Sleeping Bombo

Joined the Not Only Black And White Meetup group for yet another trip to Bombo Quarry.  We hadnt anticipated an exciting day as the swell was low, the sky was a cloudless blue and the time was too late to catch the good light. However it's always enjoyable to get together with this welcoming and amenable group.
The impressive size of the quarry is difficult to establish without some scale reference so the  following image smattered with Meetup members should serve to illustrate this for those who haven't been lucky enough to visit the quarry.

As the swell was not particularly exciting I spent most of my time photographing the view from the quarry. I love the golden grasses which dot the quarry landscape.

 Due to the absence of large waves people had the opportunity to approach the window between the twin pillars. This is generally impossible, particularly when the waves are high because they frequently crash right over the top of the pillars with great force and cascade down the western face like small waterfalls.

One exception was the small swell hitting against the eastern walls of the basalt columns 

 There were still many reflection pools even though the rainfall had not been particularly heavy.

 

Only thing to mar the day was a rogue wave which dumped on Ruth and appears to have put her Canon 6D out of action for the time being. Bombo has much beauty but as with any coastal formation, is witness to the unpredictablility of Nature. Even on this relatively calm day there was the occasional freak wave which endeavoured to catch the unaware. The secret is to sit high enough to be able to gain an effective composition while at the same time ensuring you have adequate rock cover as protection, if not from the waves, at least from being dragged into the swirling waters below.

Bombo never disappoints, irrespective of conditions, and while the rockpools were generally shallow and filled with less than inviting water, many beautiful reflections were still evident. It very much depends on the angle of the camera and proof that reality can be transformed by a single shutter click.

It's always an opportunity to play around with processing when skies are uncooperative so sometimes the vagaries of weather can have a positive effect.

Following the walk down to Bombo the group moved on to Kiama for lunch where some of us amused ourselves shooting the local seagulls. I could spend hours watching these little creatures derogatively described by some bird haters as 'flying rats'. I find their antics amusing and after all, they hav eas much right to eke out an existence from their surroundings as the humans who share their planet.

Unfortunately my depleted energy levels after hours of rock hopping prevented me from joining the group on the walk along a long stretch of beach towards Rangoon Island at Minamurra.