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Beautiful golden hour light shining on the mountains in Stirling Range National Park in Western Australia. They may not have the grandeur of other mountain ranges around the world but they are beautiful nonetheless. East coast of Australia has a lot more mountain areas with the Great Dividing Range reaching all the way from Queensland to Victoria but our landscape in the west is a lot flatter in most places with just the odd ranges and smaller peaks scattered throughout the state. This is why I love visiting the Stirling Ranges in the south. These are the closest mountains to where we live.

As much as I love them, I have always found them notoriously difficult to photograph. I have only a handful of photos from various visits which I would consider worthy of sharing. It was much the same story when we last ventured out there earlier in the year. I think this is just mostly due to me not quite finding the right compositions and light more than anything else. Each time we go, I try something different to change that situation. We went during different seasons and pretty much view the mountains from every angle possible. I know that it is not always possible to come back with good photos and in the end, if I can get one or two decent ones, then I would be very happy with that. There is also the enjoyment of just being out there in nature and seeing the beautiful world around us.

This time we went up one of the smaller peaks later in the afternoon than usual with a possibility of staying on at the top until sunset, if something interesting was to happen. As it was right at the end of winter, the directional light and the golden hour lasted a little longer than it would during summer. The effect was amazing. Wonderful golden light shaped the mountains and the valley, creating a great sense of depth and dimension. This is the kind of light which can last for hours in places such as Iceland, where the sun stays closer to the horizon for a lot longer given the geographical location. I noticed the effect of this light on other days as well. As soon as the clock went past 3pm, I could see the sunlight taking on softer and more golden appearance. I never saw that previously in this location but we usually visited a bit closer to summer months.

When we reached the top of the trail we came to a plateau near the summit and saw these beautiful sweeping views of the mountains open up around us. I had a few compositional possibilities as I worked my way in an arch from east to west facing the southern direction. That was where the landscape and light were at their most interesting. I tried wider and longer focal lengths to find what worked the best in my mind. This is the scene which really struck a chord with me. I saw the dimension and depth which I mentioned previously, and in addition, I found a good foreground to work with. I also felt that I had the best of the afternoon/evening light at the exact right moment. The light earlier was still a touch too harsh, while afterwards it began to fade away gently, losing its sculpting qualities. Other elements which I really liked, were the layer of hazy peaks in far distance to the right, and the glow of sunlight coming from the side just behind them. Looking at the final image, I can literally almost touch that light as it spills through the landscape.

We hanged around a little longer before deciding that the best of the light had gone and started to make our way down. When we were hiking down to the car, I found a couple of other photographic opportunities, including a really cool moment as the last light of the day illuminated another peak in soft red glow. I might post this photo in the future. This was probably the most productive afternoon of the trip photography wise. We did a bit of hiking on other days but I did not find anything quite as compelling as this image and the light on that day. Still, sometimes when I check my photos again, I do find something that I missed originally, so I may yet discover something worth exploring further. For now, I hope you find this view and light as enchanting as we did.