Capture Imaging Photography » Landscape Photography

Port Stephens Calendar 2012

brentmail — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:58:17 +0000

New 2012 Landscape Photography Calendar of Port Stephens:

I am very proud to introduce my Port Stephens 2012 landscape photography calendar. We have chosen the images that best describe this beautiful area we call home, from the arty image of Zenith beach on the front cover to some of the most spectacular beaches in this area, as well as a sunset over the ocean at Birubi beach, and an aerial view of Port Stephens.

We have delivered to most of the news agents in the area, so go grab one before they are all sold out.

Call us if you would like to stock this calendar 02 4981 9659

This is the first landscape photography calendar that we have produced, and it really is a great present for christmas as well as to send to all your friends around the world.

New Landscape Photography Website:

With the launch of this calendar, we have also upgraded the moodsofportstephens.com website, to reflect the new images I have photographed over the last 12 months. You are going to love it.

Make sure you check out my landscape photography of port stephens website for photography tutorials and tips.

Light Painting Old Dairy

brentmail — Tue, 10 May 2011 22:56:42 +0000

I found this awesome old run-down dairy in Anna Bay the other day. I have been on the lookout for old buildings and structures in my area, that show some of the history of port stephens. I got permission from the owner to photograph his building.

Just to make things more interesting, I decided to photograph this old building at night, using a very long shutter speed (30 minutes) and using a torch to paint the building and trees and grass with light. The following images are my first attempts at light painting landscape photography. I like the star trails from the long shutter speed, notice how they go in different directions, first shot was photographed facing north, the next one was shot facing more easterly.

I have also included more light painting images from fishermans bay, I took a few days ago.

Do you think I should continue with this type of landscape photography, do you like it?

Would love some feedback. Brent

Birubi Beach Sunset – Free Image

brentmail — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:18:26 +0000

This has got to be the most incredible sunset I have ever experienced, and photographed. I have been shooting landscape photography for many years now and have shot many sunsets over birubi beach (cause it’s just a short walk from our studio) but once in a while everything comes together and the sky just lights up. Reminds me of the Dungog Sunset.

FREE IMAGE: Do you want it?

If you like this sunset, I’m going to be giving it away as a full screen size image in our Christmas newsletter, so make sure you sign up……top right of this page. I will also have these images available for purchase on moodsofportstephens.com website….SOON.

Zenith Beach

brentmail — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 03:42:11 +0000

It’s almost the silly season again, with all the holiday makers about to arrive in our beautiful Port Stephens. Earlier this week the weather was perfect and I managed to sneak in some long exposure landscape photography of my favourite places. Zenith beach is one of those, the wind was howling and the waves were pretty big…hard to see when I’m using 2 minute exposures. Remember, these images and more can be purchased online at moodsofportstephens.com

Birubi Sunset Surf

brentmail — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 09:55:55 +0000

Has anyone else seen the stunning stormy sunsets at we have been getting this week? When the days are hot, and the storms roll in from the hunter valley in the afternoon, we get these awesome sunsets looking over the ocean towards Newcastle. Here are a few images I managed to capture earlier on this week at Birubi Beach in Anna Bay…the surf was pumping too with the North Easter blowing (offshore at Birubi beach), pity I couldn’t shoot the sunset and catch a few waves…oh well, next time. By the way, all my landscape photography can be purchased from moodsofportstephens.com

Timelapse video of Shoal Bay

brentmail — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 02:39:59 +0000

My first timelapse video of Shoal Bay at night. Climbed Tomaree Headland at sunset and setup my canon 5D markII and canon 7D cameras to shoot this short video. Took about 90 minutes worth of footage for this 15 second video. What do you think?

Below are a few stills I shot at the same time, all very long exposures (3-5minutes). Which one is better? Enjoy. Brent

Noosa QLD – b/w or colour?

brentmail — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 07:47:41 +0000

I love Noosa. This must be one of the most picturesque places in Australia. The weather has been perfect in Queensland since I flew here a few days ago, warm and not a cloud in the sky…. until today. I have been soaking up the sun and warmth all week.

Got up early, went for a run around the national park to take in all that Noosa has to offer. I ended up running (well, walking most of the time) with other early-rises, along the beach, boardwalk, footpath….straight to the coffee shop. With the relatively warm weather, there were people out having brekkie and relaxing at the outdoor cafe’s and coffee shops on Hastings Street. You know what they say….”when in rome, do as the romans do” so I had to give one or two of them a try….glad I did:)

Noosa and the surrounding area has been photographed to death, there are postcards everywhere with beautiful images of this area. I wanted to show this place in a different light, using my own style – slow shutter/moody images, most of them shot as black and white in camera. I have included one colour image.

I would love some feedback from the readers of this blog. What do you prefer? b&w or colour? Please add your reply below. I will post more b/w or colour images depending on the response.

Look forward to flying back home to Port Stephens tomorrow. Enjoy. Brent

Salamander Bay Panorama

brentmail — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:17:11 +0000

Steve and Oonagh came to me asking for a panorama landscape image of Salamander Bay, just down the road from where they live in Corlette. I was up for the challenge and whenever I had the chance I would drive there and check the tide, wind and sun direction. It was a lot more difficult than I though to get the tide, wind and sun combination correct for the perfect shot…took me 3 months and about 6 different photo sessions. Below is the result – printed on canvas, hanging in their home. They are thrilled with the print. Soon I’ll put this print on moodsofportstephens website for anyone to order. I’m in the process of shooting my fine art series right now…..stay tuned. Brent

Fingal Lighthouse Adventure

brentmail — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 08:55:55 +0000

I’ve been planning this shoot for a few months, and finally the day arrived. Stormy afternoon at low tide, clouds, wind, and enough sand on the spit to cross over to Fingal Island. These images took me over 4 hours to create. Anyone who has hiked over to the island would know. I was rained on more than once, and got lost,stumbled across a squatter hideout, but it was all worth the effort. Using my new 10 stop neutral density filter I could capture these images with shutter speeds around the 120 second mark….that’s how I get the cloud movement. I even spotted a few hump back whales slapping their tails just off the eastern side of the Island. Do you like the b&w stormy shots of Fingal Lighthouse or the colour image of slime and burned trees? I would love some feedback. Enjoy. Brent

Blue Mountains Trip

brentmail — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 09:19:01 +0000

We have just come back from a quick getaway in the blue mountains – west of Sydney. Mid winter in the mountains is really cold, got up to 5 deg in the day but the air is clear and the views are unbelievable. Seeing as the kids are on holiday, we decided to check out a different part of the blue mountains, so we packed in the dogs, kids and all my camera gear and stayed at an Alpaca farm near Bilpin. Well, the dogs were not too impressed with the alpacas (look like Llamas), but the kids were and they loved the farm stay too. We all loved the wood burning fire every night.

I photographed a panorama of the grand canyon from Evans Lookout, and now I know why they are called the blue mountains…see if you notice the blue haze in the distance.

Had to stop and get a pic of the old trucks too. Enjoy. Brent

Hash – Riverwood Downs

brentmail — Fri, 14 May 2010 00:16:24 +0000

Last weekend the Nelson Bay Hash House Harriers (running group) had a weekend away at Riverwood Downs, between Dungog and Gloucester. We arrived on Saturday afternoon (had a few shoots in the morning) just in time for the main run. Luckily someone had to make sure the fire was OK and watch all the kids….ME. Only 1 injured kid after an hour – no one will ask me again;)

Took some timelapse images and made this movie. I also had a chance to try out my new slider, last two scenes in the movie. Make sure you watch it in high definition…..worth it.

Great weekend away with some crazy people. I did get a few rural/farm landscapes too on the Sunday morning, before the mist dissipated. Check out the images below.

Enjoy. Brent

ANZAC Day – Lest we forget

brentmail — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 08:45:57 +0000

Sunday was ANZAC day, and I managed to get up really early and experience the dawn service in Nelson Bay. It was totally dark but I managed to get a few images here and there, and the rain held off for about an hour. What an emotional event, can’t image what the diggers went through. I did manage to get some landscape images after sunset at Birubi rocks, while everyone else was playing two-up and celebrating. Long shutter speeds ….5 minutes (see the southern cross).

Below is a little history about ANZAC day from Wikipedia. Enjoy, Brent.

Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, and is commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour members of theAustralian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all those who died and served in military operations for their countries.

Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.^[1] The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand.^[2] This is a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same remembrance day, but making reference to both countries in its name.

Dungog Awesome Sunset

brentmail — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:24:55 +0000

Last weekend we spent 2 nights near Dungog, an hour inland from Newcastle. Dungog is a unique town with it’s historic homes and super wide streets. This is the main settlement for the surrounding farms and the pub I photographed had quite a few farmers and workers (in their high visibility outfits) having a cold beer after work….quite oblivious to the unbelievable sunset taking place above them. Love these old aussie pubs. I took many angles and once or twice I was in the middle of the main road with my tripod setup (not a busy town on a Monday night).

During the day I scouted the area and found this dilapidated old farm house. After a long walk through the tall grass I managed to get close enough to shoot, had to dodge a few cows on the way there.

Still can’t believe my luck with that sunset, doesn’t often do that for me. Enjoy my landscape photography…Brent

Seal Rocks Lighthouse at night

brentmail — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:11:17 +0000

I have always wanted to photograph this area around seal rocks, and sugarloaf point lighthouse. We went camping with the family and a few friends for a night at seal rocks holiday park. Didn’t know if the weather would hold out, but it did and we were only rained on in the morning. We hiked up to the lighthouse after 9pm at night, beautiful walk through the overhanging trees, and finally up the hill to where the lighthouse sits. Most of these were shot with an exposure of over 2 minutes, and I had the chance of running down and adding some light to the right hand side of the lighthouse with my led torch (blue light). The full moon illuminated the structure so much that some of these images look like daylight.

Do you prefer the black and white or colour images? I haven’t made up my mind yet? I do like the arty look of these images…more long exposure landscapes will be coming over the next few months.

I did manage to sneak in a surf the next morning in front of the holiday park, really good right hander off the point.

Enjoy. Brent

Image above is backlit by the full moon. The one below is of my friend - Harlan trying to stay still while I took the torch and lit him up from behind the the stair railing, lots of fun!!!

Port Douglas & Great Barrier Reef

brentmail — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:47:05 +0000

I have always wanted to visit and photograph tropical north queensland in australia and the great barrier reef.

We had family from the usa visiting us, and we had all been working really hard recently with spring weddings and portraits on the beach. This was the perfect time for a quick break up north.

Unfortunately, Cairns and Port Douglas have only had 10% of the average rainfall for this time of the year. This means that the rainforest is not wet, and some of the streams have dried up. I really wanted to capture the running water and moss on the rocks. I did manage to get to Mossman Gorge and photographed this awesome area. The river and gorge are surrounded by rainforests and I was lucky to photograph on an overcast day, that way I could get the “milky water effect” using a slow shutter speed.

The day we went to the barrier reef was one I will never forget. 1.5 hour trip out to the reef from Port Douglas (50km out to sea) was a bit rough with 20 knot winds, but once we got there I realised it was totally worth the ride. The reef looks so unbelieveable from the boat, and even better once we were underwater.

Great Barrier Reef from below

Wild croc

Barrier Reef from above

Mossman Gorge

Me underwater – Thanks Stacy for taking the pic.

Sunrise on four mile beach – Port Douglas

Birubi Storm at Dusk

brentmail — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:47:19 +0000

First Thunderstorm of the season, and it was intense!!!

A massive thunder storm came rolling through our area in the late afternoon and managed to knock out the power whilst I was in a planning meeting with one of my clients. After the meeting – the sun was about 15 minutes from sunset and I took my daughter (Brooke 5yrs old) down to birubi beach with me, she rode her bike and I walked with my tripod over my shoulder and camera slung around my neck.

We got down to the beach and were hit by the first wave of light rain. Brooke and I hid under a shelter at the park close to the beach. I was itching to get onto the beach and rock cause I could see the crimson glow of the setting sun starting to do its thing.
Rain stopped, we ran down, set up my tripod and started shooting HDR (3 exposures) to capture the highlights plus shadows. What an awesome sight. Storm clouds catching the last light of the sunset. Love it when nature shows its beauty like this.

Brooke was getting nervous with the thunder and lightning all around us. By this time I was on the rocks and she was still on the beach with her bike. The sunset was awesome, with pink light touching the storm clouds and lighting everywhere. I was in my element shooting as much as I could.

After much pleading from her to go home, there was a huge clap of thunder and she burst into tears. I jumped off the rocks, gave her a big hug and told her it would all be fine and we would run home.

Just then the heavens opened up and I had to carry her bike plus all my gear (camera hanging around my neck – under my shirt) and we made a dash for home. The storm was right above us and there were claps of thunder. Brooke ran next to me with her hands over her ears. Wished I could have photographed her – but I was going as fast as I could carrying all the gear.

We made it home, drenched. Both brooke and I were happy to be back. I gave her another hug after she changed into some dry clothes. Time to clean/dry my camera too.

Managed to get some great images, but would have liked to stay longer and get some super long exposures. Oh well, maybe next time I’ll go on my own.