Surfers Paradise Photo

Photographer’s Note

Photo taken at one of the Gold Coast beaches on a late afternoon, prior to sunset. The high-rise buildings on the background are part of the famous Surfers Paradise suburb.

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The Gold Coast City is located in the South-east corner of Queensland, Australia and stretches for approximately 60km south to Coolangatta situated on the New South Wales border, and extends west to the foothills of the Great Dividing Range in World Heritage listed Lamington National Park. It is the second most populous city in the state and the seventh most populous city in the country. The city is renowned for its sunny subtropical climate, world-class beaches, waterfront properties, wide array of tourist attractions and long, high-rise-dominated skyline.

Aboriginal people inhabited the greater Gold Coast region prior to European settlement, with some archaeological evidence suggesting their presence extended back 23,000 years.

Captain James Cook became the first European to note the region when he sailed along the coast on May 16, 1770 in the HM Bark Endeavour. This exploration was however focused on areas south of Gold Coast region in the northern rivers of New South Wales.

Captain Matthew Flinders, an explorer charting the continent north from the colony of New South Wales, sailed past in 1802. The region remained uninhabited by Europeans until 1823 when explorer John Oxley landed at Mermaid Beach, which was named after his boat, a cutter named Mermaid.

The hinterland's red cedar supply attracted large numbers of people to the area in the mid 1800s. The western suburb of Nerang was surveyed and established as a base for the industry. Later in 1875, Southport was surveyed and established and quickly grew a reputation as a secluded holiday destination for the upper class Brisbane residents.

In 1925, tourism to the area grew rapidly when Jim Cavill established the Surfers Paradise Hotel. The population grew steadily to support the tourism industry and by the 1940s, real estate speculators and journalists were referring to the area as the "Gold Coast". The true origin of the name is still debatable. The name "Gold Coast" was officially proclaimed in 1958 when the South Coast Town Council was renamed "Gold Coast Town Council".

During the 1970s, high-rises began to dominate Surfers Paradise and later in 1981 the airport was established. More recently, the city has been promoted on the world stage with the construction of the world's tallest residential tower, Q1.

Q1 (meaning Queensland Number One) is a skyscraper located in Surfers Paradise, the tourism hub of the Gold Coast, Australia. At 323 metres, it is the world's tallest all-residential building and ties with the Auckland Sky Tower (323 metres) as the tallest skyscraper in the Southern Hemisphere when measured to the spire. In comparison, the Eiffel Tower is 300 metres when its 24 m antenna is excluded. Q1 overtook the 21st Century Tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates as the world's tallest residential tower. It is the 20th tallest building in the world, dwarfing the Gold Coast skyline until the 240 m Soul and 220 m Circle on Cavill are built. It will be the world's tallest residential building until sometime in 2008, when the 395 metre 23 Marina is completed.

The Q1 tour is the tallest building you can see on the picture’s background.

In “Wikipedia”.

riclopes, delkoo, brevbrev14, AiresSantos, Matthew-Watt, luisafonso, Floydian, sergio1, stego, bostankorkulugu, Click3, ChrisJ, Vato_Law, TeresaT, John_F_Kennedy, sabyasachi1212, bakes888, Rosa_d_MonteLua, bach37, anavazao, xuaxo, plimrn, josepmarin, Scharan, parbo, chrisnet, Photo65Net, MLINES, linask, Docarmo, paura has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ben4321 (9809) 2006-11-24 3:34

Wonderful evening light here Antonio, and I like the long shadows on the beach.
All the various elements of the image; the beach, the sea, the people, the city in the background, all blend together to create an image of great harmony. Hard to explain, but everything just seems to be in the right place, with nothing to disturb the eye. That's a testament to your excellent composition and good timing.
Cheers,
Ben

delkoo (35024) 2006-11-24 3:40

hi antonio
what a nice composition, light is so soft, very good play of shadows on the sand.

best regards
didier

brevbrev14 (372) 2006-11-24 3:52

Hi Antonio, the lights in this image are wonderful as the tones of the colours!
perfect compo and beautiful view!
ciao!
Valeria

AiresSantos (43270) 2006-11-24 3:53

Olá António,
Muito bonita esta foto 'panoramica' com cores e luz magnificas. Gosto da perspectiva e da nota muito completa.
Um abraço Amigo e bom fim de semana,
Aires

riclopes (33143) 2006-11-24 4:16

Olá António, está com umas cores lindas e um formato panorâmico muito agradável. O céu está lindo e a vista dos arranhacéus lá atrás é fantástica. A luz é perfeita e gosto muito do jogo de sombras compridas na areia e mesmo aquele edifício maior que parece deslocado, ajuda a equilibrar a composição. Noto é que a definição não é a melhor e com uns " ruídos" em volta das pessoas e edifícios...Será da compressão ou do PP...ou do meu monitor, uma vez que mais ninguém mencionou esta questão? Pela vestimenta das pessoas, as temperaturas não devem ser muito altas...
Tirada ontem. Já algum tempo que não estás na plataforma, ou estou errado?
Um abraço,
Ricardo

Matthew-Watt (4473) 2006-11-24 5:21

A stunning shot, I love the Q1 tower and have been to the top in the opening days. In your picture it looks like a great steel sword. Saturation of colours is perfect and the long shadows are a most pleasant feature.
Matt

luisafonso (858) 2006-11-24 6:25

Boa luz e óptimas cores. Talvez um pouco saturadas demais, mas ainda assim muito bonitas. A composição simples é muito boa. Nota-se um pouco algum ruído da compressão (especialmente nos edifícios ao longe). Vi que a imagem tem 182Kb pelo que a única explicação que encontro para isso será talvez um excesso de USM. Gosto!

khafes (303) 2006-11-24 9:36

Viva antónio,
como sempre uma boa fotografia, gosto desta pelas cores vivas e pela sua harmonia na composição. Apenas me parece ter um pouco de sharpness a mais, mas isto é um pormenor sem importancia.
Boas Fotos,
Paulo Monteiro

Floydian (30970) 2006-11-24 10:08

Hi Antonio,
Oh man, what a perfect weather you have there. Wish i could step on a plane an fly over right now. I like your crop and framing, and using the polariser was a wise decision. Giving it more contrast with rich and deeper colours...perfect..!!!
Have a nice weekend, Henk

sergio1 (12150) 2006-11-24 10:25

Hi Antonio,

Original view to skyline from the beach. I like the panoramic shot and great lights to sunset. Well composen and framing.
Well done
Sergio
Have a nicer weekend

xavshot (63345) 2006-11-24 16:07

Bonsoir Antonio
bravo pour ce POV et ce cadrage : j'aime beaucoup la lumière franche et les contrastes des couleurs dans cette photo. Une compo très dynamique.
amicalement
Xavier

rmcfa63 (358) 2006-11-24 17:21

Viva António

Aquilo que me agrada nesta fotografia é efectivamente o contraste entre os elementos humanos e os árranha-céus: duas realidades distintas em contextos diferentes mas sempre contíguos.

A nitidez da imagem surpreende aliás como em todas as outras suas.

stego (22500) 2006-11-24 19:56

Olá António,
Gosto imenso da luz, da compo, e do ambiente relaxante. Está estupenda e resiste bem à falta de nitidez e ao ruído de compressão no horizonte.
Como é teu hábito, está muito contrastada. Tudo bem se for intencional, acho que até resulta, embora pessoalmente ache que está um pouco exagerado.
PS: Que inveja, ver como estápor aí o tempo, quando aqui estamos debaixo de tempestade a seguir a tempestade - este mês `tem sido um dilúvio quase constante, só dias tristemente cinzentos.
TFS.

bostankorkulugu (34198) 2006-11-25 5:24

looking at your shot i can say that the gold coast is the right name for this place... superb light, a wonderful place to be...
cheers my friend...

Click3 (1871) 2006-11-25 8:36

Hola Antonio...una vista muy hermosa...la naturaleza es tan sobrecogedora que llega a integrar las edificaciones...luz y colores sobresalen. El punto de vista captura e introduce en la foto.
Gran trabajo !
Un abrazo, Robert

ChrisJ (70521) 2006-11-26 4:05

Hi Antonio

Looks like it's taken from Broadbeach. Good late afternoon shot, with excellent sharpness , lighting & contrast. Tfs!

Vato_Law (11768) 2006-11-26 5:03

Olá Antonio,
Excelente balanço nesta composição com o contraste entre a calma desta praia e a cidade e os prédios altos ao fundo. A luz reflectida na areia para alem de criar estas sombras, ainda cria uma excelente atmosfera.
Um abraço.
Paulo

TeresaT (10733) 2006-11-26 18:36

Olá António,
Bonita foto desta praia.
gosto especialmente da linha de arranha-céus lá ao fundo e da espuma branca das ondas.
Esta luminosidade dourada também é especialmente bonita.
Um abraço
Teresa

adamasao1 (466) 2006-11-27 2:29

Hi Antonio
A different take on the classic Gold Coast beach shot. It's good to see a bit af natural vegetation in the foreground!
The afternoon shadows along the beach are great.
Cheers!

John_F_Kennedy (32340) 2006-11-27 3:58

I like the lines here... the beach, the surf, great!
Achim

sabyasachi1212 (19546) 2006-11-27 8:46

Hi Antonio,
You were certainly fortunate to get the sunlight on your side. Beautiful golden beach with the long shadows creates a wonderful atmosphere.
With Greetings from India
Sabyasachi

bakes888 (18353) 2006-11-28 2:07

Hi Antonio. Great photo. The composition and colour are spot on. Well captured and thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

Rosa_d_MonteLua (1504) 2006-11-28 2:46

Olá António!
Belíssimas cores nesta panorâmica de Gold Coast, com um excelente tratamento de contraste e saturação, resultando neste choque maravilhoso de tons azuis e terracota. Excelente definição.
Obrigada pela partilha,
Rosa

donluicu (24001) 2006-11-28 17:06

Ola Antonio
this is a superb framing, but I think that the PP is a bit too strong.

regards

petrec (410) 2006-12-02 9:05

Hello Antonio, your picture is really great. I like this beach, all those people you've captured whith sensibility. The colours are wonderful. Have a nice week-end! Claudia

anavazao (5592) 2006-12-02 16:17

olá ... penso que náo é só o paraiso dos surfistas não? A perspectiva está 5*! Gosto das cores! Fica bem Ana:)

xuaxo (5911) 2006-12-03 14:55

A composição e a luz estão muito bonitas, mas há qualquer coisa na imagem que não deve ser problema do meu monitor. Se calhar é o que o Luís Afonso chama "excesso de USM" (que eu não sei o que é). Eu diria talvez excesso de pós-processamento, sem saber o quê, dados os meus fracos conhecimentos técnicos.
F

plimrn (19872) 2006-12-03 21:48

Ola Antonio,
Once again I find the detail you've captured here really elegant. The colors are so clear they are almost transparent. I like the framing too, with the wide beacj framed between the high-rises and the rows of whitecaps.
Regards, Pat

MIG13 (0) 2006-12-04 7:22

Perspectiva maravilhosa, António, com a praia em primeiro plano e, ao fundo, o perfil da cidade. Aliás, que cidade é essa? Brisbane, por acaso? A luminosidade é também espetacular. Bom trabalho, amigo! Parabéns! Abraço! Miguel.

josepmarin (34269) 2006-12-04 12:42

Olá Antonio,
me gusta este formato panorámico que capta perfectamente esta bella playa con la gran ciudad al fondo y un alto edificio aislado a la izquierda del cuadro. La regla de los tercios funciona muy bien aquí.
La luz es magnífica, nos ofrece unos colores suaves de tonos cálidos y unas largas sombras, muy elegantes. La espuma de las olas y la gente son otros bellos detalles.
Buen trabajo.
Saludos,
Josep

capthaddock (28640) 2006-12-04 17:45

Hi Antonio - great timing with the late afternoon light, the absence of surfers in the water is interesting

rozy975 (3047) 2006-12-05 18:56

This is really a striking photo.
Gorgeous skyline and a beach.
Well done!

Scharan (13955) 2006-12-06 20:16

Excelente foto Antonio, gosto das pisadas na areia e os riscos de sombras que vão ao encontro das águas. Céu muito bonito. Parabéns e grande abraço,
Vera.

banyanman (7739) 2006-12-07 14:21

Hi Antonio. I am sure you would be the first to admit that this is not an 'original' POV of the Surfer's skyline, but nevertheless you have composed it well with the people strung out along the beach, and your timing is good to capture this warm late afternoon light. Interesting note about the tallest residential buildings. I think some of the Gulf States may be out to break those records in the years to come. Cheers . . . David

parbo (11054) 2006-12-07 19:59

Hello Antonio,

I like good contrast between sand and sea. Long shadows from left bank and skyscrapers at background are completes excellent depth. Reflections on wet sand and white foams are splendid. Peoples are helping to us imagine the scale of your landscape view. Congratulations.

Best Regards,

Ertugrul

Angshu (34243) 2006-12-09 3:45

Hello Antonio
You've got brilliant light here & your decision to use the polariser here is spot on. What lovely contrasts with the rich deep colours everywehere...the long shadows on the beach provide wonderful repetative effect. A perfect shot!
Regards
Angshu

chrisnet (20378) 2006-12-09 4:05

Hello Antonio,
The light is beautiful in this shot, you have very well composed with the tower at the left, the waves are very impressive, it's an excellent view, congratulations.
Regards
Christian

Photo65Net (43106) 2006-12-09 4:47

Hi Antonio,
A great place, a great pic !
Colors are superb, and you used nicely the diagonal, it emphasizes the beach.
Very nice pic,
JB.

rbcy1974 (20746) 2006-12-12 2:25

Hello Antonio
Bravo for the composition, great angle and nice capture with the skyline on the background and the people scattered in the front. However there is a problem of pixelization which is particularly noticeable in hte closest building. You should look at the original and check how it gets reduced for te standards as I am sure that the problem is there.
Cheers
Daniel

Bluejeans (33423) 2006-12-12 20:02

Ola Antonio que praia fantastica , cá em portugal tá um frio , que vontade de tomar um pouco de sol nessa praia!!!!
As cores estão muito bonitas , so acho que tem um pouco de ruido na definição da imagem , mas valeu !!!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

Benedict (7062) 2006-12-13 0:08

indeed, downunder is beautiful and bright- just like this foto! thumbs up, 'mate!
benedict

cam (8880) 2006-12-13 21:07

Hello Antonio
Everything comes to the light,or its quality.
The low light gives the ooomph to this composition.Parallel long shadows,reaching to the sea.
Well done
Charles

tabora (13642) 2006-12-20 16:47

Bonjour Antonio,
Une belle composition avce une superbe lumière rasante,qui allonge les ombres joliment.
la ville ressemble a des chateaux de sable.
Beau travail.
A+ Joseph

sothy81 (8540) 2006-12-21 1:25

Beautiful place, beautiful colors and great sharpness. Well done. Sothy

vascao (192) 2006-12-24 6:21

Olá, Antônio.
Magnífica tomada desta praia tão famosa. Gostei muito da cor do céu e das longas sombras do entardecer. O contraste entre a praia tranqüila e os edifícios no plano de fundo também está excelente.
Feliz Natal para você e os seus.
Sergio

sebcz (2345) 2007-01-13 8:38

Hi !
You can almost organically feel the summer heat by looking at it. Fine, vast space with some people in colourful clothes as eye-catchers. The detail is great.
As a seascape shooter, I can tell you it's a brilliant one!
Regards,
Seb

MLINES (11064) 2007-02-21 3:38

Hi Antonio. Wonderful lighting in this composition. Much better than the high sun for this effect. Good clarity and colours. This really shows the cluster of high rise. In my opinion it has become a bit of a victim of its own success in some ways. TFS. Murray.

Docarmo (8862) 2007-06-01 12:07

Olá António,
A navegar nos "mares" do TE, deparei-me com esta foto esplêndida. Cores e sombras magníficas. Que lugar lindo!
Thanks for sharing,
Maria do Carmo

paura (39608) 2008-05-22 11:12

António,
A fotografia está muito bem tomada, com um bom ponto de tomada a apresentar a bonita paisagem. Bom trabalho.

Abraço

Paulo