Photographing William Creek

About William Creek

William Creek is one of the few populated stopping points on the Oodnadatta Track. The tiny township has a great pub, an airfield (with flights over Lake Eyre), caravan park, meals and fuel. The township is about half way between Oodnadatta and Marree at some 200k from both. Given people travel at around 75km/hr here, this is around 2.5-3 hours from each.

Viewpoints

There is not a lot in William Creek

1. The pub is the highlight of the town, and it is brilliant. It has good meals, good beer and a good outback atmosphere.
2. There is an Outback Museum here. Given this is at the edge of the Woomera Missile Range, there are some nice relics of various rocket or missile flights.

How I photographed the William Creek Pub

What I took - what was in my kit

I took my LowePro Backpack loaded with Canon 5DRS body, Canon 24-70mm 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

This is tourist type photography. The sunlight is very harsh (except in the pub). I simply shot ISO 100 (for greatest fidelity), f10 (to avoid diffraction), and whatever speed allowed me to shoot to the right.

Other things to look out for

William Creek is on the wonderful Oodnadatta Track. It is near to Lake Eyre (which is a normally dry lake, but that gets water into it every 10 years or so. When it does, plant life and bird life erupt. It is around 1 hr (80km) from the Bubbler. It is close to several old Ghan railway crossings and stations. We did not try a scenic flight.

Location

William Creek, Oodnadatta Track, South Australia -28.90701, 136.3399)