Each image below was taken at a time and a place where I felt privileged to be present. I never know when I’m going to stumble across such moments and locations, but I do know a walk by the ocean in the first and last hours of the day is always its own reward. On such walks I sometimes find extraordinariness at the least expected times and in unlikely places. Sometimes I get to press the shutter at such moments, sometimes not.
The wonder of a moment that might prompt me to take a photo can of course never be adequately communicated by a static image. But the images do give a hint of the way that light and wind were working on the ocean at a particular time which always recharges my memory of being there. My hope is that the microscopically thin slice of time frozen in each image might permit a sharing of something of the moment of captivation and wonder I experienced around the time I pressed the shutter.
The paradox inherent in the idea of providing captions for such photos is that any attempt to use words to express or to add value to something essentially indescribable, is doomed from the outset. So I will restrict myself to a few words, for the insignificant purpose of providing a few details for those interested.
Little Henty Reef from Marengo Point, after an autumn sunset. I was standing in the shadow of the earth, the sun’s rays angled above me and visible only as a subtle watercolour wash of pink yielding to grey in the eastern sky. The twilight line had passed over me on its speedy westward passage taking with it the vibrant colours of the golden hour.A solid groundswell was moving a lot of water between the reef and Marengo Point. The dying light required constant adjustments to camera settings to capture such scenes. (This was shot at 1/1600, f 6.3 and ISO 3200). The surfer’s shadow is responsible for the ‘shark fin’ illusion.Surfing between the reefs at sunset.Everything about the evening was mellowing, except the surf.Solid groundswell in morning light at Point Bunbury, Apollo Bay.Swell breaking over Little Henty Reef in an offshore breeze at sunset.Cape Patton from Tuxion beach.Tuxion beach sunrise on a low tide with a quiet sea. The start of a new day offers such promise and renewal. Another fresh start.Wave refraction in the shallows beside the Apollo Bay harbour wall. Imagine this scaled up.The beach corner near the wall at Apollo Bay.
These photos were all taken within walking distance of my house at Apollo Bay.
South 