The Difficulties of Shooting North Queensland

North Queensland is a landscape photographer’s paradise. While it might not have the grand landscapes of some of Australia’s more popular photography destinations, it has a huge and unique variety of subjects to shoot.

There are plenty of beautiful and easily accessible locations around North Queensland, but I’ve always been more interested in what lies beyond them. Personally, I love the exploration factor and the challenge of finding somewhere different.

I returned to Cairns in late 2019 after spending nearly two years living in Canada. While I was there, I really got into hiking and exploring the incredible landscapes the country has to offer. When I came home, I quickly realised the adventures here were never going to look the same. There would be no snow capped mountains or high alpine hikes overlooking turquoise glacial lakes.

Instead, there would be impenetrable rainforests, hidden giant waterfalls and remote mountain ranges. The rare alpine views would reveal ancient landscapes that the average hiker or photographer would probably never get the chance to see.

In early 2020, around the time of the COVID lockdowns, I kept seeing incredible off track locations appearing on Instagram. Some of these places were closely guarded secrets at the time, although a few have since been heavily impacted by the amount of foot traffic they now receive.

Back then, Cairns’ off track hiking community was extremely tight lipped, and I struggled to get information from anyone about the places I was seeing. After joining a local hiking group on Facebook, I was lucky enough to meet some like minded people who gave me my introduction to off track hiking and navigation.

Fast forward a few years and I still spend a lot of my spare time staring at satellite imagery, studying topographic maps and planning routes into remote wilderness areas. I once thought that after living in Cairns for long enough I would eventually see everything the region had to offer. I’ve realised the opposite is true. You could spend an entire lifetime exploring North Queensland and barely scratch the surface.

The challenges of hiking and photographing North Queensland are also very different from almost anywhere else.

One of the biggest challenges is simply the distance required to reach some of these places. There are locations that can take ten hours on foot just to reach, one way. When there is no established track, those distances become even more demanding. Progress through thick rainforest can be incredibly slow, and everything needed for the trip, including camera equipment, camping gear, food and water, has to be carried in and back out again. Sometimes reaching the landscape is a bigger challenge than photographing it.

Saltwater crocodiles are present throughout many coastal river systems and can occur surprisingly far inland. Years ago, swimming in many of these places was considered relatively normal, but as crocodile populations have recovered, it’s a risk that constantly needs to be considered and managed.

Then there’s the weather. North Queensland weather can be incredibly unpredictable. The forecast can call for clear skies and a storm can seemingly roll in from nowhere. During the wet season, flash flooding becomes another serious risk. There have been plenty of times when I’ve had to abandon a photography mission because creeks have risen so quickly that continuing would risk being cut off or swept away.

Heat and humidity present another challenge. Hiking through rainforest in the middle of summer after heavy rain can feel like walking through a sauna. Heat exhaustion and dehydration are always something you need to be conscious of.

Even the vegetation fights back.

Wait awhile and lawyer cane can cut you to shreds and is often unavoidable, particularly at lower elevations. Then there’s the Gympie Gympie stinging tree, which can deliver an incredibly painful sting that can persist long after the initial encounter. Add dense rainforest, slippery rocks, mud, insects and almost non-existent tracks, and sometimes simply reaching a location becomes the hardest part of taking the photograph.

Despite all of these challenges, North Queensland remains a genuine wilderness with an incredible amount of hidden beauty waiting for those willing to explore it.

From turquoise reefs and mangrove coastlines to impenetrable rainforests, huge crystal clear creeks, monster waterfalls and high altitude cloud forests, it is a truly unique part of Australia.

There are still countless places out there that I haven’t seen, and probably many I don’t even know exist yet.

I’ll keep exploring them, trying to do these landscapes some justice and sharing what I find through my photography.