A couple of years ago I took a group of photographers to one of the world’s great landscape locations – Purnululu National Park in north-west Western Australia. I’ve been fortunate to visit this incredible location several times but this time I was keen to be there right after the Wet Season when the area is alive with water and greenery. Purnululu is closed during the Wet, opening only in April, depending on the conditions after the rains. Following the Wet, any water on the ground quickly dries up, leaving a desolate and parched landscape. Timing is everything!
As the first photographers into the park for the season, it was a special treat to be walking through such surreal shapes and forms virtually by ourselves. The parks service hadn’t started its annual burning at this time so the air was extremely clear and the only challenge was the heat. At around 40 degrees each day, with humidity as well, we all looked forward to a new shirt and a shower each night!
Piccaninny Gorge is the most popular shooting location at Purnululu. Other fantastic gorges and shooting angles are located around the park, but Piccaninny is the main point of interest for most photographers. We drove to the car parking area in the dark. Around dawn some haunting shapes started to show against the rising glow of dawn. We walked along a dark track and within just a few hundred metres we came to a magical scene – Piccaninny Gorge.
For the next four hours we shot some unique images. For me, they are some of the most amazing I’ve enjoyed making. We decided to return that afternoon (after a siesta) and shoot the gorge again. Of course the different light opened up new angles, subjects and memories.
Over the following days we returned again and again. Each day there was less water. I now look forward to returning in 2015. No two days are the same in this location, thus opening up many new photo adventures.
Techniques and equipment are important, but no matter where you’re shooting, timing is everything!
Darran Leal has been a professional photo guide since 1989 and is the owner of World Photo Adventures, an adventure photo company that offers photo tours and shooting opportunities all over the world. For free tips and more information about his tours and workshops, go to: www.worldphotoadventures.com.au
Purnululu National Park, Western Australia. Six-shot stitched panorama. Nikon D3X, 17-35mm f/2.8 lens @ 19mm, 1/15s @ f/11, ISO 100, tripod.
Timing is everything in photography. Within a couple of weeks of this photo being taken, this small watering hole had dried up. Nikon D700, 16mm f/2.8 lens, 1/125s @ f/8, ISO 200.
