Bondi Australia // Sculptures By The Sea

Today my friends and I decided to go check out the infamous Sculptures By The Sea at Bondi.

Not only was it a day to look at art, take photos and relax, but it was a day to catch-up and see my old primary school friends again. Some of which I hadn't seen in years.

All photos taken using the Nikon D7100 with the 35mm f/1.8 lens. Edited in Lightroom.

Bondi -- a beautiful beach. If only there were less people.

With high-school and HSC, as well as the fact that all five of us went to different high-schools and live in various areas across Sydney, this meant that we rarely get the opportunity to see each other frequently.

But, with most of that over (and the new found freedom that has been gifted to students after the completion of the HSC), we were finally able to see each other again.

And, well, we wanted to see what the hype was about at Bondi.

To give an insight on how long it had been since we last saw each other, for some of my friends (eg., TY), this was the first time they'd ever seen me take photos with a DSLR in person.

Our reunions were so infrequent that they questioned me when I took some street photography.

It's not that we're not friends or that we don't keep in contact -- No, not at all. In fact, these friends are ones that I talk to quite frequently on various social media websites. It's just that face-to-face contact is rare.

But, none-the-less, after many years apart, we still got along perfectly fine. Joked around about everything and laughed so much; it's times like these which make me smile because I realise that no matter how long friends are apart, true friendship remains.

I can assure you that we've all changed over the last 6 years, but regardless, the day went like a breeze and we all enjoyed it so much that we organised another meet up next week. And the week after.

But anyway! Enough about that. On with the photos!

We first met up at Bondi Junction Station and caught a bus to Bondi where we decided to have lunch because TY and JDG were starving. Because of the entire atmosphere of 'the beach', it occurred naturally to us that we ought to have fish and chips for lunch. Thus, we sat down at a nice cafe/restaurant and devoured two dishes shared between the five of us.

We also tried exotic lemonade but I did not take a photo.

Afterwards, we finally began our walk from Bondi --> Tamarama, and took many photos along the way.

Tap by the Sea, by Sydney Water (who gave out free water!)
Stay hydrated, kids.

There were quite a lot of people, I have to admit. Today was the second last day that the Sculptures would be open, so that's not surprising. To top it off, it was a day of perfect weather (sunny, a slight breeze, and beautiful clear blue skies) and also a weekend.

Thus, many crowds.

But, you deal with what you got.

Because we're adventurous kiddies, we decided to stop by at a rock-pool, halfway along the walk.

My friend JDG is such a cutie

"Pose for me, hun. Oh that's beautiful. Gorgeous"

And, as expected, we found creatures and much like the 18-year-old children that we are, we touched them and screamed as they felt gross and their tentacles attached to our fingers.

TY was the only one brave enough to touch this large, green creature that we found.
I only had the courage to touch a small one -- only briefly, before I screamed.

Friend, EH, taking photos of the ocean.

 Also took more street photography

I thought this girl was a really great model. If only I knew her.

These signs were also very interesting.
Not going to lie, many of them had strange innuendos.

I also realised today how beautiful the landscape can be.

I often struggle to take photos of the landscape, or even stop to appreciate the small details that make up its whole, but today I think I succeeded, albeit only a tiny bit.

Occasionally I would try taking a landscape shot, or observe the rocks in more detail, and it was only then that I finally noticed and appreciated the effects and influences of the natural world.

Those straight marks of erosion really caught my eye.
The ocean also looked beautifully blue.

Today was a big theme for the colour blue.

Clear blue skies, aqua-coloured ocean. It was quite relaxing.

Unsuspecting model, my friend TY.

I didn't actually take that many photos of sculptures themselves, to be honest. I felt that many people would be focused on those (as witnessed by the thousands of people at the Sculptures with various cameras pointed at them). So instead, I chose to take fewer photos of the artworks themselves, and rather, look at the other things around the area.

Though, I did take a few.

The cliffs were wonderful. I have a small interest in cliffs, or interesting rock pieces.

It's like mother nature's exterior design concepts.

With the blue background, let's just say I couldn't resist taking a few shots.

I really liked the colours.

 And, another sculpture: it's a bent chess piece!

Also stumbled across this photographer with a very vintage camera. I'm not sure what it is, and I don't know much about it, but it looked very interesting and I really wanted to ask him about it but he looked busy, and I wasn't there for a photography trip.

(As a side note, I'm really looking into MILC cameras right now. They look stunning and wonderful and I've wanted one for a long time, but I've never really had the courage or convinced myself to purchase one. Perhaps in the future.)

(Also looking for external flash and ultra wide lens. And zoom lens. Wow, so much equipment needed. And so much money needed.)

Occasionally he would point it in my direction, and I thought it would be fun to reverse the roles and take a photo of him, instead.
Sometimes I wonder what photographers feel like when they realise they're being photographed.

 Also took photos of my friends sitting on this sculpture.

Titled: Thrown.
I thought this was a very clever name; very entertaining pun, as I assume it's a throne made of items that are thrown out.
Puns are always welcome.

Not sure what this is, but it looked very nice.

 And more landscape shots. This time of Tamarama Beach.

Look at that clear, blue water! I'm not going to lie, it was truly beautiful.

 I also tried to capture the crowds.

Stood on the edge of a cliff to get this shot, with my trust friend EW holding onto me in-case I misstepped.

Also one artwork which I liked and offered some photographic opportunities was this one.

I forgot to note down the name, so apologies (I suppose it was because of the huge crowds, making it difficult to even obtain a good angle to take a photo, and so it passed my mind to even observe the work's title.)

I loved the scenic background.

 I think I'm a pretty big fan of aqua-blue.

My friend, EW, suggested I take a photo like this.
I think it made for a really great framing device.
I have a thing for simplicity.

TY

 

After a good, long while in the water, we decided to head off and view the last remaining sculptures.

Wasn't sure if this was supposed to be like a neuron, but at least that was what it reminded us of.
Naturally, I flocked to it and took a photo.

Soon after, it was time to leave the beaches, and so we caught a bus back to Bondi Junction.

However, no beach day is complete without ice-cream!

After discussing heavily and concluding that the ice-cream stores were over-priced, we logically and ironically decided to eat at Max Brenner's (which, in hindsight, was also quite expensive, but also delicious.)

I purchased some chocolate balls.

They looked very nice, and are pretty much like high-class Maltesers.

Also, a short video compilation from today. Nothing special and didn't intend for anything to come from the footage. Was really just mucking around with the GoPro underwater, and since I have no other use for the footage, I'll just post it here.


I have yet to start vlogging. Life is currently too busy. Maybe on the 18th.

Anyway, once again, busy schedule. Day after day after day.

Till then, take care of yourselves, stay hydrated, and eat healthy kids.