Welcome to another beautiful insight into the Mornington Peninsula on this guest blog with local photographer Greg Inguanti. Have a read about Greg’s inspiration for photography, and what loves about shooting photos on the peninsula. You can find his social media located here @greginguanti.
My name is Gregorio Inguanti (Greg Inguanti), I’m 27 years of age, and I’m a photographer spending a great deal of my time capturing the landscapes, and more specifically the seascapes of the Mornington Peninsula. I grew up in Melbourne, although I spent most of my early childhood on the peninsula, resulting in many fond memories of beautiful days spent at the foreshore, mostly around Capel Sound, McCrae and Rye, as well as Sorrento Back Beach. I believe this heavily influenced my fascination and interest in the natural world and is what eventually led me to pick up a camera around the age of 19 and experiment with the art of landscape photography.
My current photography portfolio consists entirely of images captured on the peninsula, and at this point, I only intend to continue growing the collection that way. I’d have to say that the main area I revisit, explore and photograph is the section of rugged, ocean-facing coastline, sometimes referred to as “the back beaches” found from Cape Schanck to Point Nepean, Portsea. Second to that, would be the foreshore, sometimes referred to as “the front beaches” of Port Phillip Bay, from Portsea to Mt Martha. In saying that, the peninsula’s entire coastline, and sections of natural bushland/forest, are all places I focus on.
There’s just something about this coastline that I find so inspiring. Cape Schanck tends to stand out with its own vibe, with huge basalt cliffs formed volcanically over millions of years, extending its characteristics all the way up to Flinders. Then, beginning around Fingal/Gunnamatta, the landscape transitions into coastal sand dunes, and incredible calcarenite rock formations begin to really shape the area. On a low tide, natural rock platforms covered in an iconic native seaweed known as “Neptune’s Necklace”, extend out into the ocean. When the tide is at just the right height, water rushes off the edge of these platforms creating a beautiful waterfall-like effect. As far as seascape photography goes, in my opinion, this area is ideal, and absolutely incredible.
I tend to search for compositions within these areas, and then usually, revisit the area until I experience truly special light there. This is most likely to occur around sunrise or sunset, but even then, it isn’t necessarily a usual occurrence. But there are many interesting images to be created in midday light and at night, it just depends on what you’re going for at the time. When I’m photographing, I’d say composition is the primary thing I keep in mind. Mainly, the combination asymmetrical balance, the golden ratio, and “lead-in lines” really is fundamental in this style of photography in my opinion. Once that is worked out, then it’s a matter of luck, anticipation, and patience, for the right light and cloud to align for the scene.
I’m also experimenting with some other art styles, mainly line-art at this point. But it’s all inspired by the same thing… the Mornington Peninsula’s natural elements. While I’m out there I often see native wildlife such as Jacky Dragons, Nankeen Kestrels, Eastern Yellow Robins, Banjo Sharks and much more. It’s all part of it and I’m always grateful for these experiences.
If you are interested in my work and/or would like to see more, please feel free to follow me on Instagram, @greginguanti.
Thank you for your articles. I find them very helpful.
Thanks for your help and for writing this post. It’s been great.