Safety Beach jetty sunsets
A few long exposure sunset images from the jetty at Safety Beach on the Mornington Peninsula.
A great spot to relax and watch the clouds roll across Port Phillip Bay.
The image above, “A Wild Evening at Safety Beach” is available to purchase as a print here.
The image above, “Imminent Sunset at Safety Beach” is available to purchase as a print here.
The image above, “Safety Beach Sunset” is available to purchase as a print here.
A Sunset at Olivers Hill – Frankston
Last weekend we visited the new jetty at Olivers Hill in Frankston on the Mornington Peninsula. As the sun dropped down towards the horizon the sky exploded in a way that we really didn’t expect. It seems that predicting a colourful sunset in Melbourne is a bit like predicting the outcome of a coin toss. 🙂 These are short exposure shots using my phone camera as I left the “big boy”at home.
In the image above, the glowing red “eyes” and silhouette of a small drone can be seen hovering near the top edge towards the left of frame. The constant buzzing noise from these little buggers can ruin an otherwise tranquil atmosphere, …but hopefully the owner captured some great scenes from up there. 🙂
Sunset at Grantville jetty
Grantville is a small coastal town on the east coast of Western Port bay in Victoria, Australia. The jetty at Grantville usually stands in relatively shallow water at high tide, and at low tide it stands proud on a bed of mud. During a “king tide” the water can sometimes cover the walking platform at the end of the jetty as seen here.
Following are a couple of long exposure images taken at sunset during high tide.
Tech stuff for the image below – 157 sec f/18 ISO100 using an ND400 + ND8 filter. This image is available to purchase as a print here.
Pictured below – Grantville jetty as the sunset fizzled out.
Tech stuff – 152 secs f/18 using an ND400+ND8 filter. This image is available to purchase as a print here.
If you’re hungry during your visit to Grantville then I highly recommend trying the homemade chunky beef pies at the Grantville Pantry. It’s located directly across the highway from the jetty. Real chunks of steak in a delicious gravy and housed in a beaut puff pastry casing. Great stuff!! 🙂 (…..and NO, I’m not sponsored by them!) 🙂
Pictured below – A selfie from the end of the Grantville jetty at low tide. Mud as far as the eye can see. 🙂 This is a short exposure HDR image.
It’s available to purchase as a print here.
Eagles Nest – Bass Coast
Eagles Nest is a popular rock formation and beach located on Victoria’s Bass Coast. It’s about half way between Inverloch and Cape Paterson, and it’s well sign posted.
Pictured below, a couple of long exposure images from Eagles Nest on a bright afternoon with patchy cloud. Conditions on the day were very photographically challenging as the sun was diffused by cloud one moment, then it would pop out with all it’s brutal harshness the next moment. This would happen several times during each long exposure causing many of my shots to be blown out. Thankfully not all. 🙂
Technical stuff for both images – 150 sec f/18 iso50 using an ND500 and ND8 filter.
The image above is available to purchase as a print here.
Balnarring Beach Groyne Sunrise
Another sunrise expedition to the groynes at Balnarring Beach on Western Port Bay. This time we visited the straight groynes on the beach near the general store.
The image above was shot just before the sun broke through the clouds on the horizon. It’s a 2 second exposure, slightly smoothing the surface details in the water. This image is available to purchase as a print here.
Pictured above – A short exposure as the sun breaks through the clouds. I liked the way the reflected sun rays were glinting off the waves and the foreground sand. This image is available to buy as a print here.
Pictured above – As the sun rises higher in the sky, one of the groynes becomes beautifully side lit by the warming rays. This is a short exposure (1/20 sec f/18 iso100) shot with the camera way down low almost resting on the sand. This image is available to purchase as a print here.
Pictured above – Friend Jason preparing for his next shot as the sky lights up.
Cowrie beach – Phillip Island
Cowrie beach sits alongside The Nobbies, a popular tourist attraction on Phillip Island. The beach is home to lots of penguins and other sea birds, and is a beautifully rugged piece of coastline.
Pictured below – The view from Cowrie beach looking towards The Nobbies. This image is available to purchase as a print here.
Tech stuff – 5 seconds f/11 using an ND500 filter.
Pictured below – The rugged rocky coastline of Cowrie beach, looking away from The Nobbies. The image is available to purchase as a print here.
Tech stuff – 2 seconds f/9 ISO100 using an ND500 filter.
….and finally for some Christmas fun. The great thing about long exposure photography is that you never quite know what you’ll catch. 🙂
Sunrise at Point King – Portsea
An early morning long exposure from Point King, Portsea, on the Mornington Peninsula.
Tech stuff – 30 seconds at f/8 using an ND400 filter.
This photo is available to purchase as a print here.
Warneet Sunset
Sometimes we don’t realize what we have until we view it through different eyes.
Warneet sunset 10-04-16
Tech stuff – 60 secs @ f/16, 10 stop solid ND + 4 stop soft grad.
SS Speke revisited – Kitty Miller Bay – Phillip Island
A series of long exposure images from the SS Speke shipwreck at Kitty Miller Bay on Phillip Island.
Below – A long exposure from Kitty Miller Bay, Phillip Island.
Morning at Montforts beach
Some images from an early morning photography group excursion to Montforts beach in Blairgowrie on the Mornington Peninsula.
Below – A Montfort Morn.
Below – Montforts Beach.
Below – Here Comes the Sun. Clouds ignite briefly just before the sun rises above the horizon at Montforts beach, Blairgowrie.
Below – Up Before the Day. The togs position themselves in the cool pre-dawn light.
Below – The Wetting of the Footsies. The togs scramble as they’re caught by an unexpected foot soaking. 🙂 All good fun.
SS Speke Shipwreck and Kitty Miller Bay
Following are a couple of long exposure images of the SS Speke shipwreck at Kitty Miller Bay on Phillip Island.
The first image was captured using an ND400 and two ND8 filters stacked together to achieve an exposure time of 195 seconds on a bright afternoon. Such a long exposure allows blurring of both the ocean waves and the moving clouds.
The image below is a 13 second exposure. This shorter exposure allows misting of the waves but leaves the moving clouds only slightly blurred.
Pictured below, a 10 second exposure of surf washing over the dark rocks at Kitty Miller Bay.
Below, a 2.5 second exposure of waves crashing onto the beach at Kitty Miller Bay.
Finally, a 0.8 second exposure of a large wave slamming into a rock on Kitty Miller beach.
If you’re new to long exposure photography using dark ND filters then you might like to check out this page for some tips to get you started.
Life on the Dunes – Powlett River
Cormorants and gulls resting at the base of huge sand dunes at the mouth of the Powlett River.
Bay of Islands – Sorrento
Pictured below, a long exposure image from the Bay of Islands on the back beaches of Sorrento. Access to the Bay of Islands is via Diamond Bay Road, Sorrento. There’s a small car park at the of the road. On arrival at the car park take the walking track to Diamond Bay and branch left at the Bay of Islands sign. It’s an easy short walk to the viewing platform.
Access to the beach is discouraged by Parks Victoria due to erosion on the beach, hence a short climb down is required from the viewing platform if you want a view from sea level.
This image above is available to purchase as a print at my Zazzle and RedBubble sites.
Pictured below – A phone camera shot of a storm brewing over Diamond Bay as viewed from near the viewing platform.
Pictured below – A phone camera shot of the rain rapidly approaching my vantage point. The rain caught up with me before I could make it back to the car. 😦
The Gateway – Coronet Bay
Using the ND400 filter to obtain a ten second exposure during the afternoon at Coronet Bay, Victoria, Australia.
This image is available to purchase as a quality print from my Zazzle and Redbubble websites.
A Hot Starry Night at the Shed
An night time image from semi rural Devon Meadows. The foreground is lit by the long exposure picking up light from a neighbour’s house. Stars are apparent in the night sky.
Cat Bay and Ventnor, Phillip Island long exposures
It was a fine day with fluffy white clouds scooting along on the breeze. It didn’t take long for me to convince myself to go down along the coast and play with some dark ND filters.
Below – The old jetty remnants at Cat Bay, Phillip Island.
Below – The old jetty remants at Cat Bay, Phillip Island.
Below – Summerlands beach, Phillip Island. I was lucky to catch this one with no footprints near it since this is a popular stretch of beach for the locals to wander on.
Below – Red Rocks beach, Ventnor, Phillip Island.
Below – Red Rocks beach, Ventnor, Phillip Island.
Below – Red Rocks beach, Ventnor, Phillip Island.
Below – Some old jetty remnants at Grantville beach, shot at dusk on the way home.
Playing in the Wind – Flinders, the Blowhole Track
A selection of images from the beach at the end of the Blowhole Track at Flinders on the lovely Mornington Peninsula.
On the day I was there the wind was so horrendously strong I had to push down hard on the tripod to stop it from vibrating and blurring all of the long exposure shots.
Pictured below – Flinders Beach, the Blowhole Track.
A very picturesque coastline battered by the relentless surf.
By the Seaside – Tooradin and Corinella
Following are some images from the shores of Westernport Bay.
Pictured below – The Journey Home, seagulls at the Tooradin foreshore take off en masse as the day gives way to night.
Below – Corinella Sunset, a series of “God beams” appear from behind a cloud as the sun sets at Corinella pier. These “God beams” are also known as crepuscular rays and are explained at Wikipedia here.
Below – The Living Jetty.
At Corinella a jetty platform disappears below the surface during a king tide.
The local sea birds take advantage of the exposed posts by using them as a safe roost.
Below – The best position for overseeing the activities at the Corinella jetty area.
The Window of Opportunity – Grantville Beach.
Amongst the photographic gems that Grantville beach makes available to photographers is a set of 3 rows of short pylons.
No doubt these pylons are the remains of an old jetty but they differentiate themselves from other such sites in a couple of interesting ways. Firstly, it’s unusual to see 3 rows of pylons like this. Most old jetties leave behind only two rows of pylons.
Secondly the pylons are extremely short here, with most of them extending from the muddy base by only a few short inches.
The short stature of these pylons provides photographers with an interesting challenge. At high tide the pylons are invisible as they’re completely submerged by water, and at low tide they’re an awful looking series of posts sitting in mud.
The challenge for the photographer is to arrive at the site during a narrow window of opportunity whilst the tidal transition ideally has all of the pylons surrounded by water around their bases and yet not enough water to make them shorten or disappear below the surface.
Below – “Runway to the Afterlife”
On my first visit to the site I was extremely lucky and caught the tide at just the right height. I wasn’t aware of how elusive these pylons could be until subsequent visits, hoping to catch the pylons in a different light, I haven’t been fortunate enough to arrive at the right time. 😦
Below – “Mortality” an image taken near the pylons on a different evening. The dark brooding sky sets the mood of the image. In the foreground lays a dead jellyfish, stranded by the outgoing tide.
Below – “Deep Creek Reflections“, also near the pylons Deep Creek enters the Westernport Bay.
Contrasts – Views from Jam Jerrup
Contrasting views from the beach at Jam Jerrup, Victoria, Australia.
It’s interesting to see how different a location can appear under different light and tidal conditions. This is exactly the reason why I like to return to the same places many times.
Below – “Aspirations” is a minimalistic long exposure image taken at high tide.
Below – “Blunderbuss” is a wider view of the same area taken at low tide with some more drama taking place in the clouds.
Below – “Exploring the Meme” is the boat ramp and single post at Jam Jerrup.
A Photo Exploration of Grantville beach.
I visited Grantville the day after Victoria had been hammered by unusually high rainfall.
Apparently the extreme rainfall was a side effect of cyclone Yasi’s passage across Queensland and into central Australia.
With the worst of the rain over, the day provided some beautiful photographic conditions with the sun filtered through an interesting arrangement of constantly changing storm clouds.
I love the beach down this way. Each time I visit here I discover something new.
Before I discovered photography I would never have guessed that I would find storm water drains interesting. 🙂
Below – “Purge” a storm water drain running into Westernport Bay.
For those who are interested in the technical details, the drain images are constructed using HDR tone mapping techniques. The long exposures were achieved using a combination of ND400 and ND8 filters on the end of the lens to smooth the waves on the water.
Below – “Running from the Idols” – another drain dumping water into Westernport Bay.
Below – A long exposure self portrait, standing at the end of the Grantville jetty.
Below – “Grantville Jetty” – a view from the jetty looking out towards the boat ramp marker posts.
Below – “After the Rains” – a long exposure image from Grantville beach as rain clouds exit. An old boat trailer sits semi-submerged in the foreground.
A Photographic Trip to Tenby Point.
Tenby Point is a coastal village located on the shores of Westernport Bay, just a few kilometers east of Corinella, Victoria, Australia.
On this particular photography excursion conditions weren’t ideal. The sun was harsh and high in the sky, and there were no clouds around. Due to these harsh light conditions I chose to make a series of high key images whilst the tide was favorable.
Below – The Counsel of Many
It’s important to know what the tides are doing here from a photographer’s prespective.
I think it’s best here to avoid visiting at low tide unless you’d like images of sticks or trees sitting in mud.
The black and white images in this post were taken with both an ND400 and an ND8 filter attached to the end of the lens to achieve long exposure times in bright sunny conditions. The goal behind using such heavy filtering is to achieve long exposure times in order to blur as much detail as possible from the sky and water.
The result is a more minimalistic image.
Below – Sweet Survivor
Below – The Path to Yesterday
Eventually all good things come to those who wait. The afternoon dominated by harsh white light gave way to a pearler of a sunset when some clouds moved across the sky at just the right moment. I drove home from Tenby Point wearing a satisfied grin. 🙂
Below – Sunset at Tenby Point
Exploring Beachport, South Australia.
I visited the town of Beachport just prior to the summer “silly season”. This provided me the with the opportunity to explore the area without the usual crowds of holiday makers cluttering up the splendid beaches.
The town sits on the end of a small cape with one side facing towards the open ocean and the other side facing more towards the mainland providing a relatively safe harbour area and calmer beaches.
Below – Thar She Blows – a storm approaches Beachport from the ocean.
Below – Beachport Pier – located on the calmer east side of the cape, is apparently the second longest pier in Australia. You need a cut lunch and a sherpa to trek from one end of the pier to the other. 🙂
Below – The Pool of Siloam at Beachport contains water which is claimed to be seven times saltier than seawater which makes floating really easy. The pool is fed by underground springs.
Below – Back on the rougher ocean side Post Office Rock at Beachport provides some nice wave action.
I lost a pair of runners and socks here to an unexpected wave.
The Water is Back – Meningie
Following are a few images from Meningie, on the banks of Lake Albert in South Australia taken in December last year (2010).
I was told by the Bev at the Lake Albert Motel that the lake has only recently recovered from the drought. Apparently for some time there wasn’t water anywhere near the jetty pictured below.
Below – Traces – Meningie, South Australia, Lake Albert.
Below – Rise and Fall – Meningie, South Australia, Lake Albert.
I have no idea what those posts are doing out there in the water.
(Update – 31-01-11 Bev at the Lake Albert Motel has informed me that the posts in the water are there to provide a roost for the local pelicans. That makes sense.)
Below – Aspects of Abundance Meningie, South Australia, Lake Albert.
Pelican roosting posts.
Below – Meningie Some wonderful action going on in the clouds here.
Below – Unbreakable – The second most sturdy piece of outdoor furniture I’ve ever had the pleasure of sitting on.
Thunder and halos at Blairgowrie ocean beach.
The return to Blairgowrie beach was everything I could hope for. I timed the visit to coincide with the low tide late in the afternoon, and as a bonus a thunderstorm happened to roll in off the ocean with a vengeance.
As I stood exposed on the beach to take this photo I was reminded of what a precarious situation this was. There were occasional bursts of lightning coming from the low dark clouds striking the water. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to capture a lightning strike with the camera but the view of the clouds was magnificent.
As the main part of the storm passed over head the rain poured down heavily and I managed to shelter my camera gear and most of my body by huddling against a large rock. As the rain began to ease gaps appeared in the clouds allowing scattered sunlight through creating wonderful light shows including halos and misty streaks.
As always, these photos are available to purchase as prints at –
http://www.redbubble.com/people/pixelmuser/
You can contact me by email at jim.worrall@gmail.com
