If you’re in the northern hemisphere like me, we’re just getting into the dead of summer. Is the heat getting to you? Well, if you head south… like “down under” south, Australia is right smack in the middle of winter. Nice and cool (for the most part, at least - weather in Australia can vary… it’s a whole continent, you know!), and ripe for photographers to invade and photograph. Join me on a virtual flight to Australia, exploring the land down under.

For most of us, one of the first things we think of when we hear “Australia” is koala bears. While the koala ‘bear’ (the koala isn’t actually part of the bear family, with it’s closest relatives being the wombat) is the first animal that comes to mind, it certainly isn’t the only animal to photograph in Australia. In fact, Australia is home to roughly 450 species of mammals, 300 species of lizards, 140 species of snakes, 2 species of crocodiles, 2,000 species of bony sea fish, 180 species of fresh water fish, 100 species of sharks, 50 species of rays, 750 species of birds, 2,000 species of flies, 5,000 species of bees, 110,000 species of insects and 2,000 species of spider. For those of us that love to photograph animals, being in Australia opens us up to thousands of species we can never find “up north.” One of the more common creatures, also synonymous with Australia, is the kangaroo. If you hang around the thousands of miles of beaches Australia has to offer to watch a sunset, you may even capture an image like this:

Of course, in addition to the animals, the beautiful scenery of a country that is an island (a whole continent, actually!) is enough to bring any travel photographer to Australia. With a coastline of approximately 35,000 kilometres (over 20,000 miles), there are endless possibilities of amazing beach/water/coastline photographs.

With all that water surrounding the country, there are also a lot of opportunities to photo in the water. There are countless opportunities to go scuba diving, snorkeling, hot air balloon rides along the coast, etc. Suffice it to say, if you can pick up underwater camera housing for your dSLR, there’s a whole other world to photograph underwater.

The animals and scenery warrant several trips to Australia alone, with enough to keep even the most active of photographers busy for months, but Australia also offers some amazing architecture to photograph as well. One of the most famous, and most photographed structures in Australia is the Sydney Opera House. Just recently appointed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is one of the most distinctive and famous 20th century buildings.

Australia consists of six states, two major mainland territories, and other minor territories which is spread out over 7.5 million square kilometres (almost 3 million square miles) of landmass. Needless to say, there’s a lot to photograph. Bring lots of memory cards, as everywhere you turn, there are dozens of photographs to take. While a lot of Australia is relatively empty (particularly inland), but there’s more than enough to cover multiple trips. Whether you backpack it, take a guided tour, or just stick to one of the major cities, a photography trip to Australia almost guarantees you’ll return with a large collection of beautiful photographs.