Tag: iPhone

Lockdown Life: COVID-19 With A Camera-phone

iPhone photos from deep inside Melbourne’s heavily-restricted life.

What a kick in the nuts COVID-19 has been! Looking on the bright side, Australia fared comparatively very well this year, but on the down side, Melbourne was forced to endure one of the harshest and strictest lockdowns on the planet. And I’m not gonna lie – it was tough. The mental stress of not knowing if things would improve, a police-enforced curfew from 8pm until 5am, being only allowed outside for 1 hour of exercise and being restricted to a 5km radius from home was extremely burdensome … and just draining overall.

But what it did give me was a greater appreciation for the everyday beauty in the ‘burbs less than 5km from my home. I’m fortunate that from Flemington there is a lot of great places nearby, and being restricted in my movements meant that I had to explore, by foot or by bike, a lot of places I would have normally bypassed. And of course I had my iPhone on me. Here is a selection of some of my favourite images from March until November (when we could finally start to get back to normal).

Some beauty in the ‘burbs … and a very empty CBD on the rare occasion I visited:

When we were permitted to travel further than 5km it was nice to by the water:

The Yarra River gets all the glory, but out west, the Maribyrnong has some real beauty:

And it’s funny, when you walk the streets, you notice so much more than when you zoom by in a car!

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Lockdown Life: Victorian Goldfields During COVID-19

Photos from Victoria’s goldfields during COVID-19 lockdown.

Well, it’s been a long time between blog posts … and the world has definitely changed! Melbourne began a COVID-19 lockdown in late March, before a gradual easing at the start of winter. And after a calamitous second wave of infections, right now we’re (hopefully) at the tail-end of a second, even stricter lockdown.

My wife and I were fortunate to be able to spend many weekends (when we could travel outside of Melbourne) at Tarnagulla in central Victoria. I spent some time exploring the bush fires trails on my mountain bike. Here’s a few iPhone images.

It’s a beautiful, peaceful part of the world … and we can’t wait to get back there.

Loddon River at Newbridge, Victoria
Loddon River at Newbridge, Victoria
Loddon River at Newbridge, Victoria
Loddon River at Newbridge, Victoria
Tarnagulla Rainbow
Tarnagulla Rainbow above the Wesleyan Methodist church and Poverty Mine poppet head.
Broadway, Dunolly.
The view from Mt Moliagul.
Tarnagulla Track.
The track up to Mt Moliagul. Worth the trek for the view…
Murderers Hill, on the road between Tarnagulla and Dunolly, where a double murder took place in 1857.
One of the sand-scrape greens of Tarnagulla & District Golf Course in the dusk light.
Tarnagulla bush track.
On the banks of the Loddon River, near Poseidon Reef. Two guys were in the news a couple of weeks ago because they dug up a $350,000 gold nugget right behind those far trees on the left. Read about it here.
Bendigo’s grand court house … doing it’s best Parisian impression.

iPhoneography: A Traveller in Tokyo

I’ve said it a few times before that my iPhone has become my favourite camera, and that had become even more so when I upgraded to to 6S and started using an app called VSCO. Visual Supply Co.’s app aims to replicate the distinctive (and undeniably hipster) looks of old film. The app is free for a dozen or so filters, and had become my go-to photo editing app in the go.

I was fortunate to travel twice to Japan in the last couple of months … and so I put my iPhone 6S and VSCO to the test, and now I’ve posted this using the WordPress app.

If you like what you see, follow me on Instagram too: @sean_radich

Jet engine
Ready for takeoff!

 

Tokyo streetscape, Shin-okubo.
Tokyo streetscape, Shin-okubo.

Tokyo apartments
Typical Tokyo room with a view…

Tokyo apartment
Some unexpected colour in a city of muted tones.

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Shibuya sunset, Tokyu Plaza.

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Entrance hall of mirrors, Tokyu Plaza.

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Senso-ji, Asakusa.

Senso-ji, Asakusa.
Senso-ji, Asakusa.

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Golden Gai, Shinjuku.

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Yakitori alley, Shinjuku, A.K.A Piss Alley.

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Ueno Station.
Ueno Station.

Australian Winter: iPhone Photography

Guthega panorama. Photo: Sean Radich
Making the most of iPhone’s panorama function and Photoshop Express editing app for this snowy Guthega view.

I’ve said it previously … and I’ll say it again: I love using my iPhone for photography! It’s not just having a conveniently-sized digital camera in your pocket, but it’s the apps to edit the photos, and the wifi & 4G internet connection to upload shots and share them with the world wherever you are … even with frozen fingers atop some of the highest mountains in Oz.

I’ve wondered for a while why the pocket digicam makers haven’t incorporated Android (or Apple) operating systems and touch screens with their wifi? Then you could carry a better camera around to snap photos on the fly, edit in Photoshop Express or VSCO directly on the camera, then upload to Instagram when you get to a wifi hotspot. I wonder if the Canons, Nikons and Sonys would have kept selling lots of point-and-shoot digital cameras, rather than lose ground to iPhones, Samsungs and iPod Touches, if they had features like that?

While you’re pondering these things, take a look at some photos that I’ve shot, edited and now posted on WordPress all via my iPhone. Technology is marvelous.

Click on the photos to open up a gallery…

What a view from the top of Mt Perisher.
Winter hit the high country, with snow covering much of the land around The Alpine Way.
When you don’t have chains, catching the Skitube to Perisher makes life much easier.
Catching a train up to the snow reminds me of my time at the Garmisch glacier GAP Camp.
Zee train, zee train!
About to enter the earth…
So frozen and windblown up top, I thought I was on Planet Hoth.
Guthega panorama
Frozen. Brrr…
The Mile High 2015 riders meeting in the fog.
15 year-old Josh Vagne already has Blue Steel (TM) on lock.
Staying at The Station for the duration of The Mile High is a little bit like school camp. Pod land.
About to drive into a super-intense microcell storm on the Monaro Hwy.
It’s an impressive building.
A bit like a solemn temple.
Church-like inside.
Colourful domed ceiling.
Very modern annex, like Jeff’s Shed in Melbourne.

Iphoneography: USA iPhone Travel Photography

Radich NY-Times Square iPhone Panorama

Someone much wiser once said something like ‘the best camera you have is the one you have on you’ … and as my iPhone 5 is nearly always always in my pocket, it has become my go-to image creator. The quality of the images you can capture are quite amazing for something that also does a pretty good job of acting like a phone … and a computer. And with the outstanding Photoshop Express app, the level of post-production and editing you can do all in the palm of your hand rivals what many amateur photographers do on their desktops.

On my latest overseas trip to the USA my iPhone well and truly got a workout on the streets of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Reno. Around NYC I often carried my Canon EOS 1D MkIV, but with the ability to edit on the fly, then directly upload to Instagram and Facebook, I found that I have enjoyed the shots I took with my Apple phone much more. And sometimes having the limitations of a non-optical zoom, 8-megapixel mini-lens makes you think just a little bit more creatively to make the most of those limitations. So take a look at some of my shots, and if you like what you see, follow me on Instagram for more of my iPhoneography.

Click on the photos below to see larger versions…

This photo was taken with a Russian Horizon Perfeckt 35mm panoramic camera, with the film cross-processed.