Travel plan idea blog

Expensive tour allows you to photograph the Australian Outback

I got a press release on an Australia by air photography tour and was able to get a few brief interview answers from the tour guide:

1. How long do travelers spend in each location and how long do they spend in the air?

Most locations are two nights, and travel days are restricted to flying times of 4-7 hours on a single day. Most flights are closer to 4.

2. Are there many opportunities for aerial photography on the tour?

There will be a few. Kimberly Coast, Uluru (Ayres Rock), The Olgas and Kakadu in particular.

3. What's the food like?

Sensational! This is a five star tour, have no doubt about that.

4. Do travelers learn much about Australian history?

Yes, a lot. This is two weeks of immersion in the outback culture - post and pre settlement. Indigenous culture is a key component, plus the lives of cattle men in the remote stations.

5. How difficult would it be to visit the same destinations by land?

You'd need three months! I know, I spent several months last year shooting these places for Tourism Australia. It's hard work by road.

Epic Outback: Photograph Australia by Air

Imagine flying low over Ayers Rock, visiting rural cattle ranches, dancing with indigenous tribes and experiencing the beauty of the Australian outback by private plane -all this while learning to capture these images through digital photography.

This trip takes 8 lucky travelers on a journey across the Australian Outback, seeing the vast interior of the country and visiting places that can only be reached by plane. It combines some of the best scenery Australia has to offer with an opportunity to learn photographic techniques from a master.

Now is the perfect time to take this journey with the excitement of the new movie "Australia" (Baz Luhrmann's romantic epic with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman), as this tour visits many of the same amazing places as the film. And given the recently discounted Australian Dollar, this tour is a steal for American travelers at 2/3 the price of what it would have been a year ago.

The journey is led by John Dyer, GM of Air Adventure Australia, 30-year veterans of luxury aviation. The photographic elements are led by professional travel journalist Ewen Bell, who was named 2007 Travel Photographer of the Year by the Australian Society of Travel Writers and won their award for Best Australian Image in 2008. Ewen has run similar photography-focused tours in China, Thailand, and Borneo, but the chance to photograph rural Australia by air is a first.

"I've traveled around the top-end of Australia many times in recent years, but doing it the hard way by driving for weeks through the bush. The wonderful thing about this trip is the chance to fly from landscape to landscape in a matter of hours, ready to greet the next sunset with a camera in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other. I can't wait for this tour, such a rare chance to shoot literally the best scenery anywhere in Australia," said Ewen Bell.

"The Australian landscape is truly magical, and by plane is the perfect way to experience it, especially with a tour like this that visits so much of the best of Australia in a short timeframe. Since I was small the vast contrasts that exist within this country have fascinated me. But in the end, it's the people that I have met along the way that accentuate the fact that this is such a special place," said John Dyer.

This new tour is scheduled for May 31 - June 13 in 2009, lasting 14 days. Starting and ending in Melbourne, it will visit Coober Peedy, Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kings Canyon, Tiwi Islands, Point Stuart, Faraway Bay, Bungle Bungles, Home Valley and Parachilna. Descriptions of these destinations are available in a downloadable brochure (below). Trip cost is $8500 US. A second tour session is scheduled for May of 2010 as well.

For more information on the trip, visit: http://ewenbell.com/itinerary-outback.php .

Download a brochure and pre-trip dossier on this trip at: http://ewenbell.com/workshops/Australia-2009.pdf

Posted by James Trotta at December 24, 2008 11:43 AM