The Way South

I'm way behind with documenting my trips but there are a few locations I intend investigating again during my days off. I'd like to discover some fresh locations which haven't been 'over photographed'. Athough I am keen on exploring some of the Northern Beaches I realise I need to be in the right frame of mind in order to negotiate the traffic with as little angst as possible. So a little project I'd like to undertake is to create a video sequence of most of the beaches or interesting locations  from Wattamolla as far as Kiama. I generally dont find concrete pools particularly attractive, however there seem to be some hidden rock pools on the route which will make the experience more interesting for me. It is difficult to gauge the optimum time for photography at each of these locations because most of them are tide dependent.  High tide frequently blocks access to many of the rockshelves and unless you're careful it can be difficult to negotiate a way back to safety. I'd recommend visiting each of them at high tide and low tide which makes it quite a time consuming process.

Wannasurf - a great resource for surfing locations with maps .
A map of Wollongong beaches and rock pools 

Some of the locations yet to be explored or re-photographed:

 

 The beach is known as Jones Beach

Back To Bombo

The first week of my holidays is over already so I'm feeling somewhat deflated, however I should be grateful that at least it was spent relaxing and enjoying the freedom. My trip down South to see my cousin enables me to not only catch up with her, but to revisit many of my most loved locations and for good measure, toss in a few new ones.

The decision to stay overnight at Greenwell Point on the way down turned out well.

View Greenwell Point in a larger map
As luck would have it, there were some fishing boats returning and of course a group of pelicans gathered to try their luck at the ritual ' cleaning of the fish'. The fishermen were most obliging and angled their throws to create some great photo opportunities and I was able to catch some action shots different from any I'd taken before.

One of the greatest disadvantages of continually photographing a subject is the challenge of capturing a different perspective, but it's definitely great for professional development. Observing the expressions and personalities of the pelicans always cheers me up and its entertaining to hear the fishermen recounting their experiences. Unfortunately the anticipated Milky Way shoot didn't eventuate as the cloud cover was too thick but it was a good start to the holidays nonetheless.

Rising early for a sunrise shoot was another plan thwarted by those same clouds, however we were able to get a few shots from the beachfront which was accessible as the tide was out. Unfortunately, long exposures and boats dont seem to marry well.

Surfs Up - In A Big Way !

During a stay with my cousin who lives down the South Coast we visited Huskisson Beach where the swell was enormous.

View South Coast Holiday in a larger map

Luckily the sun was behind clouds which reduced the glare of facing towards the light and we were able to find a great vantage point where we could position ourselves to the side of the surfers and obtain a better shot. Even so we were quite a distance away from the action and it was quite a challenge to maintain focus. The surfers were having a great deal of difficulty even getting into the water and I spent ages waiting for that moment to capture the moment. Luckily I was able to grab one shot just before we decided to leave in order to escape the escalating winds.