Bondi to Bronte

On my last day in Sydney, Australia, I woke up to a beautiful blessing. Outside, for the first time since I arrived, the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue! It didn't take long to put a plan in action, shower, eat, put on some shorts and a pair of sneakers and head downstairs to hail a cab. 20 minutes later (and after my cabbie was nearly ticketed by a motorcycle cop for not wearing his seatbelt), I was at Bondi beach.

The famous beach was everything one would expect to see there in Australia.  The sand was soft and white and the water was gloriously blue.  But I had been informed that it was the hike from Bondi beach to Bronte beach that was really the site to see. The cabbie had been kind enough to tell me I had chosen well by wearing sneakers for this excursion, and he was very right.

The hike consisted of a curving path up and down steep stairs, around and into the rocky shoreline and along tall ocean cliffs. In a word, it was stunning. I stopped for a bottle of water at a beachside cafe at Tamarama Beach, a smaller cove and the halfway point between the other two beaches. I finished the hike to Bronte, dipped my toes into the ocean, enjoyed watching the surfers for a bit and then took my time hiking back.

I had lunch and finished up the last of my gift shopping in the shops along Bondi Beach. I was nearly attacked while eating frozen yogurt by a particularly bold one-legged seagull who clearly had nothing left to lose (see his menacing picture in the gallery below). It was a perfect morning with perfect weather, and it was just as I was getting into a cab back to my hotel that the darker clouds started to roll in. It was truly a blessing to have this amazing experience on my last day in Sydney.

Day Out in Sydney

The predictions of nicer weather for my two days off here in Sydney were rather exaggerated. I woke up to another day of rain, but that was not going to stop this guy from setting off to explore.  I originally had three goals for my first free day: a new tattoo, visiting Sydney Harbor in the daylight and checking out Bondi Beach. With the weather what is was, I crossed Bondi off my list, packed a bag of essentials and headed out. My first stop was Mischief Moon Tattoo Studio, a recommendation from one of the guys who worked at the studio where we shot this week. They gladly fit me in and my wrist was sporting my new ink within an hour. The paper airplane represents my wanderlust (which I can assure you has been dramatically rekindled on this trip).

Wanderlust (noun); a strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world.

After I was properly inked, it was time to set out on foot to explore, rain or shine. I headed towards the Botanical Gardens, passing endless beautiful buildings, from the simple colonial terraced homes that are everywhere here in Sydney, to St. Mary's Cathedral and a lot of government buildings with questionable function.

With soaked feet, I arrived at the Sydney Botanical Gardens. This large, lush garden is an unexpected gem in the middle of a crowded metropolis.  I wandered about for a bit, being sure to smell some roses and ogle at some stone statue's impossible hind-quarters.

I was told if I walked through the gardens I would end at the Sydney Opera House, and sure enough I exited the greenery to the beautiful site of that strange and iconic symbol of the city rising in front of me. Now in the daylight, I was able to get up close and personal to it. I asked some strangers to take some obligatory images of myself there on the steps (not included in today's post).

I was happy to be able to see the harbor during the day. As gorgeous as it was the other night, it was equally as stunning in the light. I got a little souvenir gift shopping in for the family there in some of the harbor gift shops. Then, I took a moment, had a seat and stared out at the harbor really taking in the fact of where I was... on the entire other side of the world from home! It was a pretty awesome moment.

Nomad

So far on my trip to Australia, I have seen mostly the inside of a (very nice) studio and the inside of restaurants. Luckily, thanks to the brilliant team from Cocksox Underwear that brought me down under, the restaurants have been amazing! Last night's dinner was no exception.

Walking into Nomad, I was stunned that a restaurant could be this cool. The open-concept space was beautifully designed, with someone clearly paying attention to the details. Our server even boasted as he poured, that the red-wine glasses were specifically designed by a local artisan and crafted in Italy. The tapas style menu was designed around old cooking methods, such as the pickling of their own vegetables and curing of their own meats.

At Nomad we’re fortunate enough to work with some of the most passionate farmers and purveyors one can find here or elsewhere. They give us raw materials that are handmade and grown naturally, with patience, and, where possible, locally. We’re always looking for new ideas and produce to share with you, so our menu is constantly changing and evolving. Our cooking however is rooted in the past with methods such as pickling, curing, smoking, fermenting and drying all elevated and celebrated.

We ordered more than our stomach's could hold. We obviously had to try the pickles and olives and the cured meat charcuterie for which they are famous.  Our waiter got a little behind and was only able to mention after I had eaten it that one of the meats of the night was, in fact, wallaby! Bread with black-salt butter from an underwater volcano. Lamb with an amazing yogurt sauce.  The longest single coil of charizo sausage I've ever seen. And one of my favorite dishes of the night, the goat cheese churros.

The ladies couldn't keep up on the wine and forced me to finish off the bottle of Thick as Thieves, a local pinot noir... even after spilling some of it all over one my two gracious hostesses! It was an amazing restaurant, each dish more delicious than the last. I absolutely love eating tapas style, experiencing so many more and varied flavors. It was the perfect ending after a second, incredibly long day of shooting in the studio.

Dinner at Sydney Harbor

After a very long, back-breaking first day in the studio here in Sydney, it was time for a quick nap. The reliance on copious amounts of caffeine was finally catching up with me, but that wasn't going to stop me from making our dinner reservations at Cafe Sydney in the world-famous Sydney Harbor.

A short, lovely evening walk to a nearby train station and two stops down the line, I walked out into Circular Quay and was greeted by the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge rising above the ferry boats bobbing in the wharf. The ladies of Cocksox had chosen the perfect location for our first dinner together.  Cafe Sydney was not only a perfectly gorgeous and significantly delicious restaurant, but rising five stories above the wharf, it also had an amazing view of the entire harbor. I nabbed an image off their website to show you just how beautiful the restaurant was.  We had a perfect table on the outdoor terrace.

I enjoyed an amazing local goat cheese starter and a peppered beef tenderloin with mushrooms and bone marrow for my main course. I had another local New South Whales cider with dinner and a decadent raspberry and coconut dessert. The entire meal, the phenomenal setting and the friendly company were a perfect combination.

We had a little time after dinner to walk down to what is surely the single most recognizable landmark of Sydney, the Opera House. It was as gorgeous as you would expect and I look forward to visiting again in the daylight. Then it was back to the hotel to call it a night and rest up for another full day in the studio.

Studio: Cocksox

Today the real work here in Sydney got underway.  I had the day yesterday to adjust and had to hit the ground running today for a full 9-hour-day's shoot for Australian men's underwear brand, Cocksox. I have this awesome company to thank for this trip down under and today we began what will be three days in the studio shooting over 180 products for their site redesign launching soon.

It was an early morning and a quick breakfast in the hotel lobby before heading to Hatch Productions Studio, a space immensely and immeasurably larger than my studio back home. Working in the kind of space and equipment this studio provided was not only fun, but affirming as a professional photographer.

We got to work setting up what has become my standard three-light layout for a catalog shoot. I used Elincrom strobes with a single large octabox as my key light and two strobes bounced off large white boards to fill the seamless white background. I'm still working with a Canon 7d (which I hope to upgrade soon) and a Canon 35mm F1.4L USM lens.

Our stunning model Chris Noffke (Chic Management) arrived and after hair and make-up we dove into the fray! One pair after another, we knocked out a full range of angles for each of 60 pieces. Chris was a pleasure to work with, laid back and charming (and of course not bad to look at for 9 hours straight). Back cramps and eye spasms aside, it was a pretty enjoyable shoot regardless of the repetitive nature of a catalog project. The entire team from Cocksox are so pleasant to be around and made the day go by much faster. Two more days of the same doesn't seem too daunting to handle with this great team of people and such a great model... but remind me I've said this about halfway through day three.

Rainy Day Tourist

On my first day in Sydney, it rained. And rained.... and rained. While still operating solely on the restless sleep of the 15-hour red-eye that got me there, there wasn't much to do other than tour the neighborhood surrounding my hotel. Honestly this excuse to lay low was welcome. Lucky for me, the Cambridge Hotel of Surry Hills in Sydney is located right in the city's gay district with plenty of cute shops and restaurants.

A lot of my first hours here in Australia have been spent relaxing and recuperating from travel in my very cute hotel room.  I did spend some rain-soaked time wandering around, picking up groceries and visiting shops.  I got to drop in on the flagship store and headquarters of the underwear brand Teamm8, a new partner we recently started working with at Underwear Nation.

I got out again after the sun had set to explore a little casual night life.  During a little break in the rain, I wandered into a little placed called Mad Pizza to enjoy a delicious thin-crust pizza and a Sydney Brewery Cider.  Then it was off to Stonewall for two beers and what was surely one of the worst drag shows I've ever witnessed!

Shopping, groceries, pizza, beer and drag shows.  So far, Sydney feels just like home!