Please note, the Gallery will be open from 12:00 noon on Thursday April 19 instead of our usual 10:00 start.
Feel free to take advantage of the sales at the Hiking Gear shops on Elizabeth St or to relax with a coffee at one of the many nearby cafes while waiting for your chance at a browse through some top-notch Tasmanian landscape photography (even if I do say so myself 
) here at 46 Melville St.
A beautiful evening scene atop Mt Rufus in central Tasmania. The peak is above 1400m high, but the conditions were calm and serene for this visit earlier in the year. This is the view south over the King William Range. There are very few tracks south of here, and Mt Rufus really is one of the best walks in Tasmania in terms of familiarising yourself with the mountains of the World Heritage Area.
Wilderness Tasmania; dusk atop Mt Rufus
The hike is usually done as a circuit walk via Shadow Lake. It takes around 7 hours return.
I hope everyone is enjoying the current edition of the RACT members magazine “Journeys” in particular the photographic portfolio on pages 50-51 which features some of my recent images.
A big welcome to all RACT members – thanks for taking the time to visit my site today, and don’t forget as RACT members you are entitled to a 10% discount on all images (framed or unframed) in the Landscapes Gallery.
Please feel free to look through my online Portfolio or drop in to the Gallery and say hello.
Luke O’Brien Photography
Tasmanian Landscapes Gallery
46 Melville St
Ph 6231 9964
Open:
Monday to Friday 10:00~6:00
Saturdays 10:00~3:00
Services:
Original Fine Art Photography Gallery
Framing Supplies (Mount Board & Foam Core) – Sales & Custom Cutting
Digital Art Printing
Commission Work: Property, Business, Personal, Tourism and so on.
Something you don’t want to miss in Tasmania is a blue sky Autumn walk in the mountains while the fagus is ablaze in its autumnal yellows and oranges, and if you are lucky enough, red (the red fagus leaves are in fact a prized shot of every photographer down here!). When you look at Cradle Mountain front on, the summit is hidden from view on the right; the “Cradle” that gives the mountain its name is the curve in the middle; and the pointy peak on the left is the “Little Horn”. Out the back of the Little Horn is an intricately beautiful area of fagus, small tarns and creeks, and ancient pencil pines. There is also a very sturdy and well maintained hut at Lake Rodway where you can base yourself for as long as you like – it is far less busy than the “main” huts along the Overland Track.
Ancient Pencil Pine and the fagus clad slopes of Cradle Mountain
The way into the region is via either Hanson’s Peak or Hanson’s Lake, and then straight past a Ranger’s Hut, and the turn off to the Cradle Mountain face track. You soon enter a garden like area of ancient pines and fagus trees. On high mountain slopes fagus usually grows into a very low, prostrate shrub which hangs on tightly to the ground as it is assaulted by fierce winds and all the extremes of Western Tasmania’s weather. In this area, however, there are some relatively tall fagus trees, and one or two sections of the track take you right through them. The ancient, twisted pencil pines are a great sight, and with the tarns the landscape here has the air of a truly pristine and untouched environment. The first feature past the Little Horn is a small tarn called “The Artist’s Pool”.
"The Artists Pool" - Small Tarn behind Cradle Mountain
The walk continues past a creek and towards Lake Rodway, with Cradle Mountain looking completely unrecognisable to your right as you walk. Flynns Tarn is a relatively large body of water in the area, and allows for nice reflections of Cradle Mountain and Little Horn (from an angle not usually seen on the postcards in the gift shops!)
Flynns Tarn near Lake Rodway.
After a couple of nights in the area we walked out via the Face Track, Lake Wilks and the Ballroom Rainforest. The fagus surrounding Lake Wilks was looking absolutely stunning, and it was great to take our time in the classic autumn weather. By the time we reached the boat shed & car park, cloud had blown in which meant that there were none of the classic “postcard” type shots to be had this time – but my trip to Cradle Mountain from a couple of years ago resulted in some pretty heroic reflections – including sunrise colours and snowy reflections – every photographers other prized shot!
Brilliant autumn sky, and fagus in full "bloom". Cradle Mountain towers above Lake Wilks.
This months featured photographs come from the South Coast of Tasmania, from what turned out to be quite a squally evening on the beach, with persistent showers only allowing a brief shoot in front of the striking silhouette of Lion Rock.
Lion Rock, Dawn on Tassie's South Coast
Lion Rock has a very distinctive silhouette, and located nice and close to shore means great movement of the water over the rocky foreshore. The showers coming and going made this shoot tricky, but I was still able to get a nice 20 second exposure of the surf crashing around the rock and the foreshore, with the dark clouds and lack of evening light making for a dramatic capture.
Lion Rock, Evening View
The following morning dawned much calmer, with the squalls moving out to sea. The morning in fact turned on a nice stormy atmosphere, complete with rainbows and dark clouds on the horizon. In fact the morning images have turned out much darker and menacing than what conditions were actually like on the shore (although shooting the morning scenes did involve resigning myself to a soaked through pair of boots and socks for the return walk out)!
South Coast, Morning Squalls
All images are available through 46 Melville St or online, via the Portfolio pages!
Luke
