I’ve been thinking about panoramas lately. The more I think about it, the more I think a 6x17 ratio is much more natural to me than squarer formats. I think I’ve always found the ‘standard’ 3x2 ratio awkward for composing.
I’ve always enjoyed the work of panoramic photographers. Books such as Ken Duncan’s Australia Wide, Wild Light by a collective of Australian photographers, even Phillipa Nikulinsky’s drawings in Cape Arid are an inspiration.
Recently, I’ve been really enjoying the YouTube videos of American photographer Nick Carver, who photographs architectural and desert scenes in large format 6x17 film. It is tempting to dive straight into buying a 6x17 film camera to play with, but the cost of the camera, plus the film, is probably unreasonably expensive for what it is.
Piccaninny Gorge in Purnululu (Bungle Bungle) National Park. The sides of the gorgeous were somehow luminously orange despite being in shade.
Feeling inspired, and attempting to avoid buying old and expensive equipment, I spent this morning looking through photos from a 2022 trip my wife and I did from the Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, west through the Kimberley and down the west coast to Perth.
There were a few photos that lent themselves to a 6x17 format. The images are mostly from three incredible places we visited - Purnululu (the Bungle Bungles), images above, about 200 km south of Kununurra in northern WA; Lake Argyle, in northern WA just across the border from the NT, images below; and Mitchell Falls in the remote north of the Kimberley, WA, images at bottom.
Spinifex and sparse trees on rocky ridge near Lake Argyle, WA.
Incredible dusk light on a sloping formation near Lake Argyle, WA. I kid you not, the colours in the moment were as incredibly intense as they appear here.
First light on a big exposed ridge near Lake Argyle, WA.
The incredibly cute Monjon at Mitchell Falls in the remote north of the Kimberley, WA.
Gecko at Mitchell Falls in the Kimberley. I ran into a reptile guy while spotlighting one evening, and following him around for a couple of hours. We saw several cool geckos and other bits and pieces.