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

Endless summer at Chelsea Beach

This year in Melbourne we have had one of our driest and warmest summers in decades, and last Sunday I went down to Chelsea Beach to photograph the sunset.

I have put a couple of the shots from my visit below and the colours in the first one reminded me of the movie poster for the classic 1960’s surfing movie Endless Summer.

These shots have not had their colours changed in Photoshop, I used a 8 stop ND filter when the images were made, and the sunset of the evening did the rest of the work.  These shots were taken with a Pentax K-01, which is really starting to grow on me and in many ways it is better than my K7.

This second shot of the pier I found more difficult, but maybe it’s just me, but I found it challenging to symmetrically line up the pier such that the poles were evenly placed at the start of the image while the end of the pier was centred.  Anyway after a bit of mucking around I finally got there and came away with this shot.

Join the conversation on Facebook at facebook.com/aaronstottphotography

or visit my website @ aaronstottphotography.com.au

Getting Wet Feet at Half Moon Bay

Last Saturday evening I went down to Half Moon Bay near Sorrento in Victoria to take a few photographs of the days sunset.  The bay is about a 2.5 Km walk from the car park and it is a quiet secluded beach surrounded by sandstone cliffs.  Standing on one of the rock platforms watching the sunset I grabbed this shot just as the sun touched the horizon.

However while this was going on, to my left and behind me, the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks I was standing on seemed to be getting louder and louder.  I put the camera onto burst mode turned around and took the following shots.

This first one is of one of the waves as it just hits the rocks.

Then eight seconds later this is the next shot and before I knew it both the tripod and I were up to our ankles in seawater.This continued on and off while I was taking my photos of the sunset and made for a wet walk back to the car in the dark.  But it was worth it, I came away with a good shot of the sunset and had a blast as well!

Join the conversation on Facebook @ facebook.com/aaronstottphotography