Our Living World | Earth to Sea News

In the field

Photography by Oliver Strewe

He has been photographing since the 1970s, from his home ground at Bondi to the far corners of the world, and is the author and photographer of books including the award winning Wine Atlas of Australia and New Zealand, Lonely Planet's World Food guides, the classic Bondi, and Beaches, Bays and Coves of Sydney. We are beyond lucky to have him capturing our field stories. His collection here runs from the Torres Strait and Cape York down through the Pilliga scrub, and comes home to Parsley Bay in Vaucluse, a place he has known and loved for decades, and where a live local campaign is working toward official Aquatic Reserve protection.

He has photographed Australia and the world since the 1970s, as author and photographer of books including the award winning Wine Atlas of Australia and New Zealand and the classic Bondi. We are beyond lucky to have him capturing our field stories, from the Pilliga scrub to the Gulf of Carpentaria and home to Parsley Bay.

If one of these speaks to you and you would love a print for your own wall, write to us and we will happily arrange it with him. Every photograph in this collection is © Oliver Strewe and remains his own work, so please enjoy them here and ask before reusing them anywhere else.

The Murray River at dusk near Tocumwal, still water holding a pink sky between banks of river red gums

The Murray goes still at dusk and takes the whole sky with it, near Tocumwal, New South Wales

Sandstone boulders and clear green water at Gordons Bay, Sydney

Sandstone and clear water, Gordons Bay, Sydney

An avenue of eucalypts along the Murray River, arching over a quiet country road at Bearii in northern Victoria

An avenue of eucalypts along the Murray River, at Bearii near Mywee in northern Victoria

Fig trees forming a green tunnel over Chesterfield Parade, Clovelly

The figs of Chesterfield Parade make a tunnel to the sea, Clovelly

Two riders and their horses on the wet sand at Tolaga Bay, New Zealand

Riders on the sand at Tolaga Bay, Aotearoa New Zealand

A rainbow landing on the sea off Bondi Beach

The rainbow that landed on Bondi, from our City2Surf story

Two children sharing a green coconut through a natural straw

No bottle required: a green coconut shared straight from the shell

Aerial view of pale coral shallows meeting deep blue water in the Torres Strait

Coral shallows give way to deep water, Torres Strait, Queensland

An aerial view of turquoise reef patterns in deep blue sea, Torres Strait

Reef country from above, Torres Strait, Queensland

A child's cupped hands holding a handful of native seeds and fruits

Seeds held in two hands, Yorke Island, Torres Strait

Two swimmers in the pool below a wide bush waterfall on Cape York

A wide bush waterfall on Cape York, and quite possibly the best swim in the country

A small waterfall over sandstone in Parsley Bay's rainforest

A special pocket of rainforest at Parsley Bay, Vaucluse

A River Red Gum stands its ground, NSW

A grain freight train crossing Central Western NSW at sunset

A grain freight train rolls through Central Western NSW at dusk

Two children on a Gulf of Carpentaria beach returning a small shark to the sea

Meanwhile, up in Cape York, a shark is returned to the waters of the Gulf

Light and ripples on the surface of the Shoalhaven River

Light plays on the Shoalhaven River

A treed hillside reflected in the still Shoalhaven River

The Shoalhaven, mirror still

Two bathers wading into deep blue water at Bondi

Bathers, Bondi

Tall trees meeting over a quiet country road

A country road disappears into the trees

Sunbathers relaxing on the deck at Wylies Baths, Coogee

A hot summer's day at Wylies Baths, Coogee

Deep green in the heart of Sydney: Parsley Bay's rainforest gully, at the centre of a live campaign for official Aquatic Reserve protection

A gravel road lined with eucalypts near Snowball on the Cooma Road

Snow Gum, Candlebark, Mountain Gum and Black Sally near Snowball, on the road from Cooma to Braidwood

The Pilliga scrub regreens after fire, a rain cloud drifting over the regrowth

Rain arrives over the regreening Pilliga scrub

In the field

Photography by Christina Senn

Christina Senn photographed these fur seals at Narooma on the New South Wales south coast, where the colony from nearby Barunguba Montague Island loves to haul out, and has gifted these photographs to Earth to Sea News. Hundreds of seals haul out on the island's granite year round, and her camera found them doing what they do best: singing, squabbling and sleeping in the sun.

If one of these speaks to you and you would love a print for your own wall, write to us and we will happily arrange it with her. Every photograph in this collection is © Christina Senn and remains her own work, so please enjoy them here and ask before reusing them anywhere else.

A young fur seal looks toward the camera with a gentle expression, Narooma

A quiet hello from the colony, Narooma · August 2026

Two fur seals with mouths open calling to each other beside blue water

Two voices, one rock: the colony in full conversation

A fur seal calling with its mouth wide open on pink granite above deep blue sea

A song for the morning sun

A fur seal asleep on the rocks beside a curl of rusted iron

Asleep beside a curl of rusted iron, a trace of the harbour's working past

A close view of a fur seal sleeping in golden light, whiskers catching the sun

Fast asleep in the first of the light

From the water

Direction Island, Cocos (Keeling)

Our own photographs from the reef: coral gardens, staghorn thickets and the fish that call them home, exactly as we found them.

A freckled hawkfish peering out from between coral heads at Direction Island

A fish in waiting, Direction Island · May 2026

Coral reef scene at Direction Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Direction Island reef · May 2026

Coral garden with a giant clam at Direction Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Direction Island coral garden · May 2026

Direction Island reef · May 2026

Send us yours

This gallery will grow. Readers are warmly invited to send their photographs of the living world to earthtoseanews@gmail.com. Each month we choose our favourites to feature here, always with full credit.

Every photograph on this page belongs to the photographer who made it. If one would look lovely on your wall, or you would like to use it in your own pages, just ask us and we will connect you with them. Prints and permissions are happily arranged; we simply ask that nothing is copied or republished without the photographer's blessing.