Photos of Perth, Western Australia and surrounding areas of Fremantle, Rottnest Island, Lake Clifton and Pinnacles Desert. Perth had a wonderful surprise gift for me: Astro Photography! I’ve never taken photos of the Milky Way or stars before but I kind of accidentally bumped into astro photography and wow oh wow is it fun!
Adelaide, Australia photos late August 2023. We only did one week of shows in Adelaide Australia which only gave me a couple days to explore the city. It’s a fairly small city compared to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. It’s very charming and the highlights for me was the Botannical Gardens, University of Adelaide and the National Gallery of South Australia (NGSA).
Of all the cities I’ve been to in Australia, I think Melbourne might be my favorite. Great art scene, gardens and vibrant urban city quarters. I also took a day trip to Phillip Island to watch the daily “Penguin Parade” as the penguins make their way to the shore every night right after sunset.
Some great highlights for me in Melbourne was going to the NGV (National Gallery of Victoria) to see the Rembrandt and Bonnard exhibits. Amazing! Also saw two shows. A suspense play called “2:22” (His Majesty’s Theatre) and a new musical comedy called “Bloom” (Melbourne Art Centre).
We performed our Cirque du Soleil CRYSTAL show at the John Cain arena which was a beautiful walk from the hotel through the botannical gardens and war memorial. Melbourne is a stunningly beautiful and vibrant city!
See my photos of Melbourne street art on AC/DC lane here: https://conradaskland.com/blog/ac-dc-lane-street-art-in-melbourne-australia/
And here are photos from Melbourne and Prince Phillip Island (Sony A7iv and Sony GM 35mm lens):
I didn’t get a lot of photos in Sydney, Australia. My two weeks there with Cirque du Soleil was mainly spent visiting friends on the days off. But a highlight for me was attending the Sydney Opera House for a concert performance of La Gioconda “the world’s leading tenor” Jonas Kaufmann. Brilliant concert!
And don’t tell anyone, but I had my first dinner at a vegetarian restaurant and the food was really good! Normally when I see any word with “-tarian” in it I run. After I ate, it didn’t feel like I had just had dinner. Hmmm… maybe there’s something to all that after all.
So here’s a few photos from my Sydney walks with friends:
AC/DC Lane in Melbourne, Australia is full of fantastic street art and murals. Here are photos I took on “Acca Dacca” lane and surrounding streets in Melbourne. This was the most fun I’ve had yet doing street art photography. The only other city I’ve been to that even comes close is Hamburg, Germany (which I affectionately call the “Steampunk City”)
Photos taken with a Sony A7 iv camera and Sony GM 35mm lens. Photos taken August 2023
Continue reading “AC/DC Lane street art in Melbourne, Australia”
On to Australia with Cirque du Soleil starting with Brisbane as we make our way performing down the East Coast. Highlights for me were visiting the Australia Zoo (the conservation park of the Steve Irwin family), the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Museum of Natural History and of course the wonderful restaurants in Brisbane
A wonderful two weeks in Auckland, New Zealand complete with a hike through the Karamatura Valley rainforest, views from the Sky Tower, visiting the WETA Workshop film special effects center and of course the wonderful natural landscapes of the New Zealand north island.
Are you a Lord of the Rings fan? Check out my photos from Hobbiton (The Shire) here: https://conradaskland.com/blog/hobbiton-photos-at-lord-of-the-rings-filming-location-in-matamata-new-zealand/
A lovely three weeks in Christchurch, New Zealand. These are photos in Christchurch proper, the Botannical Gardens and view from the nearby Gondola ride up a mountainside. The Botannical Gardens were so beautiful (even at the start of New Zealand winter) that I went three times for leisurely strolls.
Christchurch, NZ had a major earthquake in 2011 that destroyed many homes and buildings. They are still rebuilding. A unique aspect to this is that many of the sides of the buildings have been opened up to street artists for mural paintings. I love street art and I haven’t seen this much street art in a city since visiting Hamburg, Germany earlier this year.
Continue reading “Christchurch, New Zealand photos – June 2023”
I’ve been in New Zealand for a month now and have had the opportunity to visit a few of the filming locations for the Lord of the Rings movies. By far my favorite has been “Hobbiton” in Matamata, New Zealand. Hobbiton is about 3 hours outside of Auckland and is the location of the Hobbit “Shire” where Bilbo Baggins and Frodo lived. A beautiful landscape on a still-working farm complete with rolling green hills, sheep and over 40 hobbit holes carved into the hillsides. Part of the tour was drinking ale at the Green Dragon tavern and walking across the bridge that Gandalf went across to enter the Shire in the Lord of the Rings movies. All my friends also enjoyed this tour so I highly recommend it (and you can also get a tour that includes the Glow Worm caves in Waitomo)
Continue reading “Hobbiton photos at Lord of the Rings filming location in Matamata, New Zealand”
Recently I did some landscape photography in my hometown of Mount Vernon, WA. We have beautiful farms and agriculture in the Skagit Valley of Washington State (USA). I was fortunate to have as my guide one of the most-love landscape photographers in Skagit County, Gary Brown. He showed me many tips on composition, location and post processing.
If you love landscape photography check out Gary Brown’s Instagram page at: https://www.instagram.com/garylbrownphotography/
Camera: Sony A7 iv. Lenses: Sony GM 14mm, Sony GM 35mm, Tamron 70-180mm
Here are some of the photos I took in May 2023 of the Skagit County, WA farmlands around Mount Vernon, WA:
Continue reading “Mount Vernon, WA landscape photographs – May 2023”