There’s a quiet magic that settles over the Donnybrook countryside just before the world fully wakes up. It’s a time when the air is cool, the light is soft, and a gentle mist often lingers in the valleys, clinging to the contours of the land like a whispered secret. It was chasing this ethereal atmosphere that led me out recently, well before dawn, camera in hand, to a favourite spot just south of town, towards the Ferguson Valley.
The scene that greeted me was pure South West poetry. Rolling hills, freshly shorn and dotted with the golden punctuation marks of hay bales, stretched out under a sky slowly warming from indigo to soft peach. But the true anchor, the soul of this particular morning, was a single, magnificent tree. Standing sentinel on a crest, its form was stark and beautiful against the mist-filled hollows below. There was a profound sense of solitude and resilience in its presence.
Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. It is the spiritual.
CHASING THE FLEETING LIGHT
Landscape photography, especially at dawn, is a dance with impermanence. That perfect mist, that specific quality of light – it’s there one moment and gone the next. I knew I had a narrow window. Setting up my tripod carefully on the dew-laden grass, I focused on composing the shot. The lone tree was the undeniable focal point, but the hay bales added rhythm and texture to the middle ground, leading the eye through the scene. The mist softened the distant hills, creating beautiful layers of depth and atmosphere.
TECHNICAL WHISPER
Capturing mist effectively requires a delicate balance. Expose too brightly, and you lose the mystery; too dark, and the details vanish. I metered carefully, often favouring the highlights to preserve the delicate glow of the rising sun while ensuring the tree retained its definition. A slightly longer exposure might have smoothed the mist further, but I opted for a faster shutter speed this time, wanting to capture the subtle textures within the vapour itself as it drifted. Patience was key – waiting for the breeze to still, for the light to hit that perfect golden angle on the tree’s bark.
MORE THAN JUST A SCENE
For me, this image encapsulates so much of what I love about photographing our region. It’s the quiet beauty, the dramatic interplay of light and weather, the enduring presence of the land shaped by agriculture (those hay bales tell a story!), and the resilience of nature represented by that solitary tree. It’s a reminder to slow down, to appreciate the fleeting moments of beauty that unfold around us, often unnoticed in the rush of daily life.
BRINGING THE LANDSCAPE HOME
There’s something incredibly grounding about bringing a piece of the South West landscape into your home. This image, printed large on fine art paper or luminous acrylic, becomes more than decoration; it’s a window to that serene morning, a touchstone of peace. The subtle textures of the grass, the soft gradients of the mist, and the strong silhouette of the tree truly come alive in a high-quality print.
EXPERIENCE THE SOUTHWEST
Moments like this are why I venture out with my camera. It’s about bearing witness to the quiet drama of our incredible corner of Western Australia and sharing that perspective. If this image resonates with you, imagine what we could capture of your favourite local vista, or the unique beauty of your property.
Until next time, keep looking for the light.
