A Lens On Nature new photography expedition
Most people never make it to the Kimberley. It’s remote, it’s wild, and it doesn’t give itself up easily. And that’s exactly what makes it one of Australia’s most awe-inspiring photographic subjects. The Kimberley is a landscape so dramatic that even experienced photographers tend to find themselves blown away. The light here does things you simply won’t see anywhere else on earth.
The new 7-night expedition, A Lens on Nature: The Kimberley, delivered in partnership between Coral Expeditions and Australian Geographic, is built around that light and the extraordinary world it reveals.
Your hosts for the journey are photographers Lewis Burnett and Jasmine Vink, who bring to every outing both technical mastery and an intimate knowledge of one of Australia’s last great wilderness regions.
Onboard workshops cover everything from composition and exposure to the specific demands of wildlife and landscape photography in this environment.
Time in the field is structured around the light; think dawn departures when the gorges glow and dusk excursions when birdlife comes out to play. Every part of your trip is timed to ensure you arrive at the right place at the right time. Because in photography, timing is everything.
A Lens on Nature: The Kimberley is built for travellers with a sense of wonder, but also those who crave ease without compromise, adventure without chaos.
The expedition vessel is as much a part of the experience as the landscape itself. Coral Expeditions’ shallow-draft ships are built for places like the Kimberley, able to push into remote gorges, navigate tidal rivers and reach cascading waterfalls that larger vessels simply cannot access.
Onboard you’ll be replenished by small-batch meals, prepared by the ship’s chefs using local Australian ingredients that are sourced along the routes.
Group sizes are small on purpose. The atmosphere is convivial but unhurried, because it takes a certain kind of person to undertake a journey like this.
You’ll find yourself alongside fellow travellers who share your curiosity and your appreciation for a well-timed frame. They, like you, know places like these deserve more than a passing glance. After all, you never know what you might happen upon if you linger just that little bit longer.
It might be saltwater crocodiles hauling out on sandstone ledges in the early morning warmth. You may see brolgas moving through the shallows with slow-motion grace. Birdlife fills every tree line, and all the while, one of the world’s oldest landscapes shifts through its stunning palette of colours.
Your only decision is which direction to point your lens.
What awaits you on this expedition
Your 7-night journey begins before you even set sail with a sunset orientation at Cable Beach as the sky turns the colour of everything you’re about to photograph.
From Broome, the expedition pushes north into some of Australia’s most epic and least-visited coastal areas.
At Sunday Island on Day 2, the Jawi people welcome guests to Country through story, song and dance, a cultural grounding that sets the tone for everything that follows.
The remote Lacepede Islands, on Day 3, offer internationally significant seabird breeding colonies; brown boobies and lesser frigatebirds wheel overhead and green turtles navigate the shallows below.
On Day 4, Adele Island, a low-lying sanctuary shaped by vast tidal sandflats, brings prolific seabird colonies and, in season, humpback whales.
Montgomery Reef, on Day 5, is one of the expedition’s truly great spectacles: as the tide recedes, waterfalls cascade from the reef’s edge and the ocean seems to fall away beneath you, leaving behind turtles, reef sharks, manta rays and snubfin dolphins.
On Day 6 at Talbot Bay, the immense tidal surge of Horizontal Falls rushes through narrow gorges in a display of raw geological power, surrounded by the folded rock formations of Cyclone Creek.
And on Day 7, you’ll visit the Buccaneer Archipelago, ancient islands shaped over 2 billion years. This rounds out the journey with sea eagles, ospreys and one final golden light to chase before you return to Broome.
Patience rewarded with the shots of a lifetime
This isn’t a tour made for those who wish to rush. It’s about lingering in the right gorge, at the right hour, and enjoying the silence. It rewards those who understand the true value of patience. For photographers who’ve already seen a great deal of the world and are looking for something that cuts a little deeper, the Kimberley has the answer. Visit our itinerary page here for prices and dates for this special expedition.
