Autumn’s arrived

The weather has changed in the last week. Though the gusty, coastal winds have continued, the day temperatures are lower, and the mornings and the evenings are cooler. There is now a briskness in the air in the early morning prior to sunrise, which is after 7am.

The picture below was made on an early morning walk along the Victor Harbor beach near Bridge Point and the mouth of the ephemeral Hindmarsh River. It is a popular spot for walkers.

pier, am, Victor Harbor beach

Bridge Terrace is an older part of Victor Harbor. We were there on an early morning poodlewalk so that I could photograph the seaside architecture. Once that was done –there’s not that much to photograph — Kayla and I then wandered along the beach.

The location (Eastern Beach) is roughly where the Victor Harbor Council is considering building a second all weather boat ramp, given the congestion at the Bluff boat ramp during the Xmas holidays. The Council will have to deal with the loud objections from the residents along Bridge Tce.

Goolwa Beach

Recently we did all walked together one August afternoon at Goolwa Beach on the Fleurieu Peninsula. This was before we went to the Lavender Trail camp at Kapunda and prior to the wet, stormy weather that rolled into South Australia from the west in late August.

Suzanne + poodles, Goolwa Beach

Prior to walking along the beach we had checked out the new Kuti Shack and had a quick drink at the new Goolwa Lifesaving Club. Everybody in the club sanitised their hands and kept the required 1.5 metre distance, despite the current lack of community transmission of the Covid-19 virus in South Australia.

Ho-Hum + the tourist gaze

After my return from the Overland Corner Reserve trip I felt a bit deflated when I was walking along the coastal beaches in both the early morning and the late afternoon. Photographing whilst walking in the littoral zone along the these beaches seemed a bit ho-hum, low key and rather mundane. I even started to toss up taking a camera with me.

Mundane and ho hum because I am back to photographing seaweed again whilst I am walking along the Esplanade town beach with Kayla early in the morning before sunrise. I arrange this walk so that I am making my way through the clusters of seaweed after sunrise whilst consciously trying to avoid the way the tourist’s gaze aestheticizes this seaside resort.

seaweed, Esplanade Beach

There is a sense of dull repetition in that I keep doing the same thing over and over again, without really knowing what I am going to do with all these coastal images. It is becoming a bit routine if not automatic.

sand patterns

As mentioned on the Encounter Studio blog   when  I am on the recent  morning or afternoon poodlewalks I have started  looking for suitable subjects that would work as an image when  the  colour file made  with a digital camera is then  converted  to black and white.

The subjects have usually been  granite rocks  but of late, I am turning to  sand  patterns.   This is a recent  example:

sand, Deps Beach

The above  image   looked very ordinary in colour when I viewed it on the computer screen,  in the sense that it was  not deserving of a second  more considered look. It  look more interesting when I converted it to black and white as an experiment.   Continue reading “sand patterns”