Photographing Kaniva Silo Art

About Kaniva

Kaniva is a small town in the Mallee (far western) area of Victoria. It is also at the southern edge of the Big Desert. The Silo is a working silo, so at various times of the year there are trucks at the silo obstructing the view. The Silo Art is a tribute to the Little Desert National Park's fauna. (The Little desert is home to more than 220 species of bird). The bird depicted on the silo is the Australian Hobby bird. A kind of small falcon. On the left of the Hobby is the scented sun orchid, and on the right the salmon sun orchid. These flower during September to November.

Viewpoints

As with many silos, these are on private land. They are also behind the local fire station. The only access is from either side of the fire station. At the corner of Baker St and Progress St, there is a gate / driveway and beside this there is a short fence that you can photograph over. There are only two real options for photographing this silo:

1. From the ground in front - as near as possible to the gate / fire station. This is how the above shot was taken. There is a small viewing area in front. The trouble with this veiw, as with many other silos, is that this 'tombstones' the shot unless you have a tilt-shift lens or back. On the day we visited it was overcast, and I did not have my 24mm TS lens with me. I shot with a 24-70mm set at 24mm, and 1/100 sec at f8. This was around 2pm, so even though the day was overcast, the light was not the best. Golden hour (just pre-dawn, post-dusk) would likely have been better.



2. Via a drone. I was not able to use a drone on the day. I am not sure if you can normally fly one here, but I have seen drone (or at least aerial) shots, so I think you can do so. This would avoid the tombstoning. I would recommend this viewpoint.

How I photographed the Kaniva Silo

What I took - what was in my kit

I took my LowePro Backpack loaded with Canon 5DSR 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

As discussed above, on this day I had little option but to just take a straight photo. I did of course expose-to-the-right, choose a low ISO (ISO 100) to reduce noise, set the aperature at f8 to avoid diffraction while improving depth of field as much as possible. This meant a shutter speed of 1/100th which was acceptable.

Other things to look out for

Kaniva is not far from Dimboola and the wonderful Little Desert, or from Pink Lake.

Location

31 Progress St, Kaniva A8 Mallee Victoria (-36.380301, 141.24355)