110 Australian Geographic
The pilot descends to 500 feet,
the door is tugged open, with some
effort, and the shooting begins.
trusty old DSLR kit with my eyes shut. But this new camera is
foreign to me and I can’t afford to miss any shots. I give it a go
but keep my usual camera within easy reach.
W
E LAND FOR A TERRESTRIAL walking tutorial among
the hills and valleys before taking to the skies once
more to make the best of the approaching sunset.
As the light turns gold, the multi-hued hills ignite and the
colours intensify to everyone’s breathless delight. The photogra-
phers’ silent concentration is palpable now, broken only by the
hum of engines and whirr of camera shutters in overdrive.
Before long it’s dark and we’re back at William Creek for the
night. Everyone heads away to their cabins to begin download-
ing and checking the day’s images before dinner in the bustling
restaurant of the William Creek Hotel.
We’re up and out next day before the Sun for the pre-dawn
light over Lake Eyre. As our aircraft climbs above William Creek,
the only other thing on the move is a giant road train barrelling
down the Oodnadatta Track, sending up a rust-red dust cloud
in its wake. A thin white band appears on the horizon broad-
ening with every kilometre until it turns into the salt-encrusted
shore of Lake Eyre North. The pilot descends to 500 feet, the
door is tugged open, with some effort, and the shooting begins.
As the Sun appears, it illuminates seemingly limitless waters.
The vastness of the scene is hard to capture in a single frame
but the ever-cheerful Steve Huddy offers encouragement as we
rotate around the aircraft to take up the coveted shooting posi-
tion at the door. The low angle of the early sunlight throws the
crystallised salt formations along the shoreline into sharp relief
and it’s these intriguing abstract sculptures on which Steve
recommends we focus our lenses.
When not shooting through the door, I’m experimenting
with the new mirrorless model. It’s lighter than my Canon EOS
5D Mark III so I’m starting to see the benefits, but I’m certainly
not game to rely on it solely just yet. We explore the far reaches
of the lake for a couple of hours, f lying in low along the
Warburton Groove, where the fast-f lowing f loodwaters from
the north funnel down a narrow channel before emptying into
the lake proper.When photographed from
overhead, the crystallised
shapes and mineral colours along
the lake’s dry edges appear as
abstract patterns.