VA Blog

The word has spread.

Last year we went to a property called Petrona, a couple of hours outside of Springsure in Central-West Queensland, and put on a private workshop - actually the clients called it a school, with a focus on horse photography.

Here's some photos from it: The Australian Stockman

We had a great time - and so did the class, and so they are getting us back again - this time to a nearby property called Goodliffe owned by James & Liz Speed. This will be the venue for some serious photography - no doubt, more horses, but probably also some portraiture and this time some serious photoshopping.

If you're interested our itinerary looks like this:

10-13th December Brisbane - we have a couple of classes set up there, but there's room for more.
14th Brisbane to Springsure - travelling (but there's room for more if you wan to come
15th-17th Springsure - Horses, Portraiture and Photoshop - you'd be most welcome to join us
18th-19th - word spread to the nearby town of Emerald so some keen photography club members have got us out there - but you're also welcome to join in
20th-22nd - Emerald - beginners class in camera handling and improving your photography - and you're also welcome there.

So, don't miss out, and get onto us real soon - the dates are fast approaching, and there only a few places left.

For 21 days during May 2007 (tentatively 5th to 26th) we will be touring with a small group from Broome to Broome visiting everything we can possible get to, including the Mitchell Plateau, Mitchell Falls, El Questro, Monington Sanctuary, The Bungle Bungles ... and much more, including both the Savannah Way and the Gibb River Road.

Join us as a passenger, or with your family or friends in your 4WD and Tag-a-long with us.

Naked Lady The Morning's Glow on a Naked Lady by the River. Photo by Andrew Weller

"What is he smoking?", you are entitled to ask!

One of the things most often said about our photography workshops is that one of the most important things learnt, was the value of getting up before the crack of dawn. Well, that is a hard thing to do continually for even the most inspired of us. I find that it is easier once you start, but it only takes a few days off for the pillow to seem much more appealing than the bad hair, the cold, the wet, and the sheer bleary eyes ... funny, however, that these things seem totally forgotten in the cool morning atmosphere, and more often than not, the wonderful morning light - even if it is for just a few minutes, or less.

I have also noted that the most relaxing holiday I have had is on a houseboat on the River Murray - second to none. For one thing, you don't travel at 100 km/h - you are only allowed to drive at 5 knots, so the world goes past you very slowly. The natives are not scared by your presence as you drift up on them quietly, and you can just cruise along and shoot from the comfort of the top deck, for instance.

So, as we have a lot of clients and potential clients who have limits to their mobility, or who can't see themselves camping under the stars, or who simply like the environment of the River for improving their photography, we have taken the comments on board, and setup a tour on a 12-berth Luxury Houseboat from 6th-10th August, 2007 departing from Adelaide.

Luxury 2-storey Houseboat luxury, space and relaxation on the River. Photo courtesy Kia Marina

A view of the downstairs area. Photo courtesy Kia Marina

The houseboat is a two-story affair featuring a large canopied upper floor and lounge. Each room is configured as either a Queen Room, or a Twin Room using "zip-apart" Queen-size beds. Each room also boasts it's own en-suite bathroom, making for your own privacy, and freedom, whilst enjoying the group dynamic as we share our photography skills and passion.

So, what are you waiting for? For a taste of the sort of great photography opportunities, take a look at our Murray River Gallery. and make a booking.

And, if you need any further motivation, remember that for registered VABlog Readers there is a 10% discount that applies to all bookings received by 15th February, 2007.

The mob on the move with the Salvador Rosa NP in the background.Photo by Andrew Weller

Country people from one side of this country to the other are among the most hospitable and friendly people I have met. It was without a moment's hesitation that I accepted a booking from Springsure in Central West Queensland to come and join a bunch of horse and cattle folks there, and help them with their photography.

I had a wonderful time, with them, and with their workers and families as we shot all sorts of rural life activities over a two-week period, including another workshop nearby at Emerald, just a few hours away.

It sounds like we'll be doing something there later in the year, this year - who knows, perhaps they'll get some rain and we can go out into Carnavon Gorge when the water's flowing, or we can get out in the gemfields a bit more? Perhaps we can do some more photography in Salvador Rosa Carnarvon National Park or elsewhere in the Channel Country which is full of such wonderful people and great opportunities. If you want to see what it's like here's The Long Paddock Gallery so you can check out what it was like ... and if you want to join us next year, fill out an enquiry, and once the details are worked out we can make sure we work you in.

We've just come back from the Murray - more photography fun on the river. Yes, when we get a moment, we'll publish some of the work. (Here of course - why do you ask?)

Well look out for the Mean Green Machine in Sydney and up the North Coast to Coolongatta ... the beaches and the mountains and everything in between.

Up North, Central Australia has had a decent washing with water flowing down the Finke and other river systems, so this season is going to be a wonderful photography experience - don't miss it.

The Kimberley is getting a lot of rain, so everything is going to be flowing well for our April/May tour - come along onboard, or tag-along for the experience in your own vehicle.

Bookings for the Flinders and Central Australia are flowing in, so word is getting around - don't miss out! Book now.

So, if you're in Sydney, up the Central Coast or further North, Brisbane or somewhere in between, drop us an email or call us on 0419 900 363 and let's get together over a coffee and chew the fat about where your photography passion is taking you, and anyways we can help at all.

Painted Desert Buttress at first light Photo by Andrew Weller

Frequently we find ourselves travelling the long and lonely road from Adelaide to Alice Springs, or vice versa ... sometimes, we might only be headed to the Simpson Desert or up the Old Ghan Track.

There is, however, one of those lovely serendipitous things in life that occurs due to the perfect distance - about 1000ks, that Coober Pedy is from Adelaide. A good day's drive brings you to this amazing piece of eclectic life in a lunar landscape that is surely one of the most unique in the world. Photographing it, is something I have never really gotten on top of. One would need permissions - permission to enter the opal fields, and courage to scout around for those perfect vantage points... courage because of the inherent and extreme risk of falling down one of the opal miner's holes.

Thankfully, however, there are nearby two wonderful locations that beckon and that relieve me of the fear of wandering the opal fields - they are the Breakaways about 15 or 20km out of Coober Pedy, and Painted Desert on Arkaringa Station - about another 60 or 70km further on.

So it is that after a brief stop in the oasis of Coober Pedy, and after a quiet drive down it's dusty streets, photographers are found trekking along in time for sunset - perhaps at the Breakaways, or if they have the luxury of a little more time, at the Painted Desert.

There are more wonderful places like this in the Australian outback that we are yet to explore - and they are nearby. If you would like to visit these areas, you can bolt a few days on one side of the other of our Central Australia tours, and we can take you out to experience the wonder of this location.

I am sure Andrew F who joined us there recently, has a quote about how wonderful it is, and that he will let me know so I can put it here!

Our Painted Desert Gallery can be viewed online, where we have a selection of images from a June visit to Painted Desert and the Breakaways. The Breakaways shots are the ones with the incredible pink, red and orange morning sky turned on there - we can't promise that, but we know that these locations never disappoint.

If you would like to visit the Painted Desert there remains but one seat on our September Simpson Desert Tour. Get in fast - it is a bargain tour, and will put you amongst some wonderful outback scenery.

Bindoola Falls Photo by Anna-Mair Hunter

Things will never be quite the same again! It is life changing spending time in Australia’s remote Bush - I doubt that I will ever be totally comfortable in the city again (not that I ever was before I just didn’t know it).

For me the Kimberley trip with Vivid Adventures was a learning curve - one that was fairly steep at times, obviously I hoped to learn certain skills but much of it was unexpected.

The reason I went on the trip apart from to see the Kimberley itself was that I hated my digital camera; I’d always said I would never get one but recently I had to eat my words. I love film, I love the colour, I love the mystery of not knowing, the excitement of first viewing the images after the event and the delight of seeing the results (lets not talk about the times you screw up and the feeling that brings). I even love the smell of film and processing. What I don’t love is the price of it all. I could not afford to experiment, and as an emerging professional photographer that is what I felt I needed to do. Try new angles, look at things in a different way, look at a location a second and third time to see if there is a shot there somewhere - an expensive exercise on film hence the digital.

Setting aside 21 days to devote to a new relationship always brings it’s own challenges and rewards but I can safely say that I do understand Digi more and can even respect what it brings to the table but I will never forget or totally abandon my first love!

Any qualms I may have had about the trip were allayed within the first few hours of meeting Andrew - he had fridge magnets on his vehicle and he gave me a proper big map of the Kimberley. I was hooked there and then as they happen to be my weaknesses!! Could the trip get any better? Well of course, yes, much, much better.

Stand out moments for me (don’t mention the snakebite) apart from Kulumbaru, which Helen has already mentioned in her article about the trip.

• Cathedral Gorge (Bungle Bungles) is too big to describe, and all but impossible to photograph but it made me want to sing, Amazing Grace! The girls were very happy that I didn’t I’m sure as we weren’t alone in there but I would have been happy to have stay there for days.


• Wading chest deep through a rock pool and clambering up & over huge rocks (took me back to my youth!) to delve deeper in El Questo Gorge beyond where most folks venture. We found an unusual rock art of an upside down man and a private waterfall.


• Galvins Gorge, probably the smallest of the gorges and the most accessible but so pretty. Complete with a boab on the top of the waterfall and amazing shapes in the trees. It was here I saw about 50 green ants dragging a dead dung beetle vertically up a tree!


• Awakening to find a horse grazing in front of my swag with the Dawn breaking over the Pentecost River and Cockburn Ranges behind it. Just prefect.


• A still, quiet moment late one afternoon at Sandwich hole, it is hard to say why it was so magical as it wasn’t the most spectacular place we visited but it was very special.


• Last but not least was the impromptu 4wd 101 course - not part of Andrew’s normal teaching but a class I’ll never forget, I’m hooked for life but next time I drive out of the Bungles I’ll do it without a trailer I think.

How do I feel now it is all over? I am more confident in my abilities as a photographer and in my capabilities to spend time alone in the bush. I have moved way outside my comfort zone and survived, I can’t wait to go bush again! Have I improved photographically? I believe so, I feel that I am getting more consistent results and the response I have had from those that have seen some of my images has been favourable.

When it is all said and done, was it worth it? I don’t think I have ever got so dirty, smelly, tired or had so much fun, seen so much great scenery, great company, and eaten such great food, learnt so much even in such a short space of time. I’m still getting red mud out of my trousers but when can I do it again?

Take a look at Anna-Mair's Gallery.