Luke O’Brien Photography

The Tessellated Pavements is a great location to work on your seascape photography. It’s orientation to the east makes it great for sunrise photos, and the lines, cracks and rocks all along the foreshore are a photographer’s dream come true for making interesting and unique compositions.

Tessellated Pavement, Eaglehawk Neck Tasmania

Tessellated Pavement, Eaglehawk Neck Tasmania

For me sunrise photography is more accurately pre-sunrise photography. I am not usually as interested in the sunrise itself, but instead aim to be in location one hour before the sun pops up to capture the magnificent pre dawn colour. An added bonus is the long exposure needed in the pre-dawn twilight results in beautifully smooth water. Gumboots or crocs are a must as standing in the flowing water can result in interesting patterns from the water as the waves rush to and from your point of view.

Tessellated Pavement, Eaglehawk Neck Tasmania

Eaglehawk Neck is only an hour out of Hobart, and there is accommodation right across the road from the Tessellated Pavements. Enjoy your visit to this spectacular location!

The Tarkine is a very large wilderness area in north west Tasmania, covering the land between the Arthur River in the north, the Pieman River in the south, and the Murchison Highway which connects Burnie to Waratah & Corinna. The region is known for sweeping landscapes over Australia’s largest stretch of continuous rainforest, as well as tall eucalypt forest, buttongrass plains and fast flowing rivers, such as the Arthur, Pieman and Rapid Rivers. My trip earlier this month was based at the northern end, photographing the Arthur River-Couta Rocks area, with a day in the South Arthur Forests. I also photographed Philosopher Falls set in magnificent forest near Waratah – but for the moment, here are some shots of the coastline in the Arthur River area.

Rocky Tarkine Coast near Arthur River, north west Tasmania

Day 1 literally did not stop raining – as I neared Launceston the rain started and4~5 hours later at Arthur River it was still coming down. As the end of the day got closer, however, there was a break in the weather. The clouds of the coast were looking quite thick, and my hopes weren’t high for a west coast sunset, but through a small gap between the clouds and the horizon, some brilliant orange light broke through. 

Sunset over the "Edge of the World"

The rocky landscape is also full of great lichen and fascinating and wildly shaped rocks, particularly further down toward Couta Rocks. These areas allowed for some great abstract rock texture & lichen pattern photography.

"Triplet Collection" Abstracts - Rocky Tarkine Coast

The Tarkine is one of the places that really set me off on the path of a photographer here in Tas – when I was still living in Melbourne, and made a trip through the Tarkine a lot of years ago, the images of what I saw stayed very vividly with me, and all of a sudden it has been a few years since I last went back. I’ll be posting again shortly with some more photos of the other areas I visited this time, but in the meantime please feel free to drop by the Landscapes Gallery in Hobart - we have just celebrated 1 full year in Melville St - and are looking forward to continue sharing my photographic travels with you over the coming years!

Tarkine Beach Panorama

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This time last year I was invited to join Environmental Sculptor Tyrone Jaspers on King Island for a few days to photograph some of his creations in the dramatic coastal environment of the island. It was mid-winter, and my first visit to the island (most famous for cheese, surfing and kelp) so I was looking forward to the visit. As well as shooting for Tyrone, there was plenty of time to sneak in a sunset or two, the most success coming actually on night 1, on Martha Lavinia beach.

Dusk Scene, Martha Lavinia Beach, King Island

Late afternoon light on King Island's Martha Lavinia Beach

Late afternoon light on the south end of King Island

Full Moon rises over King Island

Park Beach is somewhere I’ve been meaning to visit for a little while, and I decided on Sunday it was time to head out that way. Hobart really is blessed with the amount of waterways, peninsulas and rocky beaches in such proximity to the city, not to mention the mountain which means the clouds and sky are always doing something interesting too. There wasn’t too much happening on Park Beach itself, so we stopped on the nearby Red Ochre beach.

The evening started out innocently enough, the water wasn’t moving a lot, and there was some nice pinks and oranges in the clouds. The sunset is more or less right behind the mountain from this location, but the colours were most vivid to the south, and I started thinking maybe the show was over, only to see some very bright pink appear in the northern sky. A few minutes later this then stretched right across the western horizon, in a truly brilliant red.

I’ve had a good deal of luck lately I have to admit – my first visit to Cape Raoul was a great success, and this trip out here was spectacular (or perhaps it does this every night out there – it’s Hobarts best kept secret if it does!)

I like the darkness in this image. The rocky foreground and the amazing red in the sky and water have almost turned Hobart into Mordor!

Living up to it's name, Sunset from Red Ochre Beach

Coming soon to the front window of 46 Melville St. Drop in and see this and all my images in much greater detail!

Luke

Over the past few weeks I have been spending some time on the north coast of Tas, in the Georgetown area. There is a combination of dramatic beaches full of jagged rocks and vivid red and yellow lichens; and peaceful sandy beaches stretching for miles along the coast. Unfortunately there was also a big fire burning on the eastern edge of the beach at Beechford, and the smoke blew right across the perfect blue sky out to the western horizon, which meant an urgent rethink of location - luckily Bellbouy beach closer to Georgetown was more cooperative!

Lichen and Jagged rocks on Tasmania's North Coast

Beach Scene at Bellingham/Weymouth

Tiger Orchid

Beach Scene at Bellingham/Weymouth

Lichen, North Coast

Sunset, Bellbouy Beach

"And the Night Swirls"

Low Head Lighthouse, on a sunless dawn