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FROM AN ARTICLE WRITTEN FOR REX MAGAZINE 2019

When Australia’s inland sea fills with water, professional landscape photographer Tom Putt is there. Each year Putt runs specialist aerial photography workshops over the lake. With the recent floods in western Queensland, he and his clients couldn’t wait to see the transformation. "We were here photographing back in August last year," Putt says. "The patterns in the salt left over from water in the past are incredible. However, it’s every photographer’s dream to see Kati Thanda - Lake Eyre with water in it." Putt charters planes from William Creek, two hours to the east of Coober Pedy, that take his workshop participants to the best spots above the lake. "I’ve flown for over 35 hours over the lake so I’m now getting to know the lake quite intimately." "The diversity in the landscape is incredible. When I first thought about coming here to photograph, I thought that it would be a big expanse of white salt." "But there’s so much more to Kati Thanda - Lake Eyre than that. It changes all the time as you fly over it and surprises you in many ways." Areas of the lake, like now, are covered in water. However depending on what time of the day you fly can produce an amazing array of colours. "If you fly at sunrise, you’ll see the stunning golden light reflect off the water from sunrise. During the day the lake will take on the blue tones from the sky above. At sunset the orange glow is a sight to behold." "It’s such a thrill to see all this water in the lake. To think that it has travelled hundreds of kilometres to arrive here is amazing." Areas not covered by water have incredible features that can look more alien-like than anything else. "On the western shoreline we’ve discovered capped natural springs that look like emojis that you put in a text message!" Other patterns look like crescent-shaped moons, ancient dinosaurs or human-like. Putt’s favourite is what he’s dubbed the ‘Lake Eyre Lady’. "I found this head shape in a dry salt pan above Lake Eyre South a few years back. From a certain angle she looks like she’s blowing her breath from her mouth. I visit her every time I fly over the lake. It’s like I’m saying hello and thanking her for a safe journey each time." His Kati Thanda - Lake Eyre photographs are sold exclusively through his own gallery on the Mornington Peninsula. "I limit the photographs to just 10 prints only, printing them on a fine art, cotton rag paper that brings out the textures in the landscape." Putt has been photographing since he was 13 years old and a professional photographer for 21 years. He has been teaching landscape photography to keen amateur photographers across Australia since 2005. "I love the opportunity to share my knowledge with others and show them the incredible landscapes we have here in Australia."