Faure Island, Far Shore, Shark Bay
Phase One XF, 80mm lens, f5 @ 1/2000 second, ISO 50
While our Shark Bay - Inscription exhibition (by ND5) is now over 10 years old, Shark Bay itself remains an incredibly popular destination. I was reading a surfing magazine recently (The Surfers Journal, based in the USA), and one of the featured photographers included two Shark Bay aerials in his portfolio, 'frothing' over how amazing the location was! Not that there's much surf in Shark Bay, of course!
There are certainly some popular photography spots around Shark Bay that create amazing hero photographs, but to be honest, every time I fly over Shark Bay, I find something new or different. It has so much to do with the tides, the cloud cover and the angle of the light which is constantly changing relative to the camera as the plane circles around its subject.
The image above is a case in point. While I have photographed these little curves of sand, impeding the wave action and creating specular highlights, I hadn't also included the reflection of the sun itself. And while there's no way I can completely control the specular highlights, I have actually come to embrace the white highlights as being a part of the composition. Maybe I'd be shot down in a photo competition, but on the other hand, the only person I know how to make happy is me!
Two things. First, Tony Hewitt and I are considering opening up a second week at Shark Bay for our aerial workshop - something like 21-25 May, but as accommodation is tight at this time of the year, we might have to move the dates by a day or two. If you're interested, send me or Kim an email and we'll put you on the interested list. Our initial research for accommodation and aircraft hire are positive, so fingers crossed. Kim's email is
The second thing is, what's it like flying around above Shark Bay? I'm glad you asked! I made a little video using my Fujifilm and DJI cameras last year and posted it onto YouTube. So far it's received a massive 234 hits, so maybe I can hit 250 by posting this newsletter and providing the link below!! I hope you enjoy it! Click the image to link to the movie on YouTube,
