What is nothing? Is there even such a thing as ‘nothing’? And if there is such a thing then it’s something, right?

Now I could get spiritual on you and talk about emptiness as the doorway between the material and ethereal worlds, that only through emptiness can we experience fullness but even I have trouble keeping a straight face with all of that stuff.

One thing’s for sure though… Australia has a whole lot of emptiness. It’s everywhere. The hard part is making it interesting.

It was Australia Day 2023 and I’m walking the tracks around the back of the caravan park at Leeman, a small town two and half hours north of Perth experiencing the richness of emptiness.

The Emptiness of Australia

Now before you tell me that it’s not empty, I know that. I’ve seen the David Attenborough series where he shows you termites thriving in the Alaskan tundra. And I’m also the first to acknowledge that I have a tendency to see the world through European eyes. I’m looking for quaint Welsh cottages dwarfed by the majesty of Snowdonia and there really isn’t much of that here.

It’s not empty. The traditional custodians of this land know that. This is a culture that has names six Australian seasons while I struggle with ‘hot’ and ‘bloody hot’.

But since it’s Australia Day I’m going to try and capitalise on the fact that I live in this amazing country. After all, Australia has 60 different wine regions, so it’s not like we lack diversity, at least when it comes to getting drunk.

And one of the things that I do love is minimalism, and the good thing about nothing is that it provides a great backdrop for something.

Before you get your hopes up for austere and tasteful photographs of a lonely cloud floating over vale or hill, or even a solitary tree breaking the serene landscape, you might just want to notice that the vegetation is pretty scrubby and messy, the light was casting shadows and I picked Australia Day to shoot this video which is perhaps the busiest this place gets. It’s amazing how hard it is to find nothing when you’re looking for it.

Perhaps the problem is that I’m very familiar with Leeman and have become blind to what’s around me. All the variegations and corrugations of a small town nestled on the coast can be lost in the expanse of sand, scrub and sky until you actually place a camera in front of your eye and start to look closely.

The Humble Nikon N55

For an empty landscape, I had a nothing camera. The Nikon N55 is not a workhorse tool. In fact, this is my third one, having picked up several over the years that have been selling literally for the price of a cup of coffee and lasted just about as long. Two of them ended up suffering from electronic issues relating to autofocus, though this one has lasted a few years now. As of 2023, you can still pick up one of these for less than $100 and if you’re patient, you might even be able to get one with a lens.

So why do I have a soft spot for this camera? Well, it’s super light with the lens I used, even lighter with the 28-80mm kit lens it came with. And it’s not like I have to worry about someone mugging me or really even noticing me, it’s so unobtrusive.

The Even Humbler Nikon 35-70m f/3.3-4.5

This particular lens has a fairly ignominious reputation. The optical formula is based on the previous manual version, manufactured at a time when zoom lenses just weren’t that good. You get a limited range, moderate aperture and mediocre optics. Look, it’s not that sharp but it’s sharp enough. The bokeh isn’t beautiful but you can still separate the background. It distorts throughout the zoom range but particularly at the wide end and suffers chromatic aberration at wide apertures. But you can fix that later. And It flairs more than a JJ Abrams star trek movie but just don’t point it into the sun.

It’s probably about the cheapest Nikon lens you can buy. The fact is, the build quality of the autofocus version is pretty good and it pairs really well with this camera. One of the biggest limitations of the Nikon N or F 55 is that it won’t meter with manual lenses at all and it won’t focus with AFS lenses that have the focus motor built in. But for these older screw drive lenses this works great. In fact, in good light, the short focus throw makes this particular lens quite fast to lock on to your subject.

And it’s loud. Certainly not discreet at all but be honest, you’re not a professional wedding photographer taking photos at the ceremony nor are you worried about scaring away that curious but skittish aardvark approaching your hide in the African savannah.  Remember, this video is about photographing nothing and.. just maybe… a nothing camera is the best tool for that!?