Mesmerising Melbourne

St Kilda

Melbourne is a city I would love to live in. If it wasn't for such volatile weather, it would be a no brainer, but unfortunately, I prefer the all round warmer climate of Sydney. Otherwise, Melbourne really has it all, amazing views, good vibes, (no lockout laws), amazing art/culture and a strong music scene. 

Despite visiting Melbourne countless times and taking hundreds upon hundreds of photos, this spontaneous snap outside Luna Park whilst walking to the St Kilda beach has to be one my favourite photos. The gradient of blues from top to bottom, the mix of silhouetted trees to the actual brown and greens contrast really well with each other. To top it all off, the poking out of the Great Scenic Railway roller coaster gives the photo well rounded variety. 

To find out more about this amazing city, visit http://www.visitmelbourne.com/

Fabulous Fiji

Fijian Paradise

The group of 12 boarded the plane ridiculously early in rainy Sydney eagerly awaiting our paradisiacal getaway. A few hours later when we landed, it thunderstorming and morale was low, all we wanted was sunshine, cocktails and relaxing days by the beach/pool. Luckily for us, it was a passing tropical storm, and by the time we got to our hotel, the sun was shining, cocktails were being poured and we chose our spot by the pool.

Fiji is truly a tropical paradise, with countless islands with amazing beaches, the friendliest people ever and all round good vibes, one would never want to leave. I captured the above photo on a day trip to a tiny island which only took 10 minutes to walk around. I purposely tilted the photo slightly and actively tried to contrast the greens, blues and yellows most effectively with the framing of all the different elements. This shot was more about composition rather than technical specifics on the camera.

There are countless activities for one to be a part of in Fiji, with spectacular boat cruises, inflatable water parks and just the general endless fun one can get up to on a beach, Fiji really has it all. To find out more, check out http://www.fiji.travel/

Hectic Times in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Harbour

As soon as I landed in Hong Kong, we were hit with a typhoon warning for the evening. Being my first major holiday away from Australia as an adult, I was stressing out a bit. Luckily for us, the typhoon just missed the city overnight, and the rest of the trip we were blessed by beautiful clear days. Hong Kong was such a unique experience, an extremely bustling city with deliciously cheap food, great shopping locations and stunning views. 

I took the above photo along the star walk on the harbour in the late afternoon. It was a rather muggy day and the smog gave the sun this wonderful orange tinge. I was so happy to be in the right place at the right time to capture this moment, because just fifteen minutes later, it lost the amazing orange glow. I purposely positioned the sun between the two poles to initially draw the focus upon it. Despite going to more picturesque locations, I feel this was my best/favourite photo of Hong Kong.

Other highlights of the trip included visiting the picturesque Lantau Island (and the giant bronze Buddha statue), going to Disneyland, seeing the views of the city from up on Victoria's Peak and drinking at the highest bar in the world at the top of the Ritz Carlton Hotel. For more information go to http://www.discoverhongkong.com/au/index.jsp

The Royal Views Of Queenstown

Full Rainbow over Lake Wakatipu

I was lucky enough to go on a 2000km+ road trip around the south island of New Zealand recently. Among abundant breathtaking natural sights and scenes, Queenstown stood out for the all round highlight of the trip. With a perfect mix of stunning views, convenient access to some of the best snowfields in the southern hemisphere and a great party vibe, Queenstown is definitely one of my favourite places I've ever visited. 

This photo was taken on the balcony of our sharehouse the moment I arrived. Without having much time to play around with manual settings, I just shot and hoped that the previous settings were applicable to the scene, and although not the perfect photograph, I am definitely happy with the way it turned out. A rare sight, a full rainbow, over the picturesque Lake Wakatipu with snow capped mountains just in sight and a beautiful winter's day was the best moment of magic I captured during my 3 week trip. 

Queenstown, and New Zealand in general, is an amazing place to visit and travel and one of the most beautiful places in the world. To find out more visit https://www.queenstownnz.co.nz/

Leaving my heart in Japan

Traffic in Shinjuku

Visiting Japan twice in the space of one year was a magical experience that I will never forget. From the moment I arrived, I fell in love with the country, the culture and most of all, the people. Such a genuinely nice population with every single person willing to try and help even if they didn't speak a word of English. 

The above photo is one of my all time favourite photos I've ever taken, and it was just on a whim while crossing a pedestrian bridge over the busy night traffic of Shinjuku. Using the manual setting of my DSLR to manipulate a long exposure shot with the right brightness was one of my early self introductions to manual photography. The whole country is so photogenic and I was lucky enough to be there during the cherry blossom season. 

 The nightlife of Japan was spectacular; all the bright lights, cheap alcohol, quaint little bars and some truly pumping clubs. Japan, Tokyo in particular, is definitely a place I would like to live in at some point in my life. As a self confessed nerd, being in world's capital of technology was just a constant wonder. Being surrounded by retro gaming, next gen gaming, and at the forefront of technical innovation just feels oh so right to me. Other highlights of Japan was walking the streets of Harajuku, experiencing the culture at some shrines and temples and losing myself in Akihabara. 

I highly recommend Japan to anyone and everyone! Tourism site of Japan: http://us.jnto.go.jp/

How to use your DSLR when travelling

So you’ve got your DSLR camera… but what do you do with it? What essentials do you need to know for taking those incredible shots? Look no further.

I believe the best way to learn is on the job – it’s no different for a camera. But you can’t miss the simple ways to get a head start. I’ll be explaining my tips based off my experience with the Canon EOS 700D. 

The best way to use a DSLR is manually. Understand the main camera features and play around with each of them. This is often known as the ‘exposure triangle’.

• Shutter speed: This is the amount of time the camera exposes the sensor to light in the scene. A fast shutter speed, e.g. 1/1000, exposes less light in the photo.
• Aperture: How much light enters the shot through your lens. A larger aperture e.g. F3.6 means that, means that more light enters the photo. However when the aperture is larger, the photo is more focused towards the centre and the background is blurred.
• ISO: This is the sensitivity of your camera to light. The higher ISO, e.g. 1600, means more light. However the trade-off is the quality of the image decreases and more noise/grain is in the image.

When playing around with these features, you can see the “metering” on your camera to check if it is exposed correctly.

Recommendations:

• If you want to capture a freeze of a moving object, use a fast shutter speed (1/500 and above). Adjust the other settings accordingly without sacrificing the focus and image quality.
• If you want to blur the background and focus on one particular object, e.g. a particular flower, then use the largest aperture (lowest number) to do this. F1.8-3.6 should suffice for this effect.
• If you want to put more light in the photo without having to use flash, then increase the ISO to about 1600. This is ideal for dark lighting situations, however be wary of the noise in the photo.

You can’t learn how to use a DSLR overnight, but go to different locations and take photos and test out different combinations of the features until you get the hang of it. For a virtual way to practice, check out this link from Canon: http://www.canonoutsideofauto.ca/play/

Enjoy! Stay tuned for more travel photography.

Author: Amit Balakrishnan