To further my photography game, I've made a pledge to make more photo essays. This goal ties in nicely with my medium term goal for this website / blog: to make it more personal and post more about the things I get up to in my daily life. I usually post photo essays on my VSCO Journal (link here) but I'll start to post the photo sets here too for your convenience. Also, expect some back dated photo essays so I can catch this blog up with my past shoots!

Photo Essay Set 06

With nothing planned for the day, I decided to throw my camera gear into my car and head out on a solo photo mission. Bombo Quarry has always been a location on my list of places to shoot. Located on the south coast of NSW, it is relatively far from my house (about a 2 hour drive) but I guess I could still call this place a local location.

It really was as martian and foreign as I'd seen in photos. Bombo headlands is closer to an environment you'd find in the middle of an American desert; definitely not right by the sea & beach. The remaining Basalt columns from excavations in the past are all angular and tower like.

Walling the sea out from the flat headlands are towering columns of Basalt; aptly named the Cathedral Rocks. There are two narrow water corridors which feed the sea into the headlands that have been naturally carved out by the crashing seas. They're quite spectacular as they guide the water into these channels which smash against the dead end wall of headland rocks.

I got there about 2PM and the sun was still directly overhead. The lighting conditions were too difficult to work with right away so I decided to stay a while. Luckily some cloud cover rolled in and the winter sun set pretty quickly.

I think my favourite thing about the place is the colour tones of the Basalt rocks. When in direct sunlight, they're a golden brown with tints of red. When wet, they turn a dark almost black like colour. Add their strange angular shapes against the white wash of the crashing sea and you have a perfect mix of tones and textures.

Shooting into the afternoon golden hour, I realise why it is called the Cathedral Rocks - The setting sun is guided by the basalt columns into the sea and produces "God Rays" of light which look pretty epic against the sea mist (see below).

Photographer notes: Park on the North side of Bombo beach. The headland area is a short 5 minute walk from the Bombo Beach car park. The location has a lot of loose rocks so wear good shoes. It is also very hard to shoot in strong sunlight, so I would advise you to go there closer to dawn / dusk, or if it is overcast.

You can keep up with my photo essay missions on Snapchat & Instagram @itchban.