Melbourne

Posted on April 25, 2013August 24, 2013 by Alex Wise — 6 Comments

My new daily carry camera – Fujifilm X100

For a while now I’ve been feeling a little anxious about not shooting as much as I’d like. Before moving to Melbourne from Hobart I was a student with all the time in the world living close to coastline and lush waterfalls. Living in inner city Melbourne it can be a little difficult trying to balance photography around full time work as I’m often leaving for work when the sun is rising and leaving just as the sun is about to set. I then had an idea. If I’m riding to and from work every day why not carry a camera and make the most of sunset and sunrise light? So I did.

After much procrastinating I thought the Pansonic Lumix LX7 camera was the camera for me so ordered it. Although a nice camera, it wasn’t the one for me so I sold it on Gumtree for about what i paid. A few days later I noticed a Fujifilm X100 pop up for sale on a forum I frequent. I couldn’t resist the price and from all accounts even with a few niggles, it’s a great little camera.

Since purchasing I’ve started carrying the camera every day and have found it a great little camera to use. Sure there’s a few little issues with the camera but hey, no camera is perfect and I can tolerate any slight niggles. The camera is a great ‘daily carry’ camera as it fits nicely into my bike bag and isn’t too cumbersome to carry if I’m out and about of a weekend. If you’re in the market for something more portable than your DSLR I’d recommend you seriously consider a X100 (or X100S if budget permits!). I still plan on using my DSLR for long exposures, my baking blog and other bits but why not have something you can easily carry and still get some great shots?

Here’s a collection of some of my favourite photos since purchasing the camera a month ago. All images are captured around Melbourme with most being on my way to and from work. I spend half my time riding keeping an eye out for things to photo. Sometimes it means I’m a little late for work but the results are worth it. In case you’re wondering, I went for a slight film look to the photos which was achieved by using Adobe Lightroom and the VSCO plugin. I’ve been a little skeptical of the plugin in the past but for some reason it just works perfectly for the style of images I’ve been shooting with the X100. I guess in the past it wasn’t appropriate for long exposures and landscape photos where accurate colour rendition of the scene is crucial. If you’re after a plugin for Lightroom that imitates film well, I can’t recommend VSCO highly enough. It’s great!

I can’t wait to give it a test run for some long exposures of waterfalls and seascapes. David from Flixelpix has posted some beautiful long exposures using the X100 on his blog so it’s definitely achievable.

PS, Sorry for overwhelming you with a ton of photos 😉

– Alex

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Posted on December 6, 2012August 24, 2013 by Alex Wise — 6 Comments

Melbourne – 2012

Looking through Lightroom I noticed a few photos taken over 2012 in the Melbourne CBD that I never got around to posting. Some I’m fond of and others I’m still a little undecided. Looking over the series though it makes me half tempted to purchase a small point and shoot to permanently carry around in my bag like a Canon S100. So very tempting.

Also I don’t normally post photos of my food here (embarrassingly a bit of that ends up on Instagram) but I couldn’t resist a photo or two from the delightful Chin Chin. If you’re ever in Melbourne be sure to pop in for a visit. WIth such a large menu I’ve gone back a few times and haven’t been disappointed. Oh so good.

Curious to hear what people think especially of the first image with some processing that is slightly different to how I process my images.

Posted on December 18, 2011January 11, 2014 by Alex Wise — 25 Comments

2011 Retrospective

I can’t believe the year is almost over. It has been a busy but fun year. Here are a collection of photographs I’ve taken over the year. Hope you enjoy.

Hobart

Earlier in the year (note – 3am on New Years Day) I thought it would be a great idea to apply for a job in Melbourne and move away from Hobart for a bit. I applied for a job later that day without actually thinking I’d get an interview but soon found out they wanted to hire me and I had 10 days to move over. Find somewhere to live, move all my belongings over, no biggy? It was a rush and a mad fortnight of trying to spend time with everyone before I went. These images are all captured during this time.

Star trails – New years day

It was the first time I’d been to Mona Foma since it started a few years ago. Friends and I made an effort to get along to as much as possible which was a blast. I’m disappointed I’ll be missing it next year especially with word Girl Talk is playing.

All man on my pink chair…

I started a little project called The Travelling Camera. I’ve been lazy with it this year but it’s a project where an Olympus OM-2n film camera sent with a list of things to photograph to friends. So far three people have done the project and just waiting on a fourth. If you’re interested in participating in it next year, be sure to contact me.

Before I left I was rather keen to tag along on a trip up to the Great Lakes with Sam Shelley. It’s an amazing place and somewhere I hope to explore more when I one day move back to Tasmania.

During the 10 days, I had to quickly find somewhere to live in Melbourne. I flew over to Melbourne for the day to look at four places, all of which offering me leases. It worked out well and I was able to pick the unit I wanted most.

But it was soon time to pack up and move away.

Leaving Devonport on the Spirit of Tasmania

Arriving into Melbourne at 6am and being greeted by 30 degree heat.

The first few months of moving over I was rather lazy and went into tourist mode.

AFL – Watching Carlton draw against Essendon. I ended up going to 7 games throughout the year which is odd as I don’t actually have a team.

Albert Park – Where I sometimes like to go running.

Drinking possibly a little too much coffees.

Discovering a new found love in ph?.

Working those star jumps…

Long exposure of traffic entering Exhibition Street (near work).

Throughout the year I had a play with some timelapse. I’m lazy and never got around to finishing the clip but here is a selection of clips captured throughout the Melbourne CBD.

Oh… And of course a yoyo clip (much to the amusement of the guys I work with who randomly came across my Youtube channel).

Shrine of Remembrance

Living reasonably close to the city, I sometimes like to run or walk home. Taken during winter as I was leaving work.

Another photo as I made my way home from work.

Back to Hobart Briefly…

I went back to Hobart for my birthday to catch up with friends and family. Having not been taking many photographs since moving to Melbourne, I was pretty keen to have some early mornings and shoot some sunrises.

Mt Wellington from the Hobart Eastern Shore.

Overcast sunrise at South Arm, Tasmania

Playing around with reflections at Eaglehawk Neck on sunrise

Back to Melbourne

When I got back to Melbourne I was asked to photograph our IT staff for the staff intranet and phone book. It was different but fun.

A friend – I like this one.

It took me a while to start leaving the city and taking photographs. I was lucky to meet some guys who shared the same interest as me so we made a few trips throughout the year. This series is from Marysville.

Playing around at Docklands on sunset

Cape Woolamai – I took a trip down to Cape Woolamai, Phillip Island with some friends who I also went to Marysville with. It was probably my favourite place I’ve taken photos all year.

Clouds passing above during a 13 minute exposure at Elwood Beach.

And finally, another trip back to Marysville on a cold and wet morning. Probably my second favourite set from this year and a nice set to close with.

I hope you enjoyed these photographs and thank you for all the support from people who have commented and emailed throughout the year.

– Alex

Click here to view my 2010 Retrospective.

Posted on July 25, 2011August 10, 2013 by Alex Wise — 6 Comments

Daily Carry 2 – 49 Images

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A selection of photographs from December-June captured around Tasmania and Melbourne. An interesting variety with photographs of Binnalong Bay, The MCG, Bushy Park and bad self portraits.

What is my daily carry you may ask? For a while now I’ve enjoyed taking random happy snap esque photos with the intention of never sharing them with anyone. Rather then hide them away I’ve decided to post them as part of an ongoing series. You can view the first installment via an earlier post.

Bonus points if you notice which shots are film and iPhone 😉

Posted on January 1, 2011January 1, 2011 by Alex Wise — 10 Comments

2010 Retrospective

All year I’ve felt like I haven’t taken as many photographs as I’d like. Looking back now maybe it wasn’t as quiet as I first thought. Here are a selection of images from 2010.

The year started off with a trip up Mt. Wellington with Carl Ashley.

I planned to revisit an old jetty that I had shot in 2009 however it had unfortunately been pulled down.

Desperate for new seascape locations, I began exploring Kingston for photographs.

But it was soon back to my favourite location, Clifton Beach even if without my tripod.

Walking along Howrah Beach, I noticed the water coming off these rocks nicely and had to stop for a photo.

My obsession with long exposure photography grew during 2010. This is one from Tranmere, Tasmania

Busy with uni, my camera spent a lot of time in the cupboard over winter. On my way home from uni I noticed this scene so made a quick dash home to grab the camera.

With the deciduous beech coming into season mid year. I was keen to get up to the Tarn Shelf to take a photo of this beautiful scene. Constantly looking for new locations to take photos of, I tried Blackman’s Bay for a change.

With amazing clouds rolling in one afternoon, I made the decision to skip class in the hope of the clouds putting on a nice sunset. I was lucky even if I did get drenched.

Not long after, I made my way to Park Beach for sunset photos.

I love winter and its fog. This is captured underneath the Tasman Bridge on a chilly early morning.

Probably my favourite find and photo of the year. Constantly looking for new locations to take photos of, I made my way to O’Possum Bay but left a little disappointed.

Next on the list is a drive to Remarkable Caves which was amazing and wild.

With large swells in Hobart, this meant otherwise quiet locations had swell for a change.

My obsession with long exposures continued.

Always looking for new locations, I came across this lovely stream on a drive.

More playing around with long exposures. Even looking at this photo now I’m still unsure about it. The moving jetty creates an interesting effect but whether it works is another question.