This lesson plan describes the application of a photo essay technique for landscape interpretation in an interdisciplinary instructor-led international field course. This lesson is, in practice, a field-based exercise or learning activity that asks students to engage in three foundational approaches to place-based landscape reading: observation/documentation, interpretation, and analysis. By situating the photo essay as a scholarly product, students are moved beyond the position of tourist or visitor in a new landscape, particularly in a study abroad context, and engage them as scholarly participant-observers whose photo essays document not only the physical environment but also their interpretation and reading of that location as a complex landscape. This exercise was designed and implemented in a 21-day undergraduate and graduate field course in southeast Queensland, Australia. "Exploring Queensland's Human and Physical Landscapes" brings University of Wyoming graduate and undergraduate students to the heart of the complex physical environments and cultural landscapes of Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Noosa, Fraser Island, and Lady Elliot Island. Co-taught by faculty with backgrounds in geographical science and environmental studies, the students engaged in high-impact practices in field-based and international education, including experiential, place-based and relational learning in unique environments; field journaling; individualized research topics and student-led discussions; interaction with local experts and residents; exploration of students' perceptions and biases; and critical analysis through photo essays. The audience for this lesson is primarily postsecondary learners, but it could be adapted to an instructor-led field course at the high school level.