Flying over the clouds at sunset. NX30.
So here I am back in Melbourne after a long hiatus thanks to Samsung’s invite to be part of the NX Traveller Program. It was 10 years since the last time I left this city. What better time to come is when Singapore is as hot as sauna and Melbourne is as cold as a freezer! Well after experiencing sub zeros in New York City the milder 10+ degree is as good as an overzealous colleague who dialed the office air-con way to 16 degree. And I am most happy to let the cold air lift a lot of hot qi out of this body after a hectic May-June activities.
The place we are to spend our nights while in Melbourne city will be at The Citadines along Bourke Road (managed by Singapoe’s Ascott group which is in turn owned by Capitaland a Singapore Government linked company). The hotel is just half a block away from the city’s Chinatown and a stone throw away from the Parliament hall.
Nice interior thought the bed can be a tad firmer for those who needed the support. Otherwise top notch. Shot with Samsung K Zoom.
Bourke Road can be said to be the Orchard Road of the city with major departmental stores such as Myer and David Jones being part of the local shopping landscape for a very long time. The latest was actually Japan’s Uniqlo, much to the delight of Asian residents here in Melbourne (the cheap prices do help too). The Citadines is basically right smack in the middle of the action with Melbourne’s own Broadway just around the corner as well with Les Miserables playing in the theatre while we are here (no time for that unfortunately).
After settling ourselves down it was already dark (winter days means 5pm sunset), Alex Ortega and me decided to venture out to the city a bit. For me I needed to re-orientate myself a bit and also shoot a bit more with the Samsung NX30 and NX3000 and get myself up to speed with the operations.
One of the three bronze statues along Swanston street. NX 30 + 18-55mm Kit Lens at ISO1600.
Mini Photographer posing in front of the Melbourne Trams. ISO 3200. Noise level not bad at all though details starting to get muddled.
Speedy on Flinders. Theme on Movement.
The older Trams that I am more familiar with. Panning shot with the NX 3000 at ISO1600 at 16mm f2.8 1/20 sec.
In Love by Samsung. A couple engaging in a public show of affection next to the #S5water installation.
St Pauls’ Cathedral at night. During my stay in Melbourne the church was shrouded with scaffolds to restore the church. It was good that the its facade can now be seen with mood lighting. On the whole the junction of Swanston and Flinders is now brighter as a result.
Of light, silhouette and shadows.
Melbourne city is drenched when we arrived but we escaped the howling winds and storm a day prior to our arrival and for that I am grateful. You can imagine the cold if that is to happen.
As for the cameras, I started to get used to them and tried to push them to the limits and use a faster lens if possible to utilise a lower ISO setting to maintain some image quality. Focusing can be a tad frustrating at times especially at night. Took me a while to understand its idiosyncrasies and get the focusing in quickly.
Four Port USB Charger.
My pet peeve: Camera should have a charger when travelling. Not a fan of USB port charging when it comes to bigger gadgets it get bad. My solution is to get those 4 ports chargers and I charge all four gadgets – 2x cameras, 1x K zoom and 1x tablet – using only one power socket. Still it will be good if I have an external charger with more batteries just in case.
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