created two itineraries and two fairly large street journeys for 2022.
The first was from Brisbane to Hobart, masking outback NSW, the Victorian coast and an entire circuit of Tasmania. Departing in late summer season, my companion Ryan (of The Soundscape Studio) and I packed all the things into my automotive. When 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 largest, from Queensland throughout to Western Australia in late September. Again, we packed the automotive, however this time with minimal belongings as we had been going additional and didn’t need the trouble of repacking each cease. A suitcase every, digicam bag every, 4 x large brim hats (as a result of I’m recognized 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 facet of the street in the course of nowhere. Luckily that didn’t come true, ha!
So, fairly than recount the journeys cease by cease, I wished to start out by sharing some highlights of each the panorama and digicam options. The locations I liked, the settings I used most and just a little peek at a number of the pictures captured. More photos shall be revealed as soon as the guide is launched in late 2023, and I’ll even be sharing snippets of the adventures on The Wandering Lens and by way of the e-newsletter (join right here if you happen to haven’t but!) over the approaching weeks and months.
Live ND Filter + Mount Field National Park, Tasmania
If 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 Live ND Filter on my OM SYSTEM/Olympus cameras.
Blurring water, watching dwell because the scene is reworked 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 recognized for its nationwide parks and pure magnificence, one location I had marked for this journey was Mount Field National Park, situated below two hours north-west of Hobart.
Home to a number of the world’s tallest eucalypt forests, an array of wildlife and alpine peaks, there’s additionally a lot of cascading falls, the proper alternative for some Live 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 mild creates contrasting highlights and darker areas throughout the water, and I wished clean, constant tones for my photos and the encircling greenery to be actually lush within the late afternoon mild.
The whole Three Falls Circuit path, which incorporates Russell Falls, Horseshoe Falls and Lady Barron Falls takes the common walker roughly 2.5hrs to cowl the 6kms. Throw in two photographers, some sound recording and perfect circumstances, and all up we spent 5hrs mesmerised by these landscapes making it out on darkish.
Take a peek under at a number of the photos captured with the Live ND filter and the OM-1. I photographed every picture hand-held as a result of the mix of inside 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 pictures has at all times been a significant ardour of mine, I’ve been hooked since I first flew over the Great 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 street journey included three scenic flights, just a few lower than supposed resulting from climate circumstances.
One flight took my breath away.
Departing Yulara Airport earlier than daybreak, we flew throughout the desert panorama of Australia’s Red Centre as mild gently filtered in from the east. An enormous 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 sturdy rays shining between the domes of this sacred Anangu Aboriginal web site. You can learn extra in regards to the Anangu tradition right here. Onward additional north, the dawn was permitting the various colors of Lake Amadeus to be revealed, with the biggest salt lake within the Northern Territory offering the prospect for some minimal aerial panorama photos.
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 chance when flying and at all times have two digicam 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 mild circumstances 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 glad 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 flawed.
The South Australian coast is huge, remoted and suffering from pockets of probably the most stunning sand dunes. While I had just a few nationwide parks on my listing, we truly skipped these and as a substitute opted to wander down any street that led to our Google Earth discoveries.
While 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 Beach, the place dunes are nestled between a lagoon and the seaside. The better part? We had your complete place to ourselves.
Dressed in 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. Slightly 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 potential to the textures with the OM-1 to make sure I might compose the scene earlier than me and do it justice.
Once 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 the same setting to Sheringa, we spent the primary hour flying the DJI Mini 3 Pro, then captured photographs of the pastel sky with the OM-1.
Sandstone Patterns – Broome, Western Australia
When mapping out places to incorporate on this guide challenge, the Western Australian coast was second on my listing to Uluru and the Red Centre. I’d beforehand photographed from Perth to Exmouth and knew how beautiful 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 recognized for his or her vibrant colors. From crimson 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.
While I chartered a helicopter to seize the landscapes from above (which had been stunning!), it was the sandstone rock patterns at Gantheume Point that saved me occupied for hours at sundown, three days in a row!
Known as among the best places to see dinosaur footprints, the purpose options vibrant crimson rock cliffs and layers of sandstone, some damaged up and jagged, others flat and revealing some unbelievable patterns.
One space, tucked nearer to the ocean behind the primary viewing spot, had me glad dancing after I noticed how the pictures had been turning out. Wasting no time, I switched the OM-1 to handheld high-resolution mode and set about taking 50MP photos to make sure I captured as a lot element inside every picture as potential.
*Just to notice, if you happen to’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 superb 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 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 ????
Hello! I’m the founder and photographer behind The Wandering Lens.
With 17+yrs expertise as knowledgeable journey and panorama photographer, all recommendation discovered on this web site is from my private expertise on the street. I hope it’s helpful on your personal travels and would love to listen to within the feedback about your journeys and experiences around the globe.
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