“Ol’ Woody” at Tenby Point
“Old Woody”, ….. Tenby Point’s most photographed Mangrove tree.
Photo taken back in October ’23, just prior to him collapsing into the sea.
Tenby Point – A High Tide Sunset
The setting sun at Tenby Point beach, Western Port Bay.
On this occasion the tide was so high that the water’s edge was all the way up to the vegetation line so there wasn’t much opportunity to explore the beach. We could only walk a few short metres to the left of the access stairs and no further.
Fortunately though it was still possible to catch a glimpse of the setting sun from this position.
Tenby Point – Western Port Bay
A long exposure shot taken near sunset at Tenby Point on Western Port Bay.
Tech stuff – 123 secs at f/16 using a 10 stop solid ND and 4 stop grad ND filter.
Tenby Point jetty remnants
Tenby Point is a coastal village sitting on the eastern side of Western Port Bay, about half way between Grantville and Corinella. The jetty remnants are best visited near high tide when water surrounds the base of the posts. When the tide recedes here it goes WAY out leaving the posts sitting in an unattractive bed of mud.
Tech stuff for the image below – 260 secs at f/13, ND400 + ND8 filters.
Tech stuff for the image below – 205 secs at f/14, ND400 + ND8 filters.
Ol’ Woody at Tenby Point
Ol’Woody is a popular mangrove tree at Tenby Point on Western Port Bay.
In this image the reflection in the water has been enhanced by smoothing the surface ripples using a 180 second exposure time made possible with dark ND filters.
Tenby Point – The Jetty and the Mangroves
We had arrived just in time. The high tide was starting to recede giving us easy access to the beach yet there was still enough water covering the base of the jetty posts.
If you arrive at this destination at the wrong time you’ll find sticks in mud.
Below – Two images of the Tenby Point jetty remnants.
Pictured below – On the way back to the car park the water had receded enough to reveal the tangled root system on this Tenby Point icon.
Tenby Point Revisited
There’s something quite magical about Tenby Point. It’s one of those areas I feel compelled to visit from time to time.
A great surprise this visit was to find the road is now surfaced with asphalt. I’m going to miss all the corrugations and pot holes that once adorned the old dirt track leading to the beach.
A Photographic Trip to Tenby Point.
Tenby Point is a coastal village located on the shores of Westernport Bay, just a few kilometers east of Corinella, Victoria, Australia.
On this particular photography excursion conditions weren’t ideal. The sun was harsh and high in the sky, and there were no clouds around. Due to these harsh light conditions I chose to make a series of high key images whilst the tide was favorable.
Below – The Counsel of Many
It’s important to know what the tides are doing here from a photographer’s prespective.
I think it’s best here to avoid visiting at low tide unless you’d like images of sticks or trees sitting in mud.
The black and white images in this post were taken with both an ND400 and an ND8 filter attached to the end of the lens to achieve long exposure times in bright sunny conditions. The goal behind using such heavy filtering is to achieve long exposure times in order to blur as much detail as possible from the sky and water.
The result is a more minimalistic image.
Below – Sweet Survivor
Below – The Path to Yesterday
Eventually all good things come to those who wait. The afternoon dominated by harsh white light gave way to a pearler of a sunset when some clouds moved across the sky at just the right moment. I drove home from Tenby Point wearing a satisfied grin. 🙂
Below – Sunset at Tenby Point
Down amongst the Mangroves, Westernport Bay.
You certainly have to admire the hardiness of the Mangrove tree.
It thrives in poor quality soil in tidal areas, and twice a day has it’s roots submerged in salty sea water. Under storm conditions the Mangrove is battered by both wind and waves yet it still manages to hold firmly.
The Mangrove tree is also an interesting subject from a photographer’s perspective. At high tide with the roots submerged it’s fairly easy to photographically isolate the subject from it’s surroundings by using a long exposure time to smooth any waves around it’s base and blur any clouds in the sky.
Below – TimeKeeper
Below – The Risen
Below – Approaching the Forest
At low tide the Mangrove tree has it’s roots exposed creating potentially a new subject of interest for the photographer. The long roots are often intertwined with each other giving the impression of writhing serpents (perhaps that’s just my imagination running wild).
Below – The Serpent Tree
Below – Wild n’ Woolly a long exposure with the roots exposed and the leaves thrashing around in the wind.
Below – On Borrowed Time the same tree as above but at high tide.
Photography by Jim Worrall 