Seaford pier – Up before the dawn
Images from a pre-dawn trip to Seaford pier with friends from the ND400 Long Exposure group on Facebook. We arrived in the pitch black of early morning, ….a VERY unusual time for me, ….and waited for the sun to rise.
As the sun slowly rose behind us pastel colours appeared in the sky.
This image is available as a high quality print at Redbubble and Zazzle.
A long exposure image from under Seaford pier.
The morning was finished nicely with a civilized hot breakfast at the pier cafe. 🙂
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.
Playing with fire – Experiments with burning steel wool
This collection of images were captured during a couple of night time excursions by members of my ND400 Long Exposure group on Facebook. The patterns are created by igniting steel wool packed inside a metal kitchen whisk and then swinging the whisk in various ways to create the desired effects.
I recommend that if your interested in giving this a try you should wear protective clothing to prevent igniting your hair or clothes. Also stay away from areas of dry grass or bushes. A beach is a good place for trying this kind of photography. Have fun!!
Fire in the Night – Mentone Groyne
A long exposure image taken at Mentone beach just after sunset.
Available as a high quality print at my Redbubble and Zazzle websites.
Art of the Orb – the beauty of nature.
One doesn’t usually associate the word “spider” with art. In my case I seem to be blessed by the presence of a very artsy Orb-weaver spider.
Each evening during summer the spider constructs an elaborate web between the house and a large tree in the backyard.
In an effort to capture the frantic web building activity I took my LX3 out into the backyard to see what I could catch.
The Orb-weaver was lit from some distance away by one of the house security lights.
I set the LX3 to an aperture of f/2.0 @ISO800 due to the dim conditions and caught the following beautiful movements as the spider hurriedly moved around.
For those who might be curious and want to try this I shot these images in aperture priority mode. The camera selected a corresponding shutter speed of 1.3 seconds to suit my particular lighting conditions. The camera was also in “Dynamic B&W” mode.
In the final two images there is a bit less movement by the spider and you can start to see the shape of the spider.
The Beauty of Polly McQuinn’s Weir, Strathbogie.
The picturesque Polly McQuinn’s Weir is well sign posted and located a few kilometers south-west of Strathbogie, Victoria, Australia.
The weir features a spillway where water streams over a concrete wall and onto large exposed granite boulders.
The water then continues snaking around more boulders before flowing under a road bridge then traversing a gently sloped granite plateau before reaching a deep pool surrounded by native vegetation.
There are many opportunities here for the keen photographer.
Below – A long exposure of water cascading over the spillway wall and onto granite boulders beneath.
Below – Looking back towards the spillway wall, water flows rapidly over and around granite boulders on it’s way downstream.
Below – In the days preceding my visit to the weir the area had received heavy rainfall.
I suspect this caused lot of the brown silt present in the water. This caused an interesting effect in the water with the deeper sections of the flow taking on a brownish tinge and the shallow sections appearing bluish during long exposure shots.
Below – The view from the bottom of the spillway looking downstream.
The silted water runs rapidly under the road bridge.
Below – “Polly’s Overflow” – Looking upstream from the pool, the water traverses a gentle granite plateau then strikes some foreground boulders whipping the water into a frenzy before it finally enters the tranquility of the pool. This image is available to buy as a print at my Zazzle and RedBubble sites.
Below – “In Search of Polly”
Apparently the weir was named after a young woman called Polly McQuinn who drowned here more than 100 years ago. Legend has it that the ghost of Polly can sometimes be heard calling for help from passer by.
Unfortunately I didn’t hear Polly on the day I was here.
An Evening at Spray Point, Blairgowrie.
The following images were taken on an evening excursion to Spray Point / Montforts beach, Blairgowrie.
I’m never really sure where one beach ends and the other begins. 🙂
Tidal Trickle (below) was taken just prior to the sun dropping below the horizon giving some nice pinks in the sky.
Friends and Fatalities (below) is a long exposure shot taken just after the sun had dropped below the horizon.
The extended exposure time makes the moving water take on a misty appearance and blurs the clouds whilst the foreground rocks remain in focus.
The Unpredicted (below) is a long exposure shot showing water flowing off the rock plateaus after sunset.
Despite the deceptively calm appearance of the image this is really a potentially treacherous area with unexpectedly large waves occasionally sweeping across the plateaus.
Light and Time at my Ocean Beach
A selection of images taken from two excursions to Sorrento beach.
Return to Primal is a long exposure taken after sunset. The true motion of the waves disguised by the slow shutter speed.
High Tide Sphinx is a slow(ish) exposure taken at high tide as the sun was setting behind the Sphinx rock formation at Sorrento beach, Australia.
Life in the Good Pond is a slow(ish) exposure taken at sunset. A polarizing filter was used to take the reflection off the surface of the rock pool allowing the scene below the surface to become visible. The blurring on the water was caused by the wind rippling the surface.
I Peek Around the Corner is another image from Sorrento where a polarizing filter was used to remove the unwanted reflection of the sky from the surface of the water enabling us to see the wonder below. In the distance on the horizon the Sphinx rock formation is visible.
Around the Sorrento Sphinx
These images were taken while visiting the Sphinx rock formation at Sorrento beach.
It was quite a windy day causing a lot of ripples on the surface of the rock pools so I used a long exposure (several seconds) to smooth them out and make the ripples disappear.
December Hues – a Sorrento sunset
An image taken just after the sun had dropped below the horizon.
I had an ND8 and polarizing filter stacked on the front of the lens to to extend the shutter time and blur the waves giving a soft appearance to the water.
Images from Koonya beach
These images were taken on a recent dusk excursion to Koonya beach on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia.
Dusk is my favorite time of day for shooting, ……it’s certainly MUCH more user friendly than that other time of day, …….what do they call it, ….”dawn” or something like that. 🙂
Long exposures on the Mornington Peninsula
A series of long exposures taken at Sorrento and Blairgowrie beaches on the Mornington Peninsula, Australia.
These images were taken using the Sigma 10-20mm and Canon 17-85 mm lenses with ND8 and polarizing filters stacked on the front in order to slow the shutter speed.
Note – when stacking two filters on the 10-20mm lens the rim of the outermost filter becomes visible in the corners of the images necessitating a little cropping in post processing.
All of these images are available to purchase in various forms and sizes by clicking on their titles.
Blaze – taken at Sorrento beach.
The Glow of Last Light – taken at Sorrento beach.
The Pastel Kiss of Night – taken at Blairgowrie beach.
Welcome the Night – taken at Blairgowrie beach.
Koonya Isle – taken at Blairgowrie beach.
Through Angler’s Eyes – taken at Blairgowrie beach.
Morning in the Forest of Ferns
Early morning in the forest of ferns.
As the sun rises higher in the sky, beams of sunlight break through the forest canopy spotlighting details in the foliage.
Glint
Deep in the Woods
Fog blows across an otherwise sunny section of Mt.Difficult Road near Halls Gap, Australia.
This image is available as a quality print here.
Close of Day
The sun sets over mountains west of Neerim, Victoria, Australia.
This image is available to purchase as a high quality print here.
Dance of the Silken White
This image was taken from the banks of the Toorongo river, near Noojee, Australia.
It’s a wonderful lush place to visit, it’s only real downside being the local leeches.
This image is available to purchase as a high quality print here.
Flying Solo – exposure after sunset
This image was taken at Sorrento beach shortly after the sun had dropped below the horizon.
The long exposure (30 seconds) smooths out the motion of the waves and gives the ocean a smooth, almost cloud like appearance. The pink hue is a remnant of the sunset.
This image is available to purchase as a high quality print here.
Sirens – magic of sea and sunset
A sunset taken at Blairgowrie beach, Australia.
I never get sick of visiting this ocean coastline along the Mornington Peninsula. The rocky landscape remains as a constant, however the continually changing sky and tide never fail to create a new captivating scene.
Generally the best time to visit this area are when the sunset corresponds with a low tide.
This image is available to purchase as a quality print here.
Spellbound – a Blairgowrie sunset
A sunset at Blairgowrie ocean beach, Australia.
This image is available to purchase as a high quality print here.
Serpent’s Haven – a nocturnal river scape
A nighttime river scape image taken at Port Douglas, Australia, using the Lumix LX3.
This image is available to purchase as a print here.
The Last Post – a Sorrento sunset
End of day at Sorrento beach, Australia.
This image is available to purchase as a print here.
Afterglow Sorrento
A sunset shot taken at Sorrento ocean beach, Australia.
This is one of my favorite areas to photograph when the tourist season has finished.
This image is available to purchase as a print here.
The Australiana Tree, SkyHigh.
The Australiana Tree is at SkyHigh on top of Mt Dandenong in Victoria.
The tree was apparently killed by a lightning strike several years ago then later sculpted by artist Leigh Conkie.
The two close up images of the carved tree were shot at night using the Lumix LX3 hand held at 1/30 and 1/20th of a second both at f2.8, ISO400. The tree was side lit by a large yellow spotlight.
Whisper the Night
The full moon pushes it’s way through clouds tainted by dust and smoke from Victoria’s bush fires.
Southern Rendezvous
A six minute exposure taken at night, aperture f11, iso 100 on Blairgowrie beach.
The long exposure reveals the apparent path of objects around the south celestial pole and also transforms the motion of the rough ocean waves into a soft mist.
This image is available to purchase as a print here.
The Reign of the Tranquil – night photography
This shot was taken at one of the many wonderful beaches along the Mornington Peninsula, Australia.
It’s a long exposure taken at night looking out at the ocean.
The long exposure smooths out the motion of the oceans rough surface giving it the appearance of a gentle mist. The rocks sticking out of the mist provide a nice contrast of texture.
The reflection of the rocks in the foreground water provides some additional interest.
The background light comes from the sun which long ago dropped below the horizon. When looking through the viewfinder this glow isn’t visible to the naked eye but the camera’s long exposure picks it up without much trouble.
This image is available to purchase as a print – here
Sisters Three
Night time on Blairgowrie beach.
This image is available to purchase as a print here
Primordial Dawn, ….and Third Planet.
Some long exposures taken well before dawn. It was extremely dark looking through the viewfinder so some guesswork was involved with the composition of these.
Note that the violent crashing waves of the ocean appear as a gentle mist due to the long exposure time. Unfortunately it wasn’t possible to capture the stars in the sky due to clouds rolling in just a few minutes before I arrived on location (bugger).
shutter – 180 seconds
aperture – f8
ISO – 400
Title – Primordial Dawn
Title – Third Planet
Both of these images are available to purchase as prints
Hush, …and Water on Mars.
Some more long exposures taken at night during an almost full moon.
shutter – 120 seconds
aperture – f8
ISO – 400
Title – Hush
Title –Â Water on Mars
Photography by Jim Worrall 