Holidaying in Hobart
In the bitterly cold month of June, I was invited with some fellow photography enthusiasts to pop over from Sydney to Hobart for a weeks work of snapping. No family, just togs doing toggy things. This makes for a productive experience as photographers are notoriously painful people to be around when trying to relax on holiday. We drag out bushwalks, 4hrs return becomes 8hrs return! A trip to the art gallery or museum naturally divides, as the tog is still stuck on ground level whilst the normies are already on level 3 and almost done…
At the age of 47, this was my first time doing something like this, I wished I’d done it sooner.
Weapons of Choice
For those not in the know, I work as a professional photographer and in doing so I rarely find time for creative shoots or photographing without pay. This changes your mentality a lot after awhile, I suffer back pain, shoulder pain all because the tools I need to fulfill my briefs can be back breaking at times. I didn’t want to bring that level of fatigue to the experience, I wanted to enjoy this trip, not be exhausted by it and turn it into work. Besides, my companions (whilst being older than myself and retired) were fit individuals, regular bush walkers, I was genuinely concerned about being left behind and holding the group back!
The first tool that went into the bag was the Ricoh GRIIIx. I find this a fantastic versatile little machine, I can dress it up to being something more (something quick and ready for filters or tripod), or strip it back to being genuinely front pocketable. It’s the kind of camera I like to have with me during evenings or restaurants (basically the kind of similar snaps that you might take with your phone, except its better quality). It’s also light and when used properly can be a formidable landscape tool.
The second was one of my work cameras, the Fujifilm XH2S, this was a must as I wanted to shoot video as well, but lens wise I wanted to run with something completely different to my heavy work tools, three lenses made it into the bag;
The Voigtländer ULTRON 27mm f2. Full manual focus, pancake style that offers true infinity focus as well as super star bursts (that appear even at fairly mild apertures like f3 and onwards). This would become my main lens, switching out to something else when topic matter really demanded it.
The Fujinon XF14mm f2.8, my wider solution for when the ULTRON was too narrow. A super lens, minimal distortion, super contrast and light (important).
The Fujinon XF200mm f2. This was probably my worst mistake of things to take and contributed to a lot of my weight in my pack (for little reward). This lens alone weighs 2.2kg, it is expensive (anxiety causing so), large and relatively limited in compositional choices. However it’s just one of those lenses whereby you would kick yourself should you come across some wildlife on your adventures (and be without it), a lens you invested in and the thought of not using it is almost unbearable. In this instance though, I think I would have been better served with something lighter and more versatile like the Fujinon XF50-140mm f2.8. Having said that I did get a couple of highish quality bird shots (and sequencing) that somewhat justified its presence.
‘attack within’
Day 1, Leaving & Arriving
Day 2, Horseshoe & Russell Falls / Mount Field
Day 2, Cape Hauy
Day 3, The Salamanca Markets.
After a super (but exhausting) day at Cape Hauy we took it down a notch, soaking in the Salamanca markets and Hobart’s Botanic Garden.
Day 4, Coastal Wandering & Mt. Wellington.
Day 5, MONA.
Definitely a high point for me on this trip was visiting MONA. I had absolutely no clue what it was about, zero research. It was a massive, fantastic, jaw dropping surprise experience. I could spend all week there. MUST. GO. BACK.
Day 6, Snug Falls & Margate Waterfront.
Our final (proper) last day. By now we were all feeling very chuffed and fulfilled. No rain, no disasters, everything pretty much smooth sailing with shots in the bank. We had one more bushwalk left in us, and then an impromptu stop for lunch that actually turned out a treat for some seagull shots.
As we left Snug Falls I realised that we had not taken a group shot yet, so we found a bench on the path and proceeded to set up the camera and tripod and get into position. What are the chances that the only person we meet on our morning outing is a dog walker and happens to be passing right at the time we start taking the shots xD
Actually it was brilliant timing that just aided in putting in the laughs and smiles upon our faces. Thank you miss! xx
Day 7, Leaving & Arriving
We had quite a bit of time to kill on our final day with check out 10am and flights not till 5pm. Fortunately for us, we’re photographers. No one wastes time like us. We just wandered around Hobart, 30mins turned into 5hrs.
If you scrolled this far, well done. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.
