Join Australian Geographic Photographer and Canon Ambassador Chris Bray for 5 inspiring days journeying down Tasmania’s world famous East Coast. Our richly diverse itinerary will give us unprecedented access to Tasmania’s most stunning and remote photographic locations including the Bay of Fires, Wineglass Bay and Maria Island, by private helicopter, minibus, light-plane and foot. Between the beautiful morning and evening lighting, and photographic tips and briefings, we’ll enjoy photographing a treat of other experiences including vineyards, waterfalls, even a boat trip out to a seal breading colony and more - all fully catered - and relaxing to casually review and discus our photos in the secluded privacy of our own delightful, modern coastal cottages before recharging our cameras and ourselves, ready for another day of excitement and learning. Read the full itinerary below with example photos from each day:
"With out a doubt, the east coast of Tasmania has some of the most gorgeous scenery found anywhere in the world. To be able to combine a holiday and our passion - photography - in the same place, especially under the expert tutelage of Chris and Jess was a dream come true. I would not have been able to take these photos before this trip, for not only was Chris and Jess showing us wonderful places, but they were showing us HOW to take photos as well. I certainly think I learnt a tremendous amount and my skills have blossomed." ~ Keith Friend (2010 Safari). Look at the photos he uploaded to the Tasmanian Tourism website!
Borrow wide-angle and macro lenses!
Amazing news! For those with Canon cameras, we'll have 8 awesome lenses on hand for you to borrow for the trip! We found that some of Tassie's best shots are taken with either really wide angle lenses or macro close-up lenses, so we've just got a whole pile of them for you to experiment with! Four 100mm f/2.8 macros, two EF-17-40mm f/4 wide's, and two EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 ultra-wides for those with the non-full frame sensors!
Day 1
We'll pick you up in our safari minibus from Launceston airport or the town itself from 2:00 onwards, and chauffer you out to our wonderfully modern and secluded retreat accommodation at Rosevears vineyard perched above endless rows of grape vines down towards the Tamar Valley. Here you can chill-out for the afternoon as we wait for each of our photographers to arrive on various flights from around the country, until we all come together at 6PM for a casual evening slideshow where we’ll show you what’s in store over the next 4 ½ days, answer any questions, give you some tips and advice and go over all our camera gear before a welcome BBQ dinner at 8:00, all restaurant catered with gourmet steak, trout and more out on the picturesque vineyard lawn. After the chatter dies down, we'll head off to bed to get some decent sleep (if you’re able - you will be pretty excited!), ready for …
Day 2
Wake up to the golden sun pouring over the vineyard and in through your ceiling-to-floor glass fronted accommodation, and enjoy a selection of freshly baked croissants, ham, cheese and tomato Pita melts, cereal, yoghurt etc – your choice! We’ve then been granted special access to wander through the vineyard and take some great shots – before heading into their restaurant to enjoy morning tea on the balcony followed by a wine tasting – but don’t worry, we’ll be doing the driving then onwards to the spectacular Lilydale Falls! Here we’ll experiment for a leisurely hr or so with those amazing flowing waterfall shots framed by towering tree-ferns, have our catered picnic lunch and continue our journey east to Binalong Bay – the gateway to the Bay of Fires! Wait till you see our two cottages (see above!) overlooking the white sands and turquoise waters of the Bay of Fires – here we’ll unwind with a snack or two during a bit of a review/prep slideshow, and when the sun slides lower, we’ll photograph the southern corner of the bay with its orange lichen covered rocks before coming back to our cottages to indulge ourselves with our own classic east-coast seafood dinner of prawns, huge fresh pacific oysters, crayfish, Tassie wine etc. I’m salivating already, just at the photo opportunities of the food itself! An evening photo review might be in order before we retire, ready for…
Day 3
An early start today - we'll drive you all up to the north end of the bay (or those energeic ones can walk along the beach) and have you poised behind your tripods ready for the dawn lighting to splash across the classic ‘Bay of Fires’ scene of burning orange rocks quenched by the azure water! It’s just amazing. By the time we head back to our private cottages again, you’ll be ready for another fantastic breakfast, before the tranquility ceases and the adventure begins as our helicopter (that we’ve chartered all the way from Launceston) lands just behind our cottages, literally removes its doors (to give us unbeatable photography without smudgy windows!) and you climb in, three per trip, to embark on a 20 min photography dream flight along the Bay of Fires and back shooting amazing aerial views! Hang on tight, it’ll be windy! All that adrenalin will make us hungry so we'll enjoy a hearty lunch back at our cabins, after which we'll chill-out and review our morning shots and have a bit of a photography tutorial on using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. No east coast luxury culinary experience is complete without dining at the acclaimed Angasi restaurant - worthy winner of the 2008 National Award for ‘Best cafe Restaurant’ - with million dollar views (only slightly worse than the views from our cottages!) – and a selection of their tassie wine to complement our dinner and desert. After this, some careful navigation and gravel driving should lead us to the secluded Beerbarrel Beach for evening lighting which is an ideal landscape location! When night eventually bleeds the colour from the scene, we’ll head back to our Bay of Fire cottages – but be ready to spotlight a wallaby on the drive home if you’re still awake!
Day 4
You guessed it - another early start! Before you know it we’ll be munching our fresh bakery breakfast, bleary-eyed but with fresh coffee in hand to cope, down at the wharf at St Helens to try our hand at capturing photos of the crayfish boats in the lovely morning lighting, and the squabling seagulls. Here we bid Bay of Fires farewell and drive down to the Freycinet Peninsula, stopping over to do the tourist thing and try and get a shot of the Bicheno blow-hole erupting! The jewel of Freycinet is of course the world-famous Wineglass Bay, and the only way to fully appreciate its half-moon curve is... from the air! We’ve charted a light plane for a few hours and mapped a route that will enable us all to fly out over the Friendly Beaches and around to Wineglass Bay. Two awesome cottages side by side at Coles Bay are ours, and after lunch we'll board our private charter boat that'll take us on the hunt for wildlife! Our local expert will take us out to the incredible Schouten Island where fur seals haul-out, and back along the peninsula to some sea eagles nests and more! Last time we ran this safari, we encountered several hundred dolphins too, so you never know what we might find so keep your cameras ready! You memory cards will all be full by nightfall and we'll head back to a catered dinner and sleep back at our cottages. Anyone who wants to stay up and take some star photos with me, and practice some painting with light is more than welcome!
Day 5
You can sleep in until (just) after the sun gets up today, as after breakfast we're heading down the coast and catching the ferry out to another must-photograph-location for the day: Maria Island. On this former penal settlement (now a car-free national park packed with wildlife and quiet hiking trails) we'll wander down to the strikingly coloured 'Painted Cliffs' and up to the Fossil Cliffs. There'll still be time after our picnic lunch to shoot some of the old convict houses and hopefully a wombat or three before the ferry takes us back to the mainland, and now thoroughly worn out you can all fall asleep in the safari minivan as we head down to our enormous mansion overlooking Hobart. After unpacking and chillaxing for a bit, let's then head to Salamanca for some evening reflections at Constitution dock, and wind up at the renowned Ball and Chain restaurant for a fitting finale feast. There’s always the option of some night shots of the city for those with any energy, before we all collapse into bed back at the house.
Day 6
Go on, sleep in - you deserve it! Out late, leisurely breakfast will be specially catered, and with a late-check-out, we can spend the morning reviewing our photos and answering any last questions in the quiet luxury of our own manor. The lure of the vibrant Salamanca markets will at last coax us out for some final photographs before we offer you airport transfers in our safari mini bus to meet whatever plane you have booked home today, or to your own accommodation if you’re going to hang out in Hobart for a few days, which is always a treat!
NOTE:
Obviously the exact itinerary may be shuffled around and tweaked due to weather, but you can rest assured that we’ll be working flat-out to get you to all the best places, at the best times, for the best photos possible.
All food is provided, and dinners will usually be accompanied by a complementary glass of Tasmanian wine, however, additional alcohol must be purchased at your own expense.
Accommodation arrangements vary for each location, however the cottages provide mostly twin-share accommodation, so we will be sharing some bedrooms (but not beds, haha!). Let us know if you’d like to book as a couple, as some queen-size beds in private rooms are available in some cottages.
There won’t be any strenuous hiking, but a reasonable level of mobility will be required to find the best photography spot amongst those orange boulders, to climb into the helicopter and things like that. The walks to the fossil and painted cliffs on Maria Island involve an easy path walk of several km, however if you’d prefer to take photos around the historic sites around the ferry wharf while we go walking, there’ll be plenty to keep your camera busy.
Clearly an appreciation for fresh seafood heightens this experience, but rest assured we can cater for non seafood eaters and vegetarians – just let us know!
Price does not include flights from your home town into Launceston, nor your flight back home from Hobart. However, at time of writing, flights from Sydney to Launceston on that date are a mere $119.95 from Jetstar...
A non-refundable $1,000 deposit is required at time of booking.
Safari is subject to minimum numbers, and we reserve the right to cancel the trip if minimum numbers are not met. In this unlikely event, we will of course return all payments to you.
EVERY PHOTOGRAPHER'S DREAM: (max 8 ppl)
