Freshwater is the lifeblood of natural ecosystems, and nowhere is this more starkly apparent than in a dry land like Australia. When waterways flow, the country is replenished. Photographically, there is something mesmerising about an image that stops a waterfall or riffle in mid flow – it's a moment in time that will never be exactly repeated, but takes us as far into the past and the future as we care to imagine.
Location Sundown National Park, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @22mm
Aperture F13
Shutter speed 16 seconds
ISO 100
Location Little Dandahra Creek, Gibraltar Range National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F13
Shutter speed 1/5 second
ISO 100
Location Severn River, Sundown National Park, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 32 seconds
ISO 100
Location Gheerulla Creek, Mapleton National Park, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F13
Shutter speed 30 seconds
ISO 200
Location Gheerulla Creek, Mapleton National Park, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F14
Shutter speed 30 seconds
ISO 100
Location Gheerulla Creek, Mapleton National Park, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 2.5 seconds
ISO 100
There are so many photogenic creekscapes on Little Dandahra Creek it's easy to lose track of time as you rock-hop from one to the next. It took 15 minutes of careful scrambling to get my camera and tripod down to this tight little spot, and once there, this was the only angle I could get that included the cascade in the background. I like the way the foam trails show the motion of the water and add life to the image.
Location Little Dandahra Creek, Gibraltar Range National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F13
Shutter speed 2 seconds
ISO 100
This is another view of the main cascade at Barra Nulla - I took dozens of shots from different angles when I first discovered this spot and it was hard to narrow it down to just a few for this gallery. I like this one because it reminds me more than any of the others what it felt like sitting on the rocks with nothing but the sight and sound of rushing water filling my senses.
Location Little Dandahra Creek, Gibraltar Range National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @35mm
Aperture F13
Shutter speed 1 second
ISO 100
The water flowing down these cascades eventually finds it's way into the Mann River, and from there to the Clarence River and down to the coast at Yamba. This shot was taken in mid-June during a late afternoon stroll down from the campground only 5-10 minutes walk away - at that time of year it's not unusual to have National Park campgrounds pretty much to yourself in this part of the world, but you need to be well prepared against the cold. Night temperatures drop well below zero, and it often doesn't top 10C in the day.
Location Little Dandahra Creek, Gibraltar Range National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F14
Shutter speed 1.3 second
ISO 100
This spot at the top of the Barra Nulla Cascades is only a 5 minute walk from the campground at Mulligan's Hut. I'm sure it's a great place for a dip in summer, but the water was icy cold in mid-winter when this shot was taken. There is a small concrete weir across the creek a short distance upstream, built by William Mulligan in the late 1920s to measure flow for a proposed hydro-electric scheme that never eventuated. The middle of the weir has been breached so that fish and other aquatic animals can pass through. There is another gauging weir built by Mulligan at the Murrumbooee Cascades on the main branch of Dandahra Creek a few kilometres away.
Location Little Dandahra Creek, Gibraltar Range National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F13
Shutter speed 1/5 second
ISO 100
Location Bald Rock Creek, Girraween National Park, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @31mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 32 seconds
ISO 200
Location Bald Rock Creek, Girraween National Park, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @32mm
Aperture F16
Shutter speed 1.6 seconds
ISO 100
The base of Cascade Falls on the upper reaches of Dalrymple Creek looks a bit like hobbit country. The moss covered rocks were incredibly slippery so I couldn't safely scramble up to some of the spots I wanted to get to. Still I'm happy that this shot captured the lush, wet feel of the place.
Location Dalrymple Creek, Main Range National Park, Goomburra, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 10 seconds
ISO 100
Location Main Range National Park, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 30 seconds
ISO 200
I remember taking this shot mainly because of how cold the water felt on my bare feet early in the morning. The larger pools in this section of Obi Obi Creek are home to one of Australia's rare and endangered fish species, the Mary River cod. Juvenile cod often inhabit smaller pools and runs like this one, probably to avoid becoming a meal for one of their elders. Adult cod can grow to more than 10kg in weight.
Location Obi Obi Creek, Kondalilla National Park, Montville, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 4 seconds
ISO 100
Location Main Range National Park, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 30 seconds
ISO 200
This beautiful little cascade is one of many on the Dalrymple Creek circuit walk in the Goomburra section of Main Range National Park. With a circular polariser fitted to the lens to bring out the greens and cut reflections on the water, ISO set at 100 for maximum picture quality, aperture set to F11 to keep everything in focus, and the morning sun not yet penetrating the dense forest canopy, a 61 second exposure was needed to capture the scene.
Location Dalrymple Creek, Main Range National Park, Goomburra, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 61 seconds
ISO 100
Location Main Range National Park, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @39mm
Aperture F16
Shutter speed 10 seconds
ISO 200
I christened this cascade Spinach Falls for the native rainforest spinach (Elatostema reticulatum) that lines both banks of the pool and features in the foreground of this image. While I haven't tried it, I've read that the leaves and young stems when boiled are a passable substitute for regular spinach.
Location Dalrymple Creek, Main Range National Park, Goomburra, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 15 seconds
ISO 100
Location New England National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @40mm
Aperture F16
Shutter speed 2.5 seconds
ISO 200
Location New England National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 2.5 seconds
ISO 100
Location Mann River Nature Reserve, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @21mm
Aperture F13
Shutter speed 1/8 seconds
ISO 100
There's something about gum trees hanging over a waterhole that says "Australia" to me moreso than almost any other scene I can imagine. Maybe it has something to do with the whole Waltzing Matilda / Jolly Jumbuck thing, but also it's because I grew up climbing gum trees that hung over the dams and creek on our farm in country Victoria. This scene in Girraween National Park is probably not typical of that area because there is hardly a rock in view, but I hope it's a scene other Australians will relate to with some sense of place.
Location Bald Rock Creek, Girraween National Park, Wallangarra, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @21mm
Aperture F16
Shutter speed 1/13 seconds
ISO 100
Location Macintyre River near Slippery Rock, Kwiambal National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F13
Shutter speed 30 seconds
ISO 160
Location Obi Obi Creek, Kondalilla National Park, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 15 seconds
ISO 200
Location Boonoo Boonoo National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 1/5 second
ISO 200
Location Boonoo Boonoo National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F8
Shutter speed 0.6 seconds
ISO 100
Location Boonoo Boonoo National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 0.4 seconds
ISO 100
Most of my landscape photos are taken around sunrise or sunset to take advantage of the soft, even light conditions - shooting in the middle of the day often leads to overly contrasty images with deep black shadows and overexposed highlights. But I'm also a sucker for a deep blue sky and this shot was just too pretty to pass by. A partial cloud cover helped to soften the afternoon sunlight, and a polarising filter helped bring out the colours and lengthen the exposure time to give the falling water a silky look.
Location Gibraltar Range National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F14
Shutter speed 0.8 seconds
ISO 100
Location Bald Rock Creek, Girraween National Park, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 1/2 second (5-stop ND filter)
ISO 100
Location Severn River, Kwiambal National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 70-200L @98mm
Aperture F14
Shutter speed 2 seconds
ISO 100
Location Washpool National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @25mm
Aperture F8
Shutter speed 0.6 seconds
ISO 100
Location Washpool National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F8
Shutter speed 1 seconds
ISO 100
Location Washpool National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @40mm
Aperture F8
Shutter speed 20 seconds
ISO 100
Baroon Pocket Dam holds back the waters of upper Obi Obi Creek in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. The lake shore is a popular spot for picnics, and the waters attract rowers, sailors and anglers. Fuel-powered boats are not allowed on the lake, making it a quiet spot even on busy weekends.
Location Lake Baroon, Maleny, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F13
Shutter speed 0.4 seconds
ISO 100
Location Obi Obi Creek, Kondalilla National Park, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F14
Shutter speed 8 seconds
ISO 200
Location Guy Fawkes River, Ebor, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @21mm
Aperture F13
Shutter speed 1 second
ISO 200
Location Gibraltar Range National Park, Cangai, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F13
Shutter speed 10 seconds
ISO 160
Location Ewen Maddock Dam, Landsborough, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 70-200L @200mm
Aperture F14
Shutter speed 0.5 seconds
ISO 100
Location Gibraltar Range National Park, Cangai, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @28mm
Aperture F14
Shutter speed 20 seconds
ISO 250
Location Gheerulla Creek, Mapleton National Park, Queensland, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @17mm
Aperture F8
Shutter speed 1/8 second
ISO 100
Location Guy Fawkes River, Ebor, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @35mm
Aperture F11
Shutter speed 3.2 seconds
ISO 200
Five Day Creek is one of the greenest places I've ever seen. Rocks and logs are covered in bright green moss, and ferns and other lush vegetation line the creek banks and surrounding slopes. It's also one of the most slippery places I've tried to walk, and the water in the creek is some of the coldest I've felt! Standing barefoot in the water to capture this image was more than a little painful...I'm glad there were only birds and wallabies nearby to hear my girlish squeals!!
Location New England National Park, New South Wales, Australia
Camera Canon 5D MKII
Lens Canon 17-40L @19mm
Aperture F13
Shutter speed 13 seconds
ISO 200
