It Hurts So Good

I’m exhausted. Our first photo tour of Australia has just wrapped up, and I’ve spent the last 12 hours catching up on my self-inflicted sleep deprivation. As one of my favorite musicians says, “It hurts so good.”

The inaugural Australian photo tour is now complete, and by all accounts, a rousing success. The tour was attended by 10 travelers from the USA, UK, Sweden, and Australia, along with our tour leaders: yours truly and my wife, Michelle. The mix of photographers ranged from newcomers, brand new to photo tours, to others with decades of experience and multiple tours under their belt.

This tour was a bit of a new adventure for my wife and me. Usually we work with local fixers to help us organize transportation, lodging, meals, and activities. Michelle, my wife, being from Australia, took on all those logistics, and we were able to design and execute a one-of-a-kind tour of Sydney and the surrounding region. Australia is huge, similar in size to the US or Canada, and our tour would only be a taste of what the country can offer, but it was designed to be a very flavorful taste.

CANON R5 Mark II, RF 24-70MM F/2.8 L IS USM @ 39mm | 1/250 SEC | F/16 | ISO 200

Over the last few years, we spent significant time scouting locations in Sydney, along the nearby coastlines, and up into the Blue Mountains. We shot at multiple sunrise and sunset locations, hiked trails, walked through neighborhoods, stayed at different hotels, and tried different restaurants, all in hopes of trying to find the best and most efficient way to experience Australia and capture it in photographs.

We crafted a tour that would hopefully provide the photographic opportunities that would engage photographers of all types. If our final image review from our 10 travelers is any indication, everyone found compelling subjects with engaging compositions. From beginners to experts, we saw a beautiful new perspective on familiar subjects.

Sydney

Our tour, like all in the past, started out with an evening meet-and-greet with all participants. Most of us had met weeks ago on a Zoom (video) meeting where we got to know a bit about each other, discussed tour details, and had a Q&A. Now, with everybody here in Sydney, it was time for the team to take shape.

Our first day started with one of our many optional morning shoots. We offer these non-compulsory shooting opportunities to allow people to customize the pace of the tour to their own needs. Most of the tour group took us up on this first offering, even though the departure time was set at 4:30 a.m. The plan was to walk up onto the Harbour Bridge to capture sunrise over the Sydney Opera House and Circular Quay. We were fortunate to have the sun break through a small patch of clouds and bathe the city in warm light. A chance encounter with a Year 12 school group crossing the bridge on foot provided an entertaining break from capturing cityscapes.

CANON R5 Mark II, RF 24-70MM F/2.8 L IS USM @ 34mm | 1/200 SEC | F/8 | ISO 100

The first full day was a full immersion into the CBD (central business district) of Sydney via a walking tour. A mix of landscape, architecture, people, and street photography could be captured as we connected, by foot, some of Sydney’s most iconic destinations.

CANON R5 Mark II, RF 14-35MM F/4 L IS USM @ 29mm | 1/400 SEC | F/5.6 | ISO 100

A report of owls in the Royal Botanic Garden sent many of our group scouring the grounds looking up in trees for nests or activity. It was a humorous scene, a dozen photographers circling the park on every path and in and out of the bushes. It reminded me of the penultimate scene in “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” where all the characters were looking for the buried cash. We did eventually find Australia’s largest owl, the Powerful Owl, but they were buried deep in the branches, good enough for an identification, but not enough for a great photo.

CANON R5 Mark II, RF 100-500MM F/4.5-7.1 L IS USM @ 500mm | 1/6 SEC | F/7.1 | ISO 800

Day two’s optional morning shoot of the Sydney Opera House looked to be a bust before we even left the hotel with thick clouds from horizon to horizon. A smaller crew of photographers came out on this day, and I tempered expectations when we left the hotel. As I’ve said many times before, it may not look good at the moment, but things can change quickly, and if you aren’t in the right place at the right time, you won’t get the shot.

We worked our way over to the Overseas Passenger Terminal, where we found a small film crew working. Our view directly across to the Sydney Opera House allowed us to see a figure standing on the highest sail — it was Batman — no joke. Multiple camera crews were in place to film a short promotion for the yearly Batman Day (third Saturday in September). This wasn’t the photograph I was expecting to take this morning, but Batman on top of the Opera House is something I’ll happily add to my quirky collection.

CANON R5 Mark II, RF 100-500MM F/4.5-7.1 L IS USM @ 200mm | 1/20 SEC | F/7.1 | ISO 400

For the rest of day two and going forward, our tour bus would shuttle us from stop to stop and to new destinations. On this day we explored eastern Sydney — starting off with a beautiful coastal walk from Coogee to Bondi where we would travel through small neighborhoods, parks, and beaches, all with miles and miles of coastal view. We then visited a couple of lighthouses on South Head before a sunset shoot on Milk Beach, featuring a long view of the downtown region.

Central Coast

Our route to the Central Coast detoured via Mt Annan Botanic Gardens, where we could pursue both the Australian botanical delights of flowers and plants and a makeshift safari drive looking for swamp wallabies, a smaller kangaroo-like marsupial common to the area. The flowers were a better bet on this day. While a couple of wallabies were spotted, the warm weather and a skittish mother made photographing them difficult to impossible.

The Central Coast of Australia is a string of cities and towns along a 50-mile (80-kilometer) stretch of coastline a couple of hours north of Sydney. The area is filled with parks, natural areas, beaches, rock shelves, and towering cliffs.

CANON R5 Mark II, RF 24-70MM F/2.8 L IS USM @ 31mm | 1/5 SEC | F/11 | ISO 100

Working on the east coast of the continent, we focused our attention on sunrises. For three straight mornings, we met at ungodly early hours to explore new destinations featuring highly textured and shaped sandstone in beautiful warm tones. Rock shelves with undulating surfaces provided more than enough subject material to keep us busy for multiple hours.

CANON R5 Mark II, RF 14-35MM F/4 L IS USM @ 26mm | 10 SEC | F/16 | ISO 100

Blue Mountains

Moving to the mountains, we changed in elevation, environment, and weather. The Blue Mountains offer lush vegetation, deep valleys, and incredible walking paths that extend for mile upon mile.

We had carefully planned a modest introductory hike that would take us to the most popular viewpoint right next to our hotel. Our plans were foiled by trail maintenance, and we were diverted into the valley, where we encountered a few more stairs than expected. Our team huffed and puffed our way down, enjoyed a waterfall or two, then had to climb our way back to the top before reaching our destination.

The first couple of days in the mountains saw a significant change in the weather from our previous clear and sunny days. The majestic views that we came for were covered in a cloak of clouds.

Fujifilm GFX100RF, 35mm (28mm equivalent) | 1/125 SEC | F/8 | ISO 800

[PHOTO CREDIT: MICHELLE GREENGO]

Despite the falling mist, everyone was determined to make the best use of it. We dug out our rain gear and proceeded with our scheduled events. The slight rain was all bark and little bite; the mist was so light we barely needed to clean the drops off our lenses as we walked the trails on the edge of the valley.

Finally, on our last opportunity for a sunset in the mountains, the clouds cleared and all were treated to the grand vista from Echo Point and its view of the Three Sisters, the signature natural rock feature in the Blue Mountains.

CANON R5 Mark II, RF 24-70MM F/2.8 L IS USM @ 52mm | 1/10 SEC | F/11 | ISO 100

Our Return

The tour returned to Sydney, where we could complete the circle and explore yet another region in the Sydney area — Middle Head. Our sunrise location was a small beach hidden behind a wall of shrubbery. Those who could scampered down a short trail, over a few logs and boulders, and across a rock shelf to access a pristine view of a rising sun in the east between The Heads — the entrance to Sydney Harbour between North and South Heads.

CANON R5 Mark II, RF 14-35MM F/4 L IS USM @ 14mm | 6 SEC | F/16 | ISO 100

The day allowed us to explore old military installations, take a tour of the old quarantine station, and view the activities at Manly Beach. Our final sunset delivered in every possible way. Shooting from the north side of Sydney Harbour, we were treated to a light show featuring a golden sun filtering through the Sydney Harbour Bridge and bouncing off low-hanging clouds.

CANON R5 Mark II, RF 14-35MM F/4 L IS USM @ 23mm | 30 SEC | F/9 | ISO 100

The Final Review

Our team of 12 gathered for one final time to share and review favorite images from the tour. This is my favorite part of leading and participating in photo tours. So much can be learned from what other photographers saw and captured compared to your own experience. Over and over again, I’m blown away by the variety and quality of images collected during the tour.

In every review, a healthy and spirited discussion arises about some compositional aspect of an image. Ideas are presented, counterpoints are issued, discussions and debates ensue. The healthy exchange of ideas allows everybody to share and learn.

These sessions are some of the most beneficial moments for any photographer, from newcomers to oldies like myself, and some even older! Nothing opens your eyes more than seeing a beautiful image from another photographer who was standing right next to you, when you weren’t quite sure what they were capturing at the time.

Photo tours like this one can be as exhilarating as they are tiring. For the participants, they have the excitement of experiencing a new destination and the benefit of a fresh perspective at every turn. Despite this not being labeled a class, course, or workshop, much is learned along the way.

Fujifilm GFX100RF, 35mm (28mm equivalent) | 1/1200 SEC | F/8 | ISO 80

As tour leaders, we help out with everything we can along the way — technical advice, troubleshooting, compositional advice, and occasionally a loan of just the right lens. We encourage everyone to help each other out, and we discover we are among all sorts of experts in photography, like astrophotography, macro, Photoshop, and much more. Our small photo tour team becomes a hive of learning for all levels.

CANON R5 Mark II, RF 14-35MM F/4 L IS USM @ 20mm | 1/8 SEC | F/4 | ISO 3200

We don’t offer many tours because they take a tremendous amount of work to organize, if you want them to run the way we think they should. Australia marks the sixth continent that I’ve led tours on. We have plans to return to favorite destinations like Bhutan, the Galapagos Islands, Kenya, and more, but we also have ideas for new locations that we have yet to travel to.

Stay tuned for more information, as we hope more will be available very soon. Just make sure you are signed up for the tour information mailing list so that you’ll be the first to know about it.