Winter Afternoon Photo

Photographer’s Note

This is my final shot on what has turned out to be a small theme on Sydney Harbour and the disappearance of the commercial merchant shipping industry.
This is a wide shot from my previous POV on Balls Head Reserve. In this shot you can see the final chapter in the demise of the commercial wharves that were once a thriving industry of ships and cargo. The large concrete area just off the bow of the Captain Cook Cruises boat in the middle of the image used to be a combination of containers, general cargo and Bond stores. It was known as East Darling Harbour, but recently the name was changed to “Barangaroo”. As a step to establishing this as a new harbour foreshore precinct the NSW State Government ran a competition to come up with a suitable name for this now disused and deserted area, over 1,600 entries were submitted with, Barangaroo, being the winning entry.
Barangaroo was the name of the wife of Bennelong, the prominent indigenous aboriginal after whom Bennelong Point, is named, the site of the Sydney Opera House. It was felt that the naming completes an historical link between the Eastern and Western points of Sydney’s city centre.
Barangeroo is now destined to become a mixture of open space parkland, office complexes and low rise apartments. The hope is, that because of this area’s proximity to the Central Business District it will re-establish a physical and social connection to the harbour foreshore severed by the rise of commercial shipping in years gone by. I just hope our present State Government is up to this important task.

It’s funny, what started out for me as nothing more than a camera test to see if the modifications by Doctor Nikon to my D90 improved its sharps, turned out to be, for me, quite a thought provoking theme. When I set up the camera on the end of Balls Head Reserve, the absence of commercial shipping on the harbour hadn’t occurred to me, it was only after I looked through the shots from that afternoon that I became aware of how empty and dull the harbour now is. I know that if that bright orange tanker in my first post from this theme hadn’t slipped past me on the way to open sea the thought of an empty harbour would never have occurred to me.
I hope you have enjoyed looking at this little pictorial on the life of the city.

jimkil, npecanhuk, ifege, jlbrthnn, vmf-214, Clementi, jhm, macondo, Kielia, Silversnow, BelCan75, AiresSantos, gunbud, SridharRao75, swiatopelk777, MLINES ha puntuado esta nota como útil.

Critiques | Translate

jimkil (618) 2009-06-30 1:33

Hi Peter
Very natural and crisp, I like the light in this shot very much with natural colours. Impressive skyline and harbour crossing. The boat adds interest to the eye and the note was well written.
Regards
Jim

npecanhuk (14234) 2009-06-30 2:55

Hello Peter!
Beautiful picture!
I love skyscrapers and those are quite interesting and beautiful! Sharpness, exposure, depth of field and colors are excellent! The pov was privileged and you compose this image pretty cleverly!
A view from Sidney I have never seen anywhere else, maybe only when I visit it someday!
TFS - congratulations!
Best regards,
Neyvan

ifege (1901) 2009-06-30 3:36

Yes Peter Sydney is very photogenic and not bad for a camera test (is it a new one?)
Regards
Ian

jlbrthnn (38373) 2009-06-30 4:06

Hello Peter,
You found a good point of view. The image is dynamic thanks to the boats. I am astonished by clearness by this photograph. A work of very good quality. Cheer.
Have a nice day
Cordially
Joël

Nicou (45197) 2009-06-30 4:37

Hello,m,

fantastique vue de Sidney, tous ces building, ces bâtiments modernes, avec les bâteaux qui passent, le belle tour, mais quel ensemble.

bravoe t maitié

Nicou

vmf-214 (1624) 2009-06-30 8:16

Hi Peter,

Beautiful skyline view of Sydney, Nice crisp sharpness and details, The lighting is prefect, Nice capture of the boats going a long doing there business, Well done on the clarity and all around a great image Peter.

Best regards
Jason.

rodgerg (24463) 2009-06-30 11:03

Hello Peter,

A superb view of these buildings, a view very graphic too. The POV and the FG with the water give a greta depht to the image. Perfect qualities technic. Congratulations.
Best regards,
Roger

Clementi (44565) 2009-06-30 14:17

ciao Peter,
a beautiful postcard from Sydney, I like the skyline of the skyscrapers and these delicate colors.
good job
Giorgio

alftrek (2857) 2009-06-30 17:01

Hello Peter,
Thanks for sharing this theme. In fact, for almost a decade of staying in Sydney it never came across my mind that this area was once a busy commercial harbour.

A good view of the broad span of Sydney skyline which is always interesting to see with the Centre Point Tower nicely positioned. Good photo quality as always, though I would prefer a bit less of the FG water.

BTW, what is that round little tower in the FG in front of the Centre Point? Looks like something new to me.

Cheers
Alfred

Waylim (10933) 2009-07-01 0:09

Hi Peter,
It's a good series, and I'm glade you are sticking to it and follow through, I tend to get distracted by other photos and post whateven I feel like that day, and I jump back and forth in time and also between continents and contries and I don't have a theme, I keep thinking I should post a bridge but than I always get side track and post something else. I really enjoy these photos of the harbor. For a winter clear day you got such nice warm tone that illuminated the skyline very well. Thanks Peter.
Way

hay_kes (28562) 2009-07-01 0:35

Hi Peter,
What a superb cityscape vith excellent postcard my friend.TFS.
Cheers,

hAyAti

jhm (82879) 2009-07-01 3:40

Hello Peter,

Thank you very much for your interesting note.
As winter picture get we a fantastic light and a pleasant point view about the port and city in background.
Very attractive image showing excellent saturation of colours and details.
Compostion is a nice performance.
Very well done, TFS

Regards,
John.

macondo (13165) 2009-07-01 10:08

Hi Peter.
Another nicely lit shot, well exposed and with natural looking colours. I like the diagonal passage of the small boat leaving its wake behind. I wonder how the shot would look if you'd managed to take it a minute earlier with the large white vessel more to the left and the smaller one perhaps heading across its bow. On second thoughts, perhaps the way their wakes are about to cross is better after all. The city buildings are nicely lit and sharply rendered. I hope you're happy with the camera now.
Regards,
Andrew

Kielia (8607) 2009-07-02 12:04

Hi Peter,
you are describing in your very fine note exactly what is going on in my brain when I am looking at my world through a camera! Chains of associations are obviously controlling our behavior. Very interesting.
Your wonderful impression (what a beautiful light!) gives me an excellent idea of Sydney harbor and you are right, it looks a bit dull. So let us hope that your State Government will tackle this challenge.
Warm regards
Harriet

maximage (13490) 2009-07-03 13:11

Bonjour Peter,
Très belle vue sur la ville.
Jolie lumière et couleurs douces. Excellente qualité technique. J'aime beaucoup.
Amitiés.
max

foozi (4731) 2009-07-04 6:44

Hi Peter,
just like a millionaire postcard. really exciting and beautiful.
Wonderful cityscape and pretty sky.
The softness is simply attractive.

regards,
Foozi

BelCan75 (2420) 2009-07-07 11:13

Hello Peter,

Another beautiful shot of the harbour with wonderful light on the buildings. Great composition with great colours and such beautiful details. What a wonderful view. Kind of a strange thought that you are having winter now while we are having summer. Great work, Peter!

Greetings,
Ann

bracasha75 (22211) 2009-07-07 13:35

Hi Peter
What for a Winter.We have not Autumns liike this and in winter we walk thry snow 1 meter deep!!!Beautiful winter day in Sydney!!!!
Thanks for sharing
Bratislav

burraburra (873) 2009-07-08 5:45

Hi Peter,
Superb city-harbourscape. You have achieved a very different and marvelous shot of our great city. Your notes on this subject have been very, very enlightening. Yes - I hope the Government Planners keep on top of this also.
Warm Regards,
Graham
PS: Never Smile at a Crocodile (You sure you didn't consume any beverages at the time).

Nelu_Goia (2732) 2009-07-08 10:42

Hi Peter,
Wonderful composition and light,it could hardly be better.But, there is a but...you are here at the edge of oversharpening.I know that on a new LCD monitor the images look much sharper than on a CRT one but still,just a tad and the photo would have been oversharpened.
The other two photos posted recently are more on the safe side, they look more natural.
I think the guy who fixed your camera or the lens did a good job. Don`t you think so?
Cheers:)
Nelu

AiresSantos (42440) 2009-07-11 13:22

Hi Peter
it doesn't look winter and the picture is very beautiful.
Excellent colours and sharpness.
Well framed and done. I like it a lot
Have a nice weekend
Aires

gunbud (27991) 2009-07-13 19:25

Hi Pete,
If this is winter I'll take it looks like summer in my neck of the woods.
Very clear natura colors here with the right amount of sharpness to the Sydney skyline.
The tripple decked cruise ship and tiny boat cut nice lines as they move through the almost empty harbor.
Regards, Tom

argycon (2749) 2009-07-15 14:45

Hi Peter,
Fantastic city view!!
Excellent sharpness, fine detail!
Great job
tfs
Best regards
Kostas

skippy007 (7201) 2009-07-15 19:38

Hello Peter, I haven't been to Sydney for quite a few years now, the skyline and around the harbour sure looks different to how I remember it, pretty place & well captured, nice warm golden tones from the winter's sun. A SHARP, good quality image. Did Dr Nikon help? or was it a camera fault, I always thought your images were a little soft was too afraid to say it. HeHeHe, joking of course, they have always looked OK to me.
Cheers mate
Santo
As always a very well written note, I enjoyed reading it. Thanks

swiatopelk777 (8784) 2009-07-18 6:50

Hi Peter!
Wonderful cityscape. Ideal perspective. Perfect colors. Good take.
Greetings from Poland!

francio64 (11348) 2009-07-20 13:13

Ciao Peter,
bellissima immagine panoramica di Sydney!
Eccellenti le prospettive e lo sharp. Ottima la gestione delle luci.
La nave al transito, dà movimento alla scena.

I like it! Well done!
Francesco

batalay (21074) 2009-08-24 15:21

Hello Peter,

I had missed this shot of the Sydney Harbor displaying an expansive view of the Sydney skyline. With your somewhat whist note about the disappearance of the commercial merchant shipping it makes a sweet and sour package. Excellent note, lovely winter image of the harbor.

Warm regards,

Bulent

MLINES (10906) 2009-08-24 22:16

Hi Peter, This is a well composed and new POV so we see new buildings on the right side which makes it fresH also. The presence of the white ship, maybe one of the Capt Cook fleet? adds a lot also. Good series and TFS. Murray.

macjake (2004) 2009-10-16 20:35

Hello Peter

Its great to see city scapes in the light of day. alot of photographers tend to wait until sunset or sunrise, including myself sometimes.

In the light of day, we can really see how this famous city looks.
Great composition and clarity, sharpness.
Wonderful
Thanks
Craig