It’s a really lovely area to take photos from, being down on the water beside the Estuary Restaurant at Kangaroo Point at Brooklyn. It’s not the quietest spot in the world, but that’s ok. I find it’s at its best for photos in winter during the couple of weeks either side of the shortest day when the sun sets to the northern most point of its arc. On this evening there was a huge bank of high cloud to the west, and very little direct light came through to start with. As there wasn’t a lot of colour, I grabbed the Big Stopper, and used it to smooth out the water. I always find a little over exposure helps with Lee Filters. I then took a two stops under exposure for the sky.

Back at home, I combined the two with a simple luminosity mask, and was very surprised and delighted to see the absolute sheen on the water. Also the way that the architecture of the steel bridge is a lovely contrast to the rock and water. A hint of colour gives strength to the image with the rest of the elements.