Coming home late

I haven’t taken any late night city shots in a while.  Decided last night to try to capture one or two. 

The trick is though to find a spot that all your fellow students won’t be coming past! (You would think, as photography students, they would know to freeze on slow shutter speed! :D)  These three are part of the awesome bunch I study with.  I think that is part of why the classes are so great.  They all see things so much differently than I do.  I learn as much from them as from the lecturers.

The moon was full last night, creating  a lot of light.  The bridge was covered with people trying to photograph it.

Then came the long wait at Flinders Street Station for the train.  At least I am not the only one out late…

Fish and chips on the beach

Being first time campers, we were a little nervous.  Setting up the tent was not as difficult as we had expected, but still took quite a bit of time.  We decided to just go pick up some fish and chips for dinner, after the stress of hammering in tent pegs.  We popped over to the Surfing beach across from the Bluff at Barwon Heads.  The timing was perfect. 

The sun was just setting, people were walking their dogs and kids were playing in the water.  It was such a fantastic start to a few days of family time.

The clouds reflected the last of the rays.  The colours were truly glorious.

The last of the light was warm and promised a summer of sun, beach and clear skies.

We spent the rest of the evening at camp, chatting to friends and forgetting about the cares at home.

I set the alarm to catch the sunrise and actually got up the next morning… in time!

Surviving a camping trip

We made it!  And our tent did not blow away! 

It was a fantastic weekend with wonderful friends.  Every day felt like a blessing.  I am however now extremely, completely worn out.  There is a massive pile of washing with tons of sand thrown in.  I thought I would quickly share one of the first shots I took over the weekend (the second I think). 

With a beautiful start like this, you can image how great the rest of it was.

Daylight savings in Melbourne

Since daylight savings has taken effect in Melbourne, I now arrive at class with the sun still high in the sky.

 

The rowers are practicing on the Yarra river every evening.  Here you can see the MCG in the background, behind the St Kilda rd bridge.

 

The weather is very changeable.  From sunny

 

to hail (I think – almost looked like fine snow)  within half an hour.

The Eureka building is across from class, so we all grabbed the chance to take a photo of this unusual type of rain.

Lights on the water

My tram route has changed, so I am trying to find a different route to get home in the evenings that doesn’t take as long.  So coming back from class, I walked along the Yarra river.  The lights create surreal images on the water.

It definitely makes for a romantic spot I thought, watching a couple sitting at the water’s edge.  Truly a peaceful scene.

 

The city has so many colours at night.  This is Flinders street Station from South Bank.  The Yarra river is in the foreground.

Royal Melbourne Show 09 – The Horses

The first events we went to see were the horses.  It was so much fun!  The kids had an absolute ball (and so did I). 

First were the show horses.

Then came the bush games

Three teams competed against each other.  They were racing on foot, on horses, quad bikes and with wagons.  The spirit was awesome!  I blurred so many photos because I was laughing so hard… whoops!

  

One of the funniest was when they had to drag a teammate behind a horse.  One holds the ‘stick’ with the horse coming, the rider grabs the stick….

and off they go!  Generally all you saw of the guy on the sheet was boots and heels!

 

If it hadn’t started raining, I think I would have been happy to sit there all day.

Flowers in the city

Standing at a traffic light behind people going home from work, I saw these gorgeous flowers.  Such a beautiful girl and the bright pink just caught my eye.

Maldon

A beautiful little town just a little past Castlemaine, I loved the people there.  There is a car museum full of beautiful vintage cars, lots of antiques, a mask seller and a book store amongst others. 

It was really cold, so I decided to pop into the fish and chips shop for some hot chips.  A brother and sister team was running the store.  I can DEFINITELY recommend stopping there.

The quilt shop was also lovely.  Gorgeous fabrics, quilts and things.

 

Chewton Market

On Saturday mornings there is a lovely little market in Chewton, an old mining town.  The people were so friendly and sociable, not caring too much that it kept raining on everyone.

The CFA (fire brigade) was there collecting money. This chap was really friendly and had so much energy.

Even in Chewton they like proteas.  It is always funny to find reminders of South Africa in such unexpected places.

The dog was muzzled to keep him from chewing through his lead, according to his owner.  Really  a lovely dog with such a great temperament.

This gentleman was really patient while I took his photo.  A really tall, strong man wearing lovely colours.  Warm, bright and cheerful on such a cold and clammy day.

The day just got too long for some.

Couldn’t you just see him in the mining days?

Blossoms

One of the locations we went had a beautiful blossom tree.

Every time a gust comes through, a confetti shower of small, white blossom leaves come falling down.

I got one of my fellow students to model for me.  One of the dangers of being a photography student, you have to stand in as model quite often.

I played around with this picture a bit.  I just really like the dreaminess…