For a very, very long time I’ve been meaning to get out to Uluru, the red heart of Australia, for photography. Prior to this trip the closest I’d been to the Outback was Silverton, which any real Australian will tell you is not the real Outback at all.

Although I generally steer towards more abstract imagery these days, I couldn’t resist this famous view. It really is a sight to watch the Rock glow at sunset. This was from Uluru Lookout not far from Yulara.

The first thing that strikes you is the rich, ochre red colour of the earth. It’s quite remarkable and alien at the same time. The two big attractions are, of course, Uluru itself, or Ayers Rock, and Kata-Tjuta. Apart from the resort town of Yulara, where we were based… that’s about it out there unless you want to venture to Kings Canyon or further afield.

Rich in iron, the soil and colours around Kata-Tjuta, here at Walpa Gorge, are incredible and completely alien.

I also spent a while walking around our resort looking for shapes and colours, anything of interest. I was really drawn to this simple scene and it has become of my personal faves from the trip.

Apart from photography, I’d booked a bunch of tours for the family, and we spent a lot of time at the free activities offered by the resort (Sails In The Desert). The kids picked up a lot of information, as did I, and we found the resort a great place to be in general, with great food and facilities.

Unable to hire a car, owing to myself not realizing how damn busy the place gets, I had to work my photography around bus tours, which actually worked out well. What I hadn’t planned on was rain and cold, which is what we got the first day at Walpa Gorge, but it actually made for very abstract photos where I could blow out the sky and concentrate on the rock formations much like I did many years ago at the Remarkables on Kangaroo Island.

Closed for a few years now, you can still clearly see evidence of the walking trail to the top of Uluru on the rockface.

Throughout the trip I was conscious of the sacred areas of the Anangu people where photography is discouraged. This includes the whole back side of Uluru and the entire Valley of the Winds walk, which I did with my eight-year-old son later in the week. That said, there is no shortage of compositions, though I found I did have to look harder than I normally would to find something unique in a place that has been photographed perhaps millions of times.

After a few days of rain and cold, it was great to see the sun come out at Uluru. These days I pay much more attention to shadow, giving it equal importance. Here, the light cuts the frame into three distinct sections.

I love to find images that blend man-made with the natural world these days, whether they’re working for or against. This a very Aussie pairing.

As I do, I also spent some time wandering around the resort looking for interesting light and shapes, and these were actually among some of my favourites. I’ve also become increasingly interested in the relationship between man and nature, and Uluru is a perfect example of these two working at times both for and against one another.

Once again the GF50R made life very easy. I generally left it on Auto ISO and actually shot a wedding with the camera prior to this trip, which confirms it’s a camera that really can do it all. I only took one lens, the GF45-100mm F4, which is all I really needed, offering both a wide and slight tele when required. The files have come out rich and full of detail, most of which is sadly lost in web viewing.

I’ve been eyeing off this weathered tree in Walpa Gorge for years. It was great to finally tick this shot off my bucket list.

Uluru really changes depending on the time of day and lighting. Here you can see the sun is just starting to emerge.

This waterhole is a popular tourist site, but it’s also oddly meditative, as is most of Uluru.

If you are looking for something different, I highly recommend a trip out to the Northern Territory. Five days is about perfect to see everything, with flights running from most major cities daily. I was also lucky enough to do some aerial photography over Lake Amadeus while we were there. You can read all about that here.

For the full gallery of Uluru images, head here.