Rhodes Skyline Sunrise

Just before six o’clock in the morning I hurried across the bridge toward Wentworth Point, hoping to catch the very first glow of light before the sun appeared above the horizon. The quiet of the early morning was striking—no traffic noise, only the gentle movement of the water across Homebush Bay. This short window before sunrise is often the most magical time of day for photography, when the sky begins to glow with soft pink and golden tones.

As I reached the vantage point and looked across the bay toward Rhodes, the skyline was beginning to take shape against the brightening sky. A light breeze moved across the water, but it was still calm enough to capture beautiful reflections of the apartment towers and nearby bridge shimmering across the surface. The colours in the sky gradually deepened, creating a warm glow that reflected back into the bay and added a sense of calm balance to the urban landscape.

To capture the full dynamic range of the scene I photographed a sequence of long exposures and later blended them together in Photoshop. This technique allowed the highlights of the skyline lights and the subtle tones of the early morning sky to sit naturally alongside the darker areas of the water and foreground. The final image preserves the gentle pre‑sunrise atmosphere of Sydney Harbour’s western reaches, looking from Wentworth Point toward the growing skyline of Rhodes.

Technical Details

Camera: Canon 6D

Lens: Canon 24–70mm f/2.8 L Series II

Tripod: Sirui tripod

Location: Wentworth Point looking toward Rhodes, Homebush Bay, Sydney NSW

Exposure 1: 15 sec @ f/10, ISO 100, 24mm

Exposure 2: 25 sec @ f/10, ISO 100, 24mm

Exposure 3: 30 sec @ f/10, ISO 100, 24mm

Technique: Three exposure values blended in Adobe Photoshop to capture highlight detail in the sky and city lights while preserving shadow detail in the water and foreground.