This story was sponsored by Tourism NT
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The Northern Territory is one of those places that doesn’t need a filter.
The sprawling landscapes can go from leafy green lagoons, to sapphire blue ocean, to burnt orange sands, to golden towering gorges in a matter of a few hours.
It makes sense that the Territory attracts the most adventurous photographers to capture this wild terrain, including professional photographers Paul Arnold, Louise Denton and Steve Strike.
Here are some of the most incredible shots of the Northern Territory and some thoughts from each photographer about their challenging, surprising and ultimately rewarding work.
Paul Arnold – www.paularnold.com.au
Paul: It’s extremely diverse, shooting the Northern Territory. The storms are well known but the territory is so much bigger than that. There’s 1.5million square kilometres of landscape that varies from the deserts to the big rivers to the beaches and waterfalls.
"...the landscape can be fast and dramatic - flooded and inaccessible then tinder dry and subject to the mercies of fire."
- Paul Arnold
It can be a hard landscape and unforgiving but that’s what makes it the NT. You never know what is around the next corner and because we have two seasons (wet and dry) the transformation in the landscape can be fast and dramatic - flooded and inaccessible then tinder dry and subject to the mercies of fire.
When photographing, I always consider the story that I am trying to tell. For this I need to understand what is front of me, the moods and emotions of the land. Once I understand this, it’s time to get the camera out and find the shot. I study the angles and light and try to capture the story in one image.
In a digital world people think shooting ‘more’ means you will get the shot eventually. I believe you can get better by shooting ‘less’ and even missing shots.
Louise Denton – www.home.louisedenton.com
Louise: Shooting the Northern Territory is varied, it's always different. The storms and sunsets in the wet season are always dramatic and exciting. One of my favourite things about shooting the NT is that we are quite remote and we have a small population, meaning that it's not hard to get away from people and have a location all to yourself.
As with any landscape photography, light is the most important thing to consider. You always need to take the time on composition - consider the importance of that tree or that rock to your final photograph.
More specifically to the Top End, be careful when shooting around our coastline because we have an eight metre tidal swing here. Every night the water is at a different level at sunset and of course we have deadly saltwater crocodiles to be aware of around any waterway.
Steve Strike – www.photoz.com.au
Steve: The photo I am most well known for was taken in February, 2000. February is at the peak of the Northern Territory’s wet season, even in Central Australia. I was on a flight approaching Ayers Rock Airport at about 10am one morning. I looked out of the window and saw a huge thunderhead dumping a lot of rain right on top of the rock. On landing I grabbed a hire car and drove at 160 kilometres per hour all the way to the lookout area in the National Park.
It was raining so hard I couldn’t see the rock at all. I waited a few minutes and the rain started to clear. It was then that I saw the most amazing sight. There were dozens of waterfalls cascading down the side of Uluru. I quickly got out of the car and started shooting. As it was pre-digital days, I headed back to Ayres Rock Resort to get my film processed at the lab there. For me it was just another editorial photo shoot. I sent the pics to The Australian newspaper.
It was an instant page-one news story. The next day no one could believe the reaction to this pic. It featured on breakfast television, talk back radio was discussing it and John Laws rang and interviewed me. Dozens of magazine editors were on the phone wanting to do deals.
"I looked out of the window and saw a huge thunderhead dumping a lot of rain right on top of the rock."
- Steve Strike
Ultimately the shot famously known as ‘Desert Storm’ has become one of the biggest selling and most sought after pics in Australian photographic history.
This story was sponsored by Tourism NT