Mona Vale rockpool. I had been waiting a while for a high tide to coincide with sunrise at this unique rockpool. I had marked it in my calendar after scanning through the Pocket Weather AU iPhone app looking for a suitable time. I wasn't disappointed, the surf was huge, so big the pool was actually closed, perfect for several shots I had envisioned for several months before.

Mona Vale rockpool

Mona Vale rockpool upclose

Mona Vale rockpool looking South

Yesterday, I took a stroll from where I live in Queenscliff along the boardwalk to South Curl Curl before a quick a swim at Freshwater. Of course I can't just enjoy a walk for a walks sake,  I walk about looking for points of interest that will result in new compositions and photographs. I remember back in my early twenties when I was passionate about making music thinking will I ever be able to enjoy music without deconstructing it? The answer is yes, instead now I do the same with nature. So this morning I went back to the same spot, with the compositions in mind. I found the coast, as it was yesterday lined with fishermen, obviously a popular spot.

Looking North - South Curl Curl

Looking South - South Curl Curl

Ok so technically the first image is from Hong Island, but it's close to Railay Bay. In fact it is a short boat ride and well worth the visit. If you go there say hello to my little friend, Pavel.

Oh how I miss you Thailand! I spend half a year in Thailand back in 2003 whilst travelling Asia. What a great place to forget about the rest of your travels and soak up the backpacker culture. This is where my passion for photography began, one day I may even show you some photos.

A visit at the start of the year was the first time I had been back and boy did it bring back some memories!

  
Left: Hong Island
Right: Railay Beach

Railay Bay

Phra Nang Beach, Railay Bay

The first light this morning, about 45 minutes before dawn the sky was a really deep orange, worth a photograph on an otherwise uninteresting cloudless sunrise. I went out to my local beach with the Northern Beaches, Seascape Flickr group (check them out here) who are out most weekends, check out the video and you will see them sprawled out across the rock shelf happily photographing away.

Freshwater Reserve, Sydney

Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Shutter Speed: 1/2 sec
Aperture: f/14
Focal Length: 21 mm
ISO Sensitivity: 250

Freshwater Reserve, Australia

Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Shutter Speed: 5 sec
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 23 mm
ISO Sensitivity: 320

I don't think I will ever be good at getting up in the morning. Even with these late starts, as winter finds its way South, I struggle. On Sunday high tide pretty much coincided with sunrise so myself and another local photographer Nick Fletcher decided to shoot Mona Vale rock pool. Arriving at 6am (45 minutes before sunrise) we were surprised to see five photographer already there. Photographing on the weekend in Sydney's Northern Beaches it can get busy so everyone try's to be mindful of this and stay out of each others composition. I delighted with the results as you will see below, the gaps in the cloud were just enough to put on a spectacular display. I also had a bit of fun shooting a 360 degree video of the location, something I hope to do at all shoots I go on from now. Click on the video and drag your mouse to look around, check out the spear fisherman getting onto the deep water where I was shooting.

Please leave a comment and don't forget to share.

Mona Vale, Sydney

Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Shutter Speed: 1/2 sec
Aperture: f/18
Focal Length: 28 mm
ISO Sensitivity: 100

Mona Vale, Australia

Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Shutter Speed: 2/5 sec
Aperture: f/18
Focal Length: 40 mm
ISO Sensitivity: 100

The waves were massive at Dee Why when I arrived, I knew they would be big but hadn't see anything like it for a while. The great thing about Dee Why is that you can literally stand only a few feet away from the surfers as they ride the break near the rock shelf. Around the back of the rock pool there are some interesting rock formations. Getting to them can be precarious with the rocks being extremely slippery, non the less I ventured toward the sea finding new compositions, waiting for the right waves and light. It didn't take long until the onlooking crowd spurred me on to get too close resulting in me getting smashed by two waves, coming out wet head to toe and with a wet camera. Left shaken (didn't let the crowd know that) I decided I had chanced my luck enough and retreated for the evening.

Dee Why, Sydney

Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Shutter Speed: 1/2 sec
Aperture: f/18
Focal Length: 24 mm
ISO Sensitivity: 50

Dee Why, Australia

Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Shutter Speed: 1/1 sec
Aperture: f/18
Focal Length: 29 mm
ISO Sensitivity: 100

Visiting my home town of Balerno and the surrounding Pentland Hills as an adult I now appreciate its beauty. I remember cycling around here as a child, exploring the foot hills and reservoir. It didn't seem that amazing at the time, it was what I was used to and my interest in photography and nature hadn't developed yet. Looking back I would love to be able to cycle around it now, mind you it was close to freezing when I took this photo, something I'm not used to living in Australia. It has been 15 years since I have lived in Balerno, now I only return to visit my father every couple of years.

This image is a digital panorama and is comprised of several exposures.

Camera Model:Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Shutter Speed:5 sec
Aperture:f/16
Focal Length:95 mm
ISO Sensitivity:100

I had a suitable morning to get up early so decided to head to good ol' Turimetta to catch the sunrise. I always feel getting up for sunrise is a gamble as you never know what the clouds are doing when its dark. This morning a bank of clouds sat just above the horizon, enough for a bit of sky interest. Scouting for locations, and trying to work with the little pre dawn colour I did have I found myself drying my gear (filters, camera, lens) more than I was taking photos. The waves were slapping against the vertical rock shelf that make Turrimetta so photogenic and dousing me in sea water. Retreating and dying my gear I would go back only to get wet again. Lesson learnt, take something more substantial to soak up water and a couple lens cloths for fogging/cleaning. Thankfully I managed to come away with one keeper. Due to the dynamic range of this shot and the wetness of my filters I actually took several different exposures and blended them in Photoshop.

I was out teaching time lapse last night at Long Reef and decided to stick around for sunset. It gets very windy out there and last night was no exception. I decided to seek some shelter walking to the Northern side, my camera/tripod was getting blown over making it impossible to take long exposures. As I walked around the headland I saw what I first thought was an upturned boat or a small whale. I approached it from behind so it was really hard to see what it was being round and nondescript. I soon discovered that it was actually a turtle and its fins and back legs had been eaten by sharks. Its not a nice thing to see but as the turtle was so big (about 6ft in length) I can only assume it died of old age. I hope by now it has been returned to the sea by the incoming tide.

Long Reef

The quaint Italian town of Alberobello, famous for its conical roofed white buildings (trulli) found in this region. A popular tourist destination, I spent half a day here on my way through to Bari before catching a boat over to Croatia.