Gunnamatta Ocean Beach

Over the last few weeks I have been spending quite a bit of time at Gunnamatta Surf Beach which is located in the Mornington Peninsula National Park (Victoria).  The beach is a 3 kilometer long stretch of exposed sandy beach and according to beachsafe.org.au is one of the best surf beaches along the Mornington Peninsula, with consistent 2 m waves all year.  It is however a very dangerous beach with Life Saving Victoria making an average of 113 rescues at the beach each year.  Going to Gunnamatta at the end of winter means I haven’t had to fight the crowds that flock to the beach in summer and it usually just been myself down there and a few keen fishermen.

There are several spots along the beach where there are some large rocks in the sand which make for some interesting photographs if you are game enough to get close to them.  This photo below is of one them and was taken late in the afternoon just prior to sunset; just in case you are wondering I got drenched taking this!

Pentax K7, Pentax DA21mm limited, ISO 100, f/14, 0.5 sec

The sunset last Sunday was incredible, the colours were so vivid and constantly changing.As I mentioned at the start the waves are practically constant at Gunnamatta and you need to keep you remain alert and keep your eyes open, I didn’t and it caused the loss of my DA* 16-50 mm, f/2.8 SDM lens.  So my next post will be on seascape photography tips that no one else will tell you!

Join the conversation on Facebook @ facebook.com/aaronstottphotography

or visit my website at www.aaronstottphotography.com.au

Point Nepean And a New Camera.

Last weekend I picked up a new Pentax camera to serve as a backup to my Pentax K7.  The camera I purchased was the mirrorless Pentax K-01.  While it has a design that has often polarised people with equal numbers either loving and disliking it.  I got one because it has a similar sensor to the highly regarded K5 and gives superb image quality; and as a photographer I am more concerned with the image quality the camera produces rather than how it looks; besides I quite like its design!

To try out the K-01 I headed down to Point Nepean National Park in Victoria, which is the southern most point of entrance to Port Phillip Bay.  Point Nepean National Park has a colourful history:

• It was inhabited 40 000 years ago by aboriginal people (the park is home to 70 aboriginal archaeological sites).
• One of the oldest quarantine stations in Australia was built on the point in 1852
• The SS Cheviot was wrecked off its coast in 1867 with the loss of over 30 lives.
• Military forts were constructed on the point from 1878 onwards.
• And finally, former Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt went missing (presumed drowned) at Cheviot Beach in 1967.

As part of the quarantine station a Cattle jetty was built at Observatory Point in 1879, and while it is no longer complete the remains make an interesting subject to photograph.  After a 3 Km walk I arrived at the jetty at 8:30 pm took the shots below with the K-01.

I haven’t used the K-01 very much at the moment but so far I am very impressed with it and am looking forward to taking it out some more.

Join the conversation on Facebook @ facebook.com/aaronstottphotography

Cape Schanck and Pulpit Rock

An area that I have been visiting regularly over the last two years is the Mornington Peninsula National Park; in particular Cape Schanck and Pulpit Rock on the very tip of the cape.  The cape separates the calm waters of western port from the wild ocean waters of Bass Straight, in fact the waters surrounding Cape Schanck can get so wild that they claimed the 247 tonne SS Alert in 1893 with 15 people losing their lives.  The Parks Victoria website describes the Cape Schanck area particularly well:

“Cape Schanck offers stunning landscapes; the mystery of dramatic volcanic       features, unspoilt and wild beaches and scenic walking tracks with spectacular ocean views.”

I like visiting the Cape for several reasons: it’s only an hour from home, the rock formations are fascinating (particularly Pulpit Rock), you never know what the weather is going to serve up, and if you are there early of late in the day the light can be very beautiful.  Pulpit Rock has long interested artists and photographers, for example this link is to an oil painting of the rock done in the 1860s by Nicholas Chevalier.

All of the photographs below of Pulpit Rock were taken over the last 2 years and were captured with my Pentax K7 using a variety of filters such as polarisers, neutral density and graduated neutral densities.

Join the conversation on Facebook @ facebook.com/aaronstottphotography