Photographing Coober Pedy

About Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy is one of Australia's most unusual towns and one of the most distinctive photographic destinations in the South Australian outback.

Located on the Stuart Highway approximately 840 km north of Adelaide, Coober Pedy is internationally known as the Opal Capital of the World.

Opal was first discovered in the area in 1915, when members of the New Colorado Prospecting Syndicate found opal after an unsuccessful search for gold.

The extreme summer climate and lack of conventional building materials encouraged miners and residents to excavate homes directly into the sandstone.

These underground homes are known locally as dugouts.

Today, Coober Pedy provides photographers with an extraordinary mixture of:

1. Underground homes.
2. Historic opal mines.
3. Underground churches.
4. Mining machinery.
5. Mullock heaps.
6. Desert streetscapes.
7. Eccentric outback architecture.
8. Expansive desert landscapes.
9. The nearby Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park.

It is therefore much more than a roadside stop on the Stuart Highway.

A strong photographic visit should combine the underground history of the town with the immense desert landscape surrounding it.

Viewpoints

1. Big Winch Lookout

   The elevated area around the Big Winch provides one of the easiest places to understand the unusual landscape of Coober Pedy.

   From here the town spreads across a low, dusty landscape covered with:

   1. Mullock heaps.
   2. Mine shafts.
   3. Low buildings.
   4. Mining equipment.
   5. Open desert.

   It is an excellent establishing photograph for an Auspano gallery.

   Recommended lenses: 24-70mm and 70-200mm.

   The 70-200mm is particularly useful for compressing the repeating mining heaps and showing how extensively the landscape has been altered by opal mining.

2. Old Timers Mine

   The Old Timers Mine is one of the strongest locations for understanding the early mining history of Coober Pedy.

   The original mine dates from 1916 and includes:

   1. Historic mine tunnels.
   2. Natural opal seams.
   3. Early underground homes.
   4. Mining equipment.
   5. Historical displays.

   It is particularly useful photographically because the hand-cut tunnels reveal the texture and colour of the sandstone.

   Recommended lenses: 16-35mm and 24-70mm.

   Interior light levels can be low, so use image stabilisation, higher ISO and careful exposure rather than assuming a tripod will be practical.

3. Tom's Working Opal Mine

   Tom's Working Opal Mine provides a stronger emphasis on the actual process of mining.

   Guided tours demonstrate historic and modern mining techniques and equipment.

   Look for:

   1. Mining machinery.
   2. Tunnels.
   3. Winches.
   4. Opal-bearing rock.
   5. Dust-covered tools.
   6. People included for scale.

   The current council visitor guide specifically encourages visitors to bring a camera.

4. Umoona Opal Mine and Museum

   Umoona provides another important underground experience.

   The attraction includes:

   1. An old opal mine.
   2. An underground home.
   3. Aboriginal and European history displays.
   4. Opal interpretation.
   5. Fossils from the ancient inland sea.

   It is useful photographically because it helps connect today's desert landscape with the very different environment that existed here millions of years ago.

5. Serbian Orthodox Church

   The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of Coober Pedy's most unusual architectural subjects.

   Much of the church has been excavated directly into the sandstone.

   Inside, look for:

   1. Rock-cut walls.
   2. The scalloped ceiling.
   3. Religious icons.
   4. Carved details.
   5. Stained glass.
   6. Warm artificial light on sandstone.

   Recommended lens: 16-35mm.

   Photograph respectfully because this remains a place of worship.

   Do not use flash or a tripod if doing so would disturb worshippers or conflict with current church requirements.

6. Underground Homes

   Underground homes are central to the visual identity of Coober Pedy.

   Several visitor attractions allow people to see genuine or historically reconstructed dugouts.

   One particularly interesting example is Faye's Underground Historic Home, which was excavated by hand during the early 1960s.

   These interiors provide excellent opportunities to photograph:

   1. Rough sandstone walls.
   2. Arched corridors.
   3. Rooms carved directly from rock.
   4. The contrast between normal domestic furnishings and raw stone.

7. Mining Fields and Mullock Heaps

   The landscape surrounding Coober Pedy contains thousands of excavations and mullock heaps created by generations of opal miners.

   Photographically these provide:

   1. Repeating patterns.
   2. Minimalist landscapes.
   3. Strong shadows.
   4. Almost lunar-looking scenery.

   A 70-200mm lens can simplify the landscape particularly well.

   Never wander casually through old mining fields. Unmarked or poorly protected mine shafts can be extremely dangerous. Remain on established roads, tracks and visitor areas.

8. Coober Pedy Streets

   The town itself deserves time with the camera.

   Look for:

   1. Old mining machinery.
   2. Homemade signs.
   3. Dusty roads.
   4. Underground entrances.
   5. Air shafts protruding from hillsides.
   6. Opal shops.
   7. Eccentric buildings and vehicles.

   A 24-70mm lens is ideal for this style of documentary photography.

9. Coober Pedy Cemetery

   The town cemetery reflects the remarkable cultural diversity of the people who came to Coober Pedy to search for opal.

   Some graves incorporate unusual and highly personal memorials.

   Photograph respectfully and treat this as a cultural and historical location rather than an eccentric tourist attraction.

Google Map - Coober Pedy Photographic Locations

How I photographed the XXXX

What I took - what was in my kit

I took my LowePro Backpack loaded with Canon 5DMkII body, Canon 24-105mm zoom, Manfrotto 190 Tripod, and of course a range of lens wipes, spare batteries, sunscreen and bug repellant. I tended to shoot 28-55mm

Techniques

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Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park

Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park should be considered an essential part of a Coober Pedy photographic visit.

The park covers almost 15,000 hectares of spectacular arid country approximately 25 km north of Coober Pedy.

Its eroded mesas, coloured hills and immense plains provide a completely different style of photography from the mining town.

The park forms part of the traditional Country of the Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara people and the entire conservation park is a registered Aboriginal site.

Treat the landscape accordingly and follow all signs and access requirements.

Main Breakaways Lookout

The principal lookout provides one of the classic South Australian outback landscapes.

From the elevated viewpoint, coloured mesas rise from an enormous desert plain.

The most effective compositions often use:

1. Layered ridges.
2. Contrasting red, yellow and white earth.
3. Large expanses of sky.
4. Long shadows.

Recommended lenses: 24-70mm and 70-200mm.

Telephoto Breakaways Landscapes

I would give the 70-200mm unusually high priority here.

Longer focal lengths allow the distant formations to overlap and reveal layers of colour that can be less obvious in a wide-angle photograph.

Look for:

1. Isolated mesas.
2. Alternating coloured ridges.
3. Small trees against enormous hills.
4. Shadows moving across the plain.

Moon Plain

The broad, almost vegetation-free country around Coober Pedy is frequently described as the Moon Plain.

Its strength is simplicity.

Strong photographs may contain little more than:

1. A road.
2. A flat horizon.
3. A small distant landform.
4. A huge sky.

Do not feel that every photograph needs a dramatic foreground.

Kanku-Breakaways Access and Entry

Camping is not permitted within Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park.

Other things to look out for

Other things to look out for

Opal Colour

Photographing opal is difficult because its colour changes with viewing angle and illumination.

Try:

1. Soft directional light.
2. Dark backgrounds.
3. Changing camera angle slightly between frames.

Sandstone Texture

Underground mines and dugouts contain extraordinary tool marks and colour variations.

Side lighting can emphasise these much more effectively than flat frontal light.

Mine Ventilation Shafts

Pipes emerging unexpectedly from apparently empty hillsides are a distinctive feature of Coober Pedy.

These can make amusing and visually simple landscape photographs.

Mining Machinery

Look for old:

1. Blowers.
2. Winches.
3. Trucks.
4. Excavators.
5. Drilling equipment.

Rust, dust and hard desert light work particularly well for detail photography.

Heat Haze

Strong heat haze is common across the plains.

It can reduce distant sharpness dramatically, but can also be used deliberately to convey the temperature and scale of the desert.

Storm Light

Broken cloud and storms can completely transform the landscape.

Light breaking through dark cloud onto red desert can produce much more dramatic photographs than a completely clear blue sky.

Night Sky

Away from the strongest town lights, the surrounding desert can provide excellent night-sky photography.

Potential foregrounds include:

1. Desert tracks.
2. Old mining machinery where legally accessible.
3. Low hills.
4. Isolated trees.

Never enter mining leases or unfamiliar mine fields after dark.

Google Map - Coober Pedy and Nearby Photographic Locations

Location

Coober Pedy is located on the Stuart Highway in northern South Australia.

It is approximately:

• 840 km north of Adelaide.
• 680 km south of Alice Springs.

Google Maps: Coober Pedy