As one of those people who points out oddly shaped clouds and stares for hours until the very last bit of sunlight has left the sky, I love photographing colours and patterns.
Living on a tropical island in Australia’s Whitsunday Islands as a landscape photographer for six years, I was surrounded by natural formations of sand and sea. From my window I could watch the tide change the landscape within a few hours, from glistening blue water to shallow sand banks.
The Great Barrier Reef stretches for more than 2300km along the Queensland coastline, my photography project ‘Palettes’ focused on Hardy and Bait Reefs along with the tidal gem of Hill Inlet. Each location was a 20 minute helicopter flight from where I was based on Hayman Island and I could track the weather to make sure conditions were literally picture perfect before I took off.
Flying high with the doors off I hung out the window with my camera to ensure there were no reflections in the images and no matter how many times I saw it, the beauty of these locations took my breath away every time. That or the fact my head was being battered by the wind. Pretty sure it was the landscape though.
The collection of images below were taken over a two year period and aim to showcase the natural elements of sand and sea. The sandy shores of Hill Inlet are constantly changing with the tides and wind creating new banks or ripples on the sea floor, from the air it’s like a painted canvas.
And just to keep it fun…there is a jumping dolphin in one of the shots below. See if you can find it.
More info: thewanderinglens.com
Heart Reef
Hill Inlet at high tide
Hook Island where the rainforest meets the reef
Hill Inlet at low tide
Bait Reef Blues
Changing Tides in the Coral Sea
Hill Inlet with a strawberry heart pattern
Shallow sand bank within Hardy Reef
Hardy Reef
A wide angle of Hardy Reef
Hill Inlet’s patterns in shallow water
A dingy within Hill Inlet
When Sharks + Stingrays decide to dine together
Hardy Reef in its entirety from 1000ft
As you explore the living canvas of sand and sea forms in the Whitsunday Islands, you might appreciate how natural forces shape landscapes in fascinating ways. This phenomenon echoes the tidal transformations documented by a British photographer, who captures the mesmerizing ebb and flow of the sea.
For a deeper look at how tides can dramatically alter landscapes, you may want to explore the power of the sea through his lens.
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