You may have seen pictures of these castle-like columns on Instagram. You may have heard of Kiama on the South Coast NSW.
The Bombo Quarry is a great location for seascape photography.
Some viewpoints have already been photographed many times. If you are creative and study the weather conditions, you will be able to create stunning photos that you can add to your portfolio.
Bombo Quarry was the beginning of my journey into landscape photography. I grew up on the South Coast.
After photographing the quarry for a decade, I’d like to share some tips about composition and conditions, such as tides, swell, and timing, so that you can capture this surreal seascape at its best.
Let’s look at everything you need (and more!) to know about photographing Bombo Quarry, the iconic seascape.
1. LOCATION AND LANDSCAPE
Kiama is an ideal location for landscape photography. It’s also less than two hours south of Sydney.
Bombo Quarry, a seascape photographer’s favorite destination, is a popular choice for international photographers.
The original Bombo Quarry was opened in 1881, just north of Kiama. Workers used a chisel, hammer, and explosive powder to drill into the rockface in order to excavate giant basalt columns. The boulders are then manually crushed and sent to Sydney as blue metal.
In 1980, the quarry was closed, and the area was preserved for recreational purposes. The quarry is now used by many people, including photographers, fishermen, walkers, and car companies, to film commercials.
The main site had been excavated, and a large theater remained. The ring wall is made of basalt columns, which snakes along the coast. In Section 3, I’ll go into more detail about angles.
The Bombo Quarry can be reached by train from Bombo Station or by parking on the northern end of Bombo Beach. The quarry is a 10-minute stroll from the car park.
Tip: Take a shortcut. If you’re looking to save time, you can take the route shown on the map. It will cut through the bush and save you some minutes. This can be very helpful if you are running late for sunrise.
2. SEASCAPE SAFETY
It’s not sexy to discuss safety at this early stage in the guide. It is still important.
Bombo Quarry has a rugged and raw landscape. It is a very rough and natural landscape.
At sunrise, it can be difficult to navigate unfamiliar terrain with low visibility. With jagged stones. With crashing waves. Slippery boulders. Cliffs and exposed cliffs.
Do the safety dance before you shoot.
- Be careful when walking on wet stones, and wear appropriate footwear.
- Be aware of the swell, as huge waves can often crash against the basalt walls.
- Before you move closer to the water, observe the spray.
- If it is dark before sunrise or at night when you are doing astrophotography, bring a headlamp.
A little common sense can go a long way. It’s now time to start taking some pictures!
3. What to Photograph: Angles and Compositions
You’re in store for a real treat if you haven’t yet visited Bombo Quarry.
You’ve probably seen photos taken from the southern or northern channels. These two compositions are the most popular among photographers, even though the entire twisting coast offers a variety of angles. These are stunning seascape images.
The southern channel stretches eastwards towards the sea. You can enjoy a spectacular view of the main rock wall as the sun rises in the north from the south of the rock shelf between April and September. Position yourself at the entrance of the channel and capture the waves that are snaking through the jet-black boulders.
The northern channel is flanked on either side by two basalt spires. It runs to the southeast, and it’s best used in summer, between October and March. The narrow opening allows waves to build momentum and often crash over the plateau near the mouth of the channel. Beware of large waves that can send sea spray several meters inland.
The snaking wall of basalt is located between the two main channels. Look for unique compositions near the rock pools and giant boulders. This sheltered stretch, away from the hazy spray of the sea, makes for some great astrophotography in midground. See Section 7.
Take a minute to consider the compositional elements of your shot, no matter what area you are photographing. Here are a few ideas and tips you might want to consider.
- Use layers to add depth. (For instance, start with rocks in the bottom of the frame and then move up the water, the rock wall above it, and finally the sky.)
- Use running water or rock cracks as leading lines.
- Avoid bright spots in the background. You may also want to avoid reflective rockpools in corners, as they can draw the viewer’s attention away from your image. You can darken these brighter areas in post-processing.
- Balance is important.
4. What to bring: The Gear
Many years ago, I used to wonder which lens would be the best one for me. Or, to be more specific, what focal length?
At Bombo Quarry, the answer is clear: A wide-angle lens will be your go-to lens. Standard 16-35mm lenses will do the trick.
Don’t use a wide field of view to fit all the sea stacks into your frame. Use the wide field of view instead to get close to the foreground rocks and boulders, highlighting textures on the rugged coast.
If you are going to get close to the water, make sure to take your time and observe how it moves.
Everyone else shoots wide-angle pictures, even though the channels are designed for them.
If you want to get a little more creative after you have taken your wide-angle sunrise photos, you can switch to a zoom lens. Start experimenting with a 70-200mm zoom lens.
Zoom in to capture the golden light reflecting off of the columns. Take abstract photos of the fissures in the rock. Focus on the boulders that have been eroded by the waves at the mouths of the two channels.
You’ll also need a sturdy tripod, as you will likely be taking long exposures at night or sunrise for astrophotography. A cable release allows you to capture the exact moment when a wave hits a rock without having to press the shutter physically.
Don’t forget to pack this essential piece of equipment (And it should be a big one.) Sea spray can travel far inland. If you leave it on your lens for too long, the sea spray will ruin your photos–especially if you are shooting directly into the sun.
5. TIPS TECHNICAL
I wrote How Australia’s Geography Shaped my Landscape Photography to reflect on the influence that overseas photographers had on me during my early development.
British photographers use their 10-stop ND filters to smooth out reflections on calm seascapes or tranquil lakes. That’s exactly what I did down at the rugged Bombo Quarry. When applied to the Australian coast’s rough waves, the emotional impact and all of the energy were lost. It transformed our dynamic coastline into a milky bathtub.
What I did was:
Rather than using an ND to slow down my shutter speed, I now use ‘fast’ exposures between 1/4 and 1/10 seconds. These speeds retain the detail of the water moving, and highlight the energy and motion in the waves.
What can you learn from this guide?
Do not let your long exposures become too long. You will miss the action when the wave hits the basalt columns.
The optimal shutter speed depends on the water and swell speed. Start with a 1/4-second shutter speed, even if it means increasing your ISO to 640. Review the frame in your camera, and then adjust the shutter speed until you achieve the desired effect.
After the sun rises and the scene becomes brighter, you can still get water streaks from a long exposure at 1/15 seconds.
You should also be aware of the dynamic range, especially if you are shooting at a rising sun.
The ND graduated filter will reduce the dynamic range and darken the skies. The tinted glasses will make the columns of the cityscape that rise above the horizon look unnaturally dark.
You only need two frames to blend exposures instead of an ND filter.
- Shoot one mainframe that is slightly overexposed. This will cover the rocks, the water, and approximately 80% of the sky.
- You can then bracket a second exposure with a darker tone (-2 stops) to cover the 20% of the sky that is still visible in the main frame.
- Post-processing can recover the darker rocks and the midground of the main frame, while the sky can be saved by using the separate -2 exposure with a luminosity filter.
Please get in touch with us if you would like to know how to blend exposures in Photoshop.
6. WEATHER CONDITIONS
The coastal environment is dynamic, with wind, waves, and tides always changing. This variability makes seascape photography a very rewarding endeavor.
You’ll see scenes of unmatched awe and amazement when the conditions are just right.
The changing angle of the sun’s rising throughout the year, as mentioned in Section 3, will affect which direction you choose to photograph. There are a few other key elements you should be aware of and research prior to your visit.
- Tide: A high tide will cover barnacles and snakes between the boulders on each channel. Low tide can result in a more energetic wave, as the incoming waves interact more closely with the seafloor. Here’s the WillyWeather Link to the current tides on Bombo Beach.
- Swell: Big swell. Big waves. Banger shots. ( WillyWeather forecasted swell for Bombo Beach.
- Clouds – Use free weather services such as Windy.com to track cloud systems moving along the NSW coast. You’ll need high to medium clouds moving east, with no low clouds over the Pacific Ocean. The sun will be able to illuminate the clouds above by shining through the opening on the eastern horizon.
- Wind While wind has a lesser influence on this, it does have a pro and a con when it comes to seascape photography.
- What’s the con? The con?
- What is the pro? You can capture the shapes and textures created by the seaspray as the waves crash and break.
- Rain: Be aware of recent rains around Kiama. Water and sediments drain into the sea after a prolonged rain, turning the ocean a milky brown color.
7. ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY IN BOMBO QUARRY
Bombo Quarry is a great place to capture the Milky Way and stars at night. The lights of Kiama can be found 2km south.
While the rocks in the foreground are still completely dark, the town’s ambient light is soft enough to brighten them.
There are more detailed astrophotography videos online. After spending countless nights at the quarry, I wanted to share some of the tips I’ve picked up on star photography.
- Date: The Milky Way Season is from April to September, when the brightest clusters of stars, called the Galactic core, rise above the eastern horizon. You can use an app such as PhotoPills to plan when the Galactic Core will increase and to track the Milky Way’s path throughout the night. Your best shooting time will be between 7 pm and 10 pm from May to July.
- Moon: The phase of the moon will affect how much or how little Milky Way is visible. A full moon with 100% brightness is too bright and will overpower your camera’s ability for you to see stars. A moon with a brightness of 10-40% will be enough to illuminate the rocks in the foreground.
- Settings: The larger your aperture (f/4, f/2.8, and lower), the more light you let in. The more you zoom in, the faster your shutter speed must be. Here are the default settings I use for astrophotography, which I will then adjust at night.
- Focal length 16mm
- Aperture: f/2.8
- Shutter speed: 15 seconds to freeze stars and 30+ to expose the darker rocks in the foreground.
- ISO: 3200
- Focus: manual focus just behind infinity
- A 2-second delay in shutter speed can prevent camera shake
Remember to turn off your headlamp or phone torch when there are other photographers nearby.
Tip: Speed up your setup. Because it is nighttime, it will be difficult to determine if the composition that you are framing is level. You’ll have to make a few test shots and adjust your frame after each.
Instead of spending 10+ minutes on trial and error and 15-second exposure tests, accelerate the process.
Increase your ISO up to 32,000, and reduce your shutter speed by a few seconds. You can then adjust your framing to get the perfect composition. Don’t forget to set your ISO back to 3200 after you have finished your composition.
8. Look for the finer details
In the Gear section, I mentioned that you should use a wide-angle lens at Bombo Quarry. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t take telephoto shots here. In fact, I would encourage you to.
Have fun with the details of the landscape after you’ve captured the sunrise. What to look for
- Textures
- Colors
- Splashes
- Patterns
Allow yourself to be free and experiment as you go.
It’s not every frame that will add to your portfolio. By trying out new things, you will fuel your creativity and discover unique frames.
The idea is not to give you too many rules. It would be best if you left with something that is uniquely yours. Have some fun and muck around.
FINAL CONCLUSIONS
Bombo Quarry was the beginning of my photographic journey for me.
If you have taken the time to read this guide, you will also be inspired to explore this seascape destination.
Bombo Quarry, with its castle-like crenellations and ever-changing sea, is a photographer’s paradise.
