Photographing the Groyne at Balnarring Beach

A Groyne is "a low wall or sturdy timber barrier built out into the sea from a beach to check erosion and drifting."

I'd seen photographs of this one on the internet. So it's quite popular. I scouted it once before and found the tide too far out. With more clouds than sky and high tide falling in the middle of today I made the one hour drive to this fairly secluded beach.

Photographing a structure like this is much more difficult than it looks. Thank goodness we have digital cameras these days so each click is free. I took >150 today and I only really like a few. Finding the right focal length, position (from left to right) and height is tricky. The water seemed to be full of little scraps of seaweed leading to a messy shore line every time the water receded. That makes some of my favourite 'minimalist' shots messy. So I cropped the messy bits out of my favourite shots and then wished I'd known to zoom in more... not as many megapixels in the final image as I could have had... oh well... just have to get used to going back because perfection is elusive. 

Fifteen seconds gets one a clean minimalist take. Tide was on its way in at about 2.5m

Fifteen seconds gets one a clean minimalist take. Tide was on its way in at about 2.5m

No clever post-processing here. The sun literally poked its face through a small gap in the clouds and shone at my feet and I grabbed the shot before the rest of the sea filled with light. Amazing moment.

No clever post-processing here. The sun literally poked its face through a small gap in the clouds and shone at my feet and I grabbed the shot before the rest of the sea filled with light. Amazing moment.

Water lapping and pounding the Groyne. I liked the patterns. But you can see on the bottom left scraps of weed literally washed up with each incoming wave. The top of the shoreline is ankle deep in seaweed. Weird!

Water lapping and pounding the Groyne. I liked the patterns. But you can see on the bottom left scraps of weed literally washed up with each incoming wave. The top of the shoreline is ankle deep in seaweed. Weird!

Swirls. Actually it is surprising these structures endure the ocean for any time at all!

Swirls. Actually it is surprising these structures endure the ocean for any time at all!

A larger square-crop of my favourite 20s exposure.

A larger square-crop of my favourite 20s exposure.

Mordialloc harbour views

Work remains busy and the air outside oppressively warm for days. Lethargy seeps in by the ends so it gets hard to be motivated for an evening shoot. But the sky looked interesting this evening. So I took the camera and tripod to Mordialloc creek and had a go. It (the sky) didn't happen. But I took a few shots anyway and waited to catch a train crossing the bridge over the creek as it left the local station. Not an amazing evening. But there's just something about being near the water in the evening. It's impossible to photograph the refreshing sea air / breeze that beats being inside a hot house on a warm summer night!

A boat motors toward the rail bridge as a train leaves Mordialloc station.

A boat motors toward the rail bridge as a train leaves Mordialloc station.

A small boat passing by The Bridge Hotel, Mordialloc

A small boat passing by The Bridge Hotel, Mordialloc

Small boats, tied up for the night

Small boats, tied up for the night