Using a Nikon camera with a 300mm lens or an i-Phone 8, he has photographed birds, frogs, spiders, lichen, tree bark and waterways with a keen eye for detail and atmosphere. He said 90 per cent of the photos were taken with his mobile phone.
In the process, Mr Muir has produced a remarkable record of life during COVID-19, as humans have retreated and left nature to itself.
Every morning from about 7.30 am Mr Muir is up and walking the streets around his north Shepparton home and on to the wooded pathways of the Goulburn River from Cemetery Bend to Reedy and even Gemmill swamps.
Up until last week, Mr Muir had walked about 1250km and worn out one pair of shoes — and he shows no signs of stopping.
A seasoned traveller with his wife, Sonja, Mr Muir said this was the first winter the couple had spent in Shepparton for five years.
“I started walking because I couldn't go swimming. I took photos of the landscape and river thinking I might cover the change of the seasons, but then I started noticing smaller things like spiders on the golf course, or fungi on the forest floor,” he said.
Since March he has collected at least 1500 photos. He now plans to produce a book of his photographic journeys around Shepparton. It will join other books he has produced with photos of his trips to the Kimberley, Spain, Portugal, the UK, Ireland and China.
“I like walking on my own,” Mr Muir said.
“I enjoy the peace and quiet, the birds and the frogs. That's why I walk in the morning.”
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