Colourscape III: Fluff in a Sea of Red

When the winds howl, and the red leaves fall like rain, it must be autumn.

Urbanscape III: Railway Ribbon Through the Bush

The railway line carves through and follows the ribbon of human living through the Blue Mountains bush.

Colourscape II: Sharp and Crunchy

There's no mellowness of colours in this colourscape - it's all bold, funky and bright.

If you look closely, there are actually a couple of pink Rhododendron blossoms in the midst of the green. (They obviously didn't get the memo about being spring flowers).

Colourscape I: Mellow Palette

Nightscape II: Waiting at Roadworks

Cityscape V: The Old and the New

Cityscape IV: Memories of Mawson

If you don't know who Douglas Mawson was, look him up right now. 

How he survived his Australasian Antarctic Expedition is a story worth hearing.

It's nice to see public memorials to him in Hobart, although I still feel that he should be better known that he is.

Even if he is remembered in more than one way:

Cityscape III: Skylines

Waterscape III: The May Queen

The magnificent Dame, the May Queen. 

The Dame with seagull.

I think it's been rigged, don't you? (*ducks* Sorry, sorry, I know...)

Cityscape III: Bird's Eye View

Nightscape I: Shipping Views

The romance of a ship at night, in autumn. 

Cityscape II: Good Morning Hobart

Cityscape I: Red Lights at Night

Moonscape II: Scooby-Doo Nights

Nothing says 'Scooby-Doo' quite as effectively as dark clouds partially obscuring a full moon. 

"Beware! There be mysterious comings and goings down by the docks after midnight!"

Cue the theremin music. 

...

"I'd've gotten away with it if it weren't for you rotten kids!"

Moonscape I: Indigo Sky, Black Water

Waterscape II: Two worlds

The working vessel and the bright lights beyond. 

And a similar setting during morning hours:

Waterscape I: Lights on the Water at Dusk

My first walk around the harbour. 

It looked as though Hobart was throwing on all its glittering jewellery for the evening...

Seascape II: Layers of Hobart's Harbour

You can see the type of warehouses and associated dockland buildings of the kind of working harbour it might have been in the past. 

Now, although there are many fishing boats moored up, many of the buildings have taken up new lives as restaurants.

Seascape I: Harbourside Hobart

The first photo from the elevator/lobby area on my floor (before I'd even gotten I my room!)

I'm pleased to say by the way, that my room had this same view too!

(Photoshopped only with a warming filter, 'cos it was nearing 5pm and dusk was settling in).

Oh, and lest you be fooled into thinking that the traffic in the foreground represents the sum of Hobart peak hour, believe me, that road could get a lot busier!

Landscape I: Welcome to Tasmania

This was taken on my first-ever trip to Tasmania in May 2014. 

It was for work, so it was a short trip. But thanks to the all-in-one portability of the smartphone, I got to make the most of the slivers of sightseeing I did. 

Bleached fields that are dried blond, the horizon made lumpy by hills, and definitely an indescribably Australian landscape. 

You can absolutely tell that Tassie used to be connected to mainland Australia a long time ago. 

These are similar to the sights that greet you at the airport itself, when you hop off the plane onto the tarmac. (These were taken on the airport route).

Streetscape II: A Wintry Arvo

One of the satisfying things about this photo is that everything about it screams 'cold, wintry/autumny afternoon'. Which is exactly what it was. 

Cue cozy fire and hot chocolate...

Streetscape I: The 'Kiss and Ride'

Behind bars at a train station, looking out at the 'kiss and ride' (ie, the pick-up and drop-off point). 

Modernscape I: Right Angles and Straight Lines

I can imagine that the words "crisp, clear lines" were quite integral to this concept and design. 

With the major exception of the curved roof above the glass frontage, everything else in this photo has right angles and/or straight lines (even the sunlight). 

Urbanscape II: Railing for the Machine

It somehow seems appropriate to photograph railway tracks and associated steel-and-wire accoutrements with carefully-unkempt land, in order to properly give that impression of urban neglect and/or industrial coldness.

Bushscape I: The Near and the Far

An enclosed bush garden overlooking the Blue Mountains bush, in Katoomba. 

Urbanscape I: Suburbanality at the Edge of Bush

A shopping centre in one of the Blue Mountains villages

Shopping centres are, by and large, ugly buildings from the outside.

Roofscape I: Careworn and Careful

Bit of a bleak vibe, I think. Especially under the grey sky. 

Crumbling, neglected spaces can have their own romance, but it's a bit hard to see any here.

It needs something to add a dreary drizzle of romance... Maybe a parkour dude reclaiming the space?

Shadowscape

May Theme: 'Scapes

So a wee bit late with introducing my theme for May, but better late than never etc etc. 

Part of the reason for the delay (besides the usual life-getting-in-the-way one) is that I couldn't quite decide what the theme should be. It needs a balance between being not-too-difficult to produce (real life having a tendency to gobble up much of my time) and yet still being interesting for me (what can I say, I'm difficult). 

In the end, this month's theme decided itself for me. It wedged itself into my brain before I even knew I'd committed myself to it. 

And the theme is: 'scapes!

As in: land~scapes, sea~scapes, mountain~scapes, urban~scapes... And so on. 

(Probably be looking to escape the word by month' end too! Ha!)

The word actually comes from academia, and Professor Arjun Appadurai, who, back in the 1990s, came up with a very creative way of describing different aspects of globalisation: ethnoscapes, financescapes, ideascapes, mediascapes, and technoscapes ... They refer of course to the global circulation respectively of people, capital, ideas, media, technology ... (Look him up: Appadurai, 1992). 

I'm taking a sensible academic idea and running it in silly directions, with apologies to academics and wordsmiths, alike. 

Enjoy. 

Spotty and Dotty

Playing with one of the Gestalt ideas - the one where a theme is repeated throughout the photo. 

In this case, the theme is the dots (or spots) of rain echoed into the still-in-bud flowers. 

It's always a good exercise to take the time to spot the little gems and moments of beauty in our everyday worlds. 

Raindrops on Rose

The last defiant flourish of autumn from the roses before (metaphorically) shutting up shop for the winter. 

You can just about see the tiny raindrops on the petals. 

Falling Solo

The autumn leaves are falling in earnest, often gathering in earnest brightly-coloured bunches. 

But this one fell solo, for a striking contrast. 

Even more striking with the help of Photoshop. 

Gone with the Wind

This leaf hanging around is all the work of a blustery wind on an icy autumn weekend. 

The leaf looks effectively trapped, but a few minutes later, it was gone. 

Trapped by the wind, freed by the wind, and gone with the wind.