Dog Rocks

Dog Rocks. 2019.

At Dog Rocks on the Golden Plains, this battered tree feels like a gatekeeper between paddock and sky, one limb arched low like a crooked arm, the other rising into a tangle that catches every bit of wind. The long exposure turns the night into a slow, luminous wash, star streaks brushing across the clouds while the foreground grass glows almost unreal in the torch and ambient light. I wanted the photograph to feel slightly enchanted rather than purely documentary, as if the tree had been caught mid gesture, holding its ground in a place that is usually passed at speed on the highway but rarely seen with this kind of patient, lingering attention.

24 mm • f/5.6 • 293 sec • ISO 100