Bill Hatcher Photography

Sea Kayaking on the Shoalhaven River, NSW Australia

This weekend Melanie and I had two free days and the weather called for rain. We decided the best avenue for exploration was to see some new country from our sea kayaks.  Melanie and I headed south from Sydney 2 hours to paddle the Shoalhaven River Gorge in Morton  National Park.

Paddling a kayak on the quiet reservoir waters of Lake Yarrunga past stands of dead trees is not normally my idea of high adventure, but we have wanted to check this place out since last year when we paddled the Kangaroo river, the major tributary to the Shoalhaven. This was an overnight trip, but it took only a

On Assignment: A look inside My Mountain Biking Photo Bag

I am packing now for a job next week in Western Australia. I am excited about this trip because it will be my first time in that country. Deciding what photo gear to bring for this shoot is tricky because the assignment includes a week of pedaling 400 km off pavement on trails with no support vehicle. Will I ever I do a photo assignment that was actually easy? The big challenge on this assignment is I will have to carry all my own gear. My solution is

Arapiles: Favorite Rock Pile

The best trad rock climbing in the world has to be in Arapiles, Australia. I am just back from my second visit to "Raps" where I spent a week climbing the easy grades. It's the rock quality and natural lines that make Arapiles so exceptional.  From the distance Arapiles doesn't look like much more than a pile of slag, But up close, I mean really up close, you'll find nearly every square millimeter of this pile to be beautiful, at least to the eyes of a rock climber. This time around I spent the non-climbing moments in the  morning and evenings wandering around the place, exploring the crags and photographing good looking rock. Yep, I was wishing I could climb grade 25 (5.12) so I could power-up up some of Arapilies finer climbing lines. Maybe on my next visit.

A bird pauses under the north face of Death Row Pinnacle

Mesa Arch Canyonlands

I am working on a story about adventuring in Canyonlands. I was looking for an opening spead shot that kind of says it all about this amazing park. I didn't need to look further than Mesa Arch at sunrise. I got there before the photo crowds and despite the evening rain the morning was clear and sunny. You gotta like that.

Window to the world

I have heard that the eye is the window to the world, but I know it's often a camera that enables those sights to be shared. One of the things I enjoy most as a photographer is being witness to some incredible places. 

Storm building in the Trango Towers, Northern Pakistan

After the high water on the lower Franklin River, Tasmania, Australia.

The wind in the Eastern Sierra Mountains, California.

Rocky Mountains, British Columbia, Canada.                            South Rim of the Grand Canyon, Arizona.

The Headwall West Buttress, Denali, Alaska

The Maze, Canyonlands, Utah

West Coast, South Island, New Zealand.

Granite boulders of Catavina, Mexico.

Rain storm in the New Zealand Alps.

 

New Photography Column: Australia Geographic Outdoor Magazine

My first photo column for Australia Geographic Outdoor is in the winter July/August 2011 issue of magazine. This will be a regular column that focuses on photography in the outdoors. I look forward to sharing more photo adventures and techniques in the upcoming issues of Outdoor. 

 

 

Photo of the week: Murrumbidgee River

Sea kayaking upstream on the Murrimbigee River past a big red gum tree lining the bank near Gundagai, New South Wales. In places the strong river currents would grab the bow of the boat. Going upstream was a practice of eddy hopping to avoid fighting the strong currents in the main stream. Paddling down stream was much easier, you just needed to watchful and not wrap the boat on submerged logs. Photo was made using my Nikon D-3s with the 24-70 2.8 at 24 mm.

 

 

Broken Hill

Click the link below or (here) to view images I made for a story feature Broken Hill: After the Rains published this month in Australia Geographic magazine. The Australian outback around Western New South Wales and the Darling River Basin look very different now following months of local heavy rains and flood waters flowing from Queensland. The best part about this assignment was the chance to witness a once in a lifetime phenomenon and a desert transformed. When shooting the aerial photos for this story I discovered every dry lake bed filled with water, the rivers over their banks and the red desert turned green. And it appears the continued flooding in Queensland will bring even more water to the desert. 

 

Photo(s) of the Week: shooting with a 35 mm focal length lens

I am thinking about getting the new Fuji X100 compact camera that is being released this month. One possible issue with the camera is it has a fixed lens. I wondered if this fixed 22 mm (35 mm equivilent) lens would work for me or if it would be a big limitation.

I found the answer to this qustion by looking at images I am editing for my stock agency. I checked the metadata from those images to see what focal length I used. It turns out I use the classic street photography focal length of 35 mm quite often.  Here is a selection of the photos that I took using my Nikon D300s at the 35 mm focal length. The 35mm focal length does seem to have a timeless street style look. I guess this means I'll have to place my order.

     

All these these images are taken in either mainland Australia or Tasmania.

 

 

Packrafting the Franklin River Tasmania

I am just returning from packrafting the Franklin River in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park in South West Tasmania with Roman Dial and his son Rome. The Franklin River is Australia's equivalent of the Grand Canyon for its sense of remote wilderness and challenging boating. We took 5 days exploring the 100 kilometer long canyon from the confluence with the Collingwood to Sir John Falls on the Gordon River. Click here for Roman's video from the adventure.

The rivers fast moving waters offer kayakers, rafters and especially packrafters with day after day of challenging white water. Our first camp, perfect for three people, was the Huon Pine camp ten kilometers down stream from the Collingwood-Franklin confluence. The Huon Pine that is this camps name stake is over a meter wide and is estimated to be almost 1,500 yeas old. This Huon, seen in the picture above, has a perfect view of the Franklin and grows just above the high flood zone 18 meters above the river level .

Scouting river left on the lower rapids of Thunder Rush in the Franklin Rivers Great Ravine. Our portage around this rapid involve a high portage requiring some fixed line and a short rappel back to the river.