Two years ago there was a golden field of wheat as far as the eye could see around this old house. Now, the land is bone dry and barren. There will be no winter crop this season, there is no water. The drought continues on and we pray for rain. Photographed with my Crown Graphic 4×5 Camera on Kodak Portra 160 film.
I made a big mistake when photographing this old shack, but thankfully film is so forgiving and I was still able to get a usable image. 4x5 Large Format landscape photography. Read the blog for all the details.
A gigantic Eagles Nest sits at the top of the tallest tree in the area, beautifully surrounded by the amazing core of the Milkyway. A photograph by Australian Landscape Photography Murray Fox, captured in Queensland Australia.
Sometimes the stars align, literally! I headed out with my good friend Craig Bachmann Photography and we met up with the owner of this fantastic private property. He had told us he had a great old shack we could photograph and we had no idea what we were in for. As soon as I saw the shack I let out a whoop, then I saw the tree and instantly an idea formed of how I wanted to frame this.
It took a few minutes for our eyes to adjust and really locate the core of the Milky Way. OMG! Straight out from the tree! Quickly we set about shooting, getting the multiple shots for the stars to stack and reduce noise, and one of them captured a meteorite! Geez talk about winning.
Next we set about light painting, and this was the first test of my new Lumanzi L1 light cube, WOW! This tiny little thing puts out a tonne of light, and it has gels. We used an orange one to light up the inside of the shack.
Combined with the air glow in the distance, passing cloud and some haze, there was colour everywhere in this photo. A few hours on the computer brought all 21 frames together to create the final image I had envisioned. Love it!
Thank you again to the owner for not only telling us about this location and opening your gates to us, but for running around with my light, painting the scene at my direction lol! Gotta love a free recruit 🙂
This photograph has been added to my Nightscapes Gallery where you can purchase it for your wall in many different formats, easily and simply all directly online. Custom work available, just contact me with your interest.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read, leave a comment below if you think this really is a great Aussie landscape 🙂
Gear used : Sony A7 and Samyang 14mm, Lumanzi L1 Light cube, Manfrotto Tripod, Shutter Boss cabled remote trigger, and one property owner! 🙂
A stunning vertical Panorama of the MilkyWay and a path leading through the trees by Australian Landscape photographer Murray Fox
A huge 270hp Case Optum Tractor under the core of the Milkyway. Astrophotograhy by Australian Landscape Photographer Murray Fox
Serious planning brings huge rewards, and the end result of this astro photograph of this stunning Dodge simply blew me away! Read the story now.
Well wasn’t this a challenge! My self and my good friend Craig had been in contact with a local farmer. He advised us his sunflowers were in their prime so we arranged a visit for Sunday afternoon to shoot it through sunset.
The massive problem was Tropical Cyclone Oma was approaching through the week and ended up sitting off the coast for a few days. The rain didn’t happen but boy did we get the wind. Capturing a stitched panoramic photograph can be challenging at anytime, throw in very strong winds with a close subject that moves around a lot, add just a sprinkle of low light as sunset occurs and I almost didn’t get a shot.
Thankfully, my previous experience with panoramas this year is really paying off and the final result, well, not blowing my own horn here but wow! This is the best panorama I’ve captured so far.
Timing was a bit rushed too as we first did a quick portrait shoot for the lovely couple who own the property, always great to give something back for being graciously granted permission onto their property. I’ve photographed in this area for nearly 10 years now and never have I captured a sunset with such a wonderful view as this.
Post production putting the final image together was also a super challenge. I ended up spending well over 5 hours putting all the pieces together and checking pretty much down to each flower everything joined up correctly. Hard work, but well worth the results.
Hopefully the rains come soon, everyone needs a drop so much.
I’m doing a bit more portrait work lately, it’s a change from the normal and being the obsessive technical type, a great challenge with lots of new things to learn. My first love is still landscapes and now panoramas however, so I may even explore the possibility of combining the two for something truly unique, stay tuned!
I’ve added this photograph to my Landscape Portfolio, and you may click here to find out more information about purchasing this photograph as a Limited Edition Acrylic Print.
I’m very happy to let you all know I received a commendation for my entry into this years Australian Photographer of the Year. My entry was 4 photographs from my Nightscape portfolio entered under the title, Rural Nights. With thousands of entries all competing, I’ve very happy with the result.
Astro season is starting again now, I look forward to capturing many more creative photographs using all the techniques I devised and put into practice last season. I have quite a few ideas already planned, as for me if I’m not out there taking the photos, I’m thinking about taking the photos.
Here is a copy of the award I received, and the photographs I entered. All of these photos are available for purchase as an open edition print on Acrylic, contact me for pricing and details (free shipping Australia wide!)
Let me know in the comments below which is your favourite photo!
I’m out hunting for more panoramic landscapes this weekend as we finally appear to have clouds. This morning was a failed attempt but I’ll keep trying until I get the photographs I want. That’s the fun of working with mother nature, you can never truly predict what happens next. Until next time, thank you for reading.
A friend first shared a photo of these trees with me a few weeks back. Ever since then I’ve been chomping at the bit to get out and shoot them at sunrise. The location, the vista, the rolling hills behind and the simplicity of the scene just fired my imagination. This was perfect for a panorama and I couldn’t wait!
The last two mornings have had nil cloud, a 3:30am start saw me heading to Fernvale to meet up with my mate who was going to be my guide for the morning. Thankfully permission with the landowner was organised and after parking and walking in we began to work the scene. From one vantage point, the two trees appear to be intertwined and I really liked that view point.
Lots of moving around using my panorama tool to work out framing (this “tool” is a piece of cardboard with a window cut out of it in the 3:1 ratio). This makes it super quick to work out the best angle to shoot from. I’ve yet to find an Android Phone app that can do the same ratio (if you know of one, let me know please! Most get close but not 3:1).
This was the first photo I took, very early dawn light and colour. The clouds were clearing up quickly and the next few photos didn’t really work out for me. The sun is rising to the left of frame, this causes the colour to darken across the sky, giving a lovely change in hue as it goes.
2 Rows of 8 photographs were captured to make this panorama. The end result is very big file that can be printed exceptionally large, which is my goal for all my panoramas.
There are many more spots on this property to investigate, and I think once Winter is here, add some fog, or even some Astro is definitely on the cards, magic spot.
I’ve added this photography to my Landscape Portfolio.
You can find the in the field video for this photograph here :Â https://murrayfox.com.au/in-the-field-video-photographing-the-together-panorama/
