Occupation

The MacDonnell Ranges have a history of Aboriginal occupation which probably spans tens of thousands of years. However, unlike some other parts of upland central Australia, rock-art is not prolific. One exception to this can be found at the infrequently visited Roma Gorge, in the southern part of the park. The sandstone geology in this area is apparently well suited to engraving and the boulders in the creekline are adorned with petroglyphs. Visitors are only allowed in the front part of the gorge and this is where I shot these photos. I took them mid afternoon and this forced me to shoot in shadow. I think I'll return on an overcast day so I can shoot out in the open more without having to deal with the extreme contrast.

The detail

I often read of how other nature photographers styles have changed over time, evolving as they begin to see nature in different ways or their messages shift. For me, I know my style is undergoing a pretty major change. Whereas a year or two ago I was just into trying to capture big vistas with wide lenses, Im now looking more and more at the detail. Im still up for those big dramatic landscapes when the situation arises, but good quality dawn/dusk light is such a rare commodity in the centre and by looking at whats right in front of me or at my feet, Im able to shoot in a wider range of conditions and all sorts of lighting.

These next couple of photos were taken in Ormiston Gorge, late in the afternoon. The first shot is a closeup of stones in the creekbed and this is something I'll continue to experiment with. Im not satisfied with this shot but I love the textures and colours of stone in the gorge and there's unlimited potential for different compositions.

 

The next shot was taken at Ormiston waterhole and, as above, was shot in complete shade. What I think makes it work is the incredible folding geology and texture. I think the plant and water give it some balance and sense of scale. It would probably be neater if the water was completely calm though so I'll probably try it again. 

 

The next day I headed to redbank gorge. This is a real 'slot canyon' with awesome refracted light at different times of the day. Unfortunately you need to swim through a very deep waterhole to get up the gorge and I didn't have any waterproof protection for my camera gear. Over the next couple of weeks I'll head back up with a pelican case and a bodyboard.

I was hoping there'd be some rock-wallabies hanging around the cliff out the front of the gorge but in the heat of the day they were probably in deeper shade. Instead I took this photo of a ghost gum on the cliff out the front of the gorge.

 

 

West Macs project

Hi there

Its been a really hectic past few months at work which, although a pretty lame excuse, has made it hard to find the motivation to shoot photos. However, I now have the next four or five weeks off to do little more than relax (watch cricket!), exercise and shoot as much as I can. For a while now Ive been toying with the idea of trying to produce a coffee table book on the West MacDonnell NP. Of course, the usual waves of self-doubt have made me question whether this is something acheivable or just a fanciful pipe dream. However, what I do know is that the West Macs includes some of the most spectacular country ive seen in Australia and I desperately want to share this with others. I want to do the place, its people and its wildlife justice by showing just how special it is. I have so many ideas floating around my head for shots, locations and stories and Im really excited at the prospect of pushing myself artistically further than Ive ever done before. Regardless of whether I have the ability to pull it off, Im going to enjoy giving it a solid crack!

Macropods (euros, red kangaroos and rock-wallabies) are going to be a big part of the project because: they are the largest native fauna in the park, they are so important to the parks ecology (in particular, they are the major prey for dingoes), and they are charismatic and photogenic. In light of the last couple of qualities, Im really suprised more photographers don't work intensively with them in Australia. The following photos are from my first session shooting after a long time off and Im really happy with the results. I found this young euro (common wallaroo) by chance on the Heavitree Range, west of Alice Springs. I'd just sat down to watch a couple of ringneck parrots feeding in callitris pine when this euro ambled into view about 20 metres away, feeding on grasses and herbs. It was about 30 minutes until sunset with a cloudless horizon so I knew if I could remain unnoticed I would be in for some decent light. If anyone has experience with euros, they'll know just how hard they usually are to get close to so I was keen not to blow the opportunity.

Here is one of the first shots I took, while the sun was mostly hidden behind a cloud. The euro is looking straight at me from about 10 metres away but I remained still and had the wind in my favour so she didn't wise up to me. I quite like the quality of light, with a hint of side light from the right and also the framing by the green pick (Goodenia ramelii) in the foreground.

Eventually the sun emerged from beneath the last cloud and, with some smoke haze about, gave the light a nice soft golden quality. This shot was taken as she approached to within 3 metres, still oblivious to my presence. A good demonstration of how just how much they rely on their hearing (just look at those ears!) to detect predators (dingos). Some nice backlit highlighting of the whiskers and fur.

Finally she picked up my scent and stood right up, bashed the ground with a foot (an alarm response for euros) and hopped away a couple of metres. This worked out well for me as I was able to frame her body more completely for a nice full-frame backlit shot. Unfortunately, because it was handheld I wasn't able to stop down as much as I'd like, so the body is a little soft, but still pretty stoked overall.

All shots handheld 7D, 400mm f5.6 lens @ 5.6. ISO 400-640.