Photographing Rochester Silo Art

About the Artwork

Rochester Silo Art is located at the GrainCorp silos in the centre of Rochester in northern Victoria.

The artwork was created by Australian artist Jimmy Dvate in several stages between 2018 and 2024.

Unlike many silo-art locations that concentrate on people or agricultural history, Rochester is devoted principally to the native wildlife and environment of the Campaspe River district.

The complete installation now contains four principal wildlife subjects:

Azure Kingfisher.
Squirrel Glider.
Platypus.
New Holland Honeyeater.

The first stage was completed in July 2018 and featured the Azure Kingfisher and Squirrel Glider.

Jimmy Dvate returned to Rochester in 2021 to add the Platypus, and again in 2024 to paint the New Holland Honeyeater.

The result is now considerably more extensive than the original Rochester silo artwork and should be photographed as a complete group rather than simply recording the two best-known original murals.

Artwork / Subjects

Azure Kingfisher

The Azure Kingfisher was one of the two subjects painted during the original 2018 stage.

The brilliantly coloured bird is shown perched on a branch beside the Campaspe River.

The surrounding artwork incorporates the river environment, vegetation and Rochester's distinctive red railway bridge.

This makes the Kingfisher mural particularly important photographically because it links the silo artwork directly to a real landscape that can also be explored and photographed elsewhere in Rochester.

Squirrel Glider

The second original subject is the Squirrel Glider.

The small nocturnal marsupial is shown clinging to a River Red Gum branch.

The species depends on mature trees and connected habitat, making the mural an important reminder of the environmental consequences of habitat loss and fragmentation.

Photograph the complete animal first, but also look for tighter compositions showing:

The eye and face.
Fur detail.
The branch.
The gliding membrane.
The relationship between the animal and River Red Gum habitat.

Platypus

Jimmy Dvate returned to Rochester to add the Duck-billed Platypus.

The Platypus is particularly appropriate to Rochester because the species inhabits the Campaspe River and is sometimes observed around the town.

The Platypus artwork is around the back of the principal silo viewpoint and can easily be missed.

Do not leave after photographing only the obvious highway-facing artwork.

Walk around the public viewing areas and deliberately locate the Platypus.

New Holland Honeyeater

In October 2024, Jimmy Dvate returned again to complete the latest stage of the Rochester silo artwork.

The new mural depicts a New Holland Honeyeater associated with a flowering Grevillea 'Ned Kelly'.

The inspiration came from a photograph by Rochester photographer Bruce Povey, taken within walking distance of the silos.

The bird is shown in flight, allowing Dvate to depict considerably more movement than is apparent in the other Rochester wildlife portraits.

The black and yellow colouring also has a strong local connection because these are Rochester's football and netball colours.

Wildlife and the Campaspe River

Collectively, the Rochester murals are best understood as a celebration of the relationship between the town and the natural environment of the Campaspe River.

This gives the photographer an opportunity to extend the story beyond the silos themselves.

A strong Rochester gallery can combine Dvate's painted animals with photographs of:

The Campaspe River.
River Red Gums.
The red railway bridge.
Local birds.
Wetland and riverside vegetation.
Actual wildlife if encountered responsibly.

Artist

All of the principal Rochester silo wildlife murals were painted by Jimmy Dvate.

Dvate is an Australian artist particularly well known for enormous, highly detailed paintings of native flora and fauna.

Conservation is a recurring theme throughout his work.

When developing murals, he frequently selects local native species, particularly animals or birds whose habitat or survival faces environmental pressures.

This approach is especially effective at Rochester because the murals do not simply depict attractive Australian animals.

They encourage visitors to consider the health of the river, River Red Gums and other habitats on which those species depend.

Rochester is also unusual because Dvate returned repeatedly to expand the installation.

The result is effectively a developing wildlife gallery painted on enormous agricultural structures.

Photographing the Artwork

Photograph Both Silo Groups

Begin by understanding the complete layout before concentrating on individual animals.

Rochester should not be treated as a single-fronted silo mural.

Walk around the permitted public areas and identify where each of the four wildlife artworks can be seen.

The Original 2018 Pair

Make an establishing photograph showing the Azure Kingfisher and Squirrel Glider together.

This is historically important because these were the original Rochester silo artworks.

Then photograph each animal separately.

The Platypus

Deliberately walk around to photograph the Platypus.

Because it is not visible from the principal approach, it is particularly useful in an Auspano gallery: the photograph reveals an aspect of the location that casual visitors may otherwise miss.

The New Holland Honeyeater

Treat the 2024 Honeyeater as a major artwork rather than an incidental addition.

Photograph:

The complete bird and Grevillea.
The bird in flight.
Wing and feather details.
The head and eye.
Flowers and foliage.

Environmental Photographs

Rochester is particularly well suited to environmental storytelling because several elements shown in the murals can also be found around the town.

After photographing the silos, photograph the Campaspe River and red railway bridge.

This creates a visual connection between Dvate's painted environment and the actual Rochester landscape.

Artwork Details

The 70-200mm should be particularly useful at Rochester.

Look for:

Eyes.
Feathers.
Fur.
Platypus bill and fur.
Glider membrane.
Grevillea flowers.
Paint and concrete texture.

Map

Location

Rochester Silo Art is located at the GrainCorp silo complex near the centre of Rochester, Victoria.

Address:
18 Ramsay Street,
Rochester VIC 3561

The silos are close to the Northern Highway, railway and central Rochester shopping area.

Google Maps: Rochester Silo Art

Access & Parking

Rochester differs from many remote silo-art locations because the artwork is located within the town.

Public viewing areas provide access to the artwork, but remember that the silos remain part of a GrainCorp facility.

Stay within public areas and respect:

Fences.
Operational signs.
Railway infrastructure.
Heavy-vehicle access.
Private or restricted property.

Do not enter the GrainCorp site simply to obtain a better photographic angle.

Picnic tables are available near the silo-art viewing area, with public facilities available nearby in Rochester.

Large Vehicles and Caravans

Rochester is a regional service town and is considerably easier to visit with a caravan than many isolated silo-art locations.

However, I would avoid manoeuvring a large tow vehicle and caravan into the immediate silo precinct simply to obtain the closest parking position.

If travelling with a large caravan, select a suitable public parking location in town and, if necessary, walk the final short distance to the artwork.

Accessibility

Rochester Silo Art is relatively easy to access and does not require a substantial bushwalk or long approach.

Regional visitor information lists disabled access as available, although visitors with specific requirements should confirm details before travelling.

The principal murals can be viewed from public areas close to the silos.

Some of the less obvious viewpoints, particularly when moving around the structures to see all of the artwork, may involve different surfaces and slightly longer distances.

Photographers with limited mobility should therefore prioritise the principal public viewing area first and then assess the remaining viewpoints individually.

Best Light

Early Morning

Early morning has several advantages at Rochester.

The town is quieter, temperatures can be lower and the low-angle light can provide useful modelling across the cylindrical silos.

Morning also provides an opportunity to combine the silo visit with early photography along the Campaspe River.

Late Afternoon

Late afternoon is another high-priority period.

Warm light can enhance the surrounding urban and river landscape while providing more dimensional illumination than harsh midday sun.

Bright Overcast

Bright overcast conditions are particularly good for the wildlife artwork itself.

Dvate's murals contain considerable colour and fine detail.

Soft light provides:

Even colour.
Reduced glare.
Better detail in feathers and fur.
More consistent illumination across different sides of the silos.

This last advantage is important at Rochester because the artwork faces more than one direction.

Why One Visit May Not Give Perfect Light

Because the murals occupy different faces of the silo complex, the best light for one artwork may not be the best light for another.

Photograph the complete site first, then inspect each mural individually and judge whether its orientation favours the current light.

If staying overnight in Rochester, a second visit at the opposite end of the day may substantially improve the photographic coverage.

Nearby

Campaspe River

The Campaspe River should be considered part of the Rochester silo-art photographic story rather than simply another nearby attraction.

The river environment directly inspired several elements of Dvate's artwork.

Look for:

River Red Gums.
Reflections.
Birdlife.
Riverbank vegetation.
Early-morning mist.
Sunrise and late-afternoon light.

Rochester Railway Bridge

Rochester's distinctive red railway bridge appears within the Azure Kingfisher mural.

Photographing the real bridge creates a particularly useful companion image for an Auspano gallery.

Consider presenting the painted bridge and real bridge relatively close together in the finished gallery.

Rochester Mural Park

Rochester Mural Park contains works associated with the annual Rochester Mural Festival.

The murals provide a completely different scale and style of public art from Dvate's enormous silo paintings.

They are well worth including when documenting Rochester as an art destination rather than simply a silo-art stop.

Iddles Lane

Iddles Lane contains a mural by artist Tim Bowtell celebrating former Victoria Police homicide detective and Rochester local Ron Iddles and his family.

The work provides a useful contrast with Dvate's wildlife murals because it tells a specifically human and local historical story.

Rochester Wildlife Sculptures

Rochester also contains hand-carved wooden wildlife sculptures by Brandon Kroon, together with other public artworks.

These continue the native-fauna theme established by the silos and can provide useful supporting photographs.

Colbinabbin Silo Art

Colbinabbin Silo Art is approximately 25 minutes from Rochester and is one of the strongest nearby silo-art locations.

Tim Bowtell's enormous six-silo mural tells the history of Colbinabbin, including agriculture, community, railway development and the town's famous tractor pull.

The long narrative mural provides a very different photographic problem from Rochester's individual wildlife subjects.

Kyabram Water Tank Art

Kyabram provides another wildlife-art connection.

Jimmy Dvate painted the water-tank mural at Kyabram Fauna Park, again using native fauna as the principal subject.

Photographing both Rochester and Kyabram provides an interesting comparison of the same artist working on different cylindrical structures with related conservation themes.

Picola Silo Art

For a longer northern Victorian artwork itinerary, Picola Silo Art is another Jimmy Dvate location.

This allows a photographer to compare his treatment of wildlife and environmental subjects across several very different rural structures.

How to Get There

From Melbourne

Rochester is north of Melbourne and is reached via the major road network through central Victoria.

The final approach into Rochester follows the Northern Highway.

Once in town, follow signs or navigation to the Rochester Silo Art near Ramsay Street.

From Bendigo

From Bendigo, follow the Midland Highway and Northern Highway towards Elmore and Rochester.

Rochester is approximately one hour from Bendigo, depending on traffic and road conditions.

From Echuca

Rochester is approximately 25-30 minutes south of Echuca via the Northern Highway.

This makes the silo art easy to combine with a photographic visit to Echuca, the Murray River and the historic port precinct.

Travelling with a Caravan

Rochester is well suited to a touring itinerary because it is a regional town on a major road rather than an isolated silo site.

When towing a large caravan, use an appropriate public parking area rather than attempting to enter or turn within the operational GrainCorp precinct.

Techniques used

Techniques

Kit used

My kit

Where to Stay

Rochester

For photographing the silo artwork thoroughly, Rochester itself is the most useful base.

Staying locally makes it possible to:

Photograph the silos in late-afternoon light.
Return in early-morning light.
Photograph the Campaspe River around sunrise.
Explore the Mural Park and Iddles Lane.
Photograph the railway bridge.

This is particularly valuable because the different silo murals face different directions and may not all receive ideal illumination at the same time.

Echuca

Echuca provides a much larger range of accommodation and is an excellent alternative base if Rochester forms part of a broader Murray River photographic trip.

Echuca also adds major photographic subjects including:

Historic Port of Echuca.
Paddle steamers.
Murray River landscapes.
River Red Gums.
Historic buildings.

Bendigo

Bendigo is another possible base if Rochester is being combined with a broader central Victorian photographic trip.

However, for dawn or late-afternoon silo photography, staying in Rochester itself is considerably more convenient.

Travelling with a Large Caravan

Rochester and Echuca both provide caravan accommodation.

When travelling with a large tow vehicle and caravan, confirm the complete rig dimensions, turning space and site access directly with the chosen caravan park before arrival.

Photographic Recommendations

16-35mm

The 16-35mm is useful where working space is restricted and for environmental photographs incorporating multiple silo faces.

Avoid automatically using 16mm simply to fit the silos into the frame.

Extreme wide-angle perspective can significantly distort both the cylindrical structures and Dvate's carefully proportioned animals.

24mm Tilt-Shift

The 24mm tilt-shift lens is particularly useful at Rochester.

Level the camera and use upward shift to include the top of the silos without pointing the camera sharply upwards.

This provides much better control of converging verticals and is particularly useful for clean documentary photographs of each principal silo face.

24-70mm

The 24-70mm would remain my principal general-purpose lens.

Use it for:

Complete silo murals.
Pairs of artworks.
Environmental photographs.
Medium wildlife compositions.

70-200mm

The 70-200mm is particularly important at Rochester.

Dvate's wildlife artwork contains enough fine detail to justify deliberately working through each mural with the longer lens.

Use it for:

Eyes.
Feathers.
Fur.
Platypus details.
Glider details.
Honeyeater wing detail.
Grevillea flowers.

Fuji GX680

The Fuji GX680 is well suited to making one or two carefully controlled architectural photographs of the Rochester silos.

I would scout the composition digitally first and then use the GX680 only for the strongest viewpoints.

Its front rise and shift movements allow the silo geometry to be controlled in-camera rather than relying entirely on software correction.

Tripod

A tripod is particularly useful with:

The 24mm tilt-shift.
The Fuji GX680.
Shifted multi-frame panoramas.
Early-morning or late-evening light.

Controlling Perspective

Perspective control is especially important at Rochester because the artwork wraps around tall cylindrical structures and is viewed from several different directions.

First Choice - Increase Shooting Distance

Before using specialist equipment, first determine whether simply moving farther away provides a better photograph.

Increasing shooting distance and using the 24-70mm or 70-200mm generally produces more natural proportions than standing close with an ultra-wide lens.

Using the 24mm Tilt-Shift Lens

The 24mm tilt-shift is probably the most useful specialist lens for producing technically accurate Rochester silo photographs.

Mount the camera on a tripod and level the camera body carefully.

Keep the sensor plane vertical and use upward shift to include the top of the silo.

This avoids the converging verticals created by tilting a conventional camera upwards.

Where a single shifted frame is insufficient, make a sequence with the camera body remaining completely stationary:

Lower shift.
Central position.
Upper shift.

Stitch these photographs later to produce a high-resolution image with very well controlled geometry.

For straightforward silo photography, use shift rather than tilt. Tilt changes the plane of focus and is generally unnecessary when the silo face itself is the principal subject.

Using the Fuji GX680

The Fuji GX680 with full movements provides an excellent architectural-photography approach to the Rochester silos.

Level the camera carefully and keep the film plane vertical.

Use:

Front rise to include the top of the silo.
Front lateral shift to refine an off-centre composition.
Minimal tilt unless deliberately changing the plane of focus.

Avoid unnecessary rear movements for the principal documentary photographs because changing the film-plane orientation alters the apparent geometry of the silos.

The GX680 would be particularly interesting for the original Kingfisher/Glider composition because the large negative and movements should allow an extremely detailed record of Dvate's artwork.

Using the DJI Mavic 2 Pro

An elevated camera could potentially provide useful views of the complete silo complex and reveal the relationship between the artwork, Rochester, railway and Campaspe River.

It could also reduce the extreme upward viewpoint associated with photographing a tall silo from close to ground level.

However, Rochester requires particular caution with drone use because the silos are within a town and close to roads, railway infrastructure, people and an operational GrainCorp site.

Before any flight:

Check current CASA airspace and operating restrictions.
Use a CASA-verified drone safety application.
Confirm whether landowner or GrainCorp permission is required.
Confirm that a legal launch and recovery location is available.
Maintain the required separation from people.
Do not interfere with road, rail or grain-handling operations.

If the flight cannot be conducted clearly within current rules and with any necessary permissions, use the tilt-shift lens or GX680 movements instead.

If drone photography is possible, prioritise photographs that genuinely add information unavailable from ground level, such as the relationship between the silo complex, town and Campaspe River.

Suggested Photographic Sequence

Walk around the complete public viewing area first.

Locate all four wildlife artworks before setting up specialist equipment.
Photograph the original 2018 composition.

Record the Azure Kingfisher and Squirrel Glider together.
Use the 24mm tilt-shift.

Make a technically controlled version with the camera level and vertical rise.
Photograph the Kingfisher separately.

Include the Campaspe River and railway-bridge elements within the mural where possible.
Photograph the Squirrel Glider separately.

Record both the complete animal and tighter details.
Walk around to the Platypus.

Do not overlook this less obvious side of the installation.
Photograph the New Holland Honeyeater.

Record the complete composition and then the bird, wings and Grevillea details.
Switch to the 70-200mm.

Work methodically through eyes, feathers, fur, flowers and paint texture across all four murals.
Use the Fuji GX680.

Make one or two carefully selected architectural interpretations rather than duplicating every digital photograph.
Photograph the Campaspe River.

Look for the actual landscape and habitat represented within the artwork.
Photograph the red railway bridge.

Create a companion photograph to the bridge depicted in the Kingfisher mural.
Finish with Rochester's other public art.

Visit Iddles Lane and Rochester Mural Park to broaden the gallery beyond silo art.

How Long

A casual visitor could see the principal Rochester silo artwork in approximately 15-20 minutes.

However, this is not enough time to properly photograph the complete installation.

For conventional photography of all four wildlife murals, allow approximately 45-60 minutes.

Using the 24mm tilt-shift and Fuji GX680, I would allow approximately 1.5-2 hours.

For a complete Auspano Rochester photographic story incorporating the Campaspe River, railway bridge, Iddles Lane and Mural Park, allow approximately half a day.

Staying overnight provides the additional advantage of photographing different silo faces under both morning and late-afternoon light.

Priority Photographs

Establishing photograph of the Rochester GrainCorp silo-art complex.
Original Azure Kingfisher and Squirrel Glider composition.
Perspective-controlled version using the 24mm tilt-shift.
Azure Kingfisher complete mural.
Kingfisher detail.
Squirrel Glider complete mural.
Glider eye, fur and membrane details.
Platypus complete mural.
Platypus face, bill and fur detail.
New Holland Honeyeater complete mural.
Honeyeater in-flight composition.
Wing and feather details.
Grevillea flowers and foliage.
Fuji GX680 architectural interpretation.
Artwork and surrounding Rochester environment.
Campaspe River and River Red Gums.
Rochester's red railway bridge.
Painted railway bridge and real railway bridge as companion images.
Iddles Lane mural.
Rochester Mural Park.
Elevated silo/town/river relationship if drone use is legal, safe and appropriately authorised.

Artwork Information table

Location	Rochester, Victoria
Artwork	Rochester Silo Art
Artist	Jimmy Dvate
Original stage	July 2018
Second stage	Platypus - 2021
Latest stage	New Holland Honeyeater - October 2024
Principal subjects	Azure Kingfisher, Squirrel Glider, Duck-billed Platypus and New Holland Honeyeater
Theme	Native wildlife, conservation and the Campaspe River environment
Setting	GrainCorp silo complex within Rochester township
Address	18 Ramsay Street, Rochester VIC 3561
Entry	Free
Opening	Open at all times
Principal general lens	24-70mm
Perspective-control lens	24mm tilt-shift
Detail lens	70-200mm
Technical camera	Fuji GX680 with front rise / shift
Suggested silo photography time	1.5-2 hours with full photographic equipment
Suggested Rochester photography time	Approximately half a day