Australian Landscape Photography - Through Irish Eyes

Moving to the other side of the world is a daunting prospect, especially for a home bird like me. I love Ireland, I love the people, the scenery and most of all (as you probably know) I love the landscape.

However, the chance to photograph a completely different landscape is always an exciting opportunity. In October 2023, my girlfriend and I decided to take the leap and move to Australia. We wanted to experience life in a new country and travel a bit more. This move is temporary and we do intend on returning to Ireland. I believe this gives us even more freedom as we can have an almost ‘care free’ attitude, spending time doing more travelling than work.

Of course, we have to work. Australia is expensive and without money we cannot live or do the things we want to do. But rather than be shackled with a 9-5, we can do temporary work without being restricted to full time contracts. Ok, lets talk about my experience from a photographer’s perspective. Before I moved to Australia, I had very much dismissed the idea that I was going to be inspired creatively (how naieve of me but more on that later). I assumed Australia was just barron desert and bush. Of course I knew about it’s beautiful coastline but for me, I love mountains and inland scenery. Well, 9 months later and I can safely say I was wrong.

Enter The Scenic Rim

The Scenic Rim is a name given to a region inland of the Gold Coast (where we live in Queensland). It encompasses a vast region covering almost 4256 square kilometres. It is a photographers heaven. Huge open grasslands filled with stunning trees, mountains and valleys. I was blown away when I first drove from Gold Coast inland past Canungra, Beaudesert and out towards a place called Mount Barney National Park. The weather in Queensland during winter is often crisp and clear, with chilly nights but warm days. This leads to those beautiful foggy mornings we all seek as landscape photographers. The Scenic Rim is a pleasure to explore on such mornings. I need to do some more exploring in evening time as you are often facing west, towards the setting sun.

Australia’s Night Skies

Oh my, where do I begin. A huge frustration for us Irish Astrophotographers is the cloud cover on those moonlight nights when we want to go chasing the milky way. Now I’m not saying every single moonless night in Australia is clear, far from it. In fact I had to wait nearly 4 months to get a proper clear night during a new moon phase. However, the night skies in the Southern Hemisphere are a joy to behold. You can get some incredibly dark skies just 2 hours inland where you will see the Milky Way core in the center of sky above your head. I’ve relished the astrophotography over here and I’m looking forward to another few months before the summer rolls in.

The Coastline

We live on the Goldcoast. A place where the skyscrapers meet the ocean. It’s full of long beautiful beaches that are so enjoyable to walk along with a coffee, or go for a swim or do some watersports. The list is endless. From a photographers perspective, I probably find the coastline the least inspiring. Before you Aussie’s attack me, I am not saying there isn’t anything to photograph, far from it. What I am saying is for me, I would rather travel inland to shoot than stay on the coast. Having said that, moving over here has made me want to become an ocean photographer. The waves are big, the underwater wildlife is like nothing I’ve ever seen and from what I can tell, water clarity is often second to none. However, I tried to test out a housing from Aquatech for my Nikon Z6 and 50mm lens. I spent a morning getting barrelled over, fighting rip tides and trying to compose and shoot in the swell. I tell you what, it is not easy. So I think I will leave that to the experts. The coastline I’ve experienced so far here just lacks those dramatic scenes we have back home. I have, however, managed to capture some nice images at the coast and it is something I will keep working on!

The Storms

Holy moly, I’ve never seen anything like the thunderstorms we get in Australia. In Ireland, you’re lucky to see maybe 3-4 big lightning storms a year. Over here, during the summer months we get almost one a week. They are amazing to witness but can be seriously dangerous with hail the size of baseballs falling and destructive winds. I’m yet to capture a really epic storm however the season is right around the corner so I am hoping to start some storm chasing out here when the time comes.

What’s next?

Well, I’ve another 9-10 months down here and I intend to use them to capture as much of this landscape as possible. A trip to Japan is on the cards, I’d like to explore Melbourne and maybe even head to WA. Just like Ireland, weather and light play a huge role here as a landscape photographer. I do find there is more opportunity to shoot here given the conditions. I did struggle initially to get any motivation to shoot. Living on the Gold Coast if you’re not willing to travel inland then you must make do with the coastline. Something I really should do is try to photograph the stunning architecture here. Have I seen huge snakes and spiders like everyone back home thinks? Nope. Do I spend everyday lying on the beach drinking cold beers? Absolutely not. Like home, you work hard and try to make the most of your free time. As a landscape photographer, I am excited to expand my portfolio in the Southern Hemisphere and I believe I’m in a prime position to do that.

Until next time,

All the best,

Sean.