Photographing Boat Harbour & One Mile Beach
As Port Stephens locals we are blessed with an ubundance of beautiful, photographic oportunities all around us. Take the stretch of sand from Samauri to Middle Rock to One Mile Beach for example. The sand dunes roll high up behind the beaches and are coated in salt bush, thistles and grasses to provide the perfect foreground for stunning coastal images. As an avid landscape photographer it is hard to fault this stretch of the Port Stepehns Coastline found on the Mid North Coast of NSW. Just around the corner to Morna Point and Boat Harbour, and you will discover more beautiful beaches, stunning rockpools, rocky outcrops and views all the way down Birubi to Stockton Beach. Annually in the months of May through to September, Boat Harbour becomes the perfect place to observe, experience and photograph the remarkable whale migration up and down the East Coast of Australia. During this time of year, a variety of whales migrate through this area, creating an amazing display of nature's wonders as they pass. Lucky photographers may expect to capture a photograph of the majestic humpback whales in breach, but be pre warned that this is no easy feat.
Tomaree Headland AKA Mount Tomaree AKA Mt Tomaree
Tomaree Headland, which is often referred to as Mount Tomaree, lays at the northern end of Zenith Beach in the Tomaree National Park. The summit trail up the headland offers breathtaking views over Port Stephens and exceptional vantage points for landscape photography. Many of the iconic Port Stephens images have been taken from this location. A selfie on the summit of Tomaree is on the 'to do list' of seemingly every visitor who comes to Nelson Bay or around Port Stephens. One of my favourite landscape photographs and a location I love from Port Stephens is the view from Gan Gan Lookout in Nelson Bay, looking East to the Headlands of Yacaba, Tomaree and Stephens Peak. This one of those locations where a photographer can interpret the world below any way they like through the eye of the lens.
Fingal Bay, Fingal Island and Fingal Spit
Fingal Bay is another one of my favourite photography locations. I often visit Fingal Bay to capture the light-filled moments of dawn and dusk over the waters. The glistening shoreline and spectacular rock formations are the foundations of many an unforgettable day of image making for me in Port Stephens. The Fingal Spit is the diamond in the crown of Fingal bay. The Spit that sometimes connects the mainland to Fingal Island is a rarely found sand formation that offers very unique photographic compositions. The sand and water come together and any energy from the ocean is felt in magnitudes. The Fingal Spit is truely a photogenic masterpiece and an absolutely beautiful piece of coastline to visit with or without a camera when visiting Fingal Bay in Port Stephens.
Zenith, Wreck & Box Beaches in Shoal Bay
This trio of beaches in Shoal Bay are adorned with large coastal headlands and form some of the most awe inspiring coastal landscape photography locations that I know of. Well known for capturing sunrises, the southern ends of both Zenith Beach and Box Beach offer fantastic compositions. Elements of rock, sand, sea and sky elegantly come together and on the right morning, both beaches can be a photographer's dream come true. Both Wreck Beach and Box Beach have waves that form in wedge patterns. The swells backwash off the rocky headlands and then recconect with other swell lines to create wild playful flares or fans of water and white wash. This can be a truelly spectatctular event to photograpgh and capture, especially when there is a large swell from the East. It's a wonderful journey through the Tomaree National Park to the secluded Wreck Beach and a joyfull experince behind the lens if the waves are dancing.
The Shores of Nelson Bay & Corlette To Soldiers Point
The estuary shores of Nelson Bay and Soldiers Point offer up some interesting compositions for photos and often come with the addition of mored boats and yachts. The marinas at Nelson Bay, Soldiers Point and the Anchorage at Corlette all berth some impressive vessels and these can help make that Port Stephens foreshore photo an exceptional one. The Mambo Wetlands at Salamander Bay are home to some very interesting flora and fauna and a lucky photographer may even encounter a local Koala when shooting around this location.
Soldiers Point is geographically unique as it offers beautiful, uninterupted views East towards the coastal headlands of Tomaree and Yacaba. While from the Western side of Soldiers Point, there are sunset photo opportunities that will bring a nostagic tear to the eye and make for the most beautiful images, different perspectives and memories to rememeber.