Category Archives: Beach

Creatures From The Sea

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Blue bottles... the curse of ocean swimmers

Blue bottles… the curse of ocean swimmers

Blue bottles, also known as stingers, are common in the warmer months. These little blow-ins come in with onshore winds and are the scourge of swimmers. The long tail is the nasty end and they can be several feet long — perfect for getting wrapped about your arms or legs. The sting burns at first, but the pain usually only lasts about an hour. An occupation hazard if you want to enjoy the water all year round.

Blue bottles, or stingers, get blown in by the wind

Blue bottles, or stingers, get blown in by the wind

Sculpture by the Sea

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Sometimes I do wander it bit further from home. Every year at Bondi Beach they run a free exhibition called Sculpture by the Sea where artworks are placed on the sand and the rocks along a coastal path across several beaches. It makes a great summer’s evening walk and it’s always worth the trip over to Bondi.

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Angry Sky

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A visitor from the south: a big storm front rolls in over Manly Beach

My absolute favourite subject matter for photography is clouds — so here’s a warning in advance: you’ll see lots of clouds on this blog. This particular beauty rolled in with a ‘southerly buster’. The southerly usually signals a cool change and is common in Sydney in the summer, particularly after days of stable, sunny weather. A cool front gets pushed up from the south, bringing unstable, gusty weather. Big grey clouds roll in and the temperature drops rapidly. They usually come in the late afternoon and you can almost set your watch by it. All of a sudden our back windows start rattling — ah, that’ll be the southerly buster. Some Sydney weather nerds (myself included) often tweet when the southerly hits – you could map it’s progress from south to north across the city.

Big and beautiful: Is it just me, or do storm clouds make great photos?

The Early Bird

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Early morning kookaburra

Early morning kookaburra

My first post is a photo I took early one morning a few years ago: A kookaburra sitting on the balcony. I love the way the bird is silhouetted in the early morning light. The sky looks a bit moody but it feels like it’s going to be a nice, sunny day. That’s a complete fluke – I wasn’t sitting there waiting for it to come along, working out the exposure. I just saw the bird and grabbed my camera. You don’t usually see kookaburras at the beach, they prefer gum trees. But maybe they like the ocean too.