Surf's up

I just thought I would share this little photo with you - My first photo of a surfer! The waves at Main Break in WA appear to an untrained eye like mine to be perfect.I just ignore the white caps. One thing you don't get in the Pilbara is breaks like these...and little surfer dudes like that.

Black and White Beachscape

The clouds at Hamelin Bay were impressive. Coupled with my polarizing filter, bright sun and stunning water, it made for prime opportunity for a dramatic black and white beach scene. The beachscape I call it. Dramatic.

I love it how you can crank up the saturation to 100% if need be for black and white photos - increasing the drama without the fake-looking colours. It was also fun messing with the different colour channels - making the yellows really light while making the reds really dark. Made for some great contrast in the seaweed.

Another photo taken this holiday with an alternative intention than just "quick, catch this scene". I wanted this photo to be black and white purely for the clouds.

Stingrays of Hamelin Bay

When planning our holiday to South West WA, I came across Hamelin Bay - a little place where friendly stingrays come to the shore. I'm sure they do this because they are lazy and expect to be fed by the tourists (which many do...naughty) but they are a lot of fun. They are massive - stingrays and eagle rays. They come right into the shore, so close you can touch them (if you dare...I don't think you are supposed to...).

They provide the perfect photography subjects on a beautiful beach! If only there weren't so many other people crowding around. Fortunately, I did manage to snap a few.

This beach is quite beautiful even without the stingrays - nice sand, rocks, seaweed and just general beach stuff. Too bad us northerners were too cold to swim...

The first one is my favourite. I learn't while editing this photo that rather than increasing brightness, you should increase the exposure and decrease brightness and increase contrast...in this case and most cases, it retains the details. See the ripples in the water near his tail? Details = retained.

Boat Harbour Panorama

Taking panorama photos with a wide angle lense is a challenge. You have to watch the distortion, the angle, how far you are panning. But occasionally - it works! I love it when it works.

This is one of those rare photos where I actually considered the composition, not just thought, "I gotta catch me all of that!" I wanted the rocks and the shrubs in the foreground, and luckily they were spared the final crop. When stitched together, sometimes my foreground needs to be sacrificed because of the distortion that has occurred..,but fortunately in this case, it worked!