the suburbs | melbourne

I've always loved documenting. Having my camera dangling around my neck and taking it with me everywhere, snapping. A bird, some fallen leaves, a stranger I pass on the sidewalk. I never want to forget a moment.

Dan and I flew to Melbourne for a job one weekend last year, and this was no different. We took a day to explore the Great Ocean Road and spent the rest of our time in Melbourne exploring the city and its suburbs in between jobs, meetings and shoots. 

We spent our first evening exploring Fitzroy Gardens.

Late nights driving through Melbourne.

Early mornings. This was our view from our apartment balcony, the whole city covered in fog.

We spent an afternoon after a job driving around the suburbs and stopping on pretty streets to take pictures.

Our hire car for the weekend.

Behind the scenes of a collaboration shoot with Caitlin May. You can see all the final photos in my blog post Rose Tinted.

We photographed and walked through the rain.

Flying back home.

all photos edited with my The Essentials Kit Lightroom Presets!

the falls

Before my year of endless summer (so over a year ago now!), Dan and I took a trip to Melbourne, Victoria. We hired a car and drove down the Great Ocean Road chasing waterfalls along the way.

all photos edited with my Melbourne Lightroom Preset & Disposable Film Lightroom Preset

rose tinted

while i was in melbourne a little while ago, i got to catch up with caitlin may and shoot with a group of talented ladies. we met up at caitlin's house in the morning where jan worked her magic on hair and makeup on aimee, then we headed off to our location. while we were shooting, it rained and the sun shone. we pat beautiful horses and ran up and down the middle of empty roads.

collaboration with  caitlin may photography

makeup  janice wu

model  aimee @ vivien's

photos in the field edited with the NEW! dulcet photoshop action | black and white images edited with paris lightroom preset

the great ocean road

the australian coastline is one of my favourite places to be. i have always loved our beautiful beaches, rolling meadows and cliffs with angry waves. in new south wales, dan and i spend most of our time exploring the coast, so while sam and i were visiting melbourne, the great ocean road was something we had to do. 

we woke up before the sunrise and walked through the tired-eyed city to get breakfast before heading off on our long drive. the great ocean road is an amazing drive through winding mountains, with roads lining the sea and dwelling through canopies of trees. we stopped at more lookouts and beaches than we could count, walked through one of the oldest forests in victoria, lost our breath while climbing up steep staircases on the side of cliffs, were almost swallowed by the sea while taking pictures on the rocks near the 12 apostles and took a helicopter ride (my first!) to see the amazing view.

this was my second time on the great ocean road, and it's something i would probably do every time i go to visit victoria. there's just something about that place that i love. maybe it's that you get to roadtrip and be constantly surrounded by beautiful landscapes, that the view is ever changing and ever beautiful, when you stop at the top of a mountain and look out you are lost for a minute while taking it all in. maybe it's because every time you go back it will all be a little bit different, or maybe it's just a magical place for me. 

either way, these are my photos from our roadtrip through the great ocean road to the 12 apostles.

I also have some exciting news because I've started sharing more fashion shoot behind the scenes videos + Lightroom & Photoshop Tutorials on my YouTube Channel! Be sure to subscribe as I upload 2 new videos every week x

melbourne

during august, my best friend sam and i made a last minute decision to visit melbourne. we wanted to go on a little adventure, so we bought tickets and headed off. i've been to melbourne twice, so this trip was my third time. after traveling to europe last year, when i explored melbourne this time, it reminded me of a mini london somehow. there was constantly little reminders of that beautiful european city that i kept seeing while strolling the streets of melbourne.

we spent a few days in the city and one day on the great ocean road (that blog post will be coming tomorrow!). we spent every minute walking around and taking pictures, we ate more than we probably should have (there were just too many amazing food choices!), we got lost on the trams, explored all the little streets and laneways, slept too little and got rained on while walking around. it was an amazing trip to say the least, melbourne does it for me every time. it's a beautiful, creative little city and i can't wait for next time!

pyramid rock festival

in the new year, i was sent by the au review to shoot pyramid rock festival in phillip island, melbourne. the day after we got to melbourne & our ten hour drive, we woke up early and set off for another two hours to phillip island. the day was hot and the roads were long, but we listened to music loudly in the car, put together snacks and drinks for the festival and drank way too much coffee until we finally got there.

we drove through the grounds, passing hundreds of tents and roaming teenagers already drunk at one in the afternoon and got around to the back where we were lucky enough to have vip camping by the sea. i picked up my photo pass and dan and i went off in the heat to watch some music. 

at night, the air was polar and we would crawl back to the car and sit in complete happy-tiredness. the bands would sit in groups outside and play soft music, talk into the early mornings and it felt like i was in the movie almost famous. i felt at home. constant music in the background somewhere and anywhere, sun in the middle of nowhere and taking photos.

french horn rebellion, they were like monkeys running up on stage - completely awesome!

spiderbait

masculine spiderbait crowd haha

the vasco error

the herd

view from our camping ground

dan and i. i loooved the grass at the island, which seems like a silly thing to say, but it was some nice grass.

guy on a wheelchair being held up to the sky in the middle of the mosh pit

sparkadia

photographer taking photos of the crowd

gotye

gotee, goti-yeah, gote-yer

cloud control

the living end headlined the first day, they were probably my favourite act of the whole two days. they are absolutely amazing live.

second day of the festival:

calling all cars

grace woodroofe, who thought everyone who was at the festival lived on the island.

illy, they had the most energetic and crazy crowd

peeking over the fence from the vip bar

the getaway plan

graveyard train. i totally recommend listening to these guys!

drapht

taking a break in the middle of the heatwave day

boy and bear

the panics

bluejuice

last but not least, scissor sisters who played through midnight and welcomed us into the new year.

you can see

all

 the edited photos i took on the day on the au review website:

day one.

day two.

roadtrip to melbourne

we set off for melbourne late one morning

icebergs

too many kms to go

fuel

open land for forever and ever

just after we passed the border between nsw and victoria

night driving into the city

our hotel room after the festival

upside-down world

exploring the graffitied laneways, taken with my iphone

ice cream & coffee at night by the beach in a random suburb

someone's cd collection by the window

gig venue hunting

the very awesome brunswick st

visiting the docklands on our last day

over the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year, dan and i went on an adventure to melbourne. we set off for the ten hour drive late one morning. we travelled all through the day, passing broken down cars, dusty towns and forever and ever fields of desert grass, mountains and trees. the sun had started to set by the time we reached the border between two states and finally by the time we reached the city, tired, delirious and excited it was dark and late. we went out for coffee in a close by graffitied laneway, came back to our temporary home in the middle of the city and passed out.

our week in melbourne was amazing after that. i spent two days with my camera glued to my hands and fingers shooting the pyramid rock festival at phillip island, the blistering heat was overwhelming during the day and when the sun set, the island was made of ice - but nothing would stop me from seeing the world through my viewfinder, shooting strangers dancing around in panda suites and musicians running around on stage. the two days were mine to capture, and capture everything is all i did. but i'll write more about this story soon..

when we got back from the loudness and constant music all around, we chose to stay in a suburb just outside the always-moving always-rushed city of melbourne. every day we looked at a map and picked a random suburb that had an interesting name or a lovely view and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the little alleyways and long streets, the quaint shops and food-baby restaurants.

the second half of twenty-eleven was a crazy rush for me and my camera. i spent almost every day shooting, every night editing, every morning sending off cds to clients. while some days in melbourne i rested from my camera and was happy it wasn't hanging around my neck, the days that i did shoot everything i saw were the best.

one thing i'm going to attempt in 2012 is to do a 365 with my

flickr

. sometimes i will take specific photos for that day, but its mostly to motivate me to post a new picture every day for you all. and also, i haven't forgotten about free curve friday, its about to start all over again next week!

x