One of the first golden rules about landscape photography is that you should always aim to have something interesting in the foreground. So when photographing a beautiful sunrise or sunset you should always look for something to draw the viewers attention and start their journey around your image.
One of my favourite foreground features, particularly when shooting seascapes, is a jetty. Its the way they take you by the hand and lead you into the horizon that I really like.
So last weekend we were up at Lake Macquarie, primarily to take part in the 85km charity Loop the Lake bike ride. It’s OK, I’ll spare you the shots of me in lycra - the ride was tough but fun and it was great to get through it unscathed and in pretty good shape. But I did stay on an extra night to get a few shots around dusk and dawn and to capture some of the great jetties in the area.
For sunset, I headed to Belmont, a small town on the shores of the lake and to a pretty jetty near the Squid Ink Motel. It wasn’t the most dramatic of sunsets but the calm conditions and huge number of black swans meant that it wasn’t a wasted trip.
The glasslike look of the lake was achieved by using a 10-stop ND filter which meant I was able to shoot a 30” exposure.
The same jetty from a different angle, actually this one was as I was leaving we had a final colour burst for the day and I managed to get this great shot.
It was an early start the next day and I headed to Catherine Hill Bay. It’s an old coastal coal mining town and is noticeable for its formidable crumbling jetty that used to carry coal to the waiting ships.
Again, I wasn’t particularly blessed with a dramatic sunrise. A thick band of cloud on the horizon with little above it - not the ideal ingredients for a colour bomb. But I was still able to capture a couple of interesting shots.
Rather than head back to Sydney in rush hour traffic I decided to stop off at a couple of places on the way back, this one isn’t jetty related but I also love lighthouses and this one at Norah Head was not a disappointment.
But to get back to the Jetty theme. I also stopped by at Long Jetty. This sits on Tuggerah Lake in the Central Coast of NSW and as the name suggests is a very long jetty!.
I was here in mid morning and the light was getting bit harsh so I needed to use my filters again to soften the water.
As ever. all images are available as limited edition fine art prints. Do get in touch if you have any questions or comments