I have now explored much of the Melbourne CBD looking for good pockets of street art. There are a few major spots (like Hosier Lane, Croft Alley and ACDC Lane) that I will keep returning to as the art changes almost on a daily basis – especially in Hosier Lane – the most active and visited of the Street Art Alleys. Below is some of the Hosier Lane artwork taken a few weeks ago.
18 May 2015 – Hosier Lane (Part 1)
Hosier Lane Street Art, Melbourne CBD
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Posted in Laneways, Melbourne CBD, Victoria
Tagged Australia, graffiti, Hosier Lane, Photography, Street Art, Street Photography, Urban Photography
A recent sunny lunchtime found me wandering the back streets and laneways looking for interesting shots of old Melbourne.
I find that converting the image to black and white removes the clutter of modern colours and distractions and allows me to see the old bones.
Higson Lane, Melbourne CBD
MJ Bale, George Parade, Melbourne CBD.
Melbourne Club Wall – woman are only allowed on one side of this wall…
Melbourne Club Wall
Bourke Street, Melbourne CBD
Job Warehouse, Bourke St, Melbourne CBD
Pellegrini’s, Melbourne CBD
It was the screeching that attracted me over to the tree near Elster Creek a few weeks ago. I found a lone Little Corella, on a branch in a gum tree. I moved in closer trying not to spook it and starting taking pictures. It screeched when I took a few rapid shots – it could hear the camera shutter sound. I watched it and it watched me. After just moving around the branch a bit it fell backward and just hung by its feet and looked at me again…I kept shooting as it started to play with branches and bark. Cockatoos are long lived birds and this must mean a certain amount of intelligence has developed and with it a sense of humour. This bird was playing and seemingly including me in its antics.
Little Corella, Elster Creek
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the Corella started to swing under the branch
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Hanging by a leg, and watching me
the moment before the end of the show
The next thing it did was let go the branch and try to grab the bark with both feet but it was far too heavy and it dropped from the tree. Luckily it had enough height to right itself and fly back up to a branch on the next tree. The show was over.
Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria
Tagged Australia, Australian Birds, Bird Photography, Elster Creek, Little Corella, Nature Photography, Photography, Victoria
The State Library reading room has to be one of the best spots in the CBD to sit and study. It is also a good place to photograph from one of the many nooks on the several floors above the main room. I have been here a number of times to view the galleries, the art, and to watch people study.
Click on photo for a larger view
State Library, Melbourne CBD
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Posted in Architecture, Melbourne CBD, Victoria
Tagged Australia, Melbourne CBD, Photography, State Library of Victoria, Victoria
After spending a part of yesterday at the farm working the patch for Fanior and Henry, I stopped in at Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve for a walk in the mid afternoon sunlight. It was cool, calm and very quiet, not many species of birds around expect for quite a few White-Eared and New Holland Honeyeaters. Walking along the Emu Wren Track I noticed a bird on an overhanging branch. I was quite surprised and delighted to find it was a Bassian Thrush. I have only seen a few of this species over the last few years and this was my first time photographing one. I suspect it was a juvenile by the way it seemed to be crouched and begging a bit. I did not see any adults but they are much more secretive and generally harder to see and find.
Juvenile Bassian Thrush
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In the late afternoon light I found some large banksias that had a few Little Wattlebirds feeding on the flowers.
Little Wattlebird
The padlocks have been removed. 20,000 signs of committed love cut from the sagging wires of the foot bridge. Stored in buckets until the City Council can figure out what to do with them. They lasted for 3 years and due to their weight and that other cities like Paris were removing their padlock chains (apparently because the fad is over) we have lost ours too. A few weeks ago I just happened to be on the river after work with a friend and we stopped to take a few practice pics of the evening views and the city skyline as the light faded and the city lights kicked in.
Ponyfish Island (with bar) under the Yarra Walking Bridge, Melbourne CBD
Padlocks on the Yarra Walking Bridge, Melbourne CBD
Padlocks II
Yarra Dusk from the Southbank, Melbourne CBD
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While looking for Tawny Frogmouths at Braeside Park recently, I spotted a Black Shouldered Kite at the top of a dead tree in one of the dried out lagoons. The Kite of course saw me immediately moving from the scrub out into the waist high grass and thistles towards the tree. I did not make eye contact as I moved slowly and just stopped a few times to take a few photos. In the end I was quite surprised at how close close I managed to get. I had to back up a bit so I could use my 400mm Lens. Every now and again he would look at me and then go back to gazing down, around and up. He never did spook and after I took my shots I turned around and went back through the thorns and thistles to the lakeside path. The Kite is a stunning bird and a very successful hunter of mice and other smaller birds and animals. Another of my top 10 birds.
Black Shouldered Kite keeping an eye on me
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One of the smaller Raptors in Australia. It still has the large talons, sharp eyes and the hooked beak
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Black Shouldered Kite – his glance up told me that something was flying above me…
When I turned around and looked up I saw a half dozen large Australian Pelicans flying in a wingtip formation.
Australian Pelicans
A few weeks ago when we finally had a warm sunny day (and we have not seen much since), I dropped in at Braeside Park to get some exercise and see what birds were around. It was the quietest I had ever seen it and the driest. The remaining lagoon has dropped considerably and except for the specialist mud feeders the rest seem to have moved on to deeper waters at other sites. I did get a nice series of shots of a few local birds that are generally resident all year round.
The first in the series was a pair of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos. I only saw these two from a distance due to their very white feathers. You would usually hear cockatoos from quite a way off – one of their defence mechanisms is a very loud 100db+ screech. (I have walked underneath a pair of nesting cockatoos and the noise was deafening. ). These two were very quiet, on low branches and quite unafraid of me as I walked up slowly and carefully to see what they were up to. Even when higher in the trees wild cockatoos are quite wary of people and usually fly off. I took a few shots and watched for a while.
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
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Stripping and chewing on the sap covered bark of a Wattle Tree
Ripping the bark off the wattle
going deep into the wood of the branch
coming away with sappy chunks
chewing and just casually keeping an eye on me…
I have seen cockatoos and other similar species chew on dead branches (and peoples houses and wooden verandahs) to keep their beaks trimmed and from growing too big, and I have seen a few dead wattle trees around the park with the bark peeled right down – I had thought that the cockatoos had striped the bark after the tree was dead to do some beak maintenance but maybe they are the ones that are killing the tree with a bit of ring barking while getting high on the sap and wood pulp…
Exploring the alleys around Bourke St Mall, looking for art, colour and food, I came across this little gem with a nice bit of sunlight managing to hit the wall deep in a narrow laneway only 2 metres wide.
Sprinkler Stop Valve Inside, Melbourne CBD
A narrow Laneway looking out to the Bourke St Mall
Posted in Laneways, Melbourne CBD, Street Art
Tagged Australia, graffiti, Photography, Street Art, Street Photography, Urban Photography, Victoria
Paynes Place is a nondescript, bin strewn laneway in Melbourne’s China-Town off Little Bourke St. There is however a large mural at the end of the lane. Turning the corner, a small walkway called Croft Alley leads you down past restaurant back doors and overflowing, smelly rubbish bins to wonderful walls of ever-changing street art with amazing colours. Turning another corner, and walking to the very end, you find the entrance to strange bar with a science lab theme called the Croft Institute. There is quite a bit of intact art in Croft Alley without the crowds that often fill up the more famous Hosiers Lane. ( I still haven’t had a good look at Hosiers due to a fashion shoot, a TV presenter filming, tour groups and an impromptu macarena dance outbreak with about 50 people.)
Paynes Place, Chinatown, Melbourne CBD
Croft Alley Chinatown
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Posted in Architecture, Laneways, Melbourne CBD, Victoria
Tagged Australia, Chinatown, Croft Alley, graffiti, Melbourne CBD, Paynes Place, Photography, Street Art, Street Photography, Urban Photography, Victoria
Across the road from where I now work are many laneways leading into and around Melbourne’s Chinatown District. While the street facade can be newer and full of shops, the side lanes leading to the backstreets can expose the history and patina of the older buildings. This is the historical, original side of Melbourne I quite enjoy trying to find. My lunchtimes are now spent exploring the laneways and looking above the street level. While there are not many birds, there are many other interesting subjects to find.
Urban Decay, Melbourne CBD – off Bourke St
Urban Decay II
Turn any corner in a laneway and you could find colourful street art..
Graffiti dog, Melbourne CBD
Posted in Architecture, Melbourne CBD, Street Art, Victoria
Tagged Architecture, Australia, graffiti, Photography, Street Art, Street Photography, Urban Decay, Urban Photography, Victoria
On a recent Sunday morning, my breakfast buddy and I, tried a new Cafe in the heart of St Kilda. It was a cool, wet and moody morning and after a bit of food and a coffee I wandered out of the cafe and down the street to have a look at the lovely old buildings. Many are fast disappearing under an onslaught of high rise and expensive housing and developments. The old bones of a seaside city are being replaced by modern and square-box architecture.
Bike Shop, St Kilda, Victoria
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St Kilda Art – graffiti probably should be in colour…
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On the way home we dropped by the beach to watch the weather come across the bay and look for ships through the mist and rain.
and I still like birds
“Even in the midst of the storm the sun is still shining.” Dayna Lovely
The Port Phillip Bay coastline is always an interesting place for a walk in any conditions. This is another image from the 18 April series. I had low expectations of any decent shots due to the light and rain squalls but a break in the weather and a burst of sunlight can produce some interesting options. After this shot was taken, wild weather come up from the South and we had to make a dash for home with cold arctic winds giving us a push along…
Jacobs Ladder over Port Phillip Bay, Victoria 18 April 2015
Posted in Photography, Victoria
Tagged Australia, Elwood Beach, Jacobs Ladder, Landscape Photography, Photography, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria
Even when the light is average and the camera and lens being used are setup for shooting birds you can still take images that can test your ability to find something unusual. On a recent walk along Elwood beach with a friend I took a series of shots of the dark clouds and gloomy weather with the occasional burst of sunlight breaking through. I had previously rejected these images but after seeing Ron’s treatment of similar images I thought I would revisit them. Using Lightroom and tweaking the levels I gave these yachts off Brighton’s coast a bit of an other worldly look…
Click on the image for a larger view:
Yachts racing on Port Phillip Bay off Brighton and Elwood Beach.
Posted in Elwood, Photography, Victoria
Tagged Australia, Brighton, Elwood, Photography, Sailing Boats, Victoria, Yachts
On the weekend I walked down to the beach with my photography mate and neighbour Ron. We watched the weather come across the bay and took photos of the Jacobs Ladder that was created by a break in the clouds and the sun coming through over Williamstown.
Jacobs Ladder over Williamstown from Elwood Beach – 18 April 2015
Posted in Elwood, Photography, Victoria, Williamstown
Tagged Australia, Elwood, Jacobs Ladder, Nature Photography, Photography, Victoria, Williamstown
The Gap Year and Beyond 