Its iconic, breathtaking, diverse, and a photographers playground. The Great Ocean Road is full of opportunities to take all types of imagery from candid holiday Snaps, dreamy long exposures, mystical Milky Way astro and anything in between.
Here is an account of a recent trip I made down this stretch of coast to take some photos, eat some great food and enjoy all that this part of Victoria has to offer.
The reason for writing this??... I have scoured the net reading other peoples logs, accounts, and recollections of photographic journeys and I have found it super helpful and inspiring to have some sort of information to help me plan my own little adventure, so my hope is this lil piece gives you some inspiration and insight as to how to achieve your own little Great Ocean road adventure. so please share it around if you feel someone could benefit from this.
Starting in the afternoon I left Torquay, Vic to head straight to the 12 Apostles lookout for some sunset long exposure opportunities. It takes approx 1.5 -2 hours inland to get to the lookout, and once there we parked up, headed to the main "viewing deck" of the Apostles and parked up with the millions of other like minded travellers to witness the last of summers sunsets in full swing.
My advice is to get there at least an hour before sunset to get your best vantage point to set up your composition. I did not do this. I arrived right on sunset, muscled in, set up my tripod, camera, knocked up a composition (easy here) and played with long exposures and simpler single shots and was lucky enough to witness yet another gorgeous light show courtesy of Mother Nature.
This is a long exposure I set up Using my Manfrotto Tripod, Canon 5d mkiv paired with a 17-40mm f4L series lens and a Hoya 10 stop ND filter
30secs
F9
ISO200
Next Stop after we finished with the sunset photography was the Port Campbell holiday park where we had booked a site for $30 and parked up the van to set up camp. This campground is epic, Backs right onto the river and smack bang in the centre of town. It also has lush kitchen facilities/ amenities and is super clean. We then rolled into town for a kid you not, some of the BEST wood fired pizza I ova e had in a LONG time. No photos here. scoff time. If your in town, hit up Grassroots Deli cafe, handmade dough, cold drinks, hot wood fired oven. need I say more.
Full and happy with the night sky looking clear it was back in the van and back to the 12 apostles lookout, this time heading towards the furthermost lookout to the left facing Gibson Steps for some Astro Photography. Facing the camera in the direction of the Milky Way just slightly left of the Monoliths, I played with shutter speeds until I reached the correct exposure, starting at ISO 3200 and F2.8 for 20secs, then increasing my Shutter speed until I was happy, reframing as I went to better compose my shot once I had seen where the Milky Way Core was situated within my frame, I came away with a shot I am reasonably happy with, granted there is some cloud in there that I had to wait out but thats all apart of the learning ( and patience) experience for me.
This is a long exposure I set up Using my Manfrotto Tripod, Canon 5d mkiv paired with a 24-70 f2.8L USM II Lens
30secs
F2.8
ISO2500
After this long and cold night session, I recommend a blanket, some tea and some tunes to make the time more enjoyable for your partner (sorry ness) it was time for bed to be fresh for an early start at dawn.
an hour before dawn, 6am, we woke up to a mass of low lying fog making everything invisible. Theres 2 trains of thought here..go back to bed its a write off, or give it a crack and see what happens. We chose the latter and were rewarded with cascading waterfalls of mist rolling into the sea off the land. We headed back to the same spot, Gibson Steps lookout and met up with amazing local photog Craig Richards, go check him out, he's huge, an amazing shooter, and suuuoper nice guy!(fellow chef too).
This time with the camera firmly pointed towards the amazing Gibson Steps I fired off a bajillion shots as the light changed and illuminated the fog in all its glory. I hope you get this lucky too!
Here is on of my fav long exposures that really dramatises the way the mist falls into the ocean I think.
This is a long exposure I set up Using my Manfrotto Tripod, Canon 5d mkiv paired with a 24-105 f4L USM and a Hoya 10 stop ND filter
60secs
F9
ISO100
Wrapping things up after a delicious bowl of oats for breakfast it was off to The Great Otway National park for some Waterfall adventures. Driving for another 1.5hrs we headed straight to Hopetoun falls to get some more dreamy long exposures as the morning light was cascading through the dense rainforest. Head along the Great Ocean Road and into Beech Forrest and you will fins Hopetoun Falls nestled within the Californian redwoods forrest.
A great spot for long exposure photography from almost any angle, this waterfall is so picturesque with a tree trunk that has literally fallen and landed in the waterfall.
A short 10 min walk down some wooden steps from the carpark and you are in another planet of lush jungle foliage, be careful, be considerate, be respectful of the forest and enjoy this gorgeous part of the world.
This is a long exposure I set up Using my Manfrotto Tripod, Canon 5d mkiv paired with a 24-70 f2.8L USM II Lens
0.4secs
F9
ISO100
Thats not all the spots you can visit, such as Loch Ard Gorge, Beauchamp falls, The Grotto, The Shipwreck etc but just some food for thought to hopefully help you plan your own little mission!!