Everyone should have a rambling place. Somewhere to go to reset, think, explore and just get out of the day-to-day rut. For photographers or creatives, a place to go and practice your craft is important for growth and inspiration.
For me, I need a rambling place that inspires me – I can’t get motivated to practice photography if I’m somewhere that makes me feel a bit meh. We have a certain man-made and highly planned lake where many fellow Canberran photographers take lovely photos. I know this could be a good place to practice my craft – water, trees, leading lines, human interest, iconic buildings – there’s lots of options. But when I’ve tried, I’ll be honest, it tends to leave me cold. Maybe it’s that familiarity breeds contempt – Lake Burley Griffin (LBG) has been a staple of my lunchtime walk for almost 20 years. It’s a good spot for me to run off steam, but I just don’t feel very creatively inspired if I head there with my camera. I actually get more creative inspiration walking or passing by the lake without camera in hand – just noticing light and lines and thinking about what might work if I were to take photos.
So, LBG is not my rambling place, at least not my creative rambling place. That place is up in the scrub around northern Canberra in the wonderful sanctuary of Mulligan’s Flat and surrounds. I’ve wandered around this reserve for many years, letting curiosity take me down new paths or traipse off-track. I love that it is on the outskirts of suburbia, but it feels like I’m getting away from civilisation. It’s like my childhood of rambling around the paddocks of the family farm. It’s a safe place if I’ve had enough of humanity. If I need a quiet place for a cry, or somewhere to sit and think or write, this is my rambling place.
Mulligan’s is a haven for wildlife, and has been fenced off from predators so that endangered or locally extinct animals can be reintroduced. I regularly see echidnas, wallabies and kangaroos, as well as shingleback lizards, birds including the brown tree creeper, sacred kingfishers, kookaburras and many more. I’ve spied a bettong a few times on dusk, though so far the eastern quolls have eluded me. I can ramble and explore with curious children, or feel safe and happy deep in the woodland on my own.
For photography it’s a great place for practice and playfulness.
My telephoto lens gets a gong with opportunities to photograph wildlife. Learning patience, playing with shutter speed, iso and spot metering.
Trees will catch my eyes, and I can play with trying to capture their best angle, thinking about the light or conditions that would be conducive to showing them at their best. I home in on bark patterns and textures. While mostly native Australian woodlands, the reserve also borders on a pine forest, so I can play with the darkness and light, the textures of pinecones and pine needles.
There’s also a number of dams throughout the reserve. The classic scene that many photographers are drawn to is the dead skeletons of trees in one of the larger dams. Many locals capture lovely sunrises, foggy mornings or astro shots here. But I’m usually content with the little, oft-overlooked watering holes. I can play with the reflections and patterns from overhanging trees, or the patterns from waterlilies and other aquatic plants.
After rain it’s fun to slosh around in my hiking boots and find new temporary water courses. I notice the way the rain brings out the colours – seemingly dull scrub is brought alive with a different vibrancy. Mostly I just enjoy breathing deeply, the scent of petrichor connecting air, land and bringing my weary spirit alive.
This is my rambling place.
As well as the connection to nature here that I have, another reason why this is a good spot for me creatively is because I can truly experiment and find my own images. This is no tourist hub or iconic place, and so I can photograph without constraint or pressure to get a shot like the one I saw on someone else’s feed. That’s another reason why LBG has limits for my creativity – I’ve seen too many cracker shots of our former sheep paddock-now lake. Having admired many other images the pressure to get a shot like that, and the challenge to find a unique shot tend to sap the inspiration.
Mulligan’s is a space I am free to find my own images. I have done the skeleton trees in the dam shot, but I rarely visit that area of the reserve. I explore the less-trodden paths, the shy scenes that sit back, like an introvert, happy to do their thing without undue attention. It also helps that I can often wend my way around the reserve and only see a couple of other people. Unlike say, LBG, there’s not an endless trail of joggers, cyclists, tourists or lovebirds passing by. I’m rarely interrupted or have to worry about someone getting in the shot or thwarting creativity as self-consciousness takes hold. The solitude suits my style of photography and my need for quiet introspection and exploration.
Sometimes I take many photos or make images that I’m quite proud of. Sometimes I go home with mostly rubbish on my SD card – though even that is useful for learning and analysis. Other times I hardly take any photos, or consciously leave the camera at home and let myself really disconnect and connect with my deep thoughts and with nature. I can come here for a quick jaunt to get the oxygen pumping, or I can happily spend hours wandering the hills and woodlands. The common denominator is that no matter my purpose or how I arrive here, every time I leave recharged and replenished.
This is my rambling place. This is Mulligan’s Flat.
Do you have a rambling place?
Mulligans Flat is on Ngunnawal country.
Creative Ramblings, February 2025
