As part of our weekly series on 'great photo locations' photographer Peter Solness describes a photographer's paradise in Sydney's South, the Royal National Park.
I used to drive through the Royal National Park as a teenager to surf the popular wave spots around Garie Beach. That was back in the 1970s and I remember the stunning array of Angophora trees being illuminated by the sunrise as we scooted along the escarpment looking for waves. The Royal National Park is a landscape photographer’s paradise and it’s only 50 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD. It has dense rainforest, rivers, beaches, lagoons, waterfalls, Aboriginal rock engravings and my most favourite subject of all: lots and lots of Angophora trees!
‘The Royal’ was established in 1879 and is the world’s second oldest National Park (after America’s Yellowstone National Park) with an area of 16,000 hectares. Due to the diverse topography you can photograph all day in the area. You can start in the early morning overlooking the stunning Pacific Ocean at one of the beaches like Wattamolla or Garie. Later in the day when the north-easterly breeze picks up you can retreat to the cooler rainforest areas around Lady Carrington Drive or walk into Winifred Falls. With the reduced light of the rainforest canopy you can take your time photographing the subtle details of leaves and delicate flowers in this biologically rich area. In spring time there are magnificent stands of the lofty Gymea Lily growing wild amongst sandstone outcrops. Or you can walk along some of the parks sandy ridge lines and catch the afternoon sun sheeting across heathlands of Banksia, Tea tree and Hakea.
If you love shooting after dark like I do, you can time your visit to coincide with the full moon and camp at North Era beach. From this area you can capture lovely images of moonlight shimmering off the sea. What fascinates me about this stretch of coastline is that it has a 45-degree northeast tilt to it. It doesn’t run north/south like the rest of the east coast of Australia, but rather runs north-east/south-west. This tilt means that the unusual light and topography of the coastline creates an 'other-worldly' feeling to it. You can stand on the rocks at Burning Palms beach at the south end of the park and all you see when you look north up the coast is headland after headland of unspoilt wilderness. The city of Sydney, with all its urban built-up metropolis, is concealed due to the unusual alignment of the coastline. You could be anywhere in the world.
