photography tips

Gundabluie Wattle a Prickly Character

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Location photograph of Acacia victoriae or Gundabluey wattle, flowers, closeup on tree with natural lighting. Real photo.

Gundabluie Wattle: A Prickly Character of Outback Australia

Some Australian plants put on a show you can spot from the highway. Others need you to pull up, stretch your legs and have a proper look. Acacia victoriae, commonly known as Gundabluie wattle, falls somewhere between the two.

Its fluffy, pale yellow to creamy-white flowers might look gentle enough, but the alternative name, bramble wattle, gives the game away. This is a bush with a few sharp opinions about being handled.

Landscape photo, early morning light, scrubland with multiple Acacia victoriae plants in full bloom.
Scrubland with Acacia victoriae, common name Prickly Wattle or Gundabluey Wattle in flower. This Acacia grows in all mainland Australian states and the NT.

A wattle that gets around

Despite the name victoriae, this native isn’t confined to Victoria. Gundabluie wattle occurs naturally in every mainland Australian state and the Northern Territory, making it a familiar character across a broad sweep of inland Australia.

You might encounter it around inland creek lines, on alluvial flats or among dry woodland and scrub. It’s one of those plants worth keeping an eye out for as the country changes beyond the windscreen.

Around our patch near Mildura, it’s a lovely reminder that you don’t need to head halfway across the continent to find something worth pointing a camera at. Sometimes the small flowering shrub beside your lunch stop deserves as much attention as the grand landscape further down the road.

Soft flowers, sharp edges

Gundabluie’s rounded flower heads make a softer display than the brilliant gold many of us associate with Australian wattles. Against green to grey-green foliage, they reward a closer look.

Just watch where you put your hands. Paired spines can occur along the branches, and leaning in for a photograph can quickly become a practical lesson in why it’s also called prickly wattle.

For the botanically curious, those narrow “leaves” are actually phyllodes: flattened leaf stalks doing the work of leaves. No need to remember the word to enjoy the plant, but it’s a handy bit of trivia for your travelling companions.

Acaciavictoria, Gundabluey wattle, photographed against a vivid blue sky. A lot of negative space for design purposes in printing or web applications.
A branch of the native Australian wildflower Acacia victoriae, photographed with a lot of blue sky in the background. Excellent image for overlaying text or as a wrap-around cover.

A few ideas for the camera

Start with the whole shrub in its surroundings. A wider photograph tells the story of where it grows; then you can move closer for the flowers, branching patterns and finer details.

For a simple flower portrait, try changing your position until there’s a quiet background behind the bloom. A small step sideways can remove a distracting bright patch or tangle of branches without touching the plant.

Soft morning or late-afternoon light is a good starting point. If the breeze keeps shifting the flowers, try a faster shutter speed—or take a breather and wait for a lull. The bush rarely works to our timetable.

And leave the branch where you found it. The next traveller might appreciate the same photograph.

Bring a little of the outback home

Whether you’re collecting photographs, identifying plants along the way or simply enjoying a roadside wander, Gundabluie wattle deserves a second look.

You’ll also find Australian native plants and outback photography in our image collection, available to purchase or license. Something to browse when the trip is over—or while you’re planning the next excuse to get away.

Selling your photos

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Hay, NSW fire station photo for an article on selling your photos

Selling your photos online via a stock agency

Aerial view of vineyard surrounded by water for an article on selling your stock photos online
In this editorial image, we had permission to fly a drone over the property to take photos for a newspaper. However, we didn’t have a signed property release.

There is a ton of information all across the web telling you how to make your fortune selling pictures online.
Much of it is nothing more than rehashed bunkum cut and pasted from decades-old magazine articles. Then there is all that stuff written by people who have never sold a picture online or anywhere else.

This post is not a how-to article. Instead, it is a warning to would-be content creators.

Please read and understand the terms in any potential agency’s terms of use. They will all have a contract of some sort. They are occasionally hidden so that you are signing up blind. By submitting work, you are agreeing to their terms.

Determine what your cut of each sale or licensing agreement is. That is how much you get. You may be surprised that the contributor’s share of each transaction is peanuts. Percentages of sales retained by the agency vary widely. Usually, between 40% to 90%, and that is the honest ones.

Other dodgy operators will pass your sale through multiple wholly owned offices or branches. Each office will deduct the same percentage from the ever-diminishing price. Leaving you with virtually nothing from the sale.

Some agencies pay more for exclusivity, which is a good thing. But be aware that you may be liable for legal fees and expenses if a buyer purchases an exclusive licence, then discovers the image is used elsewhere and sues. That is fair, but you would be surprised how many photographers provide exclusive content to multiple outlets. Exclusive is Exclusive, and that is why you get paid more.

As a contributor selling your photos through a stock photography agency, you are also responsible for ensuring you are the sole owner of the copyright. The image cannot be licensed for commercial use if there are recognisable people in the shot. It is your responsibility to ensure there is a model or talent release on everyone in a photograph. Get this wrong and you will be the one in court, not the agency.

One of the workarounds for the above is to mark your photos for editorial use only. That isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card. Many jurisdictions have different rules regarding what an editorial image is.

Some buildings, almost all company logos, and even plant varieties have intellectual rights that can be infringed and land you in court. In fact, the list is nearly infinite. In most cases, your contributor agreement will state that you are responsible for court costs and damages.

Aerial stok photo of grape harvester workinfg.
An example of an image that I can’t sell as commercial stock, even though I had permission to fly low in a helicopter and take photos for editorial use. I didn’t obtain signed model releases from the operators.

 

I’m not trying to put you off selling your stock photos; just trying to tell you some of the stuff nobody seems to want to say to you.

And finally, you will need to keyword, tag and caption your stock photos. Make sure this meta-data, as it is referred to, is accurate. Providing inaccurate information can also end up with you fronting a judge somewhere when some large corporate decides you have misled them.

You see, most agencies are large corporations, and they what to protect their corporate arses by making you the one responsible. Just saying….

Please don’t submit anything until you understand their contributor agreements.

Thunderstorm safety for photographers

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Spectacular lightning strike over salt lake outback Australia, in camera photograph, not digital manipulation, to illustrate blog post for outback photography about thunderstorm safety.
This is a single shot; the only enhancements were contrast and a tweak to the colour balance. There were no additional lightning strikes or cloud effects added to the photograph. And yes, the photographer was in the “death zone”, an idiotic thing to do.

 

Thunderstorm safety

Thunderstorms are a common natural occurrence. These storms are characterised by lightning, thunder, heavy rainfall, and strong winds. Photographers must know the dangers to avoid dying for that shot.

Thunderstorms can be dangerous and cause property damage or personal injury, and it’s essential to practice thunderstorm safety measures. One of the most important measures is maintaining a safe distance from electrical storms. In this blog post, we will explain how to estimate the reach of a thunderstorm and maintain a safe distance.

The first step to estimating the distance of a thunderstorm is to count the time between the lightning flash and the thunderclap. Sound travels approximately 340 meters per second, while light travels about 299,792 kilometres per second. The time delay between seeing the lightning flash and hearing the thunder can be used to estimate the storm’s distance.

Estimating the distance.

To estimate the distance of a thunderstorm, count the number of seconds between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder and divide by five. For example, if you count 10 seconds between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder, the storm is approximately 3 kilometres away. If you count 30 seconds, the storm is about ten kilometres away.
Maintain a safe distance from electrical storms, generally considered at least 10 kilometres away. Thunderstorms can produce lightning strikes that can travel several kilometres from the storm. Avoid being the highest point in an area during a thunderstorm, as lightning takes the shortest path from cloud to ground.

In conclusion, practising thunderstorm safety is crucial to avoiding potential danger during electrical storms. Estimating the distance of a thunderstorm using the time between lightning and thunder is a simple way to maintain a safe distance from the storm. Remember to stay at least 10 kilometres from any thunderstorm and avoid being at the highest point in the area.