Drones have brought a new perspective to photographing the landscape but there are limitations and sometimes an aircraft is the only way to truly get a spectacular image.

Drones can fly limited distances and height and in remote areas getting them to an area easily accessible  is not an option. The small resolution sensors in the cameras carried by the popular drones isn’t big enough if you are wanting to print high quality work.

Taking pictures from an aircraft allows you to bring good lenses and cameras into play but the setting for aerial work are a lot different from the usual techniques, particularly landscape photography.

The rather impressive mesa here is not far from the remote shores of Lake Eyre. Using shutter priority set to a minimum 1/500th of a second eliminates the vibration of the aircraft, manual focus on infinity.

The breaking of the drought. Thunderstorms on Mt. Deception, Outback South Australia.                                                             ©Copyright Peter MacDonald. All Rights Reserved

Although the pictures posted on the Sentimental Bloke website have always been randomly selected there has always been an underlying theme.

For more than a decade I have been recording the ever changing cycles of nature.  These cycles have included drought, flood, dust storms, good weather and bad, the four seasons, the flora, the wildlife and lots more.

Salt patterns with water stained pink by algae on Lake Eyre. ©Copyright Peter Macdonald. All Rights Reserved.

Perhaps the biggest cycle of nature that I have followed is the flooding of the salt lakes in South Australia’s outback.

Watching this epic phenomenon unfold brought with it a realisation there is true natural art occurring almost everywhere, the trick being to see it.

The Sentimental Bloke is now on Instagram with the intention of focusing on the these natural events in a more orderly fashion and to showcase a truly amazing part of the world to an international audience.

Follow on Instagram –  @thesentimentalbloke

©Copyright 2014 Peter MacDonald Photography. All rights reserved.

I  suppose it will be a long time before we see a sunset over Lake Eyre like this. Taken four years ago as flood waters from northern Australia filled the vast salt lake.

A reminder about how beautiful this really harsh and forbidding part of our country can look.

In my home state we have a annual event called the South Australian Living Artists Festival (SALA).

It is a really great opportunity for artists in all forms of the arts to exhibit their works and it’s is well patronised.

This year I was fortunate to win, with the above photo, the Atkins Technicolour Photographic Award for Artists working with photo based artwork.

It is one of the works in my upcoming Lake Eyre exhibition which starts on August the 4th.

Details of the exhibition are here.

Everybody is welcome. I will be in attendance on some of the days during the exhibition dates so drop in if you are in the area.

People who know my work often comment when they come to the Flinders Ranges and the Outback for the first time that they have actually seen some of the colours in the photographs.

Until then, they thought the colours were unreal.

Nature and her willing accomplice, Light in all its forms comes up with some amazing combinations in my backyard.

In this photo of Lake Eyre, along with the previous two posts, the range of colours, patterns and textures is exceptional

This was taken around 3,000 metres above the lake but in each case the colours in the photographs are true.

This is what’s called the Warburton Groove and it’s one of the channels where water pours into Lake Eyre on those rare occasions when it fills up.

On the right is the desert sand of the Great Victoria desert, on the left the salt of the Lake Eyre basin and central the clear blue and fresh waters of the Warburton River.

A range of contrasts and colours.

The waters coming down this channel are more a gentle flow than a flood, consequently it will only partially fill Lake Eyre this year.

Back on the main lake (lake Eyre) from the previous post and the range of colours is quite startling.

This is Dulhunty Island in the north lake where the salt is exposed forming a vast white and very glarey expanse.

However the patterns in the salt are fantastic.

Over the next couple of days I will post some pictures which show the range of colours, which to me have added a whole new dimension to the area since my five trips in 2010.

This isn’t quite Lake Eyre but these salt lakes run off the main lake towards the east.

They make interesting shapes and patterns in the desert dunes.

The deep blue areas are rainwater the result of big rains that fell a few months ago.

This rainwater is rapidly evaporating…leaving the discolouration in the surrounding salt.

This photograph was taken about three weeks ago, so the water has probably gone now from these minor, yet quite substantial salt pans.

Lake Eyre isn’t all pinks and blues and silver salt.

At the top of the main lake and the Goyder Lagoon where some water is flowing in from the Warburton River, it’s quite muddy but there is an abundance of birds.

The pelicans stand out because of their numbers and the apparent ease with which they can glide just above the water’s surface.

However there’s cormorants and black swans. sea gulls, banded stilts and ducks to be seen as well.

There appears to be even more in the Coongie Lake system where the water is fresh and abundant fish to feed on.

The pictures of Lake Eyre on my visit a few weeks back just got more colourful, particularly around this section near Silcrete Island.

However I will be holding back the most spectacular pictures for my upcoming exhibition in August

Over the next few days I will post images of the lake in its current guise.

They will be of interest to people who have already seen this amazing phenomenon and how much it has changed and an incentive for those who still want to go.

For the less fortunate I hope the photographs are a consolation.

The results of my recent to Lake Eyre are exciting.

I didn’t think it was possible the lake would be much different to what I had seen in 2010.

How wrong can you be.

I am still processing the pictures but production will start next week on an exhibition which will be unveiled in August.

While Lake Eyre doesn’t have as much water in it as in the previous two years, it is making up for the lack of water with some stunning scenes.

This is Silcrete Island in the north lake….the subject of previous works which can be found in the ‘Categories’ list on the right hand side of this page under ‘Lake Eyre’ or click here

I ran a few photographs of the results of heavy rains that recently fell in the Flinders Ranges and Outback of South Australia.

It’s becoming evident that rains we have had this year will equal or exceed those that fell in the last really big wet this region had…and that was way back in 1974.

The rain is of course transforming the land in many ways.

That vast inland water system that is the Lake Eyre basin, Goyder Lagoon and the Coongie Lakes will fill again. …for the third year in a row.

Lake Eyre has water again over much of its surface and is continuing to fill.

Huge amounts of water are heading from the north into this region.

I am heading into that area again on assignment for the R M Williams Outback magazine.

Because of the remoteness of the area were I will be working, there will not be any photographs posted here until that assignment is completed.

Hopefully there will be some images of Outback Australia that aren’t going to the magazine, that I can use on “The Sentimental Bloke” when I return.

The second of the lucky finds I came across just recently when going through overlooked Lake Eyre photos.

The shape of the land against the water and the sky, the reflections of the clouds and the interesting colours attracted me to this photograph.

It’s a bit of a quirky composition too, which makes it more interesting for me as well.

Looking for a good sunset shot to end the year, I came across this photo and another which had somehow been overlooked among the many Lake Eyre pictures taken in recent times.

I had posted a photo from the same series about 18 months ago, but this one is far better technically and to me, is more appealing because of the light falling on the shore in the foreground.

Tomorrow a new year and a couple of big projects to photograph over the next few months.

The Sentimental Bloke wishes you all the very best for 2012.

The receding waters of Lake Eyre South exposing parts of the salt expanse once more.

Lake Eyre South is about 25 percent full at the moment although there is still plenty of water to be seen. It’s just the depth has fallen while the larger main lake to the north remains quite full.

Waters from the surrounding creeks and rivers are still flowing into the the Lake but evaporation will be playing a part with the arrival of warmer weather.

Shot with Canon 20D and Canon 28-300mm lens at 28mm focal length, f11, 1/500th sec ISO 200.

Many people are still taking the opportunity to see Lake Eyre in flood this year and I’ve been getting questions about what it’s like at the moment.

This is the Warburton River which is still flowing and feeding water into Lake Eyre from the north.

There’s still good viewing even though it’s winter. It’s still ideal on either fine or cloudy days.

The light and colour of the water is changing constantly.

The level of water in Lake Eyre and Lake Eyre South is still plentiful with some floodwater still to feed into the basin.

The best way to see the lake system is still by air and there’s plenty of options….too many to mention here. However the ones that know the country best are air operators in the Flinders Ranges, at Marree and William Creek.

It was very hard to leave this wonderful sight and its strange currents but having to be back on the ground by last light was a necessity.

Eddying currents and a late afternoon sun give a surreal look to the salty floodwaters and Silcrete Island in Lake Eyre North, central Australia.

Coastal Lake Eyre is an interesting place as the basin refills.

The rising floodwaters eventually find and fill everything in their path, making interesting patterns and contrasts in the salt and desert sands.