Rodney Campbell's Blog

Part two of a nice sneaky sunday morning out with friends Gerry and Deb at Bilgola Beach.

I do like still water reflections – I don’t really ever get to shoot them in the most ideal of locations – a nice perfectly still lake on a calm day. However when shooting seascapes on the coast there are a few instances where you can get somewhat closer. With a largish pool of water which stays undisturbed for small periods of time (before another large wave comes in and ripples everything :)) you can use a longer exposure to render the surface reasonably flat.

It’s not really still water but you can get someway towards the illusion of such.

Reflections of Fire

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 19 mm, 1.60 sec at f/13, ISO 100

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

One of the tricks with shots like these is to get down quite low to accentuate the size of the reflective surface.

Now that the sun had risen it was time for me to seek other shot opportunities. I don’t normally like to shoot towards or include the sun itself in my frames (once it is up and visible in the sky). I find including the sun too bright and dominating as it’s pretty much what anyone will look at first in any image. Here I’ve tried to add some visual weight elsewhere by filling the whole foreground with this interesting rock covered in sea plants and having the sun right at the edge of the frame.

One

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 19 mm, 2 sec at f/13, ISO 100

and an obligatory shot of the Bilgola pool itself, or at least part of it. Shooting away from the sun a bit but still including the colourful clouds and sky I’ve tried to compose something interesting with these nice curved railings and that strong blue edge around part of the pool. My daughter actually likes this shot best from all of the shots from this mornings session :).

Bilgola Lines

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 19 mm, 1/2 sec at f/13, ISO 100

and when things get all bright and harsh it’s time to whip out the Lee BigStopper for one last frame before heading off for breakfast at nearby Newport. Note to Bilgola council – we would have stayed and eaten at the cafe right here on the beach but the expensive per hour parking starting at 6AM here was just outrageous.

Bilgola Big Blue

NIKON D750 + 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0 @ 19 mm, 245 sec at f/10, ISO 200

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