Tom O’Dea - Visual Storytelling

27/06/2026

Not a bird I see regularly in Yass.

Yellow Spoonbill

Yass NSW. 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

21/06/2026

What a week of beautiful sunsets!!!

The only other week I can remember this many great sunsets in a row was immediately after the large volcanic eruption in the pacific a few years ago.

Yass NSW. 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

🌅

21/06/2026

A sad and frightening moment for Australia this week. 🥹🥹🥹

For years, Australia stood as the last continent free from the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of bird flu.

That changed this week, with authorities confirming the virus in a wild brown skua found on the Western Australian coast.

As someone who spends a lot of time behind a camera photographing wildlife and landscapes, this news is deeply concerning.

Around the world, H5N1 has caused one of the largest wildlife disease events ever recorded, killing millions of wild birds and devastating populations of sea lions, seals and seabirds.

Entire colonies have been lost, and some species may take decades to recover.

Australia’s unique wildlife has, until now, been spared.

Hopefully, with early detection and strong biosecurity measures, we can limit its impact.

For those of us who love birds, nature and the privilege of photographing wild places, this is a reminder that these ecosystems are fragile and that the subjects we often take for granted deserve our respect and protection.

If you come across sick or dead birds, don’t touch them. Record the location and report them via the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.

Here’s hoping the photographs we take in years to come continue to capture thriving colonies, healthy wildlife and the incredible biodiversity that makes Australia so special.

20/06/2026

So lucky to see this beautiful echidna 🦔 bumbling around looking for a feed 😋😋😋

Yass NSW. 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

19/06/2026

Omg did you see that!! 🌅

17/06/2026

Highway to the end!

Kamilaroi Hwy, Baan Baa!

One of the best sunsets of my life TBH!

🌅

17/06/2026

15/06/2026

A shooting star over the Yass Valley 🌠

One of the things I love most about photographing the night sky is that every image can contain a surprise.

This photograph was taken in the Yass Valley beneath a brilliant winter Milky Way.

The camera was set up on a Nikon D780 with a 20mm lens at f/1.8, shooting a 30-second exposure at ISO 1000.

During that half-minute exposure, a bright meteor streaked through the frame, leaving a long orange trail against the stars.

Based on the image, the meteor appears to have crossed around 10–15 degrees of sky during the 30-second exposure.

Most visible meteors enter Earth’s atmosphere at between 11 and 72 kilometres per second, with many common meteors travelling around 30–60 km/s.

At those speeds, the visible streak captured by the camera is created in a fraction of a second, even though the shutter remains open for 30 seconds.

The colour is particularly interesting. The trail shows a strong orange to reddish glow, which can sometimes indicate the presence of iron-rich minerals within the meteoroid.

Sodium can produce yellow-orange colours, while iron often contributes orange and gold tones.

However, meteor colours are influenced by several factors, including atmospheric gases, velocity, temperature and camera white balance, so it isn’t possible to determine composition with certainty from a photograph alone.

What we can say is that this tiny piece of cosmic debris, probably no larger than a pebble, was travelling many times faster than a rifle bullet before it met Earth’s atmosphere and briefly lit up the Yass Valley sky.

Moments like this are why I never pack the camera away too quickly. Sometimes the best subject of the night only appears for a split second.

📍 Yass Valley, NSW

14/06/2026

Not sure how but tonight’s sunset topped yesterday’s by some way!

Yass NSW. 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

13/06/2026

The best shot of tonight’s sunset! 🌅

Yass NSW. 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺