Chasing Light by Chris Lane

The Famous Bondi Icebergs Swimming Pool

Name: Bondi Icebergs Swimming Pool.

Where: Southern end of Bondi Beach, Bondi NSW

Pool length: 50 meters

Parking: There is metered parking along the beach.

Tips: In summer it is pretty tough to get a car spot. Much easier during the cooler months. There’s a great view from the public footpath.

Bondi Icebergs Swimming Pool

For those who may be familiar with this blog, I’ve been on a mission the past few years to photograph 100 Rock Pools.

So it would be remiss of me to not include the super famous Bondi Icebergs Pool.

So for the vast popularity of the awesome pool I have named this as number 1 in my quest for 100. More on the Pools of the Sea project here https://chasinglight.photo.blog/2021/07/10/pools-of-the-sea/

So here this the iconic and Instagram famous pool. The Bondi Icebergs Pool.

The name iceberg come from the original group of swimmers in the region who swam under the name Bondi Icbergs. And when the Bondi building was renovated we now see the famous pool in all of its glory.

It’s just a beautiful pool to look at and photograph, and from all reports it’s the most photographed pool in Australia and it would have to be up there in the world as well.

Besides being on the edge of the famous Bondi beach, the shapes and the lines really make for a picturesque scene.

The water also looks amazing as the lighter tone of the pool really contrasts to the darker blue of the ocean. And with the white boarder surrounding the pool it is almost as if the designers were a photography fan themselves.

It’s hard to take a bad picture of the beautiful Bondi pool, but I’d have to say the angle from the southern end looking down from the pathway is pretty awesome as shown below.

Not to mention the many great pictures taken from above as you have probably seen. I’d love to shoot an aerial view myself one. I’ll add that to the list.

Located only 30 minutes from the Sydney CBD, Bondi and its famous pool is definitely worth the trip if your looking for things to do or photograph in Sydney. If you’re a visitor to Sydney or just haven’t made the trip yet as a Sydney local, then you really need to check out Bondi Iceberg Pools.

I’ll be back to photograph this beautiful pool many more times before I’m finished and I’d recommend any photography lovers out there to check it out too. A few more of my favourites from Bondi here too https://chasinglight.photo.blog/2020/12/21/beautiful-bondi-beach/

Til next time!

Chris

Photo Tips: How to improve your backgrounds using the aperture setting.

Without getting into all the complexities of exposure, shutter speed and aperture settings. And how they all relate to each other. We will save that for another day.

Today’s photo tips on how to improve your backgrounds, mainly using you aperture settings. Controlling your aperture or also known as f stops is a great way to improve the backgrounds in your photographs.

One of my first photography mentors told me on our first meeting, your background is everything. A bad background will ruin a great picture so start with a great background and work your way from there.

There are a few ways to improve your background in a picture. From framing your shot to make the background as pleasant as possible, the use of a longer lens which by its nature compresses the background or by adjusting your aperture to blur the background.

All of those techniques work great to improve your backgrounds and you can combine all of those as well. But in this instance we are mainly taking about aperture and the f stops.

Example 1

The easiest way to describe it is on the extreme end. When your aperture is fully open at f/2.8 then when it’s fully closed at f22. The two pictures below highlight the two extremes. All pictures below are using a 70-200 zoom lens. At around the 200ml range.

As you can see there is a remarkable difference between the two pictures. But shot on the same day the same lighting conditions and taken one second apart. It also depends on your personal objective too, but the background is completely blurred out in the first picture and the second the trees in the background are more visible.

Example 2

A slightly less dramatic version is here below. The first image here is at f/3.2 and the second is f/7.1

The difference between the two pictures above is not as dramatic as the first example.

The middle ground of f/7.1 can be a way to keep the foreground and background both relatively in focus. Especially when you have a beautiful Sydney Harbour Bridge, you don’t want to necessarily completely blur out the background.

Example 3

The last example is another f2.8 and f/22 picture. Again you’ll see the vast difference of the background in the extreme end of the aperture spectrum. I myself prefer the 2.8 version as the background is completely blurred and the red leaves in the foreground are sharp and prominent.

So hopefully via these examples you can see how controlling your aperture and f stops you can really improve your photographs. Just a few rotations of the aperture dial can really make your image pop and you might be able to turn a good picture into a great picture.

I generally try to stick to a f/4 to f/5.6 number during most of my photography, which blurs the background but not too much.

But also photography is the world’s best hobby, so play around and find what works best for you.

Til next time!

Chris

Blue Mountains and it’s Corridor of Oaks

Name: Corridor of Oaks, also The Prime Ministers Corridor of Oaks

Where: 11 Sir Henrys Parade, Faulconbridge NSW 2776

Tips: Easy to get to and there is a kids playground across the road too.

Corridor of Oaks, Blue Mountains

I only really started to explore the beautiful Blue Mountains a couple of years ago. As someone who lives on the other side of Sydney, the Blue Mountains always seemed a little bit too far.

And at around 2 hours drive from Sydney, it kind of is far. But I also regret not making the effort way sooner as the mountains are just an remarkable area. The fact that it is so close to Sydney but also a little bit too far, makes it the unique place that it is.

On my recent travels to the mountains I would regularly drive past a sign saying The Corridor of Oaks. With the thought process of, that sounds a interesting spot to shoot one day, so in the words of Robin Williams in The Dead Poets Society, “carpe diem boys”.

So seize the day I did. In a park that is around 50 meters long and 20 meters wide stands two rows of Oaks trees.

The formal name is The Prime Ministers Corridor of Oaks. As many a former Prime Minister or a closest relative has planted a tree here with a plaque in front of said tree. Some recent notable names include Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, John Howard and from the past the infamous Harold Holt, made famous by going for a swim and never returning.

And more recently brought back into public life by the Cronulla Sharks winning the NRL grand final. A team that it was said are as much a chance of winning a Grand Final as it was for Harold Holt to return home.

It’s a really impressive park, with the light of spring against the blue skies of the mountains shining on the leaves of the strong oak trees. A spot I’m glad I took the detour today to photograph. If you’re looking for things to do or photograph in the Blue Mountains, don’t wait as long as I did to take the off the main road detour.

The park is located in Jackson Park, Faulconbridge and is just off the Great Western Highway in the Blue Mountains. A short detour if you’re heading west through the mountains but definitely worth a visit.

Til next time!

Chris