“This project has just started and I am so enthusiastic about it. I love cycling, I cannot stop myself taking pictures and being inspired, and my passion about Melbourne cafes is huge, over any normal limit. How to combine the three, Mel365.com is the answer”

It is not really a long ago time since I opened this site but it is amazing how my attention has shifted, and I believe with some good reasons.

Most of my passion is today for photography, and the cafes have suffered on this side. I enjoy so much making photos that I just forget about coffees, that’s it. As a consequence my visits at the cafes are more relaxed, I take less pictures of interiors and no more reviews, or at least very rarely.

Yes, , indeed, I still do love this city, maybe because strictly speaking is not a city but a big town, made of many villages, this could be Middle Park, Fitzroy or Port Melbourne and I can’t forget to mention Carlton of course, our little Italy. I enjoy so much making photos of little corners, hidden places (and there are still some of them), unknown and well known lanes, trying to add every time a personal touch.

With the photography passion increasing, I could see also another rising need, travelling and making even more pictures. Get more inspiration.

This is the new direction of MEL365.com, MELbourne and Travel photography.

What I did learn since 2009 is a new appreciation of making photos, and just not taking photos. Paying attention to details, control the camera and not being controlled, try to get the best composition and wait when necessary, give depth of field when needed. I must say that the most important shift has been the move to HDR in most of my photos, but absolutely only where needed!! Did you ever get frustrated because your picture was not a reflection of what you actually saw, well one of the answer is that your eye is by nature HDR, or High Dynamic Range, you can see at midday both through the shadow and the sun at the same time, something that for a camera is really complicated, and you may end up not with the contrast you wanted but too overexposed or under exposed. And this is not happening only at midday, but every hour of the day. As a consequence, you may loose lots of details. BUT again, photography is not all HDR, as you see on the medicines, to be used with care. You can move from there into the fantasy compositions, Harry Potter style, and I reckon that is the first step into photogrARTy, as I call it.

About the bicycle? Always with me, of course.

Enjoy

Stef

ste@MEL365.com