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I'll be staying in Cairns for about a week soon and was wondering if people had any recommendations for some good locations I might consider taking photographs at. I'll be with my family and we'll be doing the normal touristy thing as well so I'm not going to be able to just run off for days and shoot, however if there are places which are either quick to get to from Cairns/Trinity Beach (so I might go myself) or also suitable for the kids to be entertained for a while as well. FYI: I'll also have a car for the week.

Some I'm already aware of include (but if you have any specific location advice (e.g. park at XX and go to the YY at dawn, etc) at that location I'd be happy to hear it):
• Cairns Esplanade
• Cairns Botanical Gardens
• Trinity Inlet
• Mossman Gorge
• Crystal Cascades
• Daintree
• Cape Tribulation (I assume this is probably a full day trip from Cairns - any specific places the whole family could easily get to and have fun?)
• Atherton Tablelands (again a day trip?)

Pretty piss poor response from teh QLDer's..well i guess we should not expect much more..

I was up that way some time ago for a wedding, awesome and i mean, awesome location, you can drive less than 1000kms and see absolutely shitloads, from memory we went north to the daintree (after port douglas for a wedding), camped up there, snorkelled, dived and all teh rest, then travelled back down south to ipswitch? then went inland to the atherton tablelands (make sure you do the waterfall circuit) then some how managed to get back to cairns...

if i had more time i could probably expand, however rather I will attach a few images from locations i found photographically inspiring which may give you some ideas.

Mareeba wetlands (Atherton Tablelands), uninspiring normally but sunset brings this place to life. Whilst you don't drink coffee, they do a good bean up there too.



Port Douglas, a bit too touristy for me, but great weather and plenty of scenery...



Cape Tribulation, we did not spend much time there, just enough for a couple of dives...



fing figtrees, they are everywhere i cannot remember where this one was, however mossman gorge has some absolute crackers...



Do a croc tour, they are worth it imo, take your 300, it will be enough in terms of length.


remember its ok to take shots in teh middle of the day, its a damn sight easy then sunrise, plenty of interesting beaches up in cape trib.



Noahs beach, can't remember much from this night, too many beers. I did take a picture tho.



Mossman Gorge, this place is great, its good at all times of the day but i would suggest early morning.., avoid the crowds and get the nice light on the water features, make sure you get off the beaten track to get something diffeent on the water side of things.

This was probably the best location for me, very tranquil, great trees and amazing water.





Joesphine Falls - I did even look at these images until tonight this is a great location, really really easy to get to, from memory its a tarred walk from teh carpark to the falls... wheelcahir accessible!?



Now, up in the Atherton Tablelands, the falls circuits, 3 locations, definitely do it, its all within a hour drive from memory





alright, thats it for me! i think i have spammed ya enough, if you have any questions drop send me a txt, prolly easier than typing more

and most important of all, remember when you get charged by a cassowary STOP DROP and ROLL... (well it sounded good at teh time)

Wow what a cache of pictures!! I need to plan a trip up there at somestage. That light on the tall tree is absolutely sublime!

biggerry wrote:awesome location, you can drive less than 1000kms and see absolutely shitloads, from memory we went north to the daintree (after port douglas for a wedding), camped up there, snorkelled, dived and all teh rest, then travelled back down south to ipswitch? then went inland to the atherton tablelands (make sure you do the waterfall circuit) then some how managed to get back to cairns...

This is when that GPS tagger becomes useful.

biggerry wrote:Pretty piss poor response from teh QLDer's..well i guess we should not expect much more..

Yes, it was... but we have been busy winning soccer, netball, State of Origin and Super Rugby titles - therefore no time for holidays.

I would have replied if I had recent local knowledge, but I haven't been to North Queensland for 10 years.

I was supposed to go to Port Douglas a fortnight ago, but a family medical emergency prevented that.

Excellent photos from Gerry and your own info seems on the money.

Have a great time.

the foto fanatic wrote:

biggerry wrote:Pretty piss poor response from teh QLDer's..well i guess we should not expect much more..

Yes, it was... but we have been busy winning soccer, netball, State of Origin and Super Rugby titles - therefore no time for holidays.

lol true, i will give yas that..

surenj wrote:Wow what a cache of pictures!! I need to plan a trip up there at somestage. That light on the tall tree is absolutely sublime!

yeah its pretty damn awesome, I would love to go back for a week just for the photographic side of things...

Regarding that tree (the second one), that is SOOC, it was amazing light, just enough gap in the canopy to light up the base.

These were back in the days when I had only one lens, the 18-200mm, and shot mostly in jpeg, certainly made the whole experience easier imo.

surenj wrote:This is when that GPS tagger becomes useful.

yeah very true.

Sorry Rodney.

biggerry wrote:These were back in the days when I had only one lens, the 18-200mm, and shot mostly in jpeg, certainly made the whole experience easier imo.

True on both counts. I reckon most amateurs go through a few stages.

1. one lens/ one body/ JPEG simple workflow
2. Few slow zoom lenses / RAW workflow
3. second or third body (mostly unused)
4. Expensive 2.8 zooms + some primes
5. all primes (now zooms unused)
6. all third party manual primes
7. sell the whole lot
8. large sensor compact/ one prime lens - ?RAW
9. SLR (or whatever they are called these days) with one prime shooting JPEG
10. back to JPEG
11. One camera that they use with one lens.... Not so obscessive about technicalities anymore... Grainy/ OOF who cares!

Almost like a great story I am sure some have heard.....
A rich investor goes to a tropical third world small island on holiday. While he is lazying in the sun, he notices a fisherman who goes about his business everyday. He goes fishing for a few hours everyday and brings back some fish enough for his family and a little bit to sell. He finishes work at midday and goes home for a siesta. He spends his afternoons with his wife, family and in the evening visits the pub daily. At night, they gather around a fire singing songs and dancing. This repeats most days.
One day the investor pulls the fisherman aside and suggests a way to improve things. The suggestion is as follows.
1. Work in the afternoon as well
2. Ear more money for a second boat
3. Hire some employees
4. Eventually he will have enough for a fleet.
5. As the fleet grows he will be able to export to other countries
6. He will be the CEO/ founder of a large co-operation
7. He can move to the USA and expand
7. Eventually it will become big enough for an IPO and sell for a large sum of money

The fisherman listens to this idea and thinks for a while and says "But senoir what am I going to do with all that money?". The investory says "well, you can retire to a small island in the tropics, just have one little boat, go fishing everyday for a few hours, catch a few fish, have a siesta, spend time with your family, enjoy the pub and sing around a fire at night"
Well you get the picture.

Maybe we can start another thread....

Ok I've started another thread....
http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=41480&p=433173#p433173

You could also consider the Kuranda Scenic Railway as an option... I think most of the other possibilities are already covered except for the odd island hop but they don't present well as photo opportunities from memory.

Thanks Gerry - that's awesome. Were here now and I'm typing this on my iPad so this will be brief
There were some great shots and locations there - I don't think we will get to even half of them but will see what I can get

I agree with Gerry for most of the spots to visit. Honestly most beaches up near Daintree are as good as that at cape trib.
I would possably consider the crater as well if you are up for more on the Atherton.
If you want a little walk then Mnt Bartle Frere is an interesting place to go.

What sorts of things are you wanting to see?

It is gods own country up on the Atherton.