About Luke

Originally from Melbourne, Australian landscape photographer Luke O’Brien moved to Tasmania in 2005 to pursue his photography, quickly establishing a presence at Salamanca Market and starting a tour guiding business. Luke went on to open a gallery for his Tasmanian landscapes from 2009-2013 and continues to run small group photography workshops and tuition to this day.

Photography to Luke is about slowing down. Visiting wild and beautiful landscapes is something we should all make time for. It is important to connect to nature and feel the world beneath your feet, the texture of trees and weathered rock, the ferocity of winds and waves and the delicate dance of light and shadow.

As cameras and editing techniques become more and more technological Luke advocates for the importance of remembering the “feel” of creating an image. Visiting a location, allowing yourself to be drawn into the scene, and taking the time to capture an image that says something to you – and hopefully to those that view the image too – is the real challenge, and the real joy of photography.

Luke has self-published two books, including his current book “Timeless Tasmania” which is now available for purchase.

Luke enjoys printing his work, believing that photography should be physical and real, to be enjoyed as a print or a book, and not just digital and viewed on screens. You can view his gallery online here. All prints are very carefully printed using archival inks and fine art cotton rag.

AI content

No text on this website or in my books is AI generated. I write stories on locations I’ve visited and my experiences and feelings relating to the images I’ve captured, as well as tips and information regarding camera settings and I hope you find the content interesting.

All my images too are of course original photographic work with no input from AI apart from Noise Reduction in high ISO images such as night sky and wildlife photography.

Achievements

• 2005 to present day – established “Leatherwood Tasmania Tours” with wife Midori to show people from all over the world this beautiful island state.
• 2024 self published second book of landscape photography, Timeless Tasmania
• 2017 self published first book – Tasmania A Photographic Journey (now sold out)
• RePL (drone pilot’s license) including AROC
• Ran a photography gallery for 4 years in Hobart, Tasmania from 2009-2013
• “Rebuilding Lives” Fundraising Exhibition for North East Japan in the wake of the March 11 Earthquake & Tsunami. Thanks to the wonderful generosity of the people of Hobart, this exhibition raised $4290 for the people of Tohoku, Japan. We donated this money in person, in Fukushima, in June 2012.
• Multiple features of my Aurora Australis imagery across many platforms including Australia Post, the Aurora Chasers Handbook, Australian Geographic and the ABC’s 7:30 “Aurora Chasers“.
• Contribution to conservation causes such as the Raptor Refuge and Art for Takayna (Tarkine)

What Services does Luke O’Brien Photography offer?

• Australian Landscape Photographer
• Tasmanian photography tours, workshops and tuition
• Tour planning service – bring your group to Tasmania with assistance from a local
• Large range of original images available as fine art prints
• High resolution images available for licensing
• Available to shoot and provide high res imagery for commercial purposes such as tourism, product photography and so on
• Available for presentations to camera clubs or other specific interest groups, in person and online

What’s in My Kit

My kit includes the following gear:

• Sony A7RV mirrorless camera
• Sony 16-35mm
• Sony 90mm macro
• Pentax K1 DSLR camera
• Pentax DFA 15-30mm
• Pentax DFA 100mm macro
• Pentax DFA 24-70mm
• Tamron 70-200mm
• Pentax DFA 150-450mm
• DJI Mavic 3 mini Drone

I am now using the Sony A7RV for landscapes, moving into a more lightweight, compact and modern system. The A7RV is a megapixel monster – 61 in fact – allowing for extremely high resolution images.

I previously used Pentax cameras since my first SLR (film) camera in the 1990’s and still have a place in my kit for the great K1 – in particular for astrophotography and macro where it excels. The K1 has a great deal of user friendly features such as the unique “moon lander” tilting rear screen, astrotracer function and great all-round weather sealing and toughness for landscape photography.

If you are interested in knowing a little more about the K1 I did a little write up about the camera at the time of its release back in 2016.