Architecture in Japan

Some of the recent additions to the Japanese skyline from my early 2015 visit. These are from Nagoya and central Tokyo with a couple at the end from Sakushima Island. My next post will be more of a collection of Vernacular Architecture plus some crazy street scenes in Tokyo. It was such a blessing to be able to spend a full month exploring the cities and countryside of Japan this year.

I was pleased to keep my travel kit to a minimum - small point + shoot (Fijifilm x100t) and a Canon 5D with 24mm TiltShift lens, mini carbon fibre legs and some ND filters for long exposures - not too many clouds for the whole month so I only had one chance to use the filters on the Mode Gakuen Cocoon Tower in Tokyo.

James Cook University

Its been some time between blog posts on this site as I've been in Japan for the past month. Got tons of new material from that recent trip to upload (travel and architecture images of Japan). Since returning I've been hard at it with various new assignments. Can't wait to have a chance to sit down and go through all my Japan stuff. For now though here are a few images of some of the new architecture that is popping up around the Townsville campus. At least another two iconic buildings are under construction now - exciting times ahead...

On The Streets of Melbourne

The transformation of Melbourne from the town that I grew up in all those years ago has been nothing short of remarkable. I have always loved it as a city and not surprising it is often rated as one of the most liveable cities in the world. That could now be somewhat debatable given the current traffic congestion and steep growth in house prices.

Of course the the new architecture of Melbourne is amazing even if "facadism" seems to be still alive and well. I don't get all the triangles though - what happened to circles, squares and rectangles. Every new bit of Melbourne design features the triangle as a motif from public transport to building facades and regional logos. I would love to know what is behind Melbourne's love of the triangle. Anyway here are some images from a quick tour through the city a couple of months ago.

Gold Coast Architecture Part 2

Some long exposures from the Gold Coast with what has turned out to be a faulty filter by Firecrest. Thankfully the people at B+H in New York are sending me a replacement just in time for my upcoming trip to Japan in a few weeks time. It created these weird rings in the sky with any image shot at any aperture smaller than f5.6. Totally useless when I'm wanting to do 5 minute or longer exposures. Still a bit of heavy black and white + lots of grain in post has masked the worst of it. Lesson number one - always test out new gear before heading off for a shoot. Of course I know that - I simply didn't follow my own advice this time.