Easter Long Weekend 2025
18/04/25
The Easter long weekend was upon us, so it was time to drive five hours north to spend some time with family in the Northern Rivers. Lennox Head was our home base, we arrived Thursday night, which allowed me to get up at 5:30 the next morning to capture the sunrise over the beach. It’s not a particularly long or difficult walk to the top of Pat Morton Lookout, but it’s one I’ll never get tired of, especially at daybreak, as it’s different every single time. Despite only bringing my old Canon 200D and a fixed 24mm lens, I managed to capture some of my favourite shots of the year so far, including one potential portfolio image. I’m also really happy with how the colours turned out in post, capturing that 1970s surf film energy I was aiming for.
Friday afternoon was all about spending time with family. We enjoyed a couple of roast chickens outside in the sun, not something many people would be doing back home in Armidale. I miss the coast sometimes. As is often the case when I’m with family, I was shooting in black and white. Maybe it’s because the lighting conditions are rarely ideal, but black and white always feels the most natural and comfortable choice.
19/04/25
On Saturday, I undertook the 13km hike from Lennox Head to Ballina along the coastal trail. I had an absolutely fantastic time taking photos, flying the drone, and capturing video. You can check out the film I created from it all, Coastal Path, here. I’m really eager to do the walk again in different conditions—perhaps with a 50mm lens for a fresh perspective on everything.
20/04/25
A little too pooped from all the walking on Saturday, there was no 5:30am walk on Sunday. Instead, at a more reasonable hour, we travelled out to visit my parents, a home I hadn’t been to in over 12 months (much to my shame). Keeping things simple, I shot in black and white again, because when you're surrounded by BBQ prawns and sausages, who has time to be messing around with camera settings, right? The photo I captured of my mother is another one of my favorite photos of the year, it isn’t flattering, but it isn’t often I capture an image with that much emotion, even if that feeling is of exhaustion…
21/04/25
Sunday morning—enjoying my final moments with access to the beach, and to a real sunrise. I’ve been walking around Armidale trying to find a good vantage point for the sunrise, but so far, no luck, it’s pretty damn hard to beat the ocean in that respect. I didn’t capture anything as striking as the shots I got on Friday that kicked off this little holiday, but I still managed a few good ones. You never really know how many people will be on the beach in the morning; I guess it usually depends on the surf.
As we took our leave, it’s become a tradition for me to take a photo of my grandmother as we head out the gate, and I think I got a pretty great one this time. The two shots of her waving us off from the front yard are pretty fun, too.
We decided to take the Gwydir Highway home from Grafton instead of Armidale Road, as we had on the trip down, even though it added around 40 extra minutes to the journey. Armidale Road is in a really sorry state at the moment, and it’s just not worth the risk to the vehicle. That said, the detour gave us the opportunity to check out Raspberry Lookout. The last time we were there it was a total whiteout and we couldn’t see a thing, so this was definitely a nice step up.
