Brisbane River Boats

Brisbane is shaped by the river both figuratively and literally and boats have long been a major part of the city. This is Mirimar cruising the Brisbane River at night. The picture was taken from South Bank and I panned the camera to keep the boat sharp, but of course the background is blurred.

I think I have photographed just about all the passenger boats and ferries on the river now and have posted them in an album. I can recognize and name many of them on sight and all have distinguishing characteristics. For example, there are two main classes of City Cats - one class is newer than the other and is a little larger and a bit less angular. If you look carefully at the pictures you should be able to pick them out. Another interesting thing about the City Cats is that they are all given local aboriginal place names.

The ferries are very popular with tourists and a fair number of locals use them as well. I could take the ferry to work and it would shave a few minutes off my commute but of course it isn't that much further for me and I like the walk. Some of the other boats can be rented for parties and many have regularly scheduled cruises serving meals. We need to do that sometime.

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Bird of Paradise

Bird of Paradise grow like weeds in Brisbane. I spotted this one along the walkway at the Botanical Gardens in afternoon light against the dark background of some rainforest trees and undergrowth.

Queen Street People

Have you noticed that a lot of my photographs don't have people in them? We went to a photojournalism exhibit sponsored by Nikon over the weekend - I think every photograph had people in it - or at least almost every one. It got me to thinking about my photographs. Maybe half or less have people.

So I am putting this one of a Queen Street magazine shop in. This will get my people count up.

Why don't more of my pictures have people in them? Actually, I spend a fair amount of time finding angles that don't have people or waiting for them to leave. It is only when I find the people really interesting that I might try to capture them.

Now, people can be interesting to you because they are your friends or relations or a famous person or they may be of interest regardless of who they are just because of what they are doing or how they look. Actually, a lot and maybe most, people are interesting if you will get to know them. When we went to the Christmas party last year I was surprised at how good the photographs were I took because everyone was having fun, they were largely unposed, and nobody felt like I was imposing on them even when I asked them to pose.

Anyway, I like birds and scenery too. And they never tire, except maybe the birds, of posing for you. I'll try and capture more interesting people too though.

Masks

I don't know what to write about this week. It has been a long week at work and nothing much to write about that seems really interesting. We went to a nice restaurant the other evening though and on the way back I saw these masks in the display window of a store that rents costumes.

I think I have written about masks a number of times now. Do a search in the little dialog box to the left and you will see. There were the masks in the old town of Kawagoe near Tokyo, David wearing a Hyotoko mask I got for Stuart, and the PNG masks I photographed in Port Moresby. And now these. It is interesting that so many cultures use masks isn't it?

PNG Highlands

I wanted to post a picture to show you just how rough the Highlands in PNG are. I've posted a lot more in an album so you can flip through them if you want. It is truly amazing country. We flew in by fixed wing and then spent about 5 hours in a helicopter.

The rain forest seems endless and is covered by mist and rain a lot of the time. The rivers are large and fast flowing with muddy waters from the erosion. They get more than 10 meters of rain a year. The weather is very pleasant and actually cool due to the altitude.

The terrain has a lot of impact on the people of course. For eons they have been separated by the mountains and rough terrain. Over 800 languages are in active use in PNG and the tribes and groups have unique cultures.

Beaver Falls

This is Beaver Falls and as you can see it is spectacular. And as best I know, nobody else was around to see it except for us. Very remote...

Gardens

The people in the Highlands developed a farming and hunting culture that has remained relatively unchanged for a very long time. The area is so remote and difficult to reach that it wasn't discovered by Europeans until the 1930's. The farming predates European farming and is old as any other area in cultivation anywhere in the world. Traditional housing is also visible in this picture.

Lake Kutubu

Lake Kutubu is a beautiful place in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. The people that live there fish from dugout canoes for a fish that was described to me as "small" and found nowhere else in the world.

Girl with a Bush Knife

This little girl was at the side of the road in the village of Papa near Port Moresby with a bush knife (machete). She frowned when I lifted my camera, walked down the road a few steps, and turned around to look at me again. I lowered my camera, waved, and she smiled. The bag she is carrying with straps looped over her head is traditional in PNG.

Ball Sculpture

This is a sculpture in the Museum of Modern Arts in Brisbane. The balls float in a pool, moving with the current. You can see my reflection in the balls as I took the picture.