I thought it would be worth sharing a bit about a landscape shoot I did a couple of days ago. I’ve always been a fan of astrophotography but due to COVID restrictions hadn’t been out too much for this season. This time of year is great for astrophotography. The Milky Way rises just after sunset so you don’t have to sit up all night to get the best shots. Even better is that the Milky Way sets to the South meaning that there are opportunities to shoot it in that perfect arc across the sky.
Seeing a favourable weather forecast I booked myself a campsite and headed up to Putty Beach on the Central Coast. Unfortunately, a huge band of cloud rolled through which meant that I wasn’t going to be able to see the milky way rising. The clouds did lend themselves however, to a dramatic sky and a fleeting but glorious sunset.
I took pictures at a few locations around Wagstaffe, Killcare, and Hardy’s Bay.
Boat tied up at Wagstaffe Jetty with dramatic clouds
B&W image of the Jetty at Hardys Bay with dramatic clouds
Hardys Bay jetty taken from the mudflat with tide out
It looked for a moment that there would not be much of a sunset but there was a small gap in the clouds at the horizon and so for a couple of glorious moments the sky was turned several shades of orange.
Glorious Colour Burst at Hardy’s Bay for Sunset.
For the stars an alarm was set for 3.30am, I ventured round to the end of the Putty beach to shoot the milky way to the south. Unfortunately the other main thing south of Killcare is Sydney and so there was some unavoidable light pollution on the horizon. But I think it was worth it.
From Putty Beach The Milky Way sets over Killcare with Sydney lights on the horizon
I was awake now so headed up the Bouddi Coastal Track to get some shots of the sunrise (not much of one I’m afraid due to the clear skies, you cant have it all), the tessellated pavement and I was lucky enough to see a number of whales swimming by.
Sunrise over Maitland Bay on the Bouddi Coastal Track
look closely, theres a couple of humpbacked whales on their journey north
The tessellated pavement at Bouddi Coastal Walk on a winters morning