Pelicans glide
On the water
As the sun sets
On another day
Pelicans on the water at Pelican. The dusk light was beautiful. The perfect way to end the day.
Photos and haiqua © CJ Levinson 2019
Pelicans at Pelican
haiqua
Under the Milky Way
The Milky Way
Stretches across the sky:
I see your face
In the stars
I took these shots in Newcastle last week. I’ve always loved the stars and have often wanted to try to shoot the Milky Way but there’s usually too much light pollution around to shoot it properly. I took these at Nobbys Breakwall and while there was still light pollution, it was dark enough to get a few shots. I was pleased with how they came out, particularly not having done a lot of astrophotography before. Not bad for a first attempt!
Photos and haiqua © CJ Levinson 2019
Belmont Jetty at Dusk
A purple and yellow sky
Dotted with clouds
Marks the end
Of a long day
This is from a couple of weeks ago, by the new Belmont Baths. I’m really enjoying exploring the baths and jetty, there are a lot of fantastic opportunities for photos, particularly now there are less people around.
Photo and haiqua © CJ Levinson 2019Between Speers Point and Warners Bay
Walking by the water
The sun on my back
A breeze on my face:
Peace
This shot is from a couple of weeks ago. I was actually walking in the opposite direction but noticed how beautiful the light was and swung around in time to capture this moment. It’s easy to forget to look behind you but sometimes that’s where the best shots are.
Photo and haiqua © CJ Levinson 2019
Lightning over the Lake
A bright streak
Flashes across the sky
Lighting up the night
And your eyes
We had an amazing, fairly sudden storm this evening. It had been overcast most of the day but the thunder and lightning still seemed to come without warning. Luckily I was nearly home when it started and so I grabbed my camera and tripod and hurried down to the lake to try to get some shots.
Lightning is tricky to photograph and it took some experimentation – you’d think you’d want to use a high shutter speed to freeze the strike but because lightning is so unpredictable, I find you actually have to go the opposite way and use a slow shutter speed to give yourself more time to capture a good strike. Working out exactly how long though is a bit of trial and error so it can be fiddly and if it’s a short burst, you might not get anything at all.
I really like how this one came out though. It was a 25 second exposure which is about the sweet spot I find, particularly at night. I’ve taken a few lightning shots before but since moving to Belmont I’ve always wanted to get a dramatic one over the lake. I guess that’s one thing I can check off the bucket list now. 😀
Photo and haiqua © CJ Levinson 2019
Summer Sunset
A fiery sunset
A beautiful end
To a day
I will not forget
Lovely sunset over the lake a couple of nights ago. When nature puts on a show as beautiful as this, there’s really not much more to do than point and shoot.
Photo and haiqua © CJ Levinson 2018
Towards the Belmont 16s
At night
The world seems so different
Like a mirror’s
Dark reflection
I went down to the lake earlier tonight to try to get a photo of the moon. It was a beautiful golden crescent and I thought it would make for a really great shot suspended just above the yachts. Well I failed miserably at that – I think I was probably using the wrong lens and it just didn’t seem to work.
So I decided to try something else and took this long exposure looking towards the Belmont 16s instead. It ended up being a 120 second exposure which meant a lot of waiting but it turned out well and better than the original idea I had. Photography can be funny like that, often it’s the shot you weren’t thinking of that turns out the best.
Photo and haiqua © CJ Levinson 2018
Boats on the Belmont Foreshore
Grey skies
And deep waters
Hold many secrets
But I keep none from you
Just a simple shot from a few weeks ago. It feels very calm and peaceful and I really like how the colours contrast with the grey water and sky.
I gave it a bit of a subtle, vintage-style edit as well. I like it, it reminds me a little of the Kodak film I used to shoot with years ago.
Photo and haiqua © CJ Levinson 2018
Ghosts on the Sand
Wet feet
Childish laughter
Footprints in the sand:
Memories to cherish
I took this shot at Nobby’s Beach in Newcastle earlier this afternoon. It was a bit of a tricky shot as while I liked the way the light was falling on the headland and how it contrasted with the water and the rocks, there was an ugly wire fence in the way and none of the compositions I tried seemed to work very well.
I finally managed to find this composition by pushing the camera through a small space in the fence and just as I was ready to take the shot, a couple of children wandered into the bottom left of the frame. They had lots of fun running up to the water and jumping in, then squealing and rushing back the other way as the tide suddenly came back in.
I thought I’d try to capture some of that in the photo so I set up for a longer exposure. This was the result, I really like it… the motion blur’s almost made them look like ghosts playing on the sand. It captures the scene quite nicely.
Photo and haiqua © CJ Levinson 2018