Recent photography kick

As some of my regular Twitter followers may know, I've been on a bit of a photography binge the last month or so. My Flickr has been ticking over regularly and attracting a fair few hits on certain days after I've uploaded some new pictures. It started when I purchased my new camera for a Muse concert I went to, Canon Powershot. I picked it because of it's high resolution and powerful zoom, 14x optical. Paid off as I got some fantastic shots from the concert, especially given I'd take all of 2 photos with it before heading into Rod Laver with it. And that made me realise that I had a pretty good tool at my disposal, so I may as well use it.

As people who have followed my Flickr realise, most of my pictures have been taken in Melbourne CBD. And it's a fascinating place to take a camera, although I'll never get why so many people focus on the architecture and the like. That's gonna be there for the prolonged feature, no need to take pictures of it. It's been done. The people and character of Melbourne is much more interesting. It's an incredibly multi-cultural city, like most of Australia, and as such you get all sorts of sights and sounds.

Most of the photos I've taken have been on my way home from work. When I'm with my camera I'll endeavour to head back to Flinders St Station a different way every day; Elizabeth St, Swanston, King, Russell etc. Sometimes going up different alleys and side streets, just looking for ways to find new sights. And as such I get different types of photos every day. Usually I'll just walk around, looking, taking my time to ensure I don't miss anything. And when I come to an intersection I'll just stand there for anywhere from 5-20 minutes just taking pictures of what I see. And trust me, you'll be amazed by what you see if you take the time to look. Especially in this city.

What's surprised me most is how indifferent the people of Melbourne are to seeing a camera and realising they're in the picture. Part of you always expects some idiot to ruin it but for the most part they carry on as if it's not there. I've said before it's like the people of Melbourne realise they're part of the picture and understand that. Which just makes getting good shots that much easier.

I shan't be one of those dolts who posts a picture and then spends 10,000 words summarising the meaning and hidden messages in my pictures, I see no point in that. To me a picture, like a drawing or painting or any form of art really, means whatever the person looking it thinks it means. That's the point of it. One thing can (hopefully) have different people think incredibly different things. If everyone just looked at something and said "Oh that's X" then there's no purpose in it, as it's just there for the sake of being there. No, instead I just put them up and if people want to they can make up their own minds. That's the whole point of being alive.