I have been to Australia several times over the last years. In early 2011, I viewed some shots taken of Lake Menindee by an Aussie landscape photographer and got inspired. Hence, I decided to visit the area in September 2011. Moreover, an Australian friend actually grew up in the area (Broken Hill) once, hence, we decided to visit and check out Broken Hill and the Menindee Lakes over a long weekend. He, his sons and I myself had a great time all around. I wanted to shoot some dead gum trees during sunset or sunrise. We checked out different potentially suiting spots during the day (the lake is huge but the area is pretty remote), and I finally decided to select one of them for shooting during the first evening and night. I wanted to shoot dead gum trees adjacent to the shore against the setting (or rising) sun in order to benefit from the amazing colors and light a sunset (or sunrise) can offer in Down Under.
I wanted to shoot some solitary dead gum trees in order to get to a – more or less – minimalist composition; usually one encounters hundreds or even thousands of them standing closely together along the shore. I had to look for a certain spot where just a few ones could be encountered.
I did not apply a lot of post processing in this case. I’m very happy with my shot, although I’m always striving for and looking forward to taking new creative and aesthetic land or seascape shots. I already did one year later at Barmera, Lake Bonney, where I found numerous other dead gum trees. Dead gum trees are fascinating photographical objects; they may tell a story about life and death, space and time etc., which are important topics (among others) in artistic photography. I especially love their curious shapes, lines and textures and the contrasts of them to a nearly uniform water surface dipped in magnificent light and colors during sunset / sunrise or in twilight.
In conclusion, I'm keen on shooting such scenes and objects a lot of times again!