Mosman Balmoral Cupola Photography

Portrait Photography in Mosman


Guide by Local Photographer for top spots

With this blog post, Made of Light Photography is going to reveal some locations that will hopefully help when choosing where to shoot your next portrait photography in or around Mosman.

We personally share these, because they've come in very handy when it came to photographing a Model for her Portrait Portfolio as well as brides during a wedding and we've tested these all out for efficiency too and hope you can draw some interesting facts out of this. Some of these places will seem very obvious at first, but I like to share my hints and perhaps how to see it from a different viewpoint.

Balmoral Beach

We start off with the obvious one, which is really a great all rounder, whether you're out with a bride and groom being their wedding photographer or doing a family shooting or newborn portrait photography. Balmoral Beach in Mosman offers a variety of options for different styles and lighting situations.

One that is used a lot is the pier on the south side of Balmoral. It is nice because it joins at two ends to the beach, so you can to a whole walk around along the beautiful white pier. There is also a Boat House attached to it, which is beautifully decorated, just as the boat house in Palmbeach, which you can see at this wedding we've done. It is very similar to that in a superb location.

Then there is the far northern end of Balmoral that is made up of rocks and create a whole different atmosphere as you can see below from this wedding.

One of the main attractions are the 'island', which really is a tiny peninsula, that looks like an island on itself, because it is made of rocks and green land and you can get on it only by the small, yet elegant bridge in front of it. Both the bridge and the island are a fantastic location for wedding photography. The only difficulty is that they're both relatively small, so you will have to calculate the distance, focal length and where you want to position your subject as well as yourself to get the best shot.

The beach itself on the far north is nice as well, as it has the whitest sand of Balmoral and looks long and stretched out, which makes it feel like your couple is walking together on an 'endless road'. Alongside you have the building, which enhances this feeling as it is built in a long, rectangular shape.

Many photographer use the big trees to place a family beneath, sitting or sometimes even lying down. You can hide everything nicely behind the trees and leave everything out of focus to get a nice outdoor family photograph.

Another spot I like a lot is the sandstone rocks just beneath the island, while you're standing on the sand. It is really a lovely texture to have as a background, while doing editorial and portrait photography as well as wedding photography.

Just one more special location at Balmoral to get some fairy tale wedding photography is the, what I call, 'cupolina'. It is the round elevation, all in white stone that has stairs on both ends and is surronded by filigree white pillars that make it look like a dream couple dancing in the happy-ending movie.

The old fort

This is one of my favorite 'secret' locations when it comes to portrait photography. I said 'secret' because not many people know of this place and of how awesome it is, though it's free and accessible for all. I just love it, because it is at Bradley's Head Point, where it forms a peninsula pointing directly into the open ocean. Being high up you get the four winds all the time, so be prepared for a windy shooting. Of course, this can come in handy and could be an advantage for many. Generally there are few or no people walking around, so it feels as though you've got the whole place for yourself and the model or bride.

As for the location itself, it offers great spots for different styles as you can see in one of my recent portrait photography shootings with Kitt. There is the old fort, which now looks like ancient ruins (that's as ancient as it can get for Australia) because of the disuse. It is laid in beautiful natural sandstone with a lot of walking paths that are nicely hidden and make the shooting feel more 'intimate'. This makes the model or bride feel more at ease. This is always something to keep in mind as a key to good photos, as you want to get natural shots. This we will achieve only if they don't feel too observed or judged from others around as well as build a relationship with the photographer.

Besides that side point, there are bush walking paths that lead to other, old strategic points, which are nice to use for a more wild-nature shoot. There's sand on the floor, which really makes it feel like a little patch of bush in the middle of a hot, dry land.

Keep in mind, you've got water all around you, which you can beautifully use as a background. There are points where they used to get quickly to their ships and boats. The stairs are magnificent for a more rough and grungy style.

There are a lot of options, which would take a lot of time, but my suggestions is, visit those places and try to feel them yourself. If they inspire you, that's great. If not, you can continue your location scouting, until you feel you have something suitable for your subject and your emotions.

Cremorne Point

This is about a place that had many shooting locations in it. It's connected to Mosman in that it's a walking path that goes all the way from Mosman to Cremorne Point. It has some awesome spots both for bush walking as well as explore places for a photo shooting.

There is a spot where my friend Steph took me to, which I was just awestruck when it hit my eyes. It looks a lot like a jungle in the middle of a normal suburban area. There is a long footpath that goes along the water and at one point leads down into some stairs where there is a dense vegetation with  lots of trees and a beautiful wooden bridge that crosses a small creek.

I feel that it's a great quiet place where you could take a family to or even do a photography session with a newborn. It is on top of the water with some beautiful palm trees along the coast and boats in the water which all creates a stunning scenery. Towards the other end it leads to a wharf, which is nice for a different look again, as you can see in the portraits with Steph.

In conclusion, I hope that by sharing these excellent photography locations, I could share some interesting points around this area, whether you have a fashion shoot, portrait photography or a wedding coming up.