The Oliver Farm
Murray Fredericks · Glenn McKimmin · David Oliver · Clare Oliver
This isn't a workshop.
It's three days inside the minds of four photographers who almost never share a room — let alone a paddock.
Murray Fredericks doesn't run workshops. David Oliver doesn't co-host with three other names on the bill. This exact combination of people, in this exact place, will not happen again. If it ever does, it won't be these four. That's the whole point.
With fifteen guests and four mentors across the weekend, there is no back row. You'll get real time with each of us — whether it's over a critique, a sunset shoot, or a glass of wine by the fire.
Four Reasons to Say Yes
Each of us brings something the others don't. Together, across one weekend, you get all four.
The photographer behind Salt — sixteen solo journeys into the empty heart of Lake Eyre, work held in the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Portrait Gallery and the Sir Elton John Collection. Murray doesn't teach technique. He teaches how to see space, scale and silence — the hardest thing in landscape photography to put into words, and the reason his work sells in galleries, not just on Instagram.
Fujifilm X Photographer with seventeen years and five hundred-plus guests leading expeditions into places most photographers never reach — the first tours into Bhutan, Kamchatka, Mongolia and Sri Lanka. On the farm, Glenn brings the eye for people and place forged across dozens of remote cultures — how to find a portrait inside a landscape, and a landscape inside a portrait, wherever in the world you happen to be standing.
Nikon Ambassador, AIPP Grand Master of Photography, AIPP Fellow, and Australian Wedding Photographer of the Year. Four decades behind the lens, known worldwide for portraiture that's unobtrusive, candid and timeless. David teaches the part most photographers skip — how to make a stranger comfortable enough to actually be seen.
Co-host of the regular Hunter Valley workshops and the photographer bridging her father's traditional mastery with a modern, editorial sensibility. Clare's session is where the weekend's images get pulled apart, edited and archived — turning three days of shooting into a portfolio you'll actually use.
The Work
A taste of what each of us brings to the table.
Murray Fredericks
Glenn McKimmin
David Oliver
Clare Oliver
"Watch how four different photographers look at the same light, the same subject, the same paddock — and shoot it four completely different ways. You won't find that in a book."
This isn't back-to-back tuition. There's a fire pit. There's wine you bring yourself. There are two dinners, two lunches, one long editing session and one sunrise most people will never forget. The unstructured hours — drinks by the fire, dinner conversation, the walk out to the shoot location — are where most of what you take home actually happens. That's not a gap in the schedule. That's the schedule.
The Weekend
A guide, not a script. Weather, light and the helicopter will always have the final say.
Day One
Friday, 16th July
| TIME | ACTIVITIES |
|---|---|
| 10:30am | Morning tea & welcome |
| 11:00am – 12:00pm | David Oliver — welcome and history/inspiration talk |
| 12:30pm – 1:15pm | Lunch |
| 1:15pm – 3:15pm | Murray Fredericks session |
| 3:30pm – 5:30pm | Gear check & first sunset shoot |
| 6:00pm | Drinks & canapes by the fire pit (BYO alcohol) |
| 7:00pm | Dinner at the farm |
| 9:00pm | Finish |
Day Two
Saturday, 17th July
| TIME | ACTIVITIES |
|---|---|
| Morning | Breakfast at leisure around town |
| 10:00am | Glenn McKimmin session |
| 12:30pm | Lunch |
| 1:30pm | Aerial photography techniques chat |
| 3:00pm | Aerial photography (helicopter arrives) |
| 6:30pm | Dinner |
| 8:30pm | Finish |
Day Three
Sunday, 18th July
| TIME | ACTIVITIES |
|---|---|
| 6:30am | Sunrise shoot (location TBA) |
| 8:00am | Breakfast at the farm |
| 10:00am | Clare Oliver — classroom session: portrait shoot, editing & archiving ideas |
| 12:30pm | Lunch |
| 1:00pm – 2:00pm | Portfolio critique |
What's Included
- ○All food across the three days (except one breakfast)
- ○Full tuition across the weekend, with dedicated sessions from each of the four photographers
- ○Helicopter flight for the aerial photography session
Accommodation
Accommodation is not included — please source your own from our list of local hotels and motels in the Hunter Valley.
Reserve Your Place
All food across the three days (except one breakfast), full tuition across the weekend with dedicated sessions from each of the four photographers, and the helicopter flight for the aerial photography session. Accommodation is separate — we'll send you our list of local recommendations.
Just 15 places. A 50% deposit secures your spot.
Location
The Farm
121 Torryburn Rd, Torryburn NSW (East Gresford)
15 places. Four photographers who won't be in the same room again.
Enquire now to secure your place — this weekend will not be repeated with this lineup.
Book Now
