The Douglas Apsley National Park is something of a “quiet achiever” type of park. It doesn’t have the crowd-drawing, eye-popping “stunning” type of landmarks that attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to
Wineglass Bay or the
Bay of Fires which are both nearby, but it’s charm is that you can have a more peaceful visit to nature than in some of the over-crowded Parks. There are some great walks and a nice camping area here too.
Waterfall at Apsley Gorge, Tasmania
Recently we walked to the Apsley Gorge which is approx 1.5 hours each way. Being mid summer meant that there wasn’t a huge amount of water going along the river or over the waterfalls, but for me, the amount was pretty much perfect for the above photo. I could get close to the cascading water without getting spray on my camera, and the detail in the rocks and contrast in this photograph between the white curtains of water and the dark wet dolerite was beautiful.
Macro Raindrops on Sheoak Trees
Then the rain set in. Just as we started to climb along the dolerite rocks of the Apsley Gorge the rain came down quite hard, and soon the rocks were very slippery and not looking safe to continue we returned through the forest. As we walked the whole forest glistened with raindrops and the clouds dropped low adding a beautiful atmosphere to the walk. When the rain finally stopped I changed to the Macro lens and spent some time taking some macro photos of two jewel like rain drops on a She Oak tree.
As I said, this National Park is a little less about the obvious landscape features and a bit more about a quiet commune with nature – and that, after all, is what landscape photography is all about.
Cradle Mountain Photography Tours, Tasmania
A stunner of a night at Cradle Mountain. I couldn’t believe in the middle of summer when the park is crammed full of people all day long that for most of the evening I had the lake to myself. A big g’day to Mark from the Discovery Park who came down to the lake for the best view of the day.
The water levels are very low at the moment which meant rocks that are normally submerged were visible and added some great detail to the foreground and middle of the image, leading the eye to the familiar Cradle Mountain & Little Horn skyline. It’s always important to balance space and detail when composing a photograph.
Anyone interested in joining one of my photography tours to Cradle Mountain should look at the Photography tours page. Sunset and sunrise shoots are absolutely included! The Cradle Mountain Photography Tour is 2 days/1 night, but can be extended.
The Vale of Belvoir is a beautiful and environmentally significant region located a short distance from Cradle Mountain in Tasmania’s central north. It’s preservation was called “the Tasmanian conservation triumph of the 21st century” as the valley is filled with rare and endangered plant species and provides home to Tasmania’s dwindling population of Tasmanian Devil and other carnivorous marsupials such as quolls. Quolls used to be common on mainland Australia but now survive in Tasmania due largely to a lack of predators (such as dingoes and foxes) which are common on the mainland.
Eucalypt and Mist in Tasmania's Vale of Belvoir
The valley contains grassland and buttongrass fields, with patches of eucalypt woodland here and there; as well as dark patches of myrtle beech dominated rainforest.
Dew drops on grass - macro photography
As a general rule it is usually very hard and often not very rewarding at all to shoot inside the rainforest on clear sunny days. This morning I awoke early to visit the rainforest before the harsh light of day made shooting difficult and as I made my way back and forth through the forest, eventually the sun rose over a mist filled valley and started to enter the rainforest. This is usually when I decide to put the camera away and move on to discover what the day will bring next but today I lingered and photographed the soft morning light as it made its way into the rainforest. The scene was quite beautiful and it was good to linger and challenge myself to shoot in conditions which were not what I was expecting.
Morning sunlight streams into the Rainforest, Vale of Belvoir
The forest itself was filled with magnificently gnarled old myrtles, the roots of some trees almost looking like a hand hanging on grimly to the earth. Given that it is now summer in Tasmania the area was quite dry, but nevertheless it was great to wander amongst the trees. The dryness meant leech encounters were also down – only 3 or 4 found their way onto my shoes in the hour or so in the rainforest. I am sure that number would explode in the wet months!
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Gnarled old Myrtle trees in the Vale of Belvoir
Back at the tent we were treated to a great late afternoon cloudcover and possibly the best sunset I have ever seen that I didn’t photograph.
Buttongrass under a cloud filled sky
For more information on the Vale of Belvoir see the Tasmanian Land Conservancy or the Nature Photographers of Tasmania.
