Australian seascape and landscape photography

Posts tagged “ocean

In the surf at Kilcunda

A couple of long exposure images from the surf beach at Kilcunda.

Kilcunda ocean beach Jim Worrall

Kilcunda beach Jim Worrall


Dawn at Pulpit Rock – Cape Schanck

A couple of images from a dawn shoot at Pulpit Rock, Cape Schanck. Yes, I know, it’s not like me to be up before the birds. I don’t know what got into me. The images were taken during a welcome break between showers.
Pulpit rock Cape Schanck Jim Worrall

Pulpit Rock Cape Schanck  Jim Worrall


Fire in the Night – Mentone Groyne

A long exposure image taken at Mentone beach just after sunset.

Mentone- Port Phillip Bay - sunset - Jim Worrall


Koonya beach – Blairgowrie

The beautiful Koonya beach at Blairgowrie. A favorite spot of mine to sit and watch nature at it’s best.

Koonya beach - Blairgowrie - Jim Worrall


Days of Azure

An image from Sorrento back beach, near the Sphinx rock formation.

Days of Azure - Sorrento beach - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Australia


At the Edge of the Ocean

November is a great time of year on the Mornington Peninsula back beaches. The warming water signals an explosion of bright green seaweed on the rocky plateaus all along the coast.

Turbulence - Sorrento beach - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Australia

Ebb - Sorrento beach - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Australia

Pool - Sorrento beach - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Australia

Plateaus at Sorrento - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Australia


Rock pools at the back beach – Sorrento

Following are a couple of shots of the beautiful rock pools available to explore at Sorrento back beach during low tide. In these images I’ve used an ND400 filter to smooth the background waves and a polarizing filter to remove the sky’s reflection from the surface of the pools.

Sorrento rock pools - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Australia

Sorrento rock pools - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Australia


A Morning at Sorrento back beach

Firstly just a quick note to let you know that I’ve updated the blog to give it a whole new look and most importantly it will now allow me to display larger images on the page. Screen sizes and resolutions have changed dramatically since I first started the blog several years ago. I’m sure you’ll agree that larger images is a step in the right direction.

The following images are from a morning trip down to Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula.

Sorrento back beach - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Australia - long exposure

Sorrento back beach - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Australia - long exposure

Now for some fun shots. The two images below were taken by my friend Stephen.  He managed to catch a couple of golden moments in time where the waves got the better of me.

Jim Worrall hit by wave - photographer - Stephen Pretty

Jim Worrall hit by wave - photographer - Stephen Pretty


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.
Cat Bay jetty - Phillip Island - Jim Worrall - nd400 long exposure

Below – The old jetty remants at Cat Bay, Phillip Island.
Cat Bay - Phillip Island - Jim Worrall - long exposure -nd400

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.
Summerlands beach - Phillip Island - Jim Worrall - nd400 long exposure

Below – Red Rocks beach, Ventnor, Phillip Island.
Ventnor beach - Phillip Island - Jim Worrall - nd400 long exposure

Below – Red Rocks beach, Ventnor, Phillip Island.
Ventnor beach - Phillip Island - Jim Worrall - nd400 long exposure

Below – Red Rocks beach, Ventnor, Phillip Island.
Ventnor beach - Phillip Island - Jim Worrall - nd400 long exposure

Below – Some old jetty remnants at Grantville beach, shot at dusk on the way home.
Grantville jetty remnants - Jim Worrall - Western Port Bay - nd400 long exposure


Balnarring Beach Groynes

The groynes at Balnarring Beach serve to reduce erosion at the water’s edge. Most of the groynes are simply a line of posts connected together by planks creating a straight sea wall.
I was struggling to find something interesting on the beach then stumbled across this baby zig-zagging out into the bay.

Balnarring Beach - Jim Worrall - Western Port Bay - Australia - long exposure - ND400

Below – The usual straight groyne.
Balnarring Beach - Jim Worrall - Groyne - Western Port Bay - Australia

Below – The making of Zig Zag.
Using ND400 to simplify an image - Jim Worrall


Rye back beach – The Dragon’s Head and the Pod

A few images of the rock formations at the Number Sixteen beach at Rye.

Pictured below – The Dragon’s Head rock, initially named by a local with a fertile imagination.
Dragons head rock - Jim Worrall - Rye back beach - Australia - Mornington Peninsula

Below – The Pod, ….well I had to call it something since all of the good names like Dragon’s Head had already been snapped up.
The Pod - Jim Worrall - Rye beach - Sixteen - 16 - Mornington Peninsula - Australia

Below – Water flows off the rocky plateaus returning to the ocean.
Click to enlarge.
Rye - Number Sixteen beach - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Australia

Below – A couple of images of my friend lining up his gear for the money shots.
Rye - Number Sixteen beach - 16 - Jim Worrall - Stephen Pretty - Mornington Peninsula - Australia

Rye - Number Sixteen beach - 16 - Jim Worrall - Stephen Pretty - Mornington Peninsula - Australia


Sorrento – A Mornington Peninsula Jewel

Some afternoon long exposure images from Sorrento back beach on the Mornington Peninsula, Australia. The foreground rocks are submerged at high tide and are gradually revealed as the tide goes out. A long exposure time is used to smooth out the ocean waves into a mist.
Sorrento beach - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Australia - ND400 - long exposure

Sorrento beach - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Australia - long exposure - ND400

Sorrento beach - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Australia - long exposure - ND400


The Pinnacles Facebook Excursion – Phillip Island

In mid July I tried something new. I arranged a photography excursion to the Pinnacles at Phillip Island and posted the idea on Facebook as a public event. By August 4th, the day of the excursion, there were 16 people confirmed as going and a few more “maybes”.

Mist in the Pinnacles - Jim Worrall - Phillip Island - Australia - long exposure - ND400

I had a realistic expectation that perhaps half of those who had confirmed would actually show up on the day. Imagine my surprise when all who had confirmed actually DID show up at the meeting place.
It was the start of a wonderful excursion with like-minded people, most of whom I had never actually met before and I only knew via Facebook.

Pinnacles - Jim Worrall - Phillip Island - Australia - long exposure - ND400

We couldn’t have asked for a better day in the middle of a Melbourne winter. Both the weather and tides worked in our favour and all of the participants seemed to come away from the day pleased with the experience.

Pinnacles - Jim Worrall - Phillip Island - Australia

Following are snapshots of some of the participants enjoying the day at the Pinnacles beach. If you have a Facebook account you can view more images from the event here.

Pinnacles excursion participant

Pinnacles excursion participant

Pinnacles excurion participants

Pinnacles excursion participant

Pinnacles excursion participant

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Catching the Instagram Train

The photography community seems to be polarized over the use of phone cameras and associated filter programs such as Instagram.
I must admit to being slow to travel down the “phone and filter” path and have only recently decided to give it a go to see what all the noise is about.

Since giving it a trial run I must admit that the use of Instagram and other similar programs has reintroduced a fresh and fun aspect to my photography.

Pictured below – Rye Pier.
Rye Pier - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Instagram

I find it refreshingly simple to just pull out my phone, click, process and even publish the image so quickly.
I also enjoy being forced to rethink my compositions into a square format after being conditioned by years of using a 3×2 SLR format.

Pictured below – A foggy morning at Tooradin foreshore.
Foggy Morning at Tooradin - Jim Worrall - Instagram

Admittedly I’ve had to resist the urge to “pixel peep” at the noise and visual anomalies created by some of the clunky filters.
This will never replace my SLR photography but I reckon it will complement it nicely. Phone photography has definitely introduced a fresh fun aspect to my photo life.

Pictured below – Mt Martha beach.
Mt Martha beach - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Instagram


Storm at Powlett River

On the way back home from a recent excursion to Cape Liptrap we stopped off at the mouth of the Powlett River.
I had just enough time to catch this image before the rain started to pour down hard.

Storm at Powlett River - Jim Worrall - Australia


Cape Liptrap – the Lighthouse and Beach

Exploring Cape Liptrap turned out to be one of the most physically punishing excursions of recent times. The excitement of climbing up and down steep coastlines and rock hopping around the breaking surf tends to distract one from the punishment that the old leg muscles are receiving.
As I write this blog post, three whole days have passed since the excursion and my legs are still a bit wonky. 🙂

Pictured below – A long exposure black and white image of Cape Liptrap Lighthouse.
On the day we visited the cape, mother nature provided us with a sky full of interesting fast moving cloud, great for long exposure work.
If you’d like to see an alternative colour version you can see one here.
Cape Liptrap Lighthouse - Jim Worrall - Australia

Pictured below – Cape Liptrap lighthouse captured with a 10-20mm wide angle lens. When I was processing the image I initially corrected the wide angle image distortion but then the image seemed to lose something so i decided to leave the distortion in.
Cape Liptrap Lighthouse - Jim Worrall - Australia

Pictured below – A long exposure image of surf crashing onto rocks along a section of the Cape Liptrap coastline.
Cape Liptrap beach - Jim Worrall

Pictured below – A view from along the west coast of Cape Liptrap.
Cape Liptrap - along the west coast - Jim Worrall

And now for some snapshots –

John sitting on the cliff contemplating his next shot.
John Nabben on cliff at Cape Liptrap

Me sitting on the cliff overlooking the pointy end of Cape Liptrap.
Jim Worrall on cliff at Cape Liptrap

CSI officer John investigating the mortal remains of unspecified creature.
John Nabben at Cape Liptrap

Me struggling up the steep banks of the coastline at Cape Liptrap.
Jim Worrall at Cape Liptrap


Dalmeny Beach – Duesbury Headland

Following are a couple of images from Dalmeny beach in New South Wales.

The first image below was captured from the clifftop at Duesbury Headland, Dalmeny.
Dalmeny beach - Duesbury headland - Jim Worrall - seascape - australia - beach

Below, a long exposure image taken amongst the rocks and surf at Dalmeny beach.
Dalmeny beach - seascape - long exposure - Jim Worrall - ND400 - travel

If you’re in the area around brekky time there’s a cafe on Dalmeny Drive called Anton’s just down the road at Kianga. I highly recommend their excellently presented eggs and bacon.
Have a look at this beauty below. Gorgeous isn’t it!


Mystery Bay – Ocean Mist in the Cove

When visiting Mystery Bay in New South Wales I found this wonderful cove full of dark rocks. The cove is open to the ocean and is constantly hammered by incoming waves.
A long exposure here creates a nice contrast of textures between the rough jagged rocks and the softness of the mist created by the motion of the waves.

Mystery Bay - Australia - Mist in the cove - Jim Worrall - long exposure - ND400

Mystery Bay - Australia - Jim Worrall - long exposure - misty - seascape - ocean - beach


Cape Conran beach – the rockscapes and jetty

The beach at west Cape Conran offers an almost alien landscape populated with a huge array of highly eroded rocks. The jetty and boat ramp look out of place in this environment and so they tend to become the feature subjects of photographers who visit the site.
If you cant visit this site at sunset I’d recommend visiting during a day of high surf activity. The large waves crashing into these rocks create a really impressive scene.
I’m definitely going to revisit this location when I get the chance. There’s a lot to explore here.

Cape Conran Jetty - Jim Worrall - seascape - long exposure - ND400 - misty - sea - ocean

Cape Conran Jetty - Jim Worrall - seascape - ocean - misty waves - long exposure - beach

Mists of Cape Conran - Jim Worrall - seascape - ocean - beach - long exposure

Foam at Cape Conran - Jim Worrall - seascape - beach - ocean - Australia


Marlo – Snowy River meets the Sea

A series of images from Marlo in Victoria where the mighty Snowy River meets Bass Strait.
The softening of the ocean waves in the background is achieved by the use of heavy ND filtering.

Snowy River - Marlo - Jim Worrall - Australia - long exposure - ND400

Snowy River - Marlo - Australia - Jim Worrall - long exposure - ND400

Snowy River - Marlo - Australia - Jim Worrall - long exposure - ND400


On the Beach at Narooma

I was fortunate to stay in the town of Narooma in New South Wales for a couple of days on a recent trip up the coast.
Narooma is home to some interesting natural rock formations along the ocean beach. When combined with some great surf the photo opportunities are plentiful.

Narooma beach - Glasshouse rocks - Jim Worrall - seascape - beach - Australia

Narooma beach - Jim Worrall - seascape - ocean - Australia

Narooma beach - Jim Worrall - seascape - misty ocean - sea

Narooma beach - Glasshouse rocks - Jim Worrall - seascape - misty - ocean

And finally, a man made rockscape in Narooma, the Wagonga Inlet.
Wagonga Inlet - Narooma - Jim Worrall - seascape - beach - ocean - Australia


Ocean Rockscapes at Mossy Point

Following are a couple of long exposure images from Mossy Point near Broulee in New South Wales.
The images were taken in bright daylight using heavy ND filtering to slow the camera’s shutter speed.

Winter in Mossy Point - Jim Worrall - Australia - seascape - ocean - beach

Mossy Point - Broulee - Jim Worrall - Australia - ocean - mist - seascape


Walkerville South beach – the rockscapes

A few images from Walkerville South beach at low tide.

Walkerville South - beach - Jim Worrall - Australia - long exposure

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Walkerville South beach - Jim Worrall - Australia

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Walkerville South beach - Jim Worrall - Australia - seascape


The View from Bushrangers Bay

The splendid view from Bushrangers Bay looking west just a few minutes before a drenching downpour.
Cape Schanck’s Pulpit Rock is on the horizon near the center of the image.

Bushrangers Bay - Mornington Peninsula - Cape Schanck - Jim Worrall
Click on the image to enlarge.


Cape Schanck – Splendour in the Surf

A long exposure image of the surf pounding away at Pulpit Rock, Cape Schanck, Mornington Peninsula.
This place is always a wonderful reminder to me of the power of the ocean. Visiting the rock shelves here is truly exhilarating.

Pulpit Rock - Cape Schanck - Mornington Peninsula - Jim Worrall - Australia - ND400


Tea Tree Creek – Death of the 40D

It was one of those days that I’ll remember for a long time.
Whilst shooting on a rocky plateau at Tea Tree Creek beach at Flinders I carelessly let my guard down.
An unusually high rogue wave struck the face of the plateau and poured down upon me.

Death of the 40D - Flinders - Tea Tree Creek - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula

My workhorse camera, the Canon 40D, had experienced some salt water splash in the past but nothing like this.
Today was the day he ingested way too much salt water. He coughed and spluttered, ….and died.
Luckily my wide angle lens seems to have survived the ordeal with only some minor salt water spots inside the focal range window. The glass inside seems to be clear,…PHEW!

Flinders - Tea Tree Creek beach - Mornington Peninsula - Jim Worrall - Australia - seascape

These images were thankfully retrieved from the camera’s memory card despite it’s convulsions.

Tea Tree Creek beach - Flinders - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula - Australia


The Docking Station – Corinella

A high tide view of the docking station at Corinella. This is where the French Island barge docks to transfer vehicles and passengers to and from the mainland.

Docking Station - Corinella - French Island - Jim Worrall - Western Port Bay

Below – Old Man of the Sea, an old mangrove tree just a stone’s throw away from the docking station.

Old Man of the Sea - Corinella - Western Port Bay - Jim Worrall - mangrove


Down the Tea Tree Creek Track – Flinders

The entrance to the track begins where Tea Tree Creek meets the Boneo Road.
The mowed walking path follows a gentle slope downhill alongside the creek gully and down towards the beach.
Upon arrival at the beach, visitors are welcomed by the presence of a rusty metal wheel nestled amongst the undergrowth.

Tea Tree Creek - Flinders - Jim Worrall - Mornington Peninsula

East from here, the beach invites exploration for those willing to navigate across the black weather-worn rocks covering much of the beach.
The area also offers an impressive selection of rocky plateaus which are sometimes exposed and sometimes dramatically washed by the relentless surf.

Tea Tree Creek - Flinders - beach - Jim Worrall - misty

When exploring along this stretch of beach it’s a good idea to avoid an embarrassing or even life threatening situation by knowing what the tide is doing. Keep an eye out for the occasional rogue wave determined to sweep you off the rocks.

Tea Tree Creek - Flinders - Jim Worrall - beach - seascape

There’s an amazing amount to see, explore, experience and photograph here.
I’ll definitely be returning soon. 😉

Tea Tree Creek - Flinders - Jim Worrall - beach - misty


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.

Flinders beach - Blowhole Track - Jim Worrall - long exposure - ND400

A very picturesque coastline battered by the relentless surf.

Flinders beach - Blowhole Track - Jim Worrall - long exposure - ND400

Flinders beach - Blowhole Track - Mornington Peninsula - Jim Worrall - long exposure


Exploring the Pointy End of Phillip Island

I’d been to this part of Phillip Island on previous occasions but I loved it so much I thought I’d revisit.
That’s one of the joys of photography, you can visit the same location on several occasions and come away with completely different images each time.

Pictured below – Old wooden remnants at Cat Bay, Phillip Island.

Cat Bay, Phillip Island - Jim Worrall - Australia - Seascape - ND400 - long exposure

Cat Bay, Phillip Island - Jim Worrall - Australia - seascape - ND400 - long exposure

Cat Bay, Phillip Island - Jim Worrall - Australia - seascape - beach - ND400 - long exposure

Pictured below – The beach at Right Point, Phillip Island, located between Cat Bay and the Nobbies. The violence of the ocean waves smoothed by the use of long exposure.
Right Point, Phillip Island - Jim Worrall - Australia -seascape - beach - ND400 - long exposure

Right Point, Phillip Island - Jim Worrall - Australia - seascape - beach - ND400 - long exposure