Driving Margaret River, time lapse.

1,332 kilometres in 5 days (or, 827 miles). Fairly straightforward, in one the trip should take nearly 17 hours, and I had 120 to spare. Well, that’s not including all the photography, sleeping & eating that I had to do as well.This kind of assignment highlights just how large Australia is, and Margaret River is still a relatively close getaway to the WA capital Perth.

In a camper van, overland, it will take time (and some cash too), however this is how Australia begs to be seen.

I really wanted to highlight the distance travelled over that week, so I set up a camera in the passenger seat and had it chimp away (roughly every 3 seconds for those who want to know) for the entire trip for the above time lapse video. I used a small Canon for the job, the footage is a bit rough as a result, however serves a purpose. I hope.

Great band ‘Tax the Heat’ very graciously allowed me to use the song ‘Fed to the Lions’ for the video, many thanks to Alex and the guys for that!

View more from Margaret River, Perth, and Western Australia:

Western Australia gallery | Trip Instagram | Driving Margaret River |  Sunday Times Travel Magazine

If you would like to commission this or any of my work please feel free to email me: philhill@philhillphotography.com

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On assignment in Perth & Margaret River, Western Australia.

What could be better than a great bottle of wine to enjoy with a well-selected dinner? One with a story to go with it, and I have one white and one red, both improved with a good yarn and a whole load of ‘did you knows’ to go with it.

Driving down a long tree-lined road, vineyards beyond, the countryside is seeming in green as the sunlight filters through the leaves, obliging me to don a pair of sunglasses. I’m on my way to another fine dining experience, however I am not here to indulge, it’s part of a wider shoot on regional food and wine draws, on assignment for The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and have been bundled into a fairly hefty and lumbering 4-birth camper van that handles like a sail that think it’s a kite, so much so that I actually had to cut into the wind to drive in a straight line! Spending 5 days photographing the best of what Perth, Margaret River, and the greater south Western Australia has to offer; degustation, exclusive wine, and ‘black gold’ or perigord truffles, A big point-to-point road trip.

When I got the call to shoot, I was pretty happy; ‘gentleman’s photography’, decadent adventuring, I think that Western Australia does upper-class vacationing very well indeed, and especially in Margaret River, where the Australian middle-classes come to spend their money whilst eyeing up a stunning retirement property set among rolling rows of chardonnay. Trouble was every time I have visited the region before, totalling 4 times to date, the weather was terrible, overcast, and raining more than one occasion. You see, contrary to popular belief, this part of Australia has fairly unpredictable weather and rains quite a bit. The wine makers will revel at the regions similarity to the climate of Bordeaux in Southern France, which I am sure must help the vineyards flourish. My experience was akin to a British summer washout. Not freezing but still reaching for my Jumper to go under my raincoat.

Driving the van to the next location, it suddenly dawns on me that I am one Michael Caine impression short of this being my own personal Australian spin-off of ‘The Trip’ albeit minus a Rob Brydon character (or Steve Coogan depending on your thinking) this sets me off in true theatrical style, a full-bodied rendition of:

“Gentlemen to bed, for we rise at daybreak”

That also meant I was behind the wheel of a large camper van talking to myself!

Cape Grace was the smallest vineyard, true to the words I was illustrating, greeted by an excitable little terrier by the name of Rusty, to then be hustled into the winery warehouse by an equally excitable Robert Karrri-Davies, the vineyard owner.

“I’ve got a great shot for you, going on now”

As it transpires, Robert was a pro photographer of some 25 years experience, based in Northwest Canada as a stringer shooting high-profile sporting events, corporate and advertising gigs. We talked shop over a coffee walking past his impressive display of collected equipment (a whole heap of Hassleblads!), we exchanged tips, though to be fair, he was giving me them. Before I hit the road, he gave me a fantastic bottle of Cabernet Shiraz, I could’ve easily stayed.

Western Australia defines its appeal with an abundance of rich natural beauty; the southern part of the state is tripping over itself in cove after coastal view after cliff top beach scene. I stopped at Salmon beach near a small settlement of beach shacks called Windy Harbour to shoot the setting sun, noting that this has also has been a trip marked by extremes, of food mainly; from the highest order of prepared gourmet meals to the pot noodle I downed whilst staying in the 5-star Cape Lodge resort and the dollar burgers I was now frying up in this beach car park, under the watchful glance of the milky-way.

View more from Margaret River, Perth, and Western Australia:

Western Australia gallery | Australia Instagram | Trip Instagram | Van-Lapse – The Movie | Sunday Times Travel Magazine

If you would like to commission this or any of my work please feel free to email me: philhill@philhillphotography.com

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Western Australia for The Sunday Times travel Magazine.

Earlier this year in march, I shot a very nice feature showing all the very best food, wine, and sights of Western Australia. The beautiful south-west region of Margaret River excels in high quality culinary travel and an absolute pleasure to photograph.

View more from Margaret River, Perth, and Western Australia:

Western Australia gallery | Australia Instagram | Trip Instagram | Van-Lapse – The Movie | Driving Margaret River

If you would like to commission this or any of my work please feel free to email me: philhill@philhillphotography.com

The post Tear Sheet – The Sunday Times travel magazine appeared first on .

Gili Meno for Garuda Indonesia inflight magazine.

If you happen to find yourself flying with Indonesian airline Garuda Indonesia this month, look out for my latest published feature on the middle of a three-island archipelago, Gili Meno. Not to worry though, the magazine is readily available online for a read too.

Garuda Colours May

You may also notice that I tapped out the words for this article:

“A small boat forges a path across the channel, turning its wake from turquoise blue to a cooling white spray. The slow-moving vessel sets the pace, closing in on a white strip of sand over at Meno Harbor in front of us.

The island of Gili Meno is part of a small three-island archipelago off the northwest coast of Lombok, made up of Gili Trawangan, Gili Air, with Meno in the middle. It’s the smallest & least developed of the Gilis, attracting hardly any tourists, its ultimate appeal.”

Check out the tear sheet

View more from Indonesia:

Indonesia Gallery | Indonesia Instagram | Chasing Agung | Gili Meno and Mahamaya  | Garuda Colours May

If you have any questions about this or any of my work, please feel free to email me: philhill@philhillphotography.com

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Driving Margaret River, Western Australia. Instagram

In March I was on the road again. On assignment, photographing all the wonderful food and wine treats that Western Australia’s Perth and Margaret River region has to offer, lots of amazing vineyards and fine dining experiences, not to mention all the ‘black gold’ or Perigord black truffles. Bundled into a large camper van for little old me, I had a great time driving around the region ticking off all the locations on my pretty large shot-list. Incidentally  I also created a time-lapse from the passenger seat of the van which I’m now editing.

The feature will be out in May together with a few more of my images from the shoot. In the mean time, here are a few Instagram images I took along the way.

Perth & Margaret River: Instagram | Western Australia | Instacanvas | @philjhill Instagram profile  | Tumblr: Postcards

to commission this or any of my work please feel free to email me at: philhill@philhillphotography.com 

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