Bondi Photo Walk 2013

Wow, this year is really flying.  We've been slack again and haven't posted anything in a while. We have been madly editing our next book which should be selling in shops in Fiji by August. On top of that we have just produced another 10 postcards for the Kiribati Philatelic Bureau. And on top of that we have finally made the move to Mac, although we still run PC as well. More on the transition in another post.

We recently went on our first Photo Walk from Bronte Beach to Bondi. We'd never been on one of these before so weren't  sure what to expect. The event was hosted by American landscape photographer Colby Brown and local photographer Michael Sutton with sponsorship/support from +Google Australia, +Induro, +SmugMug, +f-stop, +Goal Zero, Samsung Camera & Custom DSLR.

We don't think that they expected the turnout they they got as it ended up breaking the world record for photo walks. An estimated 400 photographers/enthusiasts made it a somewhat congested walk for  a while, but surprisingly the group thinned out and by the time we reached Bondi we were almost alone. We must say that the event was extremely well organised and included snacks & water being provided by the sponsors.

Anyway, it was a great day and although I thought there would be a little more interaction with other photographers (most people kept to themselves! or maybe it was just us) it was definately worth it. 

Here are just a few of our images that were taken on the walk. 

View between Bronte & Bondi Beach

Bondi Beach Graffiti Art

Mermaids

View looking towards Bondi Beach

Arty Farty Rock
(well thats what we call it)

Afternoon shower over North Bondi

Fiji Islands, Nadi

Happy New Year to everyone. Hope you all have a happy & safe 2013.
Just edited this shot and thought we would share it. It was taken on one of our many trips to the Fiji Islands. The shot was taken overlooking Nadi Bay with a storm approaching. This is the same spot that was recently hit by Cyclone Evan. For anyone that's interested, this image is also for sale at http://bit.ly/WHuba9  Hope you enjoy.

Italy, Venice - Then & Now - Part 2

This is Part 2 in our Venice "Then & Now"series of photos. To see Part 1, which explains more about this project either scroll down or visit -

 http://widescenes.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/venice-then-now-part-1.html 

This image is titled "Rio delle Meraviglie" which is in the Dorsoduro sestiere of Venice. We're not sure where this comes from as every indication shows that this is actually "Rio di San Trovaso". As mentioned in our previous post, we researched the locations of all the images in the "Ricordo di Venezia" book and we found this particular location as one of the most difficult to locate even though the description below describes a "Palace" as being on the right! The Meraviglie on the image & the Meravegie on the back of the image really baffled us. In the end it ended up being not far from the Accademia Bridge. 

Book circa 1930 (image looks older!)

2012

The text at the back of this image in the book is as follows - It actually spells the canal as "Rio delle Meravegie". Not the most descriptive caption in the book!!

"On the right: Contarini Corfu Palace" 

See if you can notice any of the changes between the 2 images and leave us a comment.

Nauru

Now, not many people have heard of Nauru. Most Australians have probably heard of it but possibly are unaware of where it is. This tiny island country was used for years as the "Processing Centre" of refugees who attempted to illegally enter Australia by boat. This is where refugees were housed while their refugee status was investigated prior to either being allowed into Australia or deported back to their own countries (they were mostly from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran or Sri Lanka).
The island is only is only 21 square kms and with the world's second smallest population makes it also the smallest Republic. During the 1960's & 1970's, Nauru enjoyed the highest per capita income of any sovereign state in the world due to its rich phosphate deposits. Unfortunately when the countries phosphate deposits were diminished so did the country's wealth. Many Nauruans have now emigrated to either Australia or New Zealand leaving a population of less than 10,000 people. 

The Australian Government brokered a deal that offered aid to Nauru in exchange for use of the island as a processing centre for refugees as mentioned above. This ended in 2008 however there are now talks of re-opening the centre after other re-location solutions to the "boat people" have been unsuccessful.

A beach on Nauru with your very own Japanese WWII bunker

Rocky beach  formations

Local Nauruan children

WWII Japanese gun emplacement

Phosphate mining has created a lunar landscape on Nauru

Remnants of a bygone era

Well, that's a bit of history about the island. Needless to say, very very few travellers or tourists visit Nauru, which is a shame because the island is worthy of a visit. You certainly will get most of the beaches to yourself and the locals are extremely friendly. There are also some Japanese WWII bunkers & gun emplacements on the island which attracts a few veterans and historians. The fishing is stupendous here and it is extremely easy to organise a fishing trip with a local. You can also do an interesting drive across the island and see the bizarre lunar landscape as a result of the years of phosphate mining.  All in all its a great place to visit to get away from it all but expect to mostly create your own entertainment.

You can get to Nauru from Brisbane, Australia flying with 'Our Airline'. The airline currently flies Brisbane - Nauru - Marshall Islands - Kiribati (Tarawa) - Nadi . So if you are island hopping then it is a great way to see some of the more remote islands of this part of the Pacific. Accommodation is available at the Menen Hotel, which is where we stayed however it is a little isolated. Nearer to the main town is the Od-n Aiwo Hotel - nothing  flashy but if you want to be not far from the town centre and facilities then this may be your best bet.

For more information on Nauru please visit the Nauru Tourism website. Most of the images on this site were taken by us when we were commissioned by the SPTO (South Pacific Tourism Organisation). 

Ever been to Nauru? If so, would love to hear your comments. For more images of Nauru visit our website.

Italy, Venice - Then & Now - Part 1

Earlier this year we were fossicking through a small bookshop in the suburb that we live in. The owner specialises in old books and we spent quite a few hours there. We were about to leave with a handful of old travel guides when the owner suggested that we have a look at another box that he had out the back. In this box we found several small old books called "Ricordo di Venezia" & Ricordo di  Napoli". Well, we really wouldn't call them books, they're more like ornate versions of a concertina postcard book (without being postcards!!). Strangely there is no details whatsoever mentioning a date or publisher of these books, however with some research we believe the Venice book is circa 1930 (mind you, we are not sure how old some of the actual photos are). Each image has text in 4 languages (Italian, French, English & German), so they were obviously produced as a souvenir item for travellers. Funny enough, all of the locals we met in both Venice & Naples had never seen them and were fascinated by these books which led to quite a few doors being opened for us in our quest. 

Having been to Venice & Naples several times, these books really got our creative juices flowing. As a result we thought we would do a series of "then & now" style images. How hard could that be? Simple right! Just go to Venice and take the photo from the same spot, a bit of editing and "bobs your uncle"- easy. Well, how naive we were. Many of the shots were now just impossible to do, not because of the crowds but simply because access to the spots were no longer allowed and were at times so frustratingly close yet inaccessible.

We have tried to get the images as close to the original as possible however this has not always been possible but it gives you pretty good idea of the "then & now" concept. We have used Photoshop to blend some of the original image into the new photo to enhance the concept.

2012

Book circa 1930 (image looks older!)

The text at the back of this image in the book is as follows -

"This Canal is most characteristic and of notable beauty. The <campanile> which is seen - one, of the most stately of Middle Ages - is annexed to the Church of S. Barnaba, and was built by the architect Boschetti in 1749. This church boasts of pictures by Titian."

To automatically receive new posts for this project simply fill in your email details on the right hand side of the page. Hope you enjoy.

Leave us a comment and stay tuned for more....

Vietnam, Central Highlands

We have been digging through our Vietnam archives. This image, which has never been previously released was taken in 1995 in a small village in the Central Highlands between the towns of Buon Ma Thuot & Pleiku. 

Follow our blog by email to be notified of more great images when they are added.

Montenegro, Kotor

Wow, time flies!. Just realised that our last blog post was back in August. We had planned to loyally keep the blog up to date while we were in Europe for 6 weeks but after shooting images all day & everyday for 6 weeks, downloading images every night, intermittent wi-fi connections, and just because we were buggered (tired,knackered,exhausted) - it didn't happen.

Kotor old-town at dusk

Most of our time on this trip was spent in specific places that we'd been to many times as we were trying to complete projects that are in the pipeline however before our visit to the Frankfurt Book Fair we planned to spend 5 days in Kotor, Montenegro - a place we had never visited but had heard a lot about.

Now, we were under the illusion that getting to Kotor was fairly simple as it is not exactly that remote, just down the road from Dubrovnik really!. Well, we thought wrong. Our plans initially had us going there directly after Santorini, Greece in mid September which as far as we were concerned was still a pretty busy month in the Mediterranean. As time was of the essence, we just could not make it work on the dates we wanted (ferries to Bar on the coast had stopped by the end of August), so we moved our visit till the end of the trip sandwiched between Naples, Italy and the Frankfurt Book Fair. We still had to spend 5 hours at Belgrade airport for a connecting flight but the wait was worth it. 

Kotor is becoming a  popular cruise ship destination especially for vessels doing the well trodden Adriatic cruise ports of Venice, Dubrovnik, Bari & Corfu. The old-town gets a bit inundated with the usual cruise ship tour groups but if you hire a car and explore the surrounding region it is amazingly tourist free. The coastal areas around Budva are geared towards mass Eastern Bloc tourism, especially from Russia but a visit to the area around the island of Sveti Stefan is still worthwhile (although the island is now a 5 Star resort and you cannot visit, unless you can afford to stay there of course!).

Here are just a few of our images taken in Kotor & surroundings. We will be posting more images on our website soon or you can 'Like Us' on Facebook to see more stunning images of this destination including quite a few HDR images.

The old town of Kotor taken with a 8mm 180degrees fisheye lens

1400 steps to the top for spectacular views

Rooftops - Kotor old-town

View from the top - Kotor old-town is in the foreground

Early morning - Kotor

Perast and the small island "Our Lady of the Rocks" 

We highly recommend a visit to this wonderful region. Most people will visit Dubrovnik in Croatia and bypass this area altogether on their way to Greece or Italy, however if you spend a few days in Kotor you will not be disappointed.