Brinkley's Bluff

Over the weekend we walked section 4 of the Larapinta Trail. The highlight of this 20km walk is the 1200 metre exposed summit of Brinkley's Bluff and this is where we camped the night. This was the last section of the Larapinta Trail that I had left to walk (having walked the other 11 sections over the last couple of years) and it was well worth the effort of lugging 20kg of food, water, camping and camera gear up there. Im a bit of an endorphin junkie so I know that with the pain of physical exertion comes the pleasure of an endorphin high and I think some of my best photographic work comes when Im buzzing after exercise.

In saying that, I was a little dissapointed with my photos, mainly because I couldn't come up with a 'classic' strong landscape composition of foreground leading off into the distance. I think I could also have done better with my 70-200 f.28L for more distant shots but this is a bulky, weighty lens and I made the call not to pack it. My kit ended up being 5DmkII, 24-105mm f4L, and a lightweight tripod. This is probably my best landscape photography option when I wish to travel light as it's reasonably versatile in terms of zoom range. The lens isn't without its flaws (notably distortion and vignetting at the wide end and chromatic abberations at smaller apertures) but some of these can be worked through in processing and others through careful comosition and zoom selection. I'd love to return to this location now that Ive got some idea of the layout and some ideas for better compositions. I'd be an amazing location in a storm but it's also one of the last places on earth I'd want to be with extreme wind and lightning!