Photographic Journey - Red Centre

Kings Canyon Rim Walk: The silvery trunks of ghost gums set against rust-red rocks are a highlight. The canyon itself is magnificent, but start before dawn so you can be in the canyon to capture the best of the morning light - Ewen Bell.

Uluru: It's not easy to find a spot without a hundred other tourists standing in the way, or to capture an image that hasn’t been taken a thousand times before, but when you get something special, it’s worth it. But be warned – no photo will ever do justice to the beauty of the rock - Ewen Bell.

Tnorala (Gosse Bluff) Lookout: On the Red Centre Way there is a lookout that has vantage points out towards Tnorala (Gosse Bluff). It is all rolling hills and spinifex, so it is a beautiful green against the bright red of the soil. Spinifex is really spiky, but it has a softness to it, and the whole thing is framed by those big skies. It’s just beautiful - Catherine Sutherland.

Standley Chasm: From Standley Chasm you can do a four kilometre loop walk that takes in a section of the Larapinta Trail, the entire length of which is 223km along the spine of the West MacDonnell Ranges. It is spectacular, from an energetic point of view as well as the landscape. You climb so steeply, then look back and you can’t believe you’ve done it. There is a grandness there that I have not come across before - Catherine Sutherland.

Simpson Desert: Anywhere in the Simpson Desert, at sunrise or sunset, is brilliant to photograph, particularly on the Old Andado Track around the Andado Homestead. There’s some pretty amazing landscapes - Steve Strike.

Rainbow Valley: The best landscape to photograph in all of the Northern Territory is Rainbow Valley at sunset. It is one of the most amazing places, and if you happen to be there after rain, when there is water pooled in the surrounding salt pans, you can capture the reflection as well - Steve Strike.

Cattle stations: There are several working stations in the Red Centre that are also set up as tourism ventures and so are readily accessible to professional and amateur photographers alike. With a combination of ruggedly haunting landscapes, arresting action and a multitude of characters they are dream shooting locations. Curtin Springs, Kings Creek Station, Ooraminna Homestead and Bond Springs Retreat are some of the best options.

Outback characters: Whether you find them on a station, at the bar of the local hotel or pumping petrol at a lonely service station, the centre is full of characters whose spellbinding stories are etched all over their faces. Spend a bit of time to get to know them and they just might become willing subjects.

Kata Tjuta: Not as instantly recognisable as Uluru, but sharing a national park with the rock, Kata Tjuta is a collection of rock formations that morph significantly depending on the angle from which you approach them. The richness of their colour is most defined at sunrise and sunset, when they change colours as the light strengthens and wanes.

Quirky events: Whether it’s the spectacle of hundreds of adults running along a dry river bed in Alice Springs with all manner of cardboard boats strapped to their bodies, or a group of camels racing towards the finish line, or even a festival dedicated to beanies, a myriad of events take place in the centre that are far more than ordinary. Henley-on-Todd Regatta, Alice Springs.