Gloom Before the Glow, Sunrise at North Narrabeen Ocean Pool
A Moody Autumn Morning on the Northern Beaches
Looking east along the boardwalk, the first light of sunrise struggles through thick, rain-heavy clouds over North Narrabeen Ocean Pool. A faint glimmer of colour brushes the horizon, contrasting with the moody, brooding sky as weather rolls in across the sea.
There’s always a sense of anticipation when heading out before dawn, especially when the forecast is uncertain. Leaving home just before 5:00am, the goal was simple, arrive at North Narrabeen Ocean Pool before sunrise and catch whatever light might break through the horizon.
As I made my way toward Sydney’s Northern Beaches, the wet roads were an early signal that conditions were shifting. Low, heavy cloud blanketed the coastline, and rain loomed offshore. It wasn’t shaping up to be a classic golden sunrise, but sometimes those are the mornings that deliver something far more atmospheric.
Meeting up with the Focus Photographers crew onsite, we scoped out compositions while a few other photographers and early-morning rock fishers were already in position along the headland. There’s a quiet energy in moments like this, everyone watching the sky, waiting to see what it will give.
Choosing the Composition
North Narrabeen Pool offers a number of strong compositional options. One of the most iconic is the handrail leading into the water, disappearing into the ocean. While that’s always compelling, I chose instead to frame the scene looking directly along the boardwalk.
This perspective draws the eye straight out toward the horizon, creating a strong leading line that anchors the image. It also allowed me to capture the full breadth of the incoming weather, dark clouds rolling in from the left, with a narrow band of sunrise colour breaking through in the distance.
Light vs Weather, A Fleeting Moment
The light that morning was incredibly brief. A small burst of orange and yellow glow appeared along the horizon, but it faded almost as quickly as it arrived.
The rest of the sky remained dominated by deep greys and heavy cloud. Rain bands were clearly visible moving in from the left, and within minutes, the scene shifted toward a fully overcast sky.
This kind of dynamic range, bright highlights against dark, moody cloud, immediately signalled that a single exposure wouldn’t be enough.
Managing Extreme Dynamic Range
To capture the full tonal range of the scene, I worked with a series of bracketed exposures:
8 seconds, base exposure
4 seconds
1.6 seconds
0.8 seconds
1/6 second
The longer exposures allowed me to bring out detail in the darker foreground and midtones, while the shorter exposures preserved the highlight detail in the brightest part of the sunrise.
Blowing out highlights in a scene like this would mean losing all texture in the clouds, something I wanted to avoid completely, as the drama of the image lives in that contrast between light and storm.
In total, I captured around 20 frames, though the window was short. The incoming rain quickly forced us to pack up, bringing the session to an early close.
Exposure Blending in Photoshop
Back in post-production, I brought the selected exposures into Photoshop and used TK9, TK Actions Multi Mask, for blending.
Using luminosity masks, particularly Lights 2 and Lights 3, I selectively introduced highlight detail from the darker exposures into the base image. This allowed me to retain the subtle colour and structure in the brightest part of the sky without compromising the mood of the scene.
I also worked carefully through the shadow areas to ensure I didn’t lose too much detail into pure black, maintaining balance across the frame.
Correcting Colour Cast with the Threshold Technique
One of the challenges at Narrabeen Pool is the presence of artificial lighting. These lights can introduce a noticeable colour cast, particularly on white elements like the boardwalk rails and posts.
Rather than relying on Lightroom’s automatic white balance, which often pushed the image too blue or too magenta, I corrected this manually in Photoshop using the threshold technique:
Created a 50% grey layer set to “Difference”
Added a Threshold adjustment layer
Gradually adjusted the slider to identify the first areas of neutral grey
Placed a colour sampler marker on that point
Adjusted mid-greys using a curves adjustment layer
Interestingly, the true neutral grey wasn’t where I initially expected. Instead of being in the foreground, it appeared within the cloud layer in the background.
Using that reference point allowed me to more accurately balance the colour across the image. While a slight blue/green tone remains in the whites, I chose to retain some of it, it enhances the overall mood and reinforces the cool, stormy atmosphere of the morning.
Final Thoughts
This was a short session, but a rewarding one. While the sunrise didn’t deliver strong colour, it offered something more subtle, a quiet tension between light and weather. “Gloom Before the Glow” captures that fleeting moment where the day tries to break through, but the storm still holds its ground. It’s also a reminder that not every sunrise needs to be vibrant to be powerful. Mood, contrast, and atmosphere can often tell a stronger story.
Technical Details
Location: North Narrabeen Ocean Pool
Date: Anzac Day
Time Captured: 6:06am, arrived ~5:30am
Camera: Canon R6 Mark III
Lens: Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II
Settings:
ISO 200
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 24mm
Exposure Bracketing:
8 sec
4 sec
1.6 sec
0.8 sec
1/6 sec
Post-Processing Workflow:
Lightroom, basic adjustments, noise reduction, sharpening
Photoshop, exposure blending using TK9, TK Actions Multi Mask
Luminosity masks, Lights 2 and Lights 3, for highlight recovery
Threshold technique used to identify neutral grey and correct colour cast
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