Photos of the Al Seef souk old town area of Dubai, UAE

While performing in Abu Dhabi, UAE – we had the opportunity to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. I visited in the early evening and was able to hear the beautiful dusk call to prayers.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is located in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. It is the country’s largest mosque, and is the key place of worship for daily Islamic prayers.

The Grand Mosque was constructed between 1994 and 2007 and was inaugurated in December 2007. The building complex measures approximately 290 by 420 m (950 by 1,380 ft), covering an area of more than 12 hectares (30 acres), excluding exterior landscaping and vehicle parking. The main axis of the building is rotated about 12° south of true west, aligning it in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Photos from my two weeks in Montreal, Canada for Christmas 2023 through New Year’s Day. We were in Montreal performing with the Cirque du Soleil show Crystal at the Bell Centre arena. Here are photos I took around Montreal city including Notre Dame cathedral, the Sphere, Cirque du Soleil international headquarters and the Montreal Christmas Market.

Last year I missed the Christmas markets when we were performing in Germany, so I was very happy this year to make it to the Montreal Christmas market. I will have great memories of Montreal as always. A beautiful city with a wonderful and interesting bilingual culture.

These photos were taken with a Sony A7 iv camera. Lenses are the Sony GM 14mm and Sony GM 35mm

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!

My Astro Photography adventure started with a small group tour to Lake Clifton, then the next day on a star gazing tour of the Pinnacles – and then I attended a two day Milky Way photography workshop at the Perth Observatory! I didn’t realize that the Milky Way looks very different from Western Australia than it does from North America. The sky is so full of color in the Milky Way – really amazing! I am looking forward to continuing to improve on Astro Photography in the future. Some of the night sky photos below are from my first and second days trying Astro Photography (and before my Milky Way workshop at the Perth Observatory)

Our Cirque du Soleil shows of Crystal at the RAC Arena in Perth were also very fun with each show’s audience over 7,000 people. Really fun crowds in Perth! There is so much beauty in Western Australia that I hope to return someday and explore more up and down the coast

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).

The University campus was beautiful and they had flags hanging all over campus with the inspirational motto: “Make History”. I thought, how awesome it must be to go to a university that has such a grand challenge as that. I hope the students take it to heart, to make history (in a good way!).

At the National Gallery I was given permission by security to record video in front of the paintings. So on my YouTube channel you’ll see a few Short Videos where I introduce the painting and then animate those classic paintings singing different pop and hip hop songs. I wish I had thought of doing that at other museums like the Louvre! (FYI – on my TikTok channel I do have Mona Lisa singing the “Milkshake” song)

Here’s the photos from Adelaide, Australia:

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

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

The tortoise in the photos is one of the “animal encounters” I had at the wildlife parks. His name is Igloo and he’s a tortoise only in his 40’s. I was able pet and/or hold a koala, rhinoceros, giraffe, two large snakes and of course the tortoises. They only let you visit the crocodiles from a distance…

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/