Half of the challenge of making great landscape images is finding great places to shoot. James Ostinga talked to five leading pro photographers and asked them to name their favourite landscape locations. In the first of this three-part series, we look at five of the best places in Australia you can take your camera!
01 DEVILS MARBLES, NORTHERN TERRITORY
Doug Spowart: The Devils Marbles in Central Australia holds a special fascination for me. They comprise around one square kilometre of granite tors and boulder clusters emerging from spinifex and ghost gums. I’ve visited this location many times over the last 25 years and continue to be fascinated by its ability to sustain my interest and my desire to know it through the photographs I take.
While the Devils Marbles rates highly among favourite locations, my favourite subject is the road. It seems to me that in the quest for landscapes of exotic and amazing beauty we overlook the space through which we have passed.
Somewhere along the road, track, trail and path lies a subject equalling that which we seek. A thread of bitumen, a dusty line of corrugated track, a footprint on a sandy ridge are as worthy of our attention as the stuff we usually encounter as pictures in travel postcards and wilderness photography coffee table books.
The validity of vernacular roadside subjects is that they also exist and that they are part of our experience of time and place. For me the road is an endless subject of interest and photographic challenge. If we take some time on the road we might just find that the landscape may, just for a moment, reveal itself to us.
www.home.aone.net.au/greatdivide
02 STRADBROKE ISLAND, QUEENSLAND
Sonja de Sterke: I have been visiting Point Lookout on Stradbroke Island since 1993 and have seen lots of changes. What hasn’t changed, luckily, is the beautiful coastline of beaches, rocks and gorges.
I like to get up before sunrise and photograph the dawn at the Gorge Walk. It’s easily accessed and a very picturesque and beautiful place.
On my first stay, I dreamt about whales passing by and now you sometimes see pods of whales hanging out as well as dolphins, turtles, rays and sharks. It’s a truly magical place and has a very special meaning to me.
www.sonjadesterke.com
03 MT WELLINGTON, TASMANIA
Graham Wootton: Mount Wellington is one of the most varied locations for fine landscape photography in Australia – enough to justify a whole book, “On the Mountain”, by Peter Dombrovskis.
“The Mountain” (as it is known to locals) is particularly alluring in the winter months when the summit is often adorned with a myriad of ice forms. To see the sun rise over a mist-shrouded Derwent River is an unforgettable sight.
The summit is a 20km drive from the Hobart GPO up a good sealed road. Keep an eye on the weather and be patient and you should come back with some rewarding shots.
04 BUDAWANG RANGES, MORETON NATIONAL PARK, NEW SOUTH WALES
Rob Gray: My favourite landscape location? That’s a tough one. Some names spring immediately to mind such as the Kimberley and West MacDonnell ranges, but I think I’ll choose an area that’s a little closer to home for most Australians – the Budawang Ranges in Morton National Park, not far from Sydney and Canberra.
For my money there are two main areas worth photographing in the Budawangs: to the north there is Hidden Valley and Mt Sturgiss, while further to the south are Monolith Valley and The Castle. Both areas require a decent walk to get into and although you can day-walk into Monolith Valley and The Castle I never recommend day walks because they place you on the scene during the middle of the day which is normally not the best for photography.
I love it in the Budawangs, mostly because it’s a wonderland of opportunity, with Tolkien-like ferny grottos, massive cliff faces, open heath and beehive-style monoliths there’s just no way you won’t get a good photo if you spend a day or two in there. As for the best time to go? In summer the water can be a bit scarce and the walking hot, while in winter the days are too short. So I’d have to say spring or autumn.
www.robgray.com
05 WESTERN ARTHUR RANGES, TAS
Ian Carlson: The Western Arthur Ranges in Tasmania is one of my favourite places to photograph. It’s the remoteness of the location that makes it attractive to me. Remoteness generally translates to breathtaking scenery that requires more than just going to the tourist lookout.
The Arthur Ranges need to be tackled in the summer months of December to February. You need to plan very well as it is not an easy hike. Depending on the planned route it can take 6 to 12 days to complete.
www.iancarlsonphotography.com.au
This article first published in the April-May 2010 issue of Digital Photography + Design as part of the "Landscape Special". To purchase a PDF of the complete issue click here.
What are your favourite landscape photography locations and what makes them special? Tell us about them in the comments section below.