From Sydney to Queensland
was a short 4 day drive I undertook through New South Wales in August 2011 I always wanted to do a driving tour just for the sake of photographing landscapes and as this opportunity presented itself rather suddenly I was determined to enjoy every minute of it. This became such a fantastic experience and I was so happy with the end result I could not resist the temptation to create a book from it. Here is the result and may you enjoy viewing it as much.... as it was for me creating it.
This book is dedicated to my beautiful sister Martine de Graaf
Taking photographic effects to its extreme on an early morning at Brisbane airport This image was taken through the airport lounge window. On its own it is not a particular outstanding shot, but the more tone mapping I applied, the more these great rainbow colours became apparent. Sometimes shooting straight into the sun is very worthwile.
Circular Qua窶楽, Sydney
Circular Quay is one of those special places in Sydney of which I always have a lot of great memories. Even a sudden downpour (photo left) wasn’t able to break the beauty of the harbour, the ferries and Luna park at the north shore. A lot of people move through Circular Quay. It’s a major hub for public transport in and out of the centre of the city. Tourist and city workers alike give the Quay a special atmosphere.
Previous page: Leaving Circular Quay on one of its iconic ferries is a spectacular viewing experiences the city has to offer. From the ferry you are shown majestic panoramas of the city. A vibrant place of natural beauty.
Immediatly after leaving Circular Quay the Opera House becomes a beautiful extension and an fitting addition to the city itself.
The Sydney Harbour bridge always looks best from the water
The northtern point and lighthouse of Watson Bay are the southern part of the entrance to the harbour.
Between Watson Bay and the North Head is the entrance to Sydney Harbour were the Pacific ocean floods in, creating a rough patch for the ferries crossing it.
Windsor is one of the oldest established towns of NSW (ca 1790) and has beautiful historic colonial buildings.
North of Windsor are large area’s of pristine state forests with almost no populated area’s
Colo river Next page: Colo Heights
Muswellbrook is an old New South Wales town and that morning was covered in a thick fog. The fog stayed on for a long time, giving me the opportunity to shoot some interesting images.
I was hoping to capture the mystery a thick fog can create on landscapes.
Slowly the fog would gradually lift its grip on the landscape, but not before giving me the opportunity to capture the magic of it.
A huge barrel laying somewhere on the side of the road. Well this is the Hunter valley after all, known for its famous wines
Next page: Just one of those landscapes of incredible symmetry and beauty. Only a few puffs of fog still remaining.
Somewhere on the Golden highway to Dubbo I found this gorgeous old wooden church being allowed to disintegrate into a ruin.
Its obvious why this highway to Dubbo is called the Golden Highway. During August it is the golden wattle that brings this road to life with endless stretches of overwhelming yellow wattle trees.
Ironbark cafe, Merriwa reminds me of those old milkbars from the seventies
Merriwa has some of the old New South Wales architectural building styles, beautifully restored
Further up the road to Dubbo are large tracks of canola oil plantation. A sea of yellow, again emphasising the appropriate name of the Golden Highway
Dubbo was proclaimed a village in 1849 with 28 males and 19 females. In those old days its industry was mostly cattle and sheep
The Dubbo railway bridge. A relic from the past and no longer in use
Gilgandra is a very small town in the central New South Wales area. This area is know as the wheatbelt of NSW and has these massive grain silos dotted around the landscape.
The railway hotel in Gilgandra is of course the largest building around
The wheatbelt of NSW has been a thriving industry since mid 1850 but a devastating drought of more then 10 years has driven many farmers out of there. In some of these stretches there is not a tree in sight as far as the eye can see.
Tooraweenah township, I must say that upon stumbling into this place on an early Sunday morning I never saw a local or a car during the time I was photographing the place. It was like walking through a town from early 1900.
Tooraweenah a beautiful reminder of days past
To be honest I never thought I find a place like that ever again. It literally was like stepping back in time, emphasized again by of the lack of people and traffic. Except for the truck under the tree in the picture above this shot could have been taken one hundred years ago.
This guy one the right used to fly in and land on the main street. Fil up on the pump on the left and fly out again. Part of the early efficient Australian mail service
The Anglo-Australian Telescope is a 3.9-metre optical telescope at Siding Spring. It was built as a joint project between Australia and the United Kingdom. The picture on the right was taken from the visitor gallery. (4 stories high, see red arrow) That image consists of 9 photo’s stitched together
The Warumbungle National Park extends over most of the mountains and protects the area from human development. Siding Spring, location of the astronomical observatory, lies in the Warrumbungles.
Next page: Mount Kapitur national Park
The road between Narribri and Bingara is as picturesque as you can imagine and quintessential Australian. The eucalyptus trees, eroded river banks, cattle yards and rolling hills inspired the next few pages of this book
Strange cloud formations. The type of build-up you see in the movies with alien ships in them
This is one of my favourite photo’s, not often is a photo effective when placing the main subject in the middle of the shot. Here it worked perfectly. Also the incredible debth created by the foreground fence and the clouds slipping over the horizon adds an enormous dimension to it.
Inverell makes an impression of being a wealthy town. A neat and typical town in Northern NSW in one way but has an extra dimension of care and wellbeing to it. The place is also known as “Sapphire City� as sapphires are mined in that area.
Next Page: An unknown waterway with incredible beauty
Tenterfield is another town in Northern NSW that must have known lots of wealth in its hayday. It certainly shows in some of its architecture. Tin mining as well as sheep and cattle seem to have been the main contributers to its wealth during 19th century.
Next Page: The main street of Tenterfield
Photographed and edited by Filip Krygsman