Sunset in Sydney
A lovely sunset from Sydney, Australia...
Something I captured during sunset Down Under!
I enjoyed my one visit to Sydney, Australia even though it is pretty damn tough to get to from the US. Ok, well it's not really tough to get to, just long. It takes forever. So when I was there I was determine, sleepy or not, to photograph the hell out of the place. It's not like I can return very easily.
So I set out each day with a list of spots I wanted to shoot, and I shot them all. It was pretty rewarding. One evening I was shooting along the waterfront by the Sydney Harbor Bridge - which is magnificent, by the way - and as I was changing spots I just liked the look of the boardwalk here with a portion of the bridge in the background.
Sunset at The Sydney Opera House
A subtle but lovely sunset at The Sydney Opera House...
When in Sydney, this is the place to shoot.
I pretty much spent a day walking around here and shooting the Opera House! It's an iconic structure and I was pretty absorbed in it when I was there. I couldn't help photographing it from all sorts of angles, at different times of day, up close and far away - you name it. It just sort of beckons to be photographed!
Grabbing pizza in Sydney
An amazing-looking restaurant I found while wandering in Sydney. Well worth a quick stop for some HDR brackets!
Ok, I didn't actually eat here, but what a place!
I was wandering in Sydney one afternoon and passed by this amazing looking pizza restaurant. I had just finished my lunch - sadly, because I LOVE pizza - but when I saw this I had to stop. I was considering ordering something just so I could hang out in here a bit and take photos. I find places are more agreeable to photo-taking when you are spending money with them. Surprise.
But luckily they were kind enough to let me set up the tripod and shoot right here in the entryway - it was great! Plus, I was full so it would have been a bit gluttonous to eat again, just for a photo. Worth it, but gluttonous. ;-)
Blue hour in Sydney
I'm a fan of bridges, and when in Sydney - this is the one to shoot. Ideally you get a stellar sunset or a gorgeous blue hour, but either way, get over here and fire away! :-)
There's just something about blue hour - it's quite possibly my favorite time of day to shoot.
Sure, sunset is awesome as everyone knows, but boy do I have a serious thing for blue hour. It just gets me, somehow. While the colors aren't as dramatic as a gorgeous sunset, there's something about twinkling lights in a city and the fading light of nature that mix in with the incoming darkness - and BAM! You get a great photo out of the deal.
I caught this one during my trip to Sydney, which at this point was nearly 2 years ago! Damn, time flies. I still remember standing here shooting, like it was yesterday. I was still a bit bleary-eyed from the travel, but was working hard to stay awake so I could fire away at the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge, which you see here. I do love bridges.
If you haven't been to Sydney, then I'll let you know that basically right behind me (while I was standing here shooting) is the more-famous Sydney Opera House. You can see that photo here, if you are interested. It is actually one of my favorites of this whole trip, along with the bridge photo above. I guess it was a good night to be out shooting! :-)
I have to admit though, while I did like Sydney, I didn't find it to be amazing or anything. It's a great city, and there are some iconic things like this to shoot, but otherwise I found it pretty tame. Maybe I was in the wrong place, or something, but I'm in no hurry to return. It's a DAMN LONG WAY from Texas, and if I ever fly that far again, I plan to disembark in New Zealand. :-)
However, I still made the most of it and found some nice things to aim the camera at, which you can find in this list here on the blog: http://nomadicpursuits.com/top-photo-spots-in-sydney/
A different look at the Sydney Opera House
Today's photo is a non-traditional photo of the Sydney Opera House during a beautiful blue hour. I set up for the shot just as a boat passed by...
I'm still working on my Sydney photos, even though it's been a while!
As is typical with my workflow, when I return from a trip I process and share quite a few photos because they are new and fresh and honestly I am dying to get them out there. But I never process them all. There are always plenty more left in the library that just sit there and collect virtual dust.
After a while, I have a tendency to move on to other images (that is, I get distracted and a little burned out on that trip's images, even if I love them) and essentially forget about them while I work on something else.
That's exactly what happened with my photos from Down Under. I went there back in October 2014 and still have loads of photos to process and share. The photos that have been shared are in this album on Flickr, and it includes some iPhone shots, too. I often post those while I am in a place and save the processing of my "real" images for when I return.
So recently I dove back into that Lightroom folder to see what was waiting for me. Quite a lot, it turns out. I've had an absolute ball going back through these shots. I get to relive the trip, but more importantly I find many gems that I have initially overlooked.
Today's photo is one of those gems.
An added benefit of processing your photos later is that you have likely further refined your processing skills, or learned new ones, and you can apply those to your images that you waited on.
I consider this a non-traditional view of the Sydney Opera House. I had been shooting it and the Sydney Harbor Bridge through sunset, and during this blue hour I started walking back, knowing I had an early start the next day. I happened to turn around to see it again, and just loved this scene with the boardwalk, benches and lamp posts. So I set up and fired a set of brackets, just as a boat whizzed past.
Once I took a closer look at the photo, I decided that I would just process this single exposure, instead of creating an HDR. I liked it quite a bit and didn't feel the need to use all 3 photos from the bracket set. So this was brought into Aurora HDR for some adjustments and then some minor touch-up in Lightroom.
I'm quite proud of the result, and hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Thanks for stopping by!
Walking Circular Quay
Today's post is a collection of photos I took on the day I arrived in Sydney, Australia - after a 16 hour flight and no sleep. A little dreary but determined, I wandered down to Circular Quay and found lots of great stuff to photograph. Sometimes you just have to forget that you are tired and focus on getting out there and getting things done!
Some shots from Down Under today!
Sydney, Australia is a rather beautiful city. I'm always drawn to spots along the water, and with Circular Quay being right there on the Harbor...it brought me back time and again during my visit. It's not really a very large area, but it's full of interesting things to point the camera towards.
i always look for museums, because they always seem to have great architecture! hi birdy!
Most notably is the Sydney Opera House, but that's not the subject of my post today. You can find some pics of it here though. You pretty much have to shoot that one!
But after you get over the initial awe of finally seeing that iconic structure (and taking quite a few pics), you start to look around and realize there is a whole lot more you can shoot here. Well, at least that's how it went for me.
this tall ship was docked there in the harbor - cool stuff!
couldn't resist - this one was begging to get the topaz impression treatment!
ah yes, approaching the sydney harbor bridge - it's a monstrous thing!
arching
So I started like I always do - I picked a direction at random, and started meandering. It's one of my favorite things to do when I visit a city for the first time. Wander and shoot, wander and shoot. It's a great way to learn your way around a place.
Here I really enjoyed the Sydney Harbor Bridge (since bridges are one of my favorite subjects) and then the various sights around the docks. Those are always interesting to me. Full of character.
docks are good when you want some grungy or interesting things to shoot!
i just like boats
Because of the travel time and distance to get there, it was around 7am when my plane landed in Sydney. I took a taxi to my hotel in the CBD (Central Business District), and was lucky that my room was ready. After a 16 hour flight with no sleep (and crossing the dateline, so I lost a day), I needed a place to decompress for a bit. I was tired.
But it wasn't long until my desire to see Sydney overcame my desire to rest, and out I went. The first place I wanted to see was this area around Circular Quay, and the Opera House of course.
So today's post is just a collection of images I took that day, stumbling around half-asleep but with an eye out for cool stuff. I'm just glad the pics aren't blurry!
looking back at the skyline
at this point, i was getting near the opera house - but had to turn back for another shot of the skyline!
Graffiti Down Under
Some of the best graffiti that I have ever seen is in Sydney, Australia. Wow, there was some cool stuff there! I spent half a day wandering just a small section of town and came home with a LOT of photos of this urban art. Today's post is a small sample of what I saw - hope you enjoy this stuff like I do!
I can't help it - I am always looking for cool graffiti!
I went to lively and lovely Sydney, Australia back in October, and it was a great trip. It was my first time there, and apart from a couple of "big things" like the Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge, I wasn't exactly sure what else I was going to shoot.
So, I created a list of all the great spots that I hunted down prior to my trip and shot while I was there. I wanted to make sure I shot everything I possibly could, because I never know if or when I will return. Plus, it's a VERY long way so why not get the most out of the trip?
One thing I always Google before going to a new city is graffiti. It seems you can find it in most towns, and I actually love it. It's just another form of art, in my opinion. And what I continually found reference to online was a part of Sydney known as Newtown. Everything I read mentioned this area, so I went looking.
I struck gold.
I wandered the main thoroughfare in that part of town, and then started wandering off into the side streets, alleys, and even a park. I found so much that today's post is really just a small sample of some of the cool pieces. There was literally a TON of it there.
So you are likely to see another post here one day showcasing more of it - when I find the time to process those shots. Hope you enjoy the graffiti, and hope you have a great day out there!
(click any photo to enlarge)
A beautiful Sydney sunset
I was lucky enough to witness a wonderful sunset on my recent trip over to Sydney, Australia - click on in and check out the pics! Sometimes you just show up and it all works out!
Ah...sunset...who doesn't love it when it turns out like this one?
I think all photographers would tell you that sunset is their favorite time to shoot. I would tell you that, but it would be a lie. I actually prefer sunrise, but that's beside the point. Sunset can be incredible, and you can't argue with the awesomeness of it when you get light like I did on this evening in Sydney, Australia recently.
I spent a week in Sydney back in the middle of October, and it was great. I was busy with work (which was also great), but I had plenty of free time after hours to get out and explore the city, which I did. I really liked it there, although I still remain an ardent Europhile. I can't help that - Europe is just my favorite part of the world.
But on this evening, there is nowhere else I would rather have been than standing next to the beautiful Sydney Harbor Bridge and witnessing the incredible display of color that Mother Nature let us enjoy that night. I always hope for at least one great sunset on each trip, but it doesn't always happen. More often than not, they are less than spectacular.
But I was rewarded for my patience this time, and I was there with my camera to capture it!
I turned this into a painting using Topaz Impression.
First look at The Sydney Opera House
Today's post is all about the Sydney Opera House - it's pretty awesome! I went over to Australia last week, and was able to capture quite a few shots of this iconic structure. It was #1 on my list of what to shoot, and I shot it - LOTs. So take a look at these 5 photos and enjoy the visual tour!
Here's a few photos of that iconic Aussie building - the Sydney Opera House!
If you read my last post, then you know I spent last week Down Under in lovely Sydney, Australia. It was quite a trip (and quite a long trip - a 16 hour flight!) but it was great overall and I came home with a lot of photos (about 2000) that I believe I will be proud of. (I say believe because at this point I have only gone through about twenty of them. So, lots more coming from Sydney!)
Also, I just created a list of where to take photos in Sydney - so check that out and let me know what you think! There are 15 photos on that list, and I haven't shared them anywhere else yet!
Anyways, the Sydney Opera House is probably the best-known spot in Sydney (and probably Australia), and as such it was at the top of my list when I found out that I was headed over there. So as soon as I arrived and got settled, I headed out to go shoot this place.
It was a beautiful evening (as you can hopefully tell by the photos) and it was great to finally see this with my own eyes, after so many years of just seeing pictures. I walked all around Circular Quay (the main harbor front area) and shot a LOT of photos of the Opera House, so that's another way of saying you will see more at some point in the future. I just can't bring myself to put 10 or 20 pics of the same place in one post! (Well, maybe close to 10.)
And I call this "first look" because these are quite literally the first few shots I took of the Sydney Opera House as I made my way down to Sydney Harbor on my first night there. As you can see, they are all from very similar angles, each slightly different in some way. I also walked up REAL CLOSE and shot it a lot of unique ways, but alas, that will have to wait for another day!
So, without further delay, take a look at these shots and let me know what you think!
And while I was at it, I couldn't resist taking that first photo over to Topaz Impression and doing a little painting with it! This was done with the Van Gogh setting, with some minor adjustments.
And this version was also done in Topaz Impression, but with the Cracked Fresco setting.
iPhone fun in Sydney Australia
Well hi there! I made a reasonably quick trip over to Sydney, Australia last week, and came home with a LOT of photos. But, today's post is a bit of a teaser - just iPhone shots for ya. I haven't had time to get my Olympus shots processed. So come back, ok? There's a lot more coming! But for now, enjoy these photos and this quick tour of my little adventures Down Under! G'day mate!
I popped over to Sydney last week - fun!
Ok, that's a slight exaggeration - coming from Texas, you don't really "pop" over there like it's a 30 minute flight. It's actually the LONGEST FLIGHT IN THE WORLD. That's not a joke. The Qantas flight from Dallas to Sydney (using the new Airbus A380) is well over 16 hours, covering north of 8,500 miles/13,800 km. That's some serious butt time!
And I was in coach. My ass is getting numb just thinking about it again.
I am actually writing this while in Sydney, on my last night here (Saturday evening, Sydney time) and scheduling it to go live on Monday morning, Texas time. The beauty of the internet. I will spend all day Sunday on the return flight. By the time this post goes live, I will be home again and hopefully still sleeping soundly! So read on, while I snooze a bit.
Well enough about all that, how about some pics?
I took a LOT of photos while in Sydney, and obviously haven't had any time to process them (much less even get them off the memory cards!). So I thought I would do this iPhone post and hit a few of the highlights. It's a beautiful city, though I will say the big draws are the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge - which are both beautiful. Outside of that, I of course explored quite a bit, including hunting down some of the awesome graffiti that I Googled (found it!).
You'll be seeing quite a few Sydney shots here, as soon as I can get to them. Hope you enjoy this iPhone teaser, and thanks for stopping by today. G'day mate!
Some thoughts on the iPhone 6 camera...
And by the way, these were all shot with my new iPhone 6 and processed in Snapseed. I haven't shared much iPhone stuff here over the last year or so, but I still take a bunch of them. I was slowing down quite a bit, but now that I have this new iPhone 6, I am getting pretty fired up about mobile photography again!
I previously had the iPhone 4S, but it was well over 2 years old, and showing a lot of signs of age (and tons of usage). It wasn't always working great, and now compared to the new one it feels like it was made in 1975 or something. This shiny new toy is a total blessing. While the camera is great (especially considering this is a phone), I do love the bigger screen. It's just crisp and gorgeous.
And no, I did not get the iPhone 6 Plus. Perhaps if I was 6'5" tall and had banana hands, then I would consider it. But no, I'm not, and that thing is too unwieldy for me. The iPhone 6 took a little getting used to, because even the smaller new one is still considerably larger than my old iPhone 4S, but after a couple of weeks we are very happy together. :-) Ok, on to the pics!
I grabbed this one from the Harbor Bridge. A good walk up there, but worth the view!
On my 2nd night here, I was treated to an absolutely FABULOUS sunset. So awesome!!
Just some shopping arcade I ran across - thought it was pretty nice looking!
See what I'm saying?? AWESOME. GRAFFITI.
If you've been here before, you know I love train stations...so I had to visit their Central Station. Grungy goodness.
And one more of the opera House, during that killer sunset. Such a photogenic building!
St. Mary's Cathedral - very beautiful!
Here's an angle on the Opera House you may not have seen before...
Walking around Circular Quay, headed to the Harbor Bridge. This is before that crazy sunset happened!
Yep, it's the Opera House again - big surprise! But I did like the sunset light here...
And a word of caution - as a tourist, you may be tempted to try Vegemite, because you remember that Men At Work song from the 80's (and sorry, I know it's stuck in your head now) but DO NOT TRY IT. It's a prank that is foisted on unsuspecting tourists, especially Americans. I do not believe that it is actually even food. It tastes like what I imagine tar or axle grease to taste like, but with more salt. It's completely horrible (sorry, Aussie friends, but come on, you eat that?). I tried it one morning at breakfast, and seriously wanted to spit everywhere. You may vomit. I had to leave immediately so I could brush my teeth. STAY AWAY FROM IT. :-)