Newcastle Photo Safari; Carrington & Nobbys

I took off into the CBD the other day, intent on getting some pics of the sunset over Port Hunter and to catch the fishing boats leaving the harbour at dusk.

I had quite a few of hours to spend before the Sun was anywhere near setting and went to a spot in Mayfield West that had been tempting me ever since I arrived up here. There is a small overhead railway bridge in Maud Street. Either side it has some very photogenic railway tracks, a tunnel and, some lovely old industrial buildings belonging to a company called Comsteel. Before Comsteel was formed in 1917 and moved onto its' current site, this site was an old brickworks and Maud St was known as Waratah Lane. 

As I still had some hours to kill after I visited Maud Street, I took myself over to Carrington to check it out. A great place with some lovely buildings, Carrington also has a large rail yard that services the huge grain silos that load the ships from all over the world. After speaking to a Port Hunter Authority employee, he directed me to an overhead pedestrian bridge that spans the rail yard. Great overhead perspective has given some good pics. One thing I learned whilst I was up there. These grain wagons must operate on air brakes so that they don't roll down the track. The pressure from the brakes must have to be released every now and then because I nearly had a heart attack from this VERY LOUD hissing sound from each wagon all at once. Even knowing what is was after my initial shock, I was never really prepared for the noise and it got me every time!

After Carrington, I wandered over to Nobbys Beach and then up to the breakwall. I wanted to capture a golden sunset over the Port and the City. Well, as I showed up a heap of clouds began to gather in the West. Not the style of cloud that is high and might reflect the golden hues of the setting Sun, oh no! These were thick clouds that hugged the horizon, blocking off all the colour from the setting Sun. There were the occasional break throughs of streaming light and so I made the best of it whilst I was there with some low profile shots and a Neutral Density filter.

The breakwall is also strewn with driftwood that came down river after recent flooding further inland and so I changed to my 50mm prime f1.8 to get some photos with a very small depth of field and lots of beautiful soft bokeh!

It was a successful day but I do want to return to Carrington & concentrate on the architecture there.

Hope you are all well and have a Happy Easter! If you are driving anywhere, please be patient and drive safely!

As always

Jordy