Degraves Street - Melbourne

Degraves Street in Melbourne, Australia

The lanes and alleys of Melbourne are quite busy as they are full of small Cafe's and bars. I spent quite a bit of time wondering around them with the camera. We also stopped at a one of the cafes for a really good meal. The photographs on this post were taken down Degraves Street which is quite close to the Flinders Street station.  More images after the jump.

Coffee shop down Degraves Street - Melbourne

Violinist down Degraves Street - Melbourne

Degraves Street Melbourne, Australia

A Cafe down Degraves Street - Melbourne

Graffiti - Hosier Lane, Melbourne

Graffiti - photographed down Hosier Lane in Melbourne

Hosier Lane, on  the southern end of Melbourne's CBD, is famous for it's street art and graffiti. The graffiti covered walls have become a back drop for fashion and wedding photography as well as being a tourist attraction. The lane is also featured in state sponsored tourism campaigns and other publications. Everything along the lane, including the bins which are shown in one of the images below, is covered in Graffiti. The street art on the walls along Hosier lane is legal. More images inside.

Graffiti - photographed down Hosier Lane in Melbourne

While I was photographing the lane, several groups of tourists and school children were being guided through. A number of other photographers were also wondering along the lane capturing images of whatever caught their eye. Below is a selection of images which I managed to capture over the two hours I spent in the area.

Graffiti - photographed down Hosier Lane in Melbourne

Graffiti - photographed down Hosier Lane in Melbourne

Graffiti Bins - photographed down Hosier Lane Melbourne

Graffiti - photographed down Hosier Lane in Melbourne

Graffiti - photographed down Hosier Lane in Melbourne

Graffiti - photographed down Hosier Lane in Melbourne

All these images were captured with the Canon 7D and a 24-105mm lens.

Melbourne

Flinders Street station - Melbourne, Australia

It has taken me five years to make it down to Melbourne since relocating to Sydney in early 2005. We spent last weekend in and around the Melbourne CBD catching up with a few friends and family.  I had Friday and Monday off as well and spent the extra days wondering around the city with the camera. The image above is of Flinders Street station, one of the bigger stations in the CBD.  More images and info after the jump.

St Pauls Cathedral - Melbourne, Australia 

St Pauls Cathedral, shown in the image above, is on the opposite side of the road from Flinders Street station. This was the first time I had actually been inside the cathedral itself and unfortunately I didn't have the tripod with me. There wasn't a lot of light inside and I had to shoot at 1/10th of a second at f4. Fortunately I found a railing right in the middle of the isle which I was able to use for support. 

Horse rides in the city - Melbourne, Australia

Horse carriages are a common sight along Swanston street in the heart of Melbourne. Usually you'll see around five or six carriages taking tourists for a ride (literally and metaphorically) from the city to the Shrine of Remembrance and back, along St Kilda Road. 

Art and Craft Markets - Melbourne, Australia

We also spent some time at the art and craft markets, which are on every sunday. The stalls were quite interesting and some of them had some really good black and white images for sale. The stall selling frames made out of reclaimed wood (fence posts etc) is also worth a visit. I could have easily spent a couple of hours more browsing through the stalls.

Sculpture of a Hammer thrower at Queen Victoria Gardens - Melbourne Australia

John Robinson's bronze sculpture of a hammer thrower was unveiled in 1974 by Lord Mayor Cr Whalley can be found in Queen Victoria gardens. The title of the sculpture is "The Pathfinder" and it is part of Melbourne's collection of sculptures of sporting heroes. Stealing the hammer from the statue has become a common prank amongst Melbournians and as a result, the hammer is removed from the sculpture every evening and replaced the following morning.  The statue had been removed when I captured the image above.

The Sherlock Holmes - Melbourne, Australia

The lanes and alleys of Melbourne are full of small pubs and bars which are packed on Friday and Saturday nights. The wooden sign board of the Sherlock Holmes, on Collins Street, caught my eye when I was walking past heading towards docklands. I think the flowering pot plants also added to the image.

All the images on this post were captured with a Canon 7D and a Canon 24-105mm lens.  More images from melbourne will be covered in future posts.