Point Hicks – Sand, Rain and Dingoes

by David Cook

Point Hicks is on the south-east corner of mainland Australia and is well known for its scenic beauty, particularly the huge sand dunes. I recently spent a few days camping there with some fellow photographers, the aim being to ascend the 140 metre high sand dunes and undertake some photography.

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Digital images by David Cook - Point Hicks in Croajingalong National Park, East Gipsland, Victoria, Australia.

It was I who instigated the trip to Point Hicks in Croajingolong National Park in East Gipsland, Victoria.

The other fellows, three of my photography mates from the Bega area, got there a couple of days ahead of my time. By the time of my intended departure, the weather and the weather forecast had turned bad. Well, good if you’re a farmer, bad for camping and photography.

So having got a wet tail on many previous camping trips, I gave it a miss.

But David Cook has sent some photos and commentary which make me wish I’d braved the poor conditions and been there.

David continues:

Unfortunately the weather was not kind and we had rain every day, with lots of overcast and none of the harsh, bright days that cast good shadows on dunes.

Now, photography is about painting with light and if you have little available light you must change your approach or your aims. So, we checked out the beach at sunrise, looked for wildflowers, and cast about for the elusive dingoes. One afternoon, I did spot a dingo on the beach and the dog was perfectly spot lit by a shaft of light from the setting sun. Red dog against yellow sand and blue-grey sea, ahhh!!! But, wrong lens, wrong angle and age impaired reflexes meant that it will have to be another day.

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Digital images by David Cook - The wildflower (above) is an Epacris impressa which is the Victorian Floral Emblem. A Bega form of this species is the type usually found available in commercial nurseries.

Despite the weather, my friends wanted to show me the dunes and so up we went. Dingo tracks were everywhere and we even found tracks showing two adults traveling with two young. It was fascinating the way the younger dogs tried to step into the bigger dog’s prints and I can only assume that this was to make their progress over the sand a little easier. Certainly that worked for us and we walked in single file as we ascended the tallest dune.

I tried to practise a “minimalist” approach to my photography and got down low to accent the finer details on the subjects we found. Sadly, no dramatically contrasting, sweeping dune shots but, I will be back soon to try again.