Avoca Beach, Australia - 18th July 2009 03:00 hrs UTC (13:00 hrs local time) (best viewed larger)

This is a place that looks so inviting. It screams perfect vacation spot. Very well done.

Best Regards,

Holger

This image was taken at exactly 0300 hrs UTC (1300hrs local time) as

part of Photo.net’s 2009 “Global Moment” project.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

Mike

The full size version of this scrap-book page is here on my blog.

This is beautifully done! A real catcher with the birds. This is a real place to relax!

Cheers!

Thank you all for you kind words. They are much appreciated.

Holger: it’s mid-winter here and the water is a little cold but it was a lovely day around 20 deg C with only a little wind. The paddling pool even had a few hardy toddlers splashing about.

Yannik: yes I was lucky with the birds – they landed just after I got to the water’s edge.

Vadim: Avoca is a weekend holiday destination for the people of Sydney and on days like this it does have a very happy feel.

Peter: I’m sure it was a lot warmer here than were you were in the middle of the night! I love your shot though; mid day on the beach can have atmosphere but not the same as the wonderful moodiness of your Valve House image.

Tom: the colours come from both the use of a polariser to remove reflections and hence increase the saturation, as well as the pseudo HDR technique (2 raw conversions (one ‘standard’ the other +1stop) combined to HDR in Photoshop with ‘local adaptation’).

Tina: it is a lovely place but sometimes I wish I lived in a place that had real seasons – apart form the hills we call mountains in Australia, there are very few places that experience a real autumn or winter in and around Sydney.

Thanks again, and all the best,

Mike

It looks like a wonderful place Mike.

Your presentation is really very successful.

Nice composition from the right view point, depth, warm light and impressive vibrant color tones.

Thanks Karolos - much appreciated!

Cheers,

Mike