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Launching Photos.Melbourne. Doing it my way.

Launching Photos.Melbourne. Doing it my way.

Trying to sell photos isn’t exactly simple. To me, selling anything – I struggle. I’m not really a sales-man guy. In fact, the idea of telling people to do something makes me really cringe. You watch YouTube, and every video ends with a call-to-action, “so hey, subscribe to my video, check my channel, *do what I tell you!*”. It’s just not me. My view is if you dig it, you’ll act. It’s all about the product, right? But in a broad sense, that’s not really the right approach.  Continue Reading..

Best Camera? The one you’ve got.

Best Camera? The one you've got.

I’ve always taken pictures, but increasingly, not with a big and bulky camera. That’s not to say I’m using some smaller mirrorless camera over a traditional DSLR. I’m using my mobile phone. Something that just sits in my pocket and without thought. If you’re interested, it’s the Samsung Galaxy S9.

We know that cameras are getting cheaper and more accessible. But the capabilities of these little cameras is remarkable. For a long time, the control that was on a more traditional camera just wasn’t available. Full manual control, ISO, focus, shutter speed, variable aperture, RAW image shooting. But not any more.

Continue Reading..

Melbourne White Night 2016 – Time-lapse and Photos

Melbourne White Night 2016 - Time-lapse and Photos

White Night 2016

White Night 2016 has happened and it’s been huge. I’ve been to a number of them, but this was the second time that I headed along with the sole goal of documenting it via time-lapse. The only downside to all this is there are some parts that I just can’t get access to. Looking online, there’s some great shots of the Melbourne Baths and the La Trobe Reading Room at the State Library, but for what this is worth, I hope it gives some idea. So here we go, Melbourne on February 20, 2016, like you rarely see it.

Watch the Night in 2 minutes

I’m up on Facebook, too…

I’ve also got a video up on Facebook – check out the direct link to watch it on Facebook.

White Night 2015 – How do they compare

To see for yourself, check out Melbourne White Night 2015 time-lapse and photos. See if you can tell which one I preferred…

Kicking of my Daily Picture Project 2016 – Week 1

Kicking of my Daily Picture Project 2016 - Week 1

I’ve decided to ramp up my photography in 2016, so I’ve kicked off with a bold plan. I want to take a photo a day and share it that same day on facebook.com/regularsteven. Sounds pretty simple, if quality isn’t a goal, but I’m really hoping that I can snap and share something that I’m actually happy with. I’m a bit fussy with my shots; In the past you might see a picture that is cherry picked from 50 (sometimes more, sometimes less). So this project is hopefully going to push me to sharpen up what I shoot and put me under pressure to show what works, and perhaps what doesn’t.

This week has kicked off and I’ve hit every day with something I’m happy with. Some of the days I’ve captured a few shot that I’m pretty chuffed with, and one day (Jan 6 ) where I needed to give it a second crack.

I’m also hoping to get it up on Facebook pretty quickly. So while I might snap something in the morning, I’ll hopefully get it live that morning. Wont always be possible, but that’s the goal.

I hope you enjoy the effort that I’m putting in. It’s gonna have some misses – I know that. But fingers crossed it lets me find another gear and allows me to get some diversity in to my work.

So here we are; Week 1. Some of these were selected for my Facebook page, some have yet to be seen. Feel free to use for your own personal use in a digital sense, such as a wallpaper / screensaver. If you’d like to obtain higher resolution, please hit me up via facebook.com/regularsteven.

Hello Ween at The Catfish

Hello Ween at The Catfish

I’ll get this out of the way… I don’t really know Ween. I mean, I kinda know them, who doesn’t? But ‘know know’? Not me. I’ve got friends that love them – and they like good stuff, so, by extension, I guess I like them? Well,  it’s the same kinda thing with Hello Ween: Tribute to the Boognish. We’ve got quite a few mutual friends, but that’s always what makes for an awesome party. And Hello Ween delivered – they were a fricken party.

So, line up the shots, I’ve got some schnapps…

If you’d like to use them in anyway, I’d appreciate it if you can link back to me – that’s regularsteven.com on the web, facebook.com/regularsteven or instagram.com/regularsteven

Big League at the Catfish

Big League at the Catfish

You know when you see friends on stage, and you’re just so happy for them? I’m not trying to be sucky or anything like that, but it’s always great to see people you love just doing what they love, while entertaining a bunch of friends and strangers alike. When I turned up, I knew I was a little late, but I didn’t know if Big Leage had started yet. I was queuing up, I heard music, but I thought “all good, that’s just the CD…” but it was Big League. They were great.

Check em out on Facebook or Soundcloud

Sunrise at Jells Park

Sunrise at Jells Park

I’ve never been to Jells Lake at sunrise, let alone Jells Park at first light. I’ve had no real need, and to be honest, I didn’t really know much about it at all. But a local amateur photography competition(#SnapMonash) recently caught my interest, and the requirements are to capture a photograph in the City of Monash. So that led me to having a little explore. On to Google Maps I went, had a look in the region, and I thought ‘that might be nice’.

I used to live just around the corner, but I wasn’t really in to photography back then. And having never been, I had no idea what I’d find, but I’m really happy I got up at 5am on Wednesday morning to check it out . The fog on the water, all the wild life, beautiful colour in the sky – the morning was really rad.

As for the competition, it’s being run from the Monash Gallery of Art and The Glen Shopping Centre. There aren’t too many entries yet on Instagram (check out the #snapmonash hashtag), but this kind of stuff really needs grass-roots support. I’m not a professional photographer, but it really is a massive passion of mine. And the only way these competitions run and encourage people with their passions, is if they get the entries. For all the details, check out the #SnapMonash Competition page

Anyways, here are my photos – I hope you like what I’ve found, and equally, get down there yourself. I just hope I submitted the right one. They say you can enter multiple times, but I don’t wanna be ‘that guy’…

Wonderful Williamstown

Wonderful Williamstown

To be honest, I wanted to run with a title of ‘Beautiful Billville’, but that would just be confusing… I mean, William gets shortened to Bill in some instances, but not this one. In any case, I think Williamstown is alright. It’s so close to the city, but it’s just so calm and peaceful. There’s always little boats bobbing around, and when the weather is nice, it’s just a killer view Melbourne over Port Phillip Bay & Hobsons Bay.

These here were shot on Sunday October 18. Mix of short and long exposures; that misty look on the water is a result of a 30 second exposure, if you’re wondering.


The Pinnacles of Phillip Island – Seriously Epic

The Pinnacles of Phillip Island - Seriously Epic

The Pinnacles at Cape Woolamai on Phillip Island are pretty close to Melbourne. All up, the drive is about 2 hours from Melbourne, but living in Australia, that’s not massive. As you walk down to the beach, it’s a pretty typical Aussie surf beach. Big waves, lots of sand, mist in the air, windy, and cliffs on the horizon. The entrance to the walkway is about 1km east (left) from the beach car park, so it’s pretty cruisy walk to the walkway which is the beginning of Cape Woolamai. You start to climb and get a better picture, but it doesn’t really prepare you.

The walk from the car park is about 45/60 minutes (depending on how often you stop for a click), and it’s not a tough mission. Along the way, there’s plenty to see, but nothing really prepares you for the real highlight of The Pinnacles. When you get there, you’re looking down from an observation platform and things look amazing, but still a little small. When you head down, it really gets put in perspective, and you really appreciate how large those rocks actually are. Each on of those pebbles are big enough for two to stand on. And there are thousands of them!

Lucky for me, this weekend I decided to head down and see how I’d go. To be honest, I thought it was going to be a bad move. The weather was wild, and I thought this could be a real fizzer. So, have a look through the photos below. You can see the weather starting off pretty rough, and as time goes on, the clouds blew over and the colour in the sky comes on strong to put on a show. Loved it!

Icing on the cake

Just to put icing on the cake, at one point we saw a pod of dolphins about 20 strong! Talk about an awesome little mission. Too far out with my wide lenses on, but still, it’s about more than the photos.

And a little freebee

You can download pretty sweet resolutions here, but if you’d like a super high original resolution of “Saving the best moment for the end. Amazing.”, I’ve got a download link for my favourite Pinnacles Sunset Photo. Feel free to use for personal use however you’d like – just don’t sell it…

Lensbaby Edge 80 – Big Things Made Small

Lensbaby Edge 80 - Big Things Made Small

I’ve had my Lensbaby Edge 80 for around two years (at point of writing this), and I’ve never really put a group of photos together that demonstrate the kind of fun you can have with it. It’s not a lens that I’ll have with me all the time, but every now and then, it’s really cool to drag out and have a play.

In terms of how I use it, I really like to try capture a long or elevated shot, that gives the flexibility to make a tilt-shift type effect by bending the lens in its mounting (see this geeky YouTube to learn some more). It’s not something I need to do at any serious level, so the price point (compared to a tilt-shift) really makes sense, and I’m a big fan of it.

There’s something cool about doing this stuff in-camera, and the blur you get when bending it around, is very optically-real. What I mean by optically-real, is this is an effect that happens as a result of real optics changing, rather than trying to mimic the effect in Photoshop. Sure, Photoshop can do this kind of stuff, but at the same time, this lens will also work with 35mm film (I must try that!). But, who cares really, as long as you’re having some fun with it.

I hope these shots can give a little taste of what you can produce. Mostly Melbourne below, but I did recently take it with me to Vietnam for something a little different.

Melbourne Street Art – A Sunday Walk

Melbourne Street Art - A Sunday Walk

It was a pretty cruisy Sunday, and with a bunch of things on my mind, felt like it was the right time to get out for a walk. I decided to head back to two old favorites; Hosier Lane and Croft Alley.

Depending on your luck, you can get a real wet (paint) experience, or something a little more roughed up. You know your getting a good show when you can smell the paint. You get wild colours, awesome reflections and a generally un-touched experience. And don’t lean on the walls. This Sunday, though, was a little rougher. It’s not my first choice, but still, I dig it.

As for the photos below, if you know the artists, please let me know. I’m not totally across who does what, but happy to link back.

Croft Alley

Croft Alley doesn’t get as much action as Hosier, and as such, the pieces are older but they last a bit longer. There’s not as much tagging going on, so pieces are generally kept in better order. There’s also way less people, but it’s seriously worth the little walk. Equally cool is the Croft Institute at the end. It’s been a few years since I headed there, but if you’ve never been and in the area, give it a look.

Hosier Lane

Hosier Lane (and Rutledge Lane, which is basically the same thing) are the showcase for Melbourne’s street art. The streets are constantly changing, and there’s only a few pieces that stand the test of time. That said, despite the apparent outrage a few years back when Rutledge went blue and that it was going to be changed forever, it’s back to normal. There’s always people, there’s often tags all over pieces, but it’s the centrepiece of Melbourne’s street art for good reason.

 

Free Tram Zone Delivering Unexpected Results for Yarra Trams

Free Tram Zone Delivering Unexpected Results for Yarra Trams

Free Tram Zone, Two Weeks In

It’s been two weeks since the Free Tram Zone has been introduced on Melbourne’s tram network, and some results are starting to become apparent. And they might not be what you expect.

The program of allowing tram commuters to travel for free within the relatively small bounds of the city has produced some unexpected findings. Most notable is the body-odour parts-per-million count (BO PPM) increase, and an increase in usage due to the no-pay model.

Unexpected Results

Of the findings, the most notable is the statistically significant increase in BO PPM. When introduced, it was expected the free travel would result in punters not physically exhausting themselves while getting from one side of the city to another on foot, and get some refuge in the air conditioned trams. This expected outcome was welcomed by the Melbourne Retailers Association, as it would mean an overall reduction in BO PPM in city shopping centres. But instead, the inverse has been observed.

Smelly on the inside
Dirty on the outside, smelly on the inside

Sadly, there are record numbers of homeless living on Melbourne streets, and the trams now also provide refuge from the heat for both the homeless and the elite. Equally, the free transportation provides increased opportunity for the true bogan, often with a ‘ciggi stubbed’ behind ones ear, to travel without concern.

And the sad truth about both stereotypes above, is they generally have an increased BO, resulting in an increase BO PPM in the Free Tram Zone.

In essence, the Free Tram Zone has become a ‘get what you pay for zone’, and now that it’s free, there’s much less control of what is going on.

Secondary Outcomes

Another outcome from the free zone is lack of authoritative presence, no due to the lack of revenue raising opportunities. With no fare evasion fines to be given, there – at least anecdotally – is no presence of Yarra Tram / MyKi security to keep the unruly contained. The ‘Ah who cares, it’s free’ mentality is resulting in an increase in discomfort from an audible standpoint, as well as increased boganisation of commuters.

Great marketing pitch for the Free Tram Zone
Great marketing pitch for the Free Tram Zone

Secondary to the BO PPM increase is an overall, and unplanned, increase in tram crowding while in the free zone. It’s “one of these things that the Coalition thought up and Labor backed, but the question is whether there has been any planning around it”, according to the PTUA’s Daniel Bowen. The lack of incentive to walk around the city has caused both an increase in patronage, and a median weight gain from city commuters. This two-pronged attack on space has resulted in a decrease of airflow in the tram. Subsequently, the air conditioning simply can’t hold up due to both the amount of heat emitted from the larger commuters, as well as the reduction of air in the tram itself. Air conditioners need airflow, and it’s simply not there. And again, this has a negative impact on the BO BBM.

So, all in all, this is a subject to watch. These results, while conclusive from the data sourced, are from a summer introduction of the program. Seasonality wise, this will no doubt change as winter comes, rain increases and temperature drops. And remember, don’t touch on.

The printed handout indicates where the free tram zone is.
The printed handout indicates where the free tram zone is.