Zoom in on Tara Luck's photography
Tara Luck's photograph of a Blue-Banded Bee saw her shortlisted for the prestigious Australian Geographic Nature Photographer Of the Year competition
Tara Luck not only does multiple interesting things, but somehow does them all well. The Illawarra local has played in bands since she was 15 and currently plays for punk outfit Radio Rejects. I know her from her incredible macrophotography, which I’m a huge fan of. Her Facebook and Instagram pages are filled with stunning images of arachnids and invertebrates (and the occasional amphibian) in mind-blowing detail.
But Tara and her husband Steve have a passion for Peacock Spiders, and it's this that has me hooked. They travel around the country, locating and documenting the numerous species of these gorgeous arachnids, spending many an hour scanning the various habitats and coming away with incredible images. What’s not to love about someone else putting in the hard yards (and literal kilometres) to locate and photograph these tiny spiders that just happen to be some of my favourites?
It wasn’t a spider though that helped Tara to achieve one of her dreams earlier this year. Instead it was her photograph of a Blue-Banded Bee that saw her shortlisted for the prestigious Australian Geographic Nature Photographer Of the Year competition.
“I was beyond excited, I couldn’t believe it when I received the email to say I was shortlisted,” Tara said. “I actually rang my husband at work and sent him a screen shot of the email and excitedly said ‘This says what I think it says, right?’ because I just couldn’t believe it.”
Tara grew up with a love of the natural world, watching The World Around Us, immersing herself in documentaries and pouring over nature-based non-fiction books. But it wasn’t until she bought her first camera gear in 2007 that the detail only seen in macrophotography really opened up – first to Tara, and then to her followers.
“I always loved seeing animals up close in documentaries and books and decided that I wanted to learn how to take those types of photos,” she explained. “Many insects' eyes are just amazing! Different colours and patterns. You can only see that kind of detail in a macrophotograph, so I love to be able to show that to people.”
“Also, people often think that spiders or insects are scary or creepy, but they look so different when you can see their faces and learn about what they are actually doing. I think it can take the fear away for some people, so I like being able to show the cute side of bugs and spiders,” she said.
“I remember being blown away by some images of a snowflake when I was a kid, those shapes that could only be seen with macro or microphotography, a secret world.” – photographer Tara Luck and her photo of a dragonfly's face
The photo that put Tara on the Nature Photographer of the Year shortlist was selected from an astounding 1864 photographs taken by photographers in 18 countries, and captured in her own backyard.
“I just loved the composition of that photo. It flowed really nicely with the fern frond he was sleeping on sweeping across the photo. I loved the lighting in it as well,” she said.
“I also loved the story behind it and how it was an educational experience for our family. It was amazing to see these bees performing buzz pollination during the day in our yard, then observing them closer at night as they slept.”
Tara Luck likes to show the cute side of arachnids such as these Peacock Spiders
And while the awards night, held at the South Australian Museum “was a really proud, surreal moment”, Tara and Steve are back to doing what they love most: playing music and hunting for more critters.
“I’m getting out as much as possible to take photos, especially while it’s Peacock Spider season to photograph as many as I can," she said.
"I’m hoping to find more beetles this year too; we have some really beautiful species that I'd love to see… It’s just so lovely to be out in the bush looking for creatures to photograph.”
