North Queensland Wildscapes Phototours with Paul Curtis

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North Queensland Wildscapes Phototours with Paul Curtis

Photographic adventures in North Queensland Australia. Book a variety of custom tours. Maximum number is 4 adults so each trip is flexible to suit your needs.
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Join me in a tour around some of the less visited but extremely photogenic sites around the tropical north. Tours are varied to suit the customer and the prevailing weather and conditions, but foremost is the goal of finding some remarkable sites and returning with wonderful pictures. Tours can be half day, full day or one or more nights away to capture the golden hours of dusk and dawn. I’m there

to provide a window into the true north Queensland and to assist you where I can to get the best out of the opportunity. I cater for the experienced enthusiast/professional or if you are new to outdoors photography I’d like to help you get the best out of your camera and the wonderful subjects presented. No rushing from place to place and packing up unless you are satisfied. Costs are all inclusive except where indicated on my website. I can collect you from anywhere in Cairns to the northern beaches (up to Palm Cove) and departure times depend a bit on your location—but generally around 8.00am. I don’t have a schedule in that certain places are visited on certain days. You let me know what sounds appealing and when you are available. If you are travelling singly I can establish a “schedule” around your availability (time permitting) and see if others are interested on the day to bring the price down. Otherwise the half or full day fee will have to apply. (see the prices page on my website). All these tours are designed to be only mildly strenuous so you don’t need to feel limited in what photo equipment you bring. For the more adventurous and fit I have some spectacular walks into remote country that can be customized to your time, fitness and photographic objectives. Overnight tours can be arranged and require a degree of self-sufficiency and preparedness to “rough it” a bit, however, all meals and equipment can be provided—just remember your camera(s), batteries and cards! Oh, and a tripod if you have one. I look forward to meeting you on a tour and talking cameras and experiences.

27/07/2025

Managed to score a 2nd in this comp. First photo comp I've entered in 40 years. Maybe I should enter another.😊

24/07/2025

Photoyarn 135
It’s Not Over Just Yet
Casual acquaintances of mine often seem to think I’m some kind of bushwalking legend mainly on account of me having written books and articles on the subject. I hate to disappoint these nice people so I tend to avoid going on group walks where I tend to lag behind. I turn 70 next year which seems really, really old. So, what do you do? Quietly fade away? Not bloody likely! So, living in north Queensland and knowing my way around gives me the chance and the background to find pretty good places that are virtually unexplored (and un-photographed) that aren’t too far off the beaten track. Maps, Google earth and drones turn up all sorts of interesting places that attract my attention and imagination. I recently noticed something interesting in the corner of a drone photo I took a few weeks ago. Flying around a boulder-strewn mountain that I had little likelihood of climbing I noticed the valley below was similarly covered in house-sized boulders elegantly scattered around this broad, somewhat hidden valley. I sniffed and smelled adventure! Finding my way into this valley seemed a more achievable plan. I have to admit I hadn’t backpacked anywhere with cameras and camping gear for a while as I determined an overnighter was necessary. A short reccy to the area determined the best way in so a few days later I got myself up at 4 am for a dawn start. This turned out to be a good idea. I don’t do heat very well so starting off at about 11 degrees got me up and into this valley by about 10am and still feeling in good nick despite it being a pretty rough walk. That afternoon I had a great time rambling around the grassy hillsides methodically exploring one huge boulder after another and a nice night was had camping in a sandy creek bed underneath one of those boulders. Feeling quite good at having pushed myself to go somewhere where I am certain no one goes and seen and captured sights that probably no one has photographed to any great extent.

12/07/2025

Photoyarn 134
The phonewalk
Certain things I like to do to challenge myself with photography. One is to wander around with just a single prime lens and then search for subjects that conform to that limitation. It’s fun and it often reaps rewards and gets you to really focus on the things around you in a limited format. Extreme lenses like fish-eye, macro and big telephotos are good for this. Another is to take a risk and just walk around with my phone, leaving all the expensive pro gear behind. I did this recently on a damp and misty day in my favourite area of Top Nettle where the rocks, leaves and tree trunks glistened in the light rain. You had to shoot quickly to avoid water on the lens and so another reason not to go full tripod on this landscape. I have mentioned in earlier posts that I bought myself a decent phone with nice Leica lenses and big(ish) sensor so I had half a chance of doing okay. The view through the big phone screen makes it easy to find compositions and capture just what you see.
(2 of these photos were taken with the "big" camera. Can you can pick them)?

06/07/2025

Photoyarn 133
The Mangrove Boardwalk
Mangrove forests mean many things to many people. For many it’s a slightly creepy, dark place with deep mud, odd smells and more than the odd mosquitoe and a hint of crocodile. When the Cairns Airport had a major upgrade years ago a bitumen road cut a swathe through a tall, mature mangrove forest. Virtually a salt water rainforest. Tall trees with rambling buttresses. All the big trees have succumbed to exposure but a boardwalk through the forest remains – the Jack Barnes Memorial Boardwalk. For a few years it fell in to disrepair depriving many of a fairly unique north Queensland experience. Following its recent re-opening I thought I would have a memorial walk through.

26/06/2025

Photoyarn 132
Top Nettle (again)
My last trip of 2024 was to one of my favourite botanical paradises known locally as Top Nettle which is in the high country south-west of Herberton. Despite it being December the 1,000m+ altitude made the weather quite pleasant and encouraged cross-country ramblings. A late afternoon and early morning was very pleasantly spent wandering the hills and finding some nice scenes. The favourite Lemon-scented and Pumpkin Gums were resplendent in their fresh bark and of course fields of grass trees, lush green Cyprus pines and colourful granite boulders dotted the landscape..

18/06/2025

Photoyarn 131
Lucinda and Taylor’s Beach
I had driven the road between Cairns and Townsville many, many times and until recently never spent any time in Ingham’s coastal “suburbs”. Halifax, Taylor’s Beach, Forrest Beach and Lucinda sit between the mighty Herbert River and the serpentine Victoria Creek and Halifax Wetlands National Park. They are quiet little coastal hamlets just far enough off the highway to get overlooked by tourists wanting to get from A to B. We chose Taylor’s Beach as our base for 2 nights while we explored the area in beautiful but hot weather.

16/06/2025

Pandanustry
The challenge of making the humble but ubiquitous pandanus tree something of a icon amongst trees. People that know me know that I have a bit of a thing for trees so here’s a selection of these trees that have made an artistic impression on me over the years. The Art of Pandanustry.

15/06/2025

Photoyarn 130
Etty Bay
Continuing my travels along the Queensland coast a few months ago it was Etty Bay’s turn for an overnighter. While I didn’t get any shots of the regular cassowary visitors I did catch a nice sunrise and always fun playing around with starlight and an interesting foreground. I dropped in a cassowary shot from an earlier trip though.

12/06/2025

Been indulging in some wild scenery west of Cooktown for the last 3 days
Some epic scenery.

23/05/2025

Photoyarn 129
The Daintree River
After a fun photographic trip to Cape Trib with good company I was bitten by the Daintree Bug. No, not a rabid insect but the desire to get back there soon. The ferry was free between November and February so added incentive. We finished off our previous Cape Trib trip at Cape Kimberly and the mouth of the Daintree River. It had been a few years and I had forgotten how wild and spectacular it can be – and fairly easy to get to. So I went back a week later and spent a moonlight night up late and getting some ghostly shots. It was slightly creepy wandering around the creeks and estuaries under moonlight on my own so I was always looking over my shoulder but well worth it. Many of these shots were taken with my new phone that I was putting through it’s paces.

15/05/2025

Photoyarn 128
Late last year I spent a few rainy days in the Cape Trib area with a bunch of other photographers. The weather and time of the year meant lonely beaches and moody skies just perfect for dramatic but unsellable images! Here’s a few wet tropical creek, beach and mountain scenes with the photographers who inhabit them. Locations in the comments.

06/05/2025

Herbert R Reprise pt 2
Up in the air
Finishing off the Herbert River for 2024 here are some aerial scenes. I tend to use my drone as a substitute tripod – a portable lookout as I referred to it in an earlier Photoyarn. Positioning it where I would put my “land camera” if I could. The mist and smoke made big scenes less impactful but getting in close paid benefits. A short video compilation in there too.

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+61408835160

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http://www.nqwildscapes.com/

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