Pamela Pauline: Northern beaches photographer’s spectacular shot makes BOM’s weather calendar

A staggeringly beautiful and dramatic moment in time on the northern beaches, captured by a local photographer, has been chosen for a national weather calendar.

Mona Vale photographic artist Pamela Pauline's extraordinary image of a water spout, which formed off Mona Vale Headland, dwarfing a yacht. The picture was chosen for the 2021 Bureau of Meteorology Weather Calendar. Picture: Pamela Pauline

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“It was there one minute, gone the next.”

Pamela Pauline, an award-winning Mona Vale-based photographic artist, is talking about her startling image of a giant, whirling waterspout looking like its about to engulf a tiny yacht off the northern beaches.

Ms Pauline’s spectacular photograph showing the spinning column of seawater surrounded by sheets of rain near Mona Vale Headland has been chosen for the Bureau of Meteorology’s 2021 Australian Weather Calendar.

The Australian Weather Calendar 2021: Lightning over Gulf St Vincent and Happy Valley Reservoir, Adelaide. Picture: Jody Shadgett.

Her picture taken in early 2016, was one of hundreds submitted by professional and amateur photographers across Australia. Only 13 are chosen for publication.

The waterspout image is the September page for next year’s wall and desk calendars, which are already on sale.

The BOM said it produces the annual calendar “to educate Australians on the science of weather and bring awareness to the importance of understanding weather and the risks it can bring”.

The Australian Weather Calendar 2021: Mammatus cloud at Oberne Creek, NSW, Picture: Robert Ellis

Ms Pauline, who said she has evolved from being a professional landscape photographer to a photographic artist, told the Manly Daily on Wednesday that she was working at her computer when she noticed the sailboat battling southward through the choppy seas.

The sky quickly became extremely dark “and this waterspout just came out of nowhere”, she said.

The Australian Weather Calendar 2021: Hail blankets the lawns of Parliament House, Canberra. Picture: David Foote

She managed to grab her Canon camera, with a 80-200mm telephoto lens attached, and fire off a few frames as the yacht quickly took its sails down as the column of water loomed closer.

Then the waterspout simply dissipated.

The Australian Weather Calendar 2021: Kelvin – Helmholtz clouds over Melbourne. Picture: Steven Sandner

“I love it here,” she said. “We do get the most dramatic weather on the northern beaches.”

And what does Ms Pauline get in return for submitting her dramatic photograph to the BOM?

Six free calendars as well as the kudos for capturing a historic image.

Check out Ms Pauline’s work here: https://www.pamelapauline.com/