A photographer has taken a once-in-a-lifetime shot of the raw battle between mother nature’s harsh elements and one of her most breathtaking creations.
Trys Eddy, a local tour guide in Uluru, was enjoying a ‘romantic evening’ with his girlfriend, Tatianna, late last year when a massive desert storm began rolling in.
The opportunistic amateur photographer raced home to grab his gear before summiting a nearby sand dune and capturing one of the most unique images ever taken of Ayers Rock.
‘It was a constant, phenomenal amount of lighting,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
Trys, who has lived in Alice Springs for four-and-a-half years, says the work schedule in the area is brutal, often resulting in 18 hour days, six-day weeks and irregular days off.
He said it’s rare he and his girlfriend get a night off together, and so the pair grabbed takeaway and found a remote spot to have a picnic under the stars in November last year.
‘I was having the nice romantic evening, we work 18 hours out here so when you get the night off you’ve got to take it,’ he said.
‘There was this beautiful milky way above our heads but this storm all around us. She didn’t realise I was trying to speed through dinner a bit faster than normal, I was trying not to lead on I was trying to get up to the sand dune to take some photos.’
After’ calmly’ taking Tatianna home and saying goodnight, Trys ‘flew’ back to his home and began tearing through his house to find his equipment.
‘I didn’t know if I had anything, didn’t know if I had lenses or a tripod or anything. I just grabbed all my stuff. It was a 10-minute run up the dune, I was so out of breath I thought I was going to die,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I was setting everything up in the dark because I forgot a light, and as I was putting up the tripod the biggest lightning bolt you’ve ever seen smashed into Uluru and I was like ‘no!’.’
He frantically set up his gear, despite being in what he described as ‘a really stupid spot’ where he was ‘likely to be struck by lightning’, hoping he wouldn’t miss another crack.
‘I mounted the camera, clicked away, took one shot. Didn’t check any settings, just clicked,’ Trys said.
‘I looked down and saw the photo immediately pop up on the screen and that was when I knew I had something.’
He quickly got off the dune as the weather dramatically worsened, leaving behind another man who was in the same spot who Trys says got ‘slammed’ just for waiting another 30 seconds.
What he produced was one of the most unique photos ever taken of a place that is heavily over-photographed.
Despite the achievement, Trys doesn’t have any ambition to become professional.
‘I got extraordinarily lucky. I enjoy it as a hobby and don’t want to stop enjoying it as a hobby.’
His decision to speed through his date turned out to be a good one. Tatianna was disappointed, but not because he rushed through their evening.
‘She was annoyed she wasn’t there for it,’ Trys said.
