Same place, different day…
Training day
Happy day
Lazy day
Cruisy day
Every day is different
Category Archives: Weather
Big Monday
A big south-easterly swell rolled in today bringing rough surf conditions
And a big surf usually means the bombora is working. It’s a submerged rock, or reef, about 1km offshore from Manly Beach, which probably only breaks a handful of times a year. I saw three people out there surfing it this afternoon. It looked as though they paddled out, which means they’re either really fit or they don’t have a friend with a jet-ski to tow them out. The bombie is not for the faint-hearted, most surfers are put off by the long paddle out, then the size of the wave when you get there. I love watching it break and while it might look like a big wave to me, to ‘proper surfers’ it’s probably not big at all. Queenscliff Bombora was first surfed over 50 years ago, there’s a history here.
And here’s a clipping of a photo that appeared in the British newspaper The Times on March 29, 2006. The guy surfing Queenscliff bombie isn’t named, the shot was taken by Guy Finlay of Icon Images. It’s great that ‘our’ bombie made it into the British press. I think I need a more powerful lens!
Happy Days!
Kite surfer getting plenty of air at Manly
What an awesome way to have fun! When the nor’easter blows like this it’s no good for surfing, but out come the kite surfers. Even without the jumping, this must be an amazing feeling — ripping along with a canopy full of wind. Years ago I used to enjoy windsurfing. I loved pulling the sail in tight, leaning back on my harness and feeling the board rise up and plane across the water. Kite surfing must be that feeling x 10. I had so much fun photographing these kite surfers, a couple of them were flying along close to the shore — I guess to make maximum use of the fairly small waves — which gave me a perfect chance to tap into my ‘inner sports-photographer’. (Now that’s what I’d like to be when I grow up)
Wild Weather Day
Sunrise
Summer seems to have arrived early. Hot days and balmy nights and it’s only the first week of November! Here’s the day in pictures taken from my balcony: The sun rose to a partly cloudy sky. The air seemed to get thicker and thicker as the day heated up.
6:38 PM
It all came to a head late in the afternoon. Swampy storm clouds rolled in and dumped heavy rain all over the city, causing commuter chaos. I was in the pool at the time and they cleared everyone out because an electric storm was passing over us.
8:19 PM
Later on the storms rumbled out to sea giving us a fantastic light-show this evening. It took me a while to figure how to take a lightening shot — full-manual mode, on a tripod, longish exposure, high ISO and lots of luck to get the timing right.
8:26 PM
Angry Sky
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?
Coastal Dweller 