A few weeks ago I found myself on the road to Albany. I was in Western Australia to photograph the Killer Whales in the Bremer canyon, but I'd booked myself a few extra days in the area because....well, just because. I thought I'd stop in Albany to try and find some Albany pitcher plants but, as it turns out, I'm better at finding orchids than carnivorous plants.
Anyway, I got to Albany late in the afternoon, checked into a motel, then checked Google maps. Where could I go for a quick walk? Torndirrup National Park along the coast just to the south of Albany looked promising.
Following my nose, I ended up at The Gap & Natural Bridge Lookout. Beautiful. What a stunning place. The rocks were big and wonderfully varied in their shaped. There was a beautiful, arching walkway which followed the curve of the rock ledge up and over the edge. The very end of the walkway stood out over the cliff, maybe 25m above the water.
It was a bit of a dark afternoon. It might have been gloomy, but it felt brooding and the light interesting. It also allowed me to easily use longer exposures where I wanted to capture the movement of the water.
I was fascinated with the boundary between the sea and the rock. The layer between the two, where the water mashed up against the unmovable rock, exploding upwards and outwards, before receding. But everywhere there was evidence of the power of water, of how the water can mould and soften the shape of the rock over time. Every now and then a big wave would spray water everywhere, and drench the rock face. The water would form little white rivulets as it flowed over the rock and back into the sea.
