The scenic Romantic Road

On this day last year, 16 February, was Shrove Tuesday. It was also the 10th day of my European sojourn and I found myself in Munich. It was the 9th stop in my amazing race around Europe. Ten solid days of the grey and bleak wintry weather. Having left Adelaide at the tail end of the southern hemisphere summer, I was by then missing seeing the sun and Australian blue skies. The novelty of experiencing snow was starting to wear off.

But motivating myself and thinking positively that the snowfall is surely bound to stop at some point, I crossed my fingers that what's on offer for the day will be special. This was the leg of the trip where I drove from Munich via the Romantic Road to Schwangau, Rothenburg ob der Tauber and ending in Frankfurt.

I left the hotel at 6.45am for the two hour drive to Schwangau, Bavaria southwest of Munich to make the pre-booked 10.50am tour of the King's Castles*. My road trip adventure began with trying to get out of the city which took me the better part of the hour just to get on to Autobahn A 96 / E54. Much as I loved the Mercedes Benz A Class rental, the built-in GPS would only indicate which street I was on and a compass for orientation. I had to call on my navigational skills, rely on the Hertz free map with challenging text and font size and the printed details of the route and directions I downloaded from Google Map (Did I mention printed in A5 paper size?). I got lost 3 times including taking the wrong ramp at B2R and finding myself on the wrong direction while at the busy Autobahn which meant that I was heading north back towards Munich again! I wanted an adventure - I got an adventure.

By 8am, I was finally on the way but panic started to set in again as I couldn't go past 80kph due to heavy fog. I was starting to worry that I'll definitely miss claiming those already-paid-for tickets in time for the tour of the two castles. Then about 65kms into the trip and getting on to the start of the Romantic Road (B17) on the way to Landsberg am Lech, (drum roll)... the sun came out and woahh...the postcard perfect winter landscapes started to unfold.



After 10 gloomy days, I saw the blue skies and the winter scenes of the Bavarian countryside were awe-inspiring. I remember thinking that if it's this beautiful in winter what more in autumn or spring (mental note for next trip). I was treated to so much visual delight and teasing glimpses of the quaint and picturesque towns along the route that I found it annoying I was pressed for time and not have the luxury to stop to take it all in.

Then by 10am, I saw the Neuschvanstein Castle. And there she was - dream-like and perfectly perched on the mountain slopes. With goosebumps, tingles down my spine and a lot of oohs and aahs (and screeching!) reverberating within the confines of the car, the day was certainly going to be perfect.



I left Hoheschwangau at 4.30 in the afternoon after a fun-filled and a full 8GB compact flash memory card! JOY! I continued with the drive along the scenic Romantische Strasse to Rothenburg ob der Tauber for an overnight stay.

Here are some of images:

St Coloman Church along Coloman Strasse


Hohenschwangau Castle


Neuschvanstein Castle


*Serendipitously, 2010 was the first time the Castles were open to tourists on a Shrove Tuesday.

Tour Down Under

Having missed this year's 2011 Tour Down Under in Adelaide, I wasn't able to complete my photo-chronicle of Lance Armstrong's participation in the cycling race. Armstrong's attendance in the tour has come to an end with this year as his last.

Not that I know anything about professional cycling but in 2009, I was one of those who braved the sweltering Adelaide summer for some photo opportunities. In 2010, I once again took to my favourite spot on Montefiore Hill in North Adelaide to replicate those 2009 race images.

These images of Lance Armstrong were from last year's Santos Tour Down Under:

...then at sundown

After doing the sunrise shots, I had the opportunity of capturing some amazing sunset images. South Australia's coast along the western shore of Fleurieu Peninsula affords perhaps one of the best sunsets in the world. The jetties that dot the shoreline of Gulf Saint Vincent offers dramatic vistas with the setting sun as backdrop.

Taking a little road trip with two photobuddies, our destination was the coastal town of Willunga, about 50 kms south of Adelaide CBD. This town has one of the iconic locations for amazing sunsets - the remains of the old Port Willunga jetty, c 1910.

With daylight savings time still in effect, sunsets would be late than usual giving us ample time to leave work, beat the heavy Friday traffic and be at the location for the shoot. We knew (and hoped) that the sunset would be perfect.



The panoramic view of the few remaining piles of the old Port Willunga jetty did not disappoint. From the top of the cliff, a breathtaking view of the sunset greeted us.



The Port Willunga jetty, c 1868-1913
The few remaining piles are what is left of the jetty constructed in 1867 located 400 metres south of the original jetty built in 1853.

Out on a Friday night chasing light? - truly well worth it.

At first light

Dragging myself out of bed before sunup especially on a weekend is such a feat. With the start to autumn and the now chilly mornings, I would rather sleep in. Who wouldn't? But having longer nights and with end to daylight savings still two weeks away, sunrise in Adelaide would be around 7am (CST). Still pretty much not a big ask to roll out of bed for some early morning photographic adventure.

Inspired by Christina Dickson's entertaining narrative on sunrise photography tips, over the weekend, I found myself setting up on top of Montefiore Hill in North Adelaide well before daybreak for my first sunrise photographs.



For awhile there, I thought the seemingly dark clouds on the south-west will usher in a downpour. Not armed with an umbrella to protect the gear, I braced myself being caught in a rather unpleasant predicament. But all's well - though it did rain, it was light and did not last long to entirely ruin my outing.

Then, in Christina's words, "I smile..."



Out early in the morning, loss of sleep - truly well worth it.

Sizzling Hot

Adelaide continues to sizzle this week - though not with hot sporting events within and around the city but scorching record 40-plus degree temperatures. The furnace-like temperatures across most of South Australia and Victoria started early this week on Australia Day. In Adelaide, Australia Day temperatures maxed at 36.6°C and soared yesterday to 43°C to be the hottest day in five years in the city.

Today's maximum temperature in the city of 45.7°C was likewise one for the record books. Yet no cool change is in sight with a forecast of a 6-day run of 40deg-temperatures. A similar weather forecast holds for Melbourne, where the gripping final games of the Australian Open are playing out. As the grand slam tournament is typically held in the middle of the Australian summer, the games are noted for its hot days. Thus, it is the only major tournament in the world that has an extreme heat policy. Melbourne's temperature soared to 41°C today which called for the policy to be enacted for the first time.

It was fortunate that last week's Tour Down Under in Adelaide experienced relatively milder temperature conditions which were ideal both for the cyclists and spectators.



I shared in the 'Lance Fever' that gripped the city. The record attendance to this year's tour events, up by 35% from last year, was certainly due to the Armstrong factor.

In the final Stage 6 of the race held in the city, I was one of the 144,000 spectators who lined the Adelaide streets despite the sweltering 35°C heat to catch a [g]Lance of perhaps the biggest name in the sport - essentially a brand. Apparently, this record number represented the most for any single sporting event in Australia. Not knowing anything about professional cycling races, I amazed even myself that I patiently stayed for the whole 18 laps of the stage just to be able to take a picture of Lance Armstrong. My patience was wonderfully rewarded at Lap 16 when I eventually captured the images I wanted:





Of course, with full cognition, these images were to be had at a price - painful sunburnt arms! Livestrong!

Karen Cheng did an enlightening interview with Lance Armstrong and sheds light on what motivates this great athlete (as seen in Shai Coggins).

Adelaide at dusk

Update (06 October 2008): This photo is also featured in the ABC 2009 Weather Calendar - South Australia (December).

This photo of the Adelaide Riverside Precinct - Torrens Lake taken from the Adelaide City Bridge was the weather photo featured in last Thursday's 7.00pm ABC (Adelaide) news (03 July 2008). This view is frequently featured in postcard photographs of the city that I thought I'd take one myself. This was one of the successful shots in my first attempt at night photography.



The photo shows the Riverbank Promenade alongside Elder Park and a segment of the linear river park. This linear park, which is the earliest in Australia, bounds the suburban end of the river and is 35 kms long with playgrounds, walkways and bicycle tracks. On the southbank of the lake, adjacent to Elder Park is the Adelaide Festival Centre. Built in 1973, the cluster of theatres comprising the Festival Centre occupies the area north of the Adelaide Parliament House where the Adelaide Public Baths, 1863-1969 used to be. The baths were built in 1861 and featured Turkish Baths suites, an Olympic size swimming pool (1940 addition) and diving tower. Prominent buildings along the southbank include the Hyatt Regency Hotel and the Adelaide Convention Centre.

The 470 megalitre Torrens Lake was created in 1881 with the construction of a weir, landscaping of Elder Park and modification of the river’s bank and surrounds into an English formal park. The lake forms a centrepiece of many Adelaide events and postcard scenes. At the lake's official opening on 21 July 1881 an estimated 40,000, almost the entire population of Adelaide, attended. Elder Park with its iron rotunda was opened on 28 November 1882.

Adelaide City Bridge

The photograph featured today in the weather segment of the ABC 7:00pm News (Adelaide) was this photo of the Adelaide City Bridge.



Bridges have always held a certain fascination for me. For the most part regarded as engineering feats, these structures are likewise architectural design marvels. Taking the course in Architectural Science as part of my undergraduate degree, I became more fascinated in the engineering design of bridges.

The Adelaide City Bridge, also known as the King William Street Bridge in Adelaide, South Australia is one of ten bridges that span the River Torrens. The first bridge was one of timber built in 1839 approximately 500 metres west of the current City bridge, but destroyed by floods in September 1844. In 1849, £6000 was allocated to bridge the Torrens. Within four years three wooden bridges had been built and subsequently destroyed in floods.

In June 1856 the English-manufactured, iron City Bridge was opened, extending King William Street to North Adelaide. A photograph of the City Bridge, circa 1866 shows a bowstring type suspension bridge design with trussed arches. Another Townsend Duryea photograph circa 1866 shows the road over the City Bridge. The iron bridge was widened in 1877 then converted into a two-lane bridge in 1884.

In 1931, the bridge was replaced with a concrete open spandrel deck arch structure. The present day concrete bridge features art deco architectural details reminiscent of the popular movement of the 1930s.





See also: Bridge Basics for a general description of most bridge types.

Colour me [autumn] happy

After that wonderful autumn weather in the last two weeks, this long weekend has marked the record books. Yet again another weather phenomenon for Adelaide. According to Weatherzone, today's bitterly cold winds, cloud and showers have made this the coldest April day in 26 years for Adelaide and the coldest on record for several inland towns. The rains were also the most widespread and heaviest in more than five months. The highest rainfall since December, it should be good and timely for the sowing of winter crops.

However, last weekend was just perfect weather for taking pictures and honing some skills in landscape photography. With a couple of friends, we headed off to Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens and tried to capture some autumn images. The autumn colours of the Adelaide Hills were just wonderful.

ABC Weather Photo

This photo of the Adelaide Skyline as viewed from Wellington Square in North Adelaide was today's weather photo in ABC 7:00pm News.

Today was also the O'Connell Street Food and Wine Affair annually held at the Wellington Square, where cafes and restaurant of O'Connell Street Precinct provide outstanding cuisine at low prices.

Depth of Field

Beautifully captured images would always have a captive audience. The popularity of Flickr is a testament to that. Though I have been using a compact digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 4100) for some time now, I am a beginner at using the digital SLR (Nikon D40x). One of the elements in photography that have always fascinated me is the photographer's clever use of the Depth of Field. Though it is just one of the several applications in the art of photography, in my rather limited knowledge, its creative use epitomises my definition of THE perfect photograph. In particular, I find photos with shallow depth of field very interesting.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York currently has a special exhibition on this particular element of photography: Depth of Field: Modern Photography at the Metropolitan. It would have been a treat to see this exhibition in person (and perhaps indulge in a bit of travel photography). But I will have to make do with just simply viewing some of the images online.

My fascination with depth of field is one of the reasons why I wanted to take up photography using a digital SLR. I am still learning and constantly trying something new. After much research and pouring over numerous commentaries from actual users and discussions online on which lens to use to explore this wonderful technique, I recently got myself a 50mm standard lens.

Photo hobbyists and enthusiasts extol the virtues of the Nikon Series E (AI-S) 50mm f/1.8. The new addition to my gear is the second version with the chrome ring (c. May 1981 - 1985).



This amazing piece of glass is manual focus and having had a little bit of practice using manual mode in the D40x, it didn't take long for me to figure out the 50mm prime lens.

My first 'successful' shot:



I took out the 50mm for a walkabout over the weekend and did some more practice shots.







I just love this little lens and the wonderful possibilities it presents. I am looking forward to just having fun with it.

Close Up Photography

I'll be able to have some fun doing macro photography. Joy! The old manual Nikon micro lens I got from eBay finally arrived.



Going over my old close up photography book and numerous online discussions on using old Nikon manual lenses with the Nikon D40x, I scoured eBay for this glass. I now have a wonderful addition to my gear: a Micro Nikkor Auto P.C 55mm f/3.5 with M2 ring (c. 1973-March 1975). I was fortunate to get this lens in near mint condition complete with front and rear lens caps, original manual and still with its original box.

I was worried about using old manual lenses with the D40x but a number of photography guides available online maintained by professionals offered valuable information on Nikon systems and lens compatibility: Thom Hogan, Ken Rockwell and Flickr discussion forums. Photo enthusiasts (Thanks, Shai) have likewise shared wonderful insights, particularly on the selection of gear for macro photography. Bjorn Rorslett also provides a comprehensive evaluation of special purpose lenses for Nikon F mount. An amazing compendium of Nikon lenses is also available with information on lens specifications, accessories and even the serial numbers including quantity produced!

After tinkering with the camera and its settings (it's the first time I used the Manual Mode - somehow my first shots in manual mode came out with blank screen), I was able to get some test shots.

My first 'successful' shot



Over the weekend I did some more practice shots. I hope to try to get some outdoor macro shots soon.





Next, I'll be trying out the 50mm f/1.8 standard lens.

Enjoying photography with the Nikon D40x

I try to make the most use of my DSLR camera. Apart from gorging on the photography books and magazines I can lay my hands on, I would go over the variety of photography blogs and discussion forums available. But naturally, practice is the key. And simply just having fun.

A photography tip I found invaluable (and informative) is the use of flash. I never liked how my indoor pictures turn out when I resort to using the flash even though the lighting conditions call for it. More often than not, the images I would get with the use of the flash are somehow 'severe' and come out with very harsh shadows / textures. I know that this just calls for more practice in its use and of the camera.

One of the things I learned recently is the use of a bouncer - albeit a homemade bouncer out of a business card (as seen at Shai Coggins).
I tried out the tip:

with flash












without flash












with flash, using the homemade bouncer












Although in this instance, I still prefer how the photo without the use of the flash turned out, the homemade bouncer created a much nicer overall lighting than that taken using the flash without a bouncer.

Opening Boxes

Today is Boxing Day DownUnder. I never really understood this public holiday. The first time I heard of it, I thought it referred to a dedicated day for some boxing match (considering that this country is really into sports). But looking it up, this next weekday after Christmas, celebrated in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries in the Commonwealth of Nations, is a traditional celebration which consisted of the practice of giving out gifts to employees, the poor, or to people in a lower social class. Eventually, it evolved into a day of post-Christmas shopping, where many retailers hold Boxing Day sales.

Interestingly, Boxing Day is not formally observed in South Australia, instead what would have been the next working day after Christmas is officially titled Proclamation Day and a public holiday is observed. However, it is still referred to as Boxing Day.

Talking (writing) about boxes, I have been opening big ones myself leading up to Christmas. Joy! I gave myself "huge" rewards this Christmas - a 40-inch Sony Bravia LCD HDTV (D Series) and a Sony ultra compact DAV home theatre system (DAV-IS10).













Naturally, it goes without saying that much research (Sony Bravia LCD and Sony DAV-IS10), was made before finally deciding to get them.

Certainly, the change in size of TV screen (from the "postcard size" screen of my old analogue TV - a hand-me down from the residential college) plus having a remote control (finally) are reasons to be happy with the purchase. Of course, much more so with the five tiny satellite speakers of the DAV-IS10 home theatre system, each one the size of a golf ball with powerful sound quality offered by much bigger speakers. As with everything else when it comes to these electronic gadgets, half of the fun is setting them up. I am proud to say, even though I am not a techie, that I set the whole system up myself (bravo!).

Nikon D40x

I finally got my much-coveted Nikon digital SLR camera about a month ago. After over five months of research and saving up, I now have my very own Nikon D40x and I just love this little baby.













A number of friends have suggested that I should have gone for a Canon. But having used a Nikon Coolpix 4100 in the last four years, I didn't even think of going for any other camera for my first digital SLR. The 10.2MP-class APS-C size CCD camera setup came as a double zoom (two-lens) kit: AF-S DX 18-55mm II wideangle lens and AF-S DX 55-200mm f/4-to-f/5.6 VR telephoto lens (Nikon's smallest, lightest, and least-expensive vibration-reduction lens to date). According to one review: The wideangle lens is perfect for interior shots, group shots and breathtaking landscapes. The telephoto lens gets you close to distant subjects while the VR stabilization system eliminates image-blur caused by hand-shake, making it an ideal lens for portraiture and sports.













I'm still getting to know this nifty camera. Of course, it accompanied me to my trip back home and I have taken quite a lot of family photos (especially of my nieces and nephew). This entry-level DSLR was not cumbersome to lug around. It proved to be portable and lightweight, compact and incredibly simple and easy to use - almost like carrying a point & shoot compact digital. I had the camera, two lenses, spare SD memory cards, cables and battery changer in a cool and stylish black/red Delsey GoPix75 camera outfit bag.

Now, I'm immersing myself into reading books on digital photography and simply just having fun with my Nikon.