From the Top End to Tasmania’s Tarkine, Australia is blessed with an abundance of stunningly photogenic vistas. In this special 11-part feature, Australian Photography asked 11 pro photographers to name their favourite locations along with their best tips for outdoor photography.
We kick off Part 1 with one of the country's most well known and respected landscape photographers.
Steve Parish
Steve Parish is an iconic Australian nature and landscape photographer who publishes photography books and runs workshops.
Parish’s favourite wilderness area is NT’s Kakadu National Park (parksaustralia.gov.au), which he has visited every two to three years since 1976. Parish says what makes Kakadu so special is its seasonality, the abundance of wildlife and the diversity of its ecosystems. Kakadu has the largest number of macropod (kangaroos and wallaby) species in any one place in Australia and it also features enormous bird and reptile diversity.
Parish says the indigenous cultural connection also makes this area very special for him.
“The range of natural features within Kakadu makes it a spectacularly exciting region to behold and photograph. The major geological feature is the Arnhem Land Plateau – an ancient sandstone formation which takes up about a third of Arnhem Land. This imposing plateau and escarpment is part of the “stone country” and it is here, on the eastern side of the park, that Kakadu’s most unusual plant and animal life can be found.”
Jabiru, Kakadu National Park. Nikon D3s 70-200mm lens, 1/250s @ f8, ISO 700. Photo by Steve Parish.
Steve Parish’s Top Tips
- Use a tripod as much as you can.
- Mentally get out of your technological head space and into the creative heart-space where your true creative spirit lives.
- Make many exposures around a theme and play with focus and composition.
- Vary your viewpoint to suit the angle of the sun’s rays, searching for form, texture and shape clarification.