Well, its been back into full swing at work and after 2 weeks the Christmas-New year break is all but a distant memory now. Once upon a time it used to slow down in December with January being equally lethargic but that too seems to be a thing of the past. With a new intake of students about to start in a few weeks I doesn’t look like I will have much spare time to finishing editing the photo’s from our holiday. I’d been really hoping to get some images up from our trip into Canada but I don’t quite have a set ready yet. Won’t be long though…
To fill the void, today’s post are shots taken last October/November (dang time flies) from the annual Sculptures by the Sea festival. If you read last years post, you’ll remember that the coastal walk between Sydney’s Tamarama beach and the iconic Bondi beach becomes the stage for some really talented sculptural artists to showcase their work. It’s become increasingly popular (read crowded) over the years and 2012 was no exception. Fortunately, it had been a beautiful sunrise and the aggravation of wasting 30 minutes looking for a parking spot soon disappeared after seeing pods of dolphins frolicking in the waves. We even saw a family of whales cresting and breaching further out too – the young calf and mum taking turns to jump clear out of the ocean and splash spectacularly into the salty brine! Unfortunately, I didn’t really get any photo’s that were worth sharing here (they were just a little too far out); but, it was such a glorious sight. At least I have my memories 
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Canon 7D | EF 24-105L & EF 70-200L f4 | Handheld | Post: Lightroom
Above and below: This was my personal favourite. It just looked spectacular in the morning light. Marine ply on the outside, reflective gold on the inside. I wanted to go back down late in the afternoon with my tripod and 9 stop filter and shoot this again – I thought I could eliminate the sightseers with a really long exposure. Never quite made it – but I know exactly how it would of looked in my minds eye 
Above: Cool installation and viewing platform but what made this more compelling for me was the fact that the whales were breaching in the waters behind this sculpture.
Above: Not a sculpture – just some pretty coastal flowers growing beside the path.
Above: These aren’t sculptures either . The seagulls seemed to be enjoying looking at their reflections in the rock pool.
Love the images of the dome!
Yeah, the dome was great. My favourite sculpture.
Wow! An attention grabbing post through every image.Wonderful!
Its a wonderful event but I wish it ran longer. This year it was better than last – 2 weeks (as opposed to 10 days in 2011). I kind of feel a bit sorry for the artists who put so much work in and those that fix the installations along the coast walk. Considering its also such a beautiful time of year (Spring), I’d like to see it run for a month personally. Still, its always enjoyable.
These are sublime images, Distan. I love your photography!
Oh wow, such a generous comment, Karen. Thank you so much. Particularly since I’m so in awe of your work too.
Looks like a great show Distan, Would love to see it myself, maybe one year I will actually get there.
Distan, these are extraordinary, textural images. After having spent the winter in an Alpine paradise (which largely felt black and white) the vibrant color in these shots is really dramatic. How magical to have seen dolphins frolicking in the waves, too! I have yet to see a dolphin in the wild. (They sadly didn’t come out to greet us during our time in the Canary Islands.)