Ken Dunca class – coastal lessons in landscape photography

Australian Traveller Australian Traveller
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Australian Traveller photography intern Daniel Hine gets a masterclass in landscape photography, comedy and humility from legendary Australian snapper Ken Duncan (all photos Daniel Hine)

My alarm went off and, after a couple of ‘snoozes’, I woke up to pitch blackness and crisp spring air flowing through my window. Usually I’d go back to bed, but today was the beginning of Ken Duncan’s Coastal Exposure 2014, a photography workshop based in picturesque seaside Terrigal on the New South Wales Central Coast.

 

We came from myriad career backgrounds, but we were all there to appreciate nature and capture its timeless beauty. The group’s skill ranged from the most extreme novice to amateurs and learned semi-pros. Ken had time for all of us.

 

It was odd waking up at these ungodly hours (did someone say be ready by 4am?), however, being out of my comfort zone was extremely rewarding. And, as Ken said, “sleeping is overrated."

Just like family

What truly made the weekend great were the people at the helm; the great Ken Duncan, his ever-efficient wife Pam, and the lovely Debbie Iverach. They really made us feel like family.

 

I have always looked up to Ken’s landscape work, and I know his talent is immense. What I did not know was that he was one of the most down-to-earth, caring, and funny people I’ve ever met, preferring to give all of his knowledge, as opposed to focusing on his own photos.

 

I wouldn’t call myself a novice photographer exactly, having done courses at university and practised for more than three years, and I knew I could glean some nuggets of information from Ken’s head.

 

There was a wealth of technical tips on offer, techniques such as blurring water at 1/15s shutter speed and slower, and utilising leading lines to draw in the viewer. We also delved into digital asset management, post-processing, stitching panoramas and printing techniques.

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Breaking the rules

The most important elements I took away from the workshop, however, were to enjoy the moment, capture the feeling, and break the rules where possible.

 

A landscape photographer’s mindset is a bit different than others’ – they appreciate beauty in the mundane, and are extremely patient while waiting for shots. On the first morning, after getting on the bus at 5am, bleary eyed and sleep deprived, we knew we’d be in for a busy and challenging few days. We did not, however, know the lengths we’d go to to get the shots.

 

A simple sunrise shoot at The Skillion at Terrigal was made a bit risky by an impending storm and high tide. To get this shot we had to traverse a rocky outcrop, down muddy slopes and onto slippery rocks. I even squeezed into a very low, tight cave just to get a different angle.

Anything to get the shot

We witnessed a pelican feed, where one of the photographers lay on the ground amidst a sea of white beaky birds seemingly unaware of his presence. Wings were everywhere, commotion aplenty, and droppings were, well, you do the math.

 

Also throughout the workshop we came perilously close to 100 stampeding horses, we navigated gushing waterfalls, and we rushed over seaside rocks to capture photos of a lighthouse at dawn.

 

Sounds exhausting? It wasn’t really, as each morning we’d return to the hotel after the early starts for a sumptuous buffet breakfast.

 

With recharged energy and idle chit-chat flowing, we were ready to tackle the rest of the day. More adventures, more learning and more capturing the essence of a location – letting it speak through our lenses. This is a frame of mind that Ken lives by.

 

He showed us a slideshow of his eye-opening homage to Australian life, the characters and locations he documents captured with such emotion and clarity. It is obvious that this man feels deeply for our sunburnt country.

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Ken the comedian

He has many touching stories to share, and some that had us in tears of laughter, as in one memorable anecdote about capturing one of his famous shots of the Bungle Bungles. Ken was waist deep in water to get the reflection, and fish started biting his ankles. He swears they had dentures and threatened to cook them for breakfast.

 

Lessons learned from the workshop? Do whatever you can to get the shot and, if the passion and determination are there, the photos will come.

 

Ken’s doggedness, along with his infectious humour, rubbed off on all of us. I left the workshop in high spirits, with a wealth of new knowledge, friends, and great photos to boot.

 

It’s a pity I have to wait a year for the next one.

 

For details on Ken Duncan’s photography workshops, see kenduncan.com

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The Macedon Ranges is Victoria’s best-kept food and wine secret

    Emily McAuliffe Emily McAuliffe
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    Located just an hour north-west of Melbourne, the largely undiscovered Macedon Ranges quietly pours some of Australia’s finest cool-climate wines and serves up some of Victoria’s best food.

    Mention the Macedon Ranges and most people will think of day spas and mineral springs around Daylesford, cosy weekends away in the countryside or the famous Hanging Rock (of enigmatic picnic fame). Or they won’t have heard of the Macedon Ranges at all.

    But this cool-climate destination has been inconspicuously building a profile as a high-quality food and wine region and is beginning to draw serious attention from oenophiles and epicureans alike.

    The rise of Macedon Ranges wine

    liquid gold barrels at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery
    Barrels of liquid gold at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

    With elevations ranging from 300 to 800 metres, Macedon Ranges vineyards are among the highest in the country. This altitude, combined with significant day/night temperature swings, makes for a slow ripening season, in turn nurturing wines that embody elegance and structure. Think crisp chardonnays, subtle yet complex pinot noirs and delicate sparkling wines, along with niche varietals, such as gamay and nebbiolo.

    Despite the region’s natural advantages – which vary from estate to estate, as each site embodies unique terroir depending on its position in relation to the Great Dividing Range, soil make-up and altitude – the Macedon Ranges has remained something of an insider’s secret. Unlike Victoria’s Yarra Valley or Mornington Peninsula, you won’t find large tour buses here and there’s no mass marketing drawing crowds.

    Many of the 40-odd wineries are family-run operations with modest yields, meaning the wineries maintain a personal touch (if you visit a cellar door, you’ll likely chat to the owner or winemaker themselves) and a tight sales circle that often doesn’t go far beyond said cellar door. And that’s part of the charm.

    Though wines from the Macedon Ranges are just starting to gain more widespread recognition in Australia, the first vines were planted in the 1860s, with a handful of operators then setting up business in the 1970s and ’80s. The industry surged again in the 1990s and early 2000s with the entry of wineries, such as Mount Towrong, which has an Italian slant in both its wine and food offering, and Curly Flat, now one of the largest estates.

    Meet the new generation of local winemakers

    the Clydesdale barn at Paramoor.
    The Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

    Then, within the last 15 years, a new crop of vignerons like Andrew Wood at Kyneton Ridge Estate, whose vineyard in 2024 was the first in the Macedon Ranges to be certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia; Geoff Plahn and Samantha Reid at Paramoor, who have an impressive cellar door with a roaring fire and studded leather couches in an old Clydesdale barn; and Ollie Rapson and Renata Morello at Lyons Will, who rapidly expanded a small vineyard to focus on top-shelf riesling, gamay, pinot noir and chardonnay, have taken ownership of local estates.

    Going back to the early days, Llew Knight’s family was one of the pioneers of the 1970s, replacing sheep with vines at Granite Hills when the wool industry dwindled. Knight is proud of the fact that all their wines are made with grapes from their estate, including a light, peppery shiraz (some Macedon wineries purchase fruit from nearby warmer areas, such as Heathcote, particularly to make shiraz) and a European-style grüner veltliner. And, as many other wineries in the region do, he relies on natural acid for balance, rather than an additive, which is often required in warmer regions. “It’s all about understanding and respecting your climate to get the best out of your wines,” he says.

    farm animals atKyneton Ridge Estate
    Curious residents at Kyneton Ridge Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

    Throughout the Macedon Ranges, there’s a growing focus on sustainability and natural and low-intervention wines, with producers, such as Brian Martin at Hunter Gatherer making waves in regenerative viticulture. Martin previously worked in senior roles at Australia’s largest sparkling winemaking facility, and now applies that expertise and his own nous to natural, hands‑off, wild-fermented wines, including pét‑nat, riesling and pinot noir. “Wild fermentation brings more complexity,” he says. “Instead of introducing one species of yeast, you can have thousands and they add different characteristics to the wine.”

    the vineyard at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery
    The estate’s vineyard, where cool-climate grapes are grown. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

    Most producers also focus on nurturing their grapes in-field and prune and pick by hand, thus avoiding the introduction of impurities and the need to meddle too much in the winery. “The better the quality of the fruit, the less you have to interfere with the natural winemaking process,” says Wood.

    Given the small yields, there’s also little room for error, meaning producers place immense focus on quality. “You’re never going to compete in the middle [in a small region] – you’ve got to aim for the top,” says Curly Flat owner Jeni Kolkka. “Big wineries try to do things as fast as possible, but we’re in no rush,” adds Troy Walsh, owner and winemaker at Attwoods. “We don’t use commercial yeasts; everything is hand-harvested and everything is bottled here, so we bottle only when we’re ready, not when a big truck arrives.” That’s why, when you do see a Macedon Ranges product on a restaurant wine list, it’s usually towards the pointy end.

    Come for the wine, stay for the food

    pouring sauce onto a dish at Lake HouseDaylesford
    Dining at Lake House Daylesford is a treat. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

    If wine is the quiet achiever of the Macedon Ranges, then food is its not-so-secret weapon. In fact, the area has more hatted restaurants than any other region in Victoria. A pioneer of the area’s gourmet food movement is region cheerleader Alla Wolf-Tasker, culinary icon and founder of Daylesford’s Lake House.

    For more than three decades, Wolf-Tasker has championed local producers and helped define what regional fine dining can look like in Australia. Her influence is palpable, not just in the two-hatted Lake House kitchen, but in the broader ethos of the region’s dining scene, as a wave of high-quality restaurants have followed her lead to become true destination diners.

    the Midnight Starling restaurant in Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery
    The hatted Midnight Starling restaurant is located in Kyneton. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

    It’s easy to eat well, whether at other hatted restaurants, such as Midnight Starling in the quaint town of Kyneton, or at the wineries themselves, like Le Bouchon at Attwoods, where Walsh is inspired by his time working in France in both his food offering and winemaking.

    The beauty of dining and wine touring in the Macedon Ranges is that it feels intimate and unhurried. You’re likely to meet the winemaker, hear about the trials of the latest vintage firsthand, and taste wines that never make it to city shelves. And that’s worth getting out of the city for – even if it is just an hour down the road.

    dishes on the menu at Midnight Starling
    Delicate dishes on the menu at Midnight Starling. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

    A traveller’s checklist

    Staying there

    the accommodation at Cleveland Estate, Macedon Ranges
    Stay at the Cleveland Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

    Soak up vineyard views from Cleveland Estate near Lancefield, embrace retro charm at Kyneton Springs Motel or indulge in lakeside luxury at the Lake House.

    Eating there

    Enjoy a four-course menu at the one-hatted Surly Goat in Hepburn Springs, Japanese-inspired fare at Kuzu in Woodend or unpretentious fine dining at Mount Monument, which also has a sculpture park.

    Drinking there

    wine tasting at PassingClouds Winery, Macedon Ranges
    A tasting at Passing Clouds Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

    Settle in for a tasting at Boomtown in Castlemaine, sample local drops at the cosy Woodend Cellar & Bar or wine-hop around the many cellar doors, such as Passing Clouds.

    the Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar signage
    Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

    Playing there

    a scenic river in Castlemaine
    Idyllic scenes at Castlemaine. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

    Wander through the seasonal splendour of Forest Glade Gardens, hike to the summit of Hanging Rock, or stroll around the tranquil Sanatorium Lake.

    purple flowers hanging from a tree
    Purple flowers hanging from a tree. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)