I spend a lot of time travelling to gather my images. Not every trip is successful. I can’t count the number of times that I have spent the night driving only to be greeted by less than optimum conditions.  Sometimes I question the whole thing but then you get that magic trip where it all seems to line up and the rewards are so fantastic.

Sometime around autumn becoming winter a tight low pressure system sat perfectly in band called the “roaring 40s”. The low stayed in that slot for almost the width of an ocean.  Days prior and the weather charts are calling for an epic swell with favourable winds along two sections of coast. I made the call to go and took the gamble on a new location right in the path of swell. Around midnight and just before leaving the weather bouys reported 6 metres at 18 seconds. The ocean had come to life. The 40’s were roaring.

You could hear it before you saw it. The deep thumping sound was daunting. I walked by torchlight along an unfamiliar track. A kilometre or two later and the first shards of dawn light showed the reef I had come to photograph.

The delicacies of the dawn light had no place here. There was nothing soft about this scene. The rich darkness of the mid morning blues showed the true mood of this day.

I felt humbled watching these swells collide with the shoreline. Immense in volume and power each set crashed in a grand finale of it’s journey. The scene visibly captivating and the sound overwhelming. I could feel the impact as the lip of the larger waves landed.

This was a solo adventure. The region does get surfed but there are only a few takers for this spot. Not today however. I saw no one until returning to the local township mid-afternoon. It was just me the national park and the ocean.

The opportunity to be in the presence of these conditions is somewhat rare. It was a good call, a calculated risk to go the unknown. It was very special to be there.

 

 

As a footnote I am most excited to announce that my online galleries are being launched next week. So if you have read this far, a HUGE thanks. You are the first to know and I really appreciate your interest.

There are several images from this day that are in the final gallery. This includes the image below. I have selected three. Each shows something unique about my experience with the ocean that day.

I also have a new facebook page dedicated to my Warrahwillah images. Click the “like” button. I’d love to have you share my journey with the ocean. Here is the link.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Warrahwillah-Images-by-Tony-Warrilow/113286538749918

Let’s speak next week!