Our Other Blog: Two Sisters and Two Points of View
by Taswegian1957 & Human59
I could not help but think of the beautiful reflections that I see in the still waters of the Huon River on a calm day. That’s where most of these photos were taken either at Port Huon, Franklin or Huonville. The last two were taken at Strahan on Tasmania’s West Coast and Lake Dulverton at Oatlands.
This post is also my entry for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge on the subject of water.
I’ve chosen some photos of some large cities, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Densely populated cities with highrise buildings may be interesting places to photograph but I would not care to live in one.
“You can’t eat scenery.” someone said to me once. I think we had been remarking on the lovely views from a house we’d been looking at. As a practical person I know that’s true but I do like to live in appealing surroundings. Tasmania is a state with some sensational scenery which is why many people from the other states choose to make their home here. The Huon Valley, where I live, is one of the prettiest parts of Tasmania.
I never get tired of looking at the views of the Huon River. Sometimes it’s mirror smooth, sometimes it’s grey and cold looking.
Tasmania was a huge apple producer until the 1970s and there are old packing sheds and pickers huts dotted here and there. There are still orchards although many growers have changed to cherries now.
When I used to work in Hobart I would travel to and from Geeveston on the bus, a trip of over an hour but I never got tired of the views. I imagined all the tourists who would be paying good money to see views that I saw nearly every day.
Occasionally in winter, there may be a heavy snowfall. Often I want to say to the driver, “Stop the bus!” so I can take photos but of course I can’t do that so I sometimes try to snap a few out of the window.
I don’t actually have much of a view from my house. I can see the road and a row of tall gum trees, not the water or the hills or fields but the views are all around me so I don’t really mind.
I don’t consciously think about the rule of thirds when I’m taking pictures, but I probably do when I’m editing them as I often crop photos. I do enjoy looking at subjects that are a little off centre but every picture is different sometimes it’s fine to break the rules.
An old church in Dover, Tasmania
As an island state with a river running through it, Singapore has a lot of bridges, some old, some new and some inside shopping malls.
Today is ANZAC Day. I didn’t get up early to go to the dawn service or catch the bus to see the parade in Hobart but the above are some photos that I took of the 2015 march.
I don’t think of the march as a celebration of war so much as a day that we remember the fallen.
Years ago when I used to go Dawn Service and to see the march in Adelaide regularly I used to enjoy seeing the pleasure the veterans got out of seeing old friends that maybe they didn’t see very often and their determination to go the distance even though they were old and maybe disabled.
It was once felt that the ANZAC tradition would die once the men and women who served in the world wars were gone but instead it seems to have become bigger. Of course, we’re never going to run out of conflicts to lose soldiers in.
I just hope that young people are commemorating the day for the right reasons. Many young Australians like to visit Turkey and spend ANZAC Day at Gallipoli but it was not meant to be about rock concerts and selfies. It’s a time to be solemn, reflect and do our best to make sure that no more young men have to die in a war.
As I used my most recent street photos for Sonofabeach96’s Which Way Challenge I’m delving into the far past for these old ones. They were taken in 1990 on our overseas trip. I have many more but a lot of that trip was photographed on slide film and I haven’t scanned very many. One day I must finish doing that.
The first one is more of a trail. Newly married couples would come to this spot to tie a ribbon to one of the trees for good luck. We saw it on a guided tour. They probably take selfies there now if it’s still done.
We only had a day and a half in Irkutsk but it was fine sunny winter weather. These were some of my favourite photos from the trip because I liked the architecture and the light was just right that day. I probably took these photos with my Pentax MG or possibly one of our Zenit’s.
Here are a couple of more recent photos.
