Clovelly beach was one of my favourite spots during the years that I undertook my weekly early morning photography trips.
The bay is long and narrow, which tall headlands on both sides. The surf lifesaving club is on the southern side, where there is also a concrete platform. The car park is directly above the club. It’s huge and it’s free.
There are few places in Sydney where you can get closer to serious breaking waves than at Clovelly. And because it is directly on the ocean, and not in a sheltered bay, the waves can be huge. It’s awesome for photography.
This is one of my favourite pictures and one of the first ones I took when I started to realise the power of a tripod and long exposure shots. They allow you to see things through the lens that you can’t see with the naked eye. When I was standing here, it was extremely dark.
Another favourite image, taken a few years later. A thunderstorm out at sea. The colours in this photo are just exquisite.
Morning sun on the waves.
The concrete platform in front of the Surf Lifesaving Club at rough weather. Believe it or not, people were swimming in this weather.
You will occasionally see this photo used by others. It’s been the image for wordpress themes, inspirational books and much more. You can download a lowres version on my Pixabay profile. I took this image on the same day as the previous. Fun fact: mere seconds after taking this shot, I got extremely wet. I was standing on the steps in front of the surf lifesaving club and this wave swamped me. It looks ethereal and dreamy, but that was only because it’s a long exposure shot.
These photos will be part of the Kickstarter project to make a beautiful book featuring all these images and much more.
