I’ve been talking about Baie des Tortues (Turtle Bay) on my last couple of posts and once or twice before that, but they’ve been detail photos, except for one that was taken from this exact spot but at night, so I thought I’d share a day image of the beach of Baie des Tortues (Turtle Bay).

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The luck I had was that it was almost low tide when I took this shot, revealing the tunnel of the cliff, the Pierced Rock (la Roche Percée). Situated smack bang in the middle of the image with it’s own tiny beach in front of the entrance. At low tide you have access to the tunnel from the beach. The hole goes straight through the cliff to the other side where you join the other beach and peninsula, la Roche Percée, which you can see behind the cliff and to the right of the image. The tunnel is quite narrow and is part of the Sentier des Trois Baies (the Three Bay Trail) which includes Baie de la Roche Percée (Pierced Rock Bay), Baie des Tortues (Turtle Bay) and Baie des Amoureux (Lovers Bay). A beautiful walk if ever you have the time.

The beach behind the cliff is where I took the photo from my last post, Le Bourailais. This rock formation at the end of the cliff, known as le Bonhomme (the Man), is a landmark in New Caledonia with spiritual importance in Kanake culture. Hop over to my last post for more information on the Bonhomme de Bourail.

On the left side of the Roche Percée (Pierced Rock) cliff is an amazing 280° lookout point with a shrine dedicated to Notre Dame des Flots (Our Lady of the Waves), who watches over the ships. Magnificent views up there.

And of course, just below that is the beach of Baie des Tortues (Turtle Bay). Well known for it’s turtle nesting season in late January, early February. A beautiful little beach, very popular with the locals and tourists for picnicking. Not a bad spot for a romantic sunset either.

This shot was taken from the Route de la Baies des Amoureux (Lovers Bay Road). This small section of the road is part of the Sentier des Trois Baies (the Three Bay Trail), mentioned above. Two photos were taken to make this image. A long exposure of 10 seconds to smooth out the clouds and water, and a shorter 1/8th second exposure to capture the cliff side when the sun shone on it. It was cloudy and rain was on it’s way, as you can see from the top left of the image, but the sky opened long enough on the horizon to provided me with this beautiful light. I blended the 1/8th exposure on to the 10 second exposure in Photoshop and finished editing in Lightroom. Mainly just accentuating the cliff side, beach and water.

So there you go, the gorgeous Turtle Bay in Bourail, New Caledonia. This whole area is worth a visit if ever you’re round the corner.

Vallée des Colons, Noumea

Back in 2016 when I didn’t have a camera of my own, my friend Roro lent me his gear. A Nikon D7000, though I didn’t know he had one, it was a camera I had hoped to use one day. And to go with that was the Nikkor 70-300 mm zoom lens, which I was quite impressed with. I’d never used a telephoto zoom lens before and to have only that as your gear, I quickly realised my wide angle landscape photos were no more. But it did open my eye to more detailed shots. Not only in landscapes but also portraits and even macro photography. I’ll explain how I came to photograph this scene in a bit.

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I had parked my car and was about to go for a walk when I saw this scene. What captured my eyes was the mountains in the background then all the houses and apartments in the foreground. The mountains are the Réserve Naturelle De La Vallée De La Thy and the Réserve Naturelle Intégrale De La Montagne Des Sources. They were so beautifully lit and even though sunset was still two and half hours away, they had an almost golden colour to them. The trees in the foreground is Ilôt Artificiel (Artificial Island). An oval, man-made island built to naturally circulate the sewage that exit between it and the front of those buildings. The area is commonly known as Sainte Marie because of the bay and another (natural) island of the same name, but this is Vallée Des Colons, one of the oldest suburbs of Noumea. The photo was taken from La Promenade Pierre Vernier towards N’Géa. A beautiful walkway and bike track along the shoreline of Noumea’s southern suburbs. Very popular with the young and old alike.

My instincts for this shot was to go wide but the widest I could go was 70 mm. But I didn’t like the framing at 70 mm so I thought, ok, let’s zoom in. Let’s get in tight and eliminate all the distractions without loosing what caught my eye in the first place. My focal point was obvious, the orange apartments that stood above all the other buildings. The framing came when I was judging the amount of clouds and water to include. And this, is what I ended up capturing. I did try vertical shots but it gave me too much sky and water and that wasn’t pleasing to me. The exposure was straight forward, ISO 100, ƒ/10 aperture and 1/80th shutter speed. Should’ve used a tripod at that speed but, I admit, I was lazy and took the shot hand-held. Thank goodness for the Vibration Reduction (VR) on the lens which helped me get a sharp image. For the focal length used (121 mm), I should have been at 1/125th shutter speed to avoid blur. Post-processing was also straight forward though I did accentuate the golden highlights. I did it by going into the Split-Tone module and using the Highlights eyedropper to select the colour of the clouds and used that to add to the highlights of the overall image. I didn’t touch the Shadows at all. Now the image was a lot closer to what my mind’s eye saw. I like this photo quite a lot.

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NIKON D7000

16Mp Crop Sensor DSLR Camera (body only)

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NIKKOR AF-S 70-300 MM ƒ/4.5-5.6 IF-ED VR

Nikon Telephoto Zoom Lens

Miyajima / Itsukushima Island, Japan

Though there was a thin layer of cloud in the sky, beautiful golden light blanketed the forest. Golden hour was here and had transformed the landscape. It was upon these trees that I first noticed it and seeing the second story of the Tahoto Pagoda protruding above the canopy was too beautiful not to photograph.

I wish I had a longer focal lens though. I would've preferred to have isolated the pagoda within the forest. Minimise distractions and simplify the composition. I like this image nonetheless.

Tahoto pagodas are very interesting and unique in their own right so check out the link above to learn more.

I’ve mentioned this on a previous post but let me stress again that the links I provide on my blog posts are purely provided for extra information and I am in no way remunerated. They are not affiliate, sponsored or commercial links and I am not payed in any way, shape or form to providing these links. If this changes in the future, I will let you know.

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75 mm, 1/13th second @ ƒ/11, ISO 100

As golden hour slowly arrived, my extremities slowly thawed. If you have no idea of what I’m talking about, check out my last post. By the time the sun rose above the horizon and illuminated the top of Bolte Bridge’s pillars, I was able to push the shutter button painlessly. Capturing this photo made everything worthwhile. So glad I waited and didn’t head back to the hotel to warm up.

I shifted my composition a little to concentrate more on the foreground and the bridge but I think I should have placed the pillars of the bridge on the left third of the image instead of the right. The photo doesn’t seem balanced and it bothers me a little. I have to be more careful with my compositions but I’m still very happy I captured this photo though.

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1/30 sec @ ƒ/8, 55 mm, ISO 100

Trying my hand at cinematic street photography. After taking sunrise photos, I was starving and needed a nice hot coffee. I had taken photos at the Docklands marina and thought I’d just walk towards the city to find a cafe. I didn’t go very far. As soon as I turned around I saw this scene and just had to capture it. I was there for a while, taking photos with trams heading down, up, in the middle, near the lights… and in the end chose this one.

I used the rails as leading lines to the tram and the wet ground gives the foreground more interest and a nice starting point. I made sure to include as much of the trams cable lines as possible, I find very interesting and I think they add a bit of chaos to the photo too. Golden hour blended itself perfectly with the orange lights of the street and tram. I love this photo even without my personal edit done. I should’ve gone with a higher ISO to get a faster shutter speed but I think I was just too hungry and wasn’t thinking straight.

So after getting the shots, I was feeling weak and not too well. I had to find a place for breakfast, fast. I found a Greek cafe not too far. I can’t remember the name of it but it was on the corner of Bourke Street and Waterview Walk. A very nice place, nice people, nice food and I loved watching this old lady working dough with her hands. It was amazing. Anyway, now that I was feeling better, it was time to head back to the family.

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0.4 sec @ ƒ/8, 55 mm, ISO 100