The Estuary, the Dunes and the Wharf

As always I checked the clouds well before sunset last night and gave them a big photographic thumbs up. All that would be required for a nice sunset would be a gap near the horizon and, as I check the satellite images I realised that was just what we were going to get. I’ve been driving on autopilot to Gerroa on evenings like this lately so instead I decided to go to Shoalhaven Heads and see what I could capture out on the estuary. Fortunately it was low tide and so I decided to take the drone out with me to get some different viewpoints. As sunset approached, the sky colour started changing and before long we were treated to a glorious display of colour. Even better, it was one of those sunsets that went on and on until a full hour after sunset.

Sun descending behind Mount Coolangatta and the dunes on the edges of the estuary were looking pretty.

First shot from the drone just before sunset. In the distance you can see all the boats moored around the public wharf.

Awesome log was washed up in the lower tidal area and made for a terrific foreground subject.

I cranked the aperture down to f/16 to get some cool bokeh from the sun as it set behind this bush.

Sun nearly set now.

The back-lighting begins and the drone picks up the display of colour in the clouds above Coolangatta and the river estuary.

There was some great colour to the east as well. I pointed the drone in the opposite direction to the sunset for this shot looking north down Seven Mile Beach from the edges of Comerong Island.

There was a bit of breeze blowing in off the estuary.

Most of the area in the foreground is covered up by the tide, but the old river mouth (above which this photo was taken) is well and truly closed and the dune grass has returned to large sections of it.

Golden light illuminating the estuary waters.

I had actually packed up and put everything back in the car when I looked out over the lagoon here and realised just how much colour there still was in the sky. So I got the camera out again and shot a 30 second exposure which fully exposed the golden hues. The long exposure also gives the water that silky look perfect for the reflected colour.