Cascading waterfalls and time-worn vistas. These images are the backbone of my landscape photography. In this collection, the emphasis is less on the living environment and more on the interplay of shape, form and light across the landscape.
One of the many cascades I stumbled upon in New Zealand recently. Fiordland truly is a magical world and a photographer’s playground.
With waterfalls, my first instinct was always to capture the grand scene. To stick with a wide-angle lens and frame a striking stream leading through to the falls as the centrepiece.
Yet I’ve found myself becoming more drawn to smaller scenes within the frame.
They’re not as grand as their wide-angle counterparts. But they do present one of photography’s most rewarding challenges. To distil the essence of an experience into a single, simplified shot.
So on a trip out to The Grampians, I simply took my 70-200mm telephoto on the hike down to the falls. While it was challenging at first, I soon began to notice frames within the falls—focussing on this particular cascade and freezing it at one quarter of a second.
I’ve wandered through the sugar pines of Laurel Hill half a dozen times now, yet the forest keeps drawing me back. Perhaps it’s the limbless trunks towering above. Or the golden light flooding the forest of an early morning. Or the eerie streams of fog snaking through the trees on a brisk winter’s day.
Regardless, each time I walk away humbled by the grandeur of the giants, knowing I'll return again soon.
After heavy rains the mighty Fitzroy Falls put on a show, looking more at home in Iceland than Australia’s Southern Highlands.
The strikingly beautiful Bastion Cascades, nestled within Tasmania’s Meander State Forest Reserve.
When photographing waterfalls, it’s tempting to use a wide-angle lens and include the entirety of the falls. But often, there are equally impressive hidden gems, waiting to be isolated and captured.
So on a trip out to The Grampians, I simply took my 70-200mm telephoto on the hike down to the falls. While it was challenging at first, I soon began to notice frames within the falls—focussing on this particular cascade and freezing it at one quarter of a second.
Crystal Shower Falls, the jewel of Dorrigo National Park.
Only a short drive from where I grew up, I’d never visited these falls before. What a pleasant surprise to explore this stretch of rainforest, clambering up through the undergrowth to find cascade after cascade streaming down the gully.
With a howling easterly blasting through, it sculpted these shifting sands—forming corrugated waves and peaks several stories high. I stumbled on this sculpted trio nestled beside a larger dune that offered partial respite from the tempest. I ducked down, kept the tripod low and snapped a few frames before the sun dipped out of sight.
My idea of a good time? Wading through ice-cold streams to explore scenes like this. Snowmelt roared through the serpentine passage. While morning light filtered down the canyon walls. A serene moment shared with my old man on our recent NZ trip.
A moment of morning calm as the rising sun breaks through Fiordland’s ancient beech tree forest.
Sweeping sand dunes illuminated on golden hour.