I recently had a fantastic weekend up at Myall Lakes National Park which is a few hours drive north of Sydney. We stayed in the Stewart & Lloyds campsite, a basic but well situated campsite close to Hawks Nest and right on the edge of the sand dunes. It was these sand dunes that were to provide some wonderful photographic opportunities.

We arrived fairly late on the Friday night and just had time to scramble up the dune to catch the last colours of the sunset. Unfortunately I didn't have time to take all of my camera equipment with me but this is one taken with an iPhone which will give you an idea of the colours as we looked out over the dunes towards Port Stephens.

Picture taken with phone of sunset over the dunes

The following day was spent 4 wheel driving with friends along the beautiful nearby beaches. Lots of fun was had and as the temperatures rose it was great to have a refreshing swim in the cooling ocean. Here's where things got particularly awesome and I'd love to have photos to show you but sometimes you just have to experience things first hand than run to take photos (and yes I say that as a photographer). As we swam in the surf a pod of dolphins decided that they wanted to join in the fun and so we stood mesmerised as they swam, leapt in the air, surfed and generally frolicked no more than 50 metres away from us. It was truly magical.

The beautiful beach with nobody else in sight.

The mercury continued to rise during that afternoon and I went to check out a few vantage points to hopefully capture some stars that evening .However, what I saw instead was a thick bank of cloud on the horizon and heading our way. It was obvious there'd be no stargazing that night but rather we should bunker down and prepare for the storm.

And what a storm it was as it passed over our campsite with driving rain and deafening thunderclaps, and with lightning striking close by seemingly every few seconds. Eventually it passed over us and there was a glimpse of colour on the horizon and promise of an epic sunset. So with camera gear in hand we raced up to the top of the dunes to watch.

The sky was incredible with huge threatening clouds swirling above us. The picture above gives an idea of their majesty, it was almost like being under water. But still the storm continued towards the horizon and with that we were treated to the most incredible lightning display.

As it was getting darker now I was able to use longer exposure times. The benefit of this is that you are much more likely to capture those lightning strikes on the horizon. It was a truly awesome experience and one that neither I nor my friends will forget.

Shelby calmly stares down the storm surrounding her

An incredible evening, but we weren't done there. We were up again at first light and able to witness a beautiful sunrise with a kaleidoscope of colours changing by the minute.

Theres something beautiful about the sun rising over the dunes and though we were just a few hours from Sydney we felt like we were in a remote desert somewhere. The light and shadows dancing on the sand were truly wonderful.

All in all a great trip and I am very proud to have captured some great images of the weekend. I hope you agree.

Next up - a 2 week trip around New Zealand's stunning South Island which I am so excited about.

As always the photographs here (except for the dodgy iPhone one) are available as limited release wall art, please get in touch for more details.

Thanks for reading,

Tony