Harbour Sunrise Walk
19th December 2025
I had a plan to head to the rock pool and do some long exposures, with the tide hitting near its peak high for the month and a clear sky forecast. It seemed to be the best option to add some drama to my images for the morning with all the water that would be washing through and around the pool.
As I walked from the top of Cliff Road I took a couple of images across the Continental Pool and Wollongong Harbour. As I walked past a bunch of trees and bushes I spotted this gap that framed one of the handrails in between the two pools perfectly, I took a couple of images and watched as a bird flew into the frame. I captured it as it passed just above the handrail adding that little bit of something I felt was missing from my original attempts.
Coming down the stairs towards the bike track/walkway the sun started rising, from my angle it was just to the left of the main lighthouse over at Flagstaff Hill. I quickly got down the stairs and put my long lens on and managed to capture what looks like a parent and their two kids watching the sun rise next to the lighthouse.
I waited for the sun to rise to try and place it atop the lighthouse and see what I could make from it. As it finally got in position the air filled with a misty salt spray which made for a very atmospheric image. Took this one just as a fishing boat was heading past on its way out of the harbour. I love how the light is just hitting the boats cabin as it’s surrounded by the shadow of the lighthouse.
Finally I made it over to the pool and took some long exposures, and after all that, I didn’t like any of them haha. This was the best of a bad bunch, I couldn’t get my settings right for the long exposures I was attempting and they were just generally bad photos. Some days be like that, so after about half hour to an hour of stuffing around with settings and being very unsatisfied I cut my losses, went for a swim and called it a day
Check the slideshow below for therest of the images from this morning
