wildlife photography

Best Places for Wildlife Photography In Australia

Wildlife Down Under

It is hard to think of Australia without thinking of its magnificent wildlife. From kangaroo’s hopping in mobs across the open outback, to koalas lazing around in eucalyptus trees, Australia has an abundance of wildlife. For wildlife photographers, Australia is high on the list of dream locations to go to capture these amazing animal in the wild.

I spent 2.5 years in Australia in the working visa program. I traveled over 30,000 miles around the vast continent and visited many National Parks. I had my Nikon D500 and Tamron 150-600mm with me the whole time, capturing as much of the wildlife as I possibly could.

Below are the best places I have visited for wildlife photography in Australia.

Kakadu National Park

  • Location: Top End of The Northern Territory

  • Nearest City: Darwin (160km)

  • Size: 4.89 million acres

  • Notable Wildlife: Brumbies, water buffalo, crocodiles, wallabies, 280 bird species

Kakadu National park is an amazing spot for wildlife photography. Covering 4.89 million acres of billabongs, waterfalls, savanna woodlands, and lowlands Kakadu hosts a large amount of wildlife. Approximately 280 different bird species, 60 mammal species, 25 species of frogs, and 117 species leaves no shortage of wildlife to photograph.

The wet season is from November-March and can be very inconvenient/ impossible for wildlife photography. Roads flood and become inaccessible and a lot of the park will close down. Rivers flood making it harder to find crocs on the boat cruises.

Read More: Best Way To See Crocodiles in Australia

Cape Range National Park

  • Location: Coral Coast Western Australia

  • Nearest Town: Exmouth (45km)

  • Size: 124,988 acres

  • Notable Wildlife: Emus, wallabies, dingoes, whale sharks

Cape Range National Park is an amazing spot to visit as a wildlife photographer. Black-footed wallabies can be seen in the lime stone range. Wallabies, emus and dingoes can frequently be seen as you drive the main road of the park. Most of the wildlife is accustomed to cars and will not flee when you get close enough to get a good shot.

The park borders the pristine waters of The Ningaloo Reef. There are plenty of opportunities for underwater wildlife photography if you have the proper equipment. Swimming with whale sharks is a popular activity when the largest fish is present in the area (March-August)

Magnetic Island

  • Location: North Queensland

  • Nearest City: Townsville (8km)

  • Notable Wildlife: Koalas, Wallabies, Echidnas, Death Adders

Located by just a short ferry ride from Townsville lies Magnetic Island. Magnetic Island is a 12,851 acre island and two-thirds of the island is a National Park. While there is an abundance of wildlife on the island, the main animal to go see and photograph would be koalas.

Watch On YouTube: WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY | Koalas, Wallabies, and a Spider

Magnetic Island boast about several hundred koalas. They are all over the island but are easiest to spot on the forts walk. Koalas can sleep up to 20 hours a day, so they can frequently be spotted sleeping in the trees. This Aussie icon is spectacular to see in their natural habitat and Magnetic Island would be my go to photograph and view koalas in the wild.

Watch On YouTube: Wildlife Photography | Koalas

Bladensburg National Park

  • Location: Outback Queensland

  • Nearest Town: Winton (20km)

  • Size: 209,792 acres

  • Notable Wildlife: Red Kangaroos, Emus, Bustards

Bladensburg National Park is a place that one would think of when the Australian Outback comes to mind. Large red kangaroos can frequently be seen hopping around in the first morning light and last light of the day. Wildlife can be easily spotted over the vast grassland plains and river flats. There is a campground at the park so you can set up a base as you wander around the dusty roads in search of wildlife to photograph.

Watch On YouTube: Wildlife Photography in Outback Australia | Kangaroos in Bladensburg

Bladensburg has amazing backdrops for photos. For photography, it really puts these amazing animals in the proper Aussie outback environment. The park is a bit off the beaten path and doesn’t get too busy, so there aren’t too many vehicles flying down the road to scare away the wildlife.

Watch On YouTube: Photographing Landscapes and Wildlife in Bladensburg National Park

5 Wildlife Photography Tips

Here are 5 tips that I have found to be very useful while photographing wildlife. Some of these will be very obvious but I hope you can come away with some valuable information.



1. Get up early / Stay out late

The best light is indeed in the golden hour. About an hour after sunset and an hour before sunrise. Also animals are more active during this time of day so the chances of seeing wildlife increases.

GCOTY-44.jpg

Taken right after sunrise. The light is much better than harsh daytime light.

2. Use a blind / hide

Staying hidden from wildlife is crucial in order to capture natural behavior. When people are present animals act differently. When you can watch the wildlife unseen you can come away with some very unique photographs of interesting behaviors. A great, and somewhat unthought of blind is a car. Driving around roads in a national park and shooting out the window of the vehicle can be very beneficial. Animals that live in frequently visited areas are used to seeing cars so they will pay no attention when you park to photograph them. Other options can be to use a hunting pop up tent or lens coat has a special made photography hide that works very well.

GCOTY-18.jpg

I sat for hours in my blind in order to capture this coyote hunting.

3. Patience

Patience is a necessity when it comes to wildlife photography. Wildlife photography is not as exciting as it is sometimes made out to be. You must spend a lot of time out in the field waiting and watching for the perfect moment. I have spent weeks going out to photograph animals only to come back without taking a single picture or coming back with a terrible image. You must be persistent and never give up or you may never get good results.

Aus1-2.jpg

I spent 6 months working (hospitality) in the Red Centre of Australia. I went into the bush on almost every one of my days off trying to find dingos/kangaroos to photograph. This is one of the '“better” images I was able to capture.

4. Know your subject

It is very beneficial to know animal habitats and behaviors. Knowing what they like to eat and at what times of the day they are active can help you find a location to set up your tripod and big lens and wait. Tracking is also a very good skill to know. You can identify which kind of animals are in the area and also tell how long ago they have been present in an area. I use tracking a lot to tell where animals frequent. Game trails are great to wait by to see what kind of animals come along.


GCOTY-2.jpg

I set up next to a game trail knowing that deer frequent in the area due to an excessive amount of tracks.

5. Eye level

You will get better results by photographing at eye level. When you are looking down at a subject it makes the image look a bit unnatural. in exception to this, If you shoot far away with a long lens then the subject can appear to be at eye level even if you are above or below your subject.

BRTC.jpg

This cockatoo was high up in a tree. Since i was far away shooting at 550mm the bird appears to be somewhat at eye level.