Behind the Picture: Blues of Shelly Beach

When the drones came out a few years back that made them reasonably affordable to the public, I was pretty quick to jump on and get involved.
I bought the DJI Phantom and took to the skies. After most of my lifetime taking pictures from ground level it was pretty cool to play with a new form of photography.

The biggest challenge I faced was the same as taking pictures on ground level.

Taking good pictures.

Sounds easy but it’s gets a little complicated sometimes. It’s easy to take average pictures but to shoot something you’re proud of is a lifelong mission.
And even though I take photos every day of my life, only a couple pictures a year really make me proud of my work. I guess it fits in with the frustrated artist inside us creative types.

So rewind back to 2017 and the coastline of Shelly Beach, Cronulla.

I had a fair few drone missions under my belt by this time and taken my share of average pictures. But as I mentioned before, taking a picture you love is as rare as the perfect wave for a surfer.

But it’s the search for awesome keeps us going, so after a few shots from above I was lucky to find a pretty cool location in the low tide just above some rocks.

The shallow water mixed in with the glistening sun soaked specks and the worlds smallest wave combined for something cool.
If I was there an hour earlier or later it would have looked completely different.

But at that time and at that distance above the water at maybe 10 meters, it came together pretty well.
That nature of the sun and the wave gives it an almost oil painting feel and as a photographer you’re always looking for something a little obscure. And after 4 years I still am proud of this picture. Hopefully it will still pass the test in a few years time too.

The thing I love most about photography is you can have a idea in your head and on the day it comes out completely different and even better than you imagined. Those days are rare and it’s best to bask in them when you do.

Til next time
Chris