Maroochy Curves Photo

Photographer’s Note

Maroochydore is a very peaceful place. The small coastal city is built around the mouth of the Maroochy River, a broad, shallow waterway which is popular with lovers of watersport and fishermen. You can hire a boat or a catamaran, swim in the protected waters or just take a walk and enjoy the scenery. Wildlife is also quite abundant here as there are large reserves in the area protecting coastal vegetation. You are likely to see large flocks of Rainbow Lorikeets feeding along the tree-lined banks, pelicans, black swans, sea eagles and herons. In the water live a variety of popular angler’s fish such as bream, whiting, dart and flathead with the addition of some other more interesting and potentially dangerous species including stingrays and bull sharks. Offshore (directly behind me) seasonal humpback whales and bottlenose dolphins can be seen.

Maroochy town centre, which is to the left of this image on the horizon, is the geographical heart of the Sunshine Coast tourism strip which begins at Caloundra to the south and finishes at Noosa to the north. Parkland and picnic areas line the riverbank in front of large holiday apartment towers which have replaced the original fishing shacks and retirement homes. I often visit my holiday unit here at Maroochydore which in many ways has become my home away from home – a good escape from the city.

This photo looks west from the north shore of the Maroochy River mouth towards the coastal hinterland, and was taken about 20 minutes after a spectacular sunset. I might post that one another day but I chose this one for today as I liked the more subtle colour and dominant curve. The photo was taken hand held; I had no tripod at the time and there was nothing to support the camera with unfortunately.

ChrisJ, MLINES, parbo, chpp, mvdisco, denisn72, Tue, angela926, robertosalguero, JPlumb, macondo, jhm, jusninasirun, calimex, Wanda1, jaywalker, azaf1 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

skippy007 (7337) 2008-02-16 23:32

Hi Matt,
An oldie but a goodie.
Beautiful well composed shot with a sweeping natural curve guiding the eye to the fisherman, the horizon and town centre. Nice reflection and interesting and informative note. Were the fish biting?.
Regards
Santo

ChrisJ (70443) 2008-02-17 0:29

Hi Matthew

I like the sweeping curve of the bay, & the soft, muted sunset colours. Perhaps you could crop the bottom, so that the diagonal curve starts in the bottom left corner? Good sharpness, & superb reflections. Tfs!

MLINES (10966) 2008-02-17 0:35

Hi Matt, I am sure this beautiful beach has all sorts of curves and this is certainly a good one to present. It is at an ideal time of the day, the blue hour and works perfectly. Your Queensland city and beachscape are very good series.
I agree with Chris in that a little crop of the base would maybe benefit the balance. TFS. Murray.

Tibo (1842) 2008-02-17 0:47

Hi Matthew! The beach shape is excellent. A bit like Rip Curl logo! This is good that you still could get some reflection on water at this time of the day. Cheers, Tibo

rgarrigus (0) 2008-02-17 1:54

Hi Matt,

Nicely seen graphic shape in the landscape. You were there at the right time of day and witnessed a wonderful sky and reflection as well. There is a subtle mirroring of the curve in the clouds at the upper left. The fisherman at the small point of sandy shore really adds scale and life. I wonder how it might have looked to have cropped the large bush/tree in the upper right bringing the curve slower to the edge? I tried a quick workshop to experiment with the idea but I'll have to post that tomorrow.

Cheers!

Bob G.

vincz (19045) 2008-02-17 2:15

Indeed peace is really emanating out of this picture. I love the compo with the successive curves and the person between the two. Great clouds and sky reflections in the calm sea. Very well done.

Gerrit (36269) 2008-02-17 5:08

Hi Matthe.
Very good composition. The light remaining and the person on the pier are great elements.
Regards, gerrit

delkoo (34788) 2008-02-17 8:24

hi matthew
A fine composition making good use of the curves of the beach as lead-lines. i also like the simplicity of the scene.

cheers
didier

parbo (11014) 2008-02-17 8:51

Hi Matthew,

Wonderful capture of beautifully shaped shore while latest day lights are still available. I like your POV with adding a live model that helps to scale your view easily. Busy city texture as silhouettes at background, still blue sky with some clouds are very nice, congratulations.

Friendly Regards,

Ertugrul

PJE (19501) 2008-02-17 11:21

Matthew the first appealing thing that came to my attention upon opening this image is the nice smooth curve of the shoreline cutting into the frame. I also love the calm atmosphere you captivated for us. The human element though small plays an important part..Thanks for sharing!

chpp (4007) 2008-02-17 13:36

Hi Matt
I like the dynamic in this image, it show a wide open space and has good contrast. The skyline is a little too dark to me
but averall is a nice shot
cheers
chris

mvdisco (11613) 2008-02-17 20:16

Hi Matt,
A very well taken landscape of this bay, beautiful colors sky and reflection, lovely place I think, Excellent POV. and DOF. Very well done.
Michel

gracious (20017) 2008-02-17 20:55

Hello Matt,
another one I liked very much!
very well displayed of light and shadows composition!
good pov with sharpness, beautiful colouration and details in the shot
very pleasing
thanks, Matt!
Tony

ElAprendiz (7370) 2008-02-18 11:28

Hello Mat

Very beautiful this picture. There is a good treatment in the management of low light and the vast shadow.

The composition is also very good, with some beautiful reflections on the water, and a figure of a silhouette, which is very well on stage. Great depth and frame.

John

denisn72 (7073) 2008-02-18 15:45

Hello Matthew.
I particularly like the curved shape of the shore. The point of view is amazing. The reflection of the sky on the river and the distribution of the light are excellent. The light increases gradually from left to right.
I like that effect. Well done!
Best regards
Denis!

Tue (25608) 2008-02-19 13:06

Hi Matthew,
Great view with excellent light conditions after the sunset. The clouds in the sky look nice too and can be admired twice thanks to the fine reflections. Good to see the silhouette of the town in the background and I like very much the two curves of the beach in the foreground too. And could that be a person (angler?) over there? Thanks for sharing!
Regards,
Lars

angela926 (1882) 2008-02-19 21:09

Hello Matthew,
Very beautiful shot, excellent composition and point of view, i love the way the shore curves around the photo, excellent sharpness and depth of field,lovely colors and fantastic light, superb reflections and nice peaceful and calm atmosphere. good presentation.
Angela

robertosalguero (110) 2008-02-20 0:43

Hello Matt,

I see the silhouette of a bird along the water line. The beak is sticking out near the top. Nice image at this time of the evening. The low light create a more soothing view byt the clouds and reflections still give the image some dynamics. The town look small in the background and almost lost in darkness. Nice work Matt.

Roberto

JPlumb (3153) 2008-02-20 2:25

Cool shot, nice lines following a curve which leads us right to the fisherman, but it doesn't stop there, the curve starts over and takes us into town. I like the twilight look to this shot. Dark enough that things are softened, but light enough to still see them. The reflections in the water are good, giving us two views of the blue sky, with those clouds. Very peaceful looking, well done.

Thanks, John

macondo (13271) 2008-02-20 2:51

Hello Matt.
Very nice luminosity in the water, beautifully reflecting the few clouds in this good exposure with a compact camera. The composition is very pleasing with the lone fisherman becoming a great focal point on that little point, tiny as he is. The curving beach is delightful and you have just the right amount of detail in the skyline buildings.
Regards,
Andrew

codiac (3732) 2008-02-20 3:32

Nice low light shot Matt, my eye is nicely drawn along the curve of the beach to the figure at the point.

TFS

Gary

jhm (83328) 2008-02-20 5:10

Hello Matt,

Also is the picture a few years old I would little bit more give clarity.
Composition and the curve of the water make this picture very well as image.
Thank you very much to your excellent note.
Thanks for sharing.

Best regards,
John.

AROBN54 (10789) 2008-02-20 9:06

Hi, Matt,
oh the lines in this are just beautiful. Wonderful soft muted colors, that great curve in the beach. I love that soft reflection of the sky in the water. I can't believe how calm it is. It's really nice how the light is still catching in spots in the background, too. Marvelous shot! Many thanks and warm regards,
Shelly

jusninasirun (10213) 2008-02-20 21:37

Hello Matthew,

Meticulously composed to bring this curvy shoreline on the right continuously blended with the cityscape of the horizon. Pleasant looking sky and a very pleasant looking composition. Thanks for sharing this one and very well done.

Regards,
Jusni

calimex (1029) 2008-02-20 23:45

Hi Matt,

I love the curve of the shoreline and the beckoning sky in this post-sunset shot. Your note provides great visual detail and brings this area alive as much as the photo. I would love to see the sunset shot that you took earlier, as well!

Poetic shot. Wonderful note.

Best,
José

trekks (14334) 2008-02-21 1:14

hi Matt

Your style to compose a curved section of the river mouth gives a sense of space and interesting feature. The city skyline is a little dark at right side to give almost silhouette. Great shot.

What is population of this town?

TFS, bill

Wanda1 (11015) 2008-02-21 1:57

Hi Matthew,
The element which I like most in this shot is the lonely person so small in the landcsape. The water so calm is a perfect mirror for the sky and the light reflected and in the scene is nice and soft adding to the peaceful atmosphere. A lovely shot.
Regards
Wanda

jaywalker (12302) 2008-02-21 3:29

Hi Matthew, The pure curves of the land stand-out in this photo, the dusky light creates a peaceful mood &, the reflections of the clouds are superb, also having a person stood near the shore gives the eye a great focal point, TFS, kind regards Wilson.

azaf1 (15547) 2008-02-22 1:46

Hi Matthew
A great evening capture of Maroochydore river mouth. The blue hour colors are really great and the picture is very sharp and crispy
TFS
Argiris

crckt (7094) 2008-02-24 18:34

Hi Matt,
AWESOME! Mindblowing composition here, the circular shoreline catches my attention immediately, you included everything that was needed for this shot.
Well done.
Shaeri

Alain (288) 2008-03-17 17:15

I think I know where it is. As you go along the river beach on Mudjimba side, you get to a deeper section of the river just before arriving to Pinchushion Island. right? I spent two weeks in January 2006 in Mudjimba, at the resort.

Nice shot with the calm water and the double curve of the beach - which is rare in ocean country.

Lucky you - to live there.