What better way to begin an essay on night photography with a sunset. This was taken outside my front door just minutes before we left for our jaunt around town.
Our first stop was the local Post Office. This is a fairly good example of an Australian heritage style building, constructed in the early 20th century.
As soon as we had set up the camera on the tripod, some local lads decided to make a sport of riding their bikes in front of me. Nothing to do but point upwards and shoot over their heads.
The comedians continued to annoy by posing muscle man style in front of the camera, but they wouldn't stand still long enough for me to take their photo!
So a close up of the clock tower was in order. For the purists, that is not noise in the sky, but some pesky cloud cover.
Adjoining the Post Office is the local court house. This definitely looks better by night than by day. It's a rather dingy affair, used as a magistrates court for petty crimes and driving offences. In the tourist brochures, this is listed as a "must see" historical building. I'm wondering what we "must see" cos there's not much!
A short walk out onto the middle of the road to take a photo of our main street. Stunning, hey? It looks about as mundane and boring by night as it does by day. And who is the moron who parked their blue Ford in my photo? Oh yeah.....that'll be me. Note to oneself: hide the car in future shots!
Around the corner and up the road a bit and we're into the local nightlife. A little bit of Southern Europe smack bang in the heart of Traralgon! How about that? This stylish affair with it's Greek style columns actually houses a pizza restaurant.
And right next door is Wild West America! What a multi-cultural town I live in. Gotta love that animal skull above the door.....how...decorative! Notice too, the rustic decor beautifully complemented by an ATM at the entrance. Aaaah, the owners of this fine establishment definitely put their patrons needs first!
The wooden Indian bears a closer look. Now isn't that artistic? It's certainly eye-catching. Wasn't there a song about a wooden Indian?
Right along our local version of Sunset Strip (actually Kay Street) is this innocent and rather holy looking building. Don't be fooled and don't bother dropping by for a prayer and a splash of holy water. The inhabitants will be more likely to shove a menu in your hands, show you to a table and relieve you of your credit card. The venerable old St. Andrews Methodist Church was long ago turned into a restaurant. Now that's recycling at it's very best!
Across the creek for some more culture and we have the Star Hotel, the original pub in town and the oldest surviving building. It's now painted, re-roofed, decorated with truly hideous signage and operates as a rather twee little tea shop. Oh, and they have some battered looking "antiques" for sale too. At very modern prices too, I might add. Just between you and me, I think this old building would be better filled with hard-working, hard-drinking pioneers. Not many of them left around here though.
Right opposite the Star Hotel is a fine example of the local modern architecture. These are marketed as "town houses" and I'm sure some clever real-estate agent talked the owners out of quite a bit of money for the privilege of living in a box. And position, position, position! Very clever town planners we have in these parts. Fancy having the foresight (not to mention the cheek) to whack a modern concrete structure right across the road from our pioneer past.
At this point we noticed a commotion over the highway. There seemed to be a lot of activity and many lights were flashing. As we drove past later, we saw 4 fire trucks, a platoon of firemen decked out in full fire fighting regalia, and not a wisp of smoke in sight! Nice to know that Traralgon's finest can make their own fun when the mood grabs them. Hey, maybe they're trying to recue that house on the corner...it appears to be sinking into oblivion!
Fancy a wander down this street? Looks like something from the era of Jack the Ripper! Although our town is located in the heart of the Latrobe Valley, where the major industry is electricity, they certainly don't seem to want to waste it on a mere residential street.
Night two of our tour begins in Victory park, a local picnic and community gathering place in the centre of the town. It's dark, gloomy and altogether scary at night, however this is my favourite image of the entire essay.
I realised this essay was lacking a certain human element and so raked up a local vagrant to pose for me. Haha, actually this is my husband who kindly carried my tripod and acted as my personal bodyguard throughout the whole project.
Moving right along to the railway station, not a lot of action happening here tonight. In fact, that man in the picture stood perfectly still for the long exposure. This doesn' t actually look like a railway station...it's new. The old one had much more character. Those little attic windows and chimneys...they're fake.
Right next to the railway station is another recycled church. This time it's disguised as the visitor information centre. If nothing else, we do find good uses for our old churches.
And a quick peek inside the window.....lights are on but no one's home.
Back to the central business district (isn't THAT a fancy title for four streets with shops???) Nothing special about this except that this is the street in which I work. In a computer shop to the right of the frame. Across the road is PJ's Cafe and they do the best lunches in town. Well, there's about as much happening her at night as there is during the day.
Fancy a beer? A fair dinkum Aussie pot of Victoria Bitter? This is the place to come....Ryan's Hotel. Just a short stagger from the town centre and positioned within walking distance of the local police station.
Back where we started but on the opposite corner. Here is our Post Office in all it's glory and I must say it's quite a pretty sight lit up like this. There's a newer Post Office Business Centre in another street but it's not anywhere near as nice as this grand old lady.
Couldn't pass up the opportunity to show that we haven't recycled all our churches. This one is St Michaels Catholic Church. I wonder what future plans are on the boil for this place. Maybe a little casino....possibly a fashion house? Who knows!
And here is is from the front. I tried to think what type of architecture you might describe this as....but the name escapes me. Modern Gothic? Neo-ghastly?
And a little touch of suburbia. An old miners cottage, moved from the goldmining town of Walhalla and restored as someone's residence. This is up for sale at the moment, so if you fancy a place in town....this could be the one! The pic is a tad blurry but I'm proud of this....I hand held the camera for 1.6 seconds to get this photo.
Now to our main industry, this is Loy Yang power station, situated on the outskirts of the town. I can see where all the electricity is going, they are keeping it for themselves!
A view of the chimneys from behind....the sky looks like daylight although it was quite dark. The power industry is the major employer in the area and the Latrobe Valley provides most of the electricity for the state of Victoria.
On our way home now, this is highway 1, the Princes Highway and the longest road in Australia. it follows the mainland around most of the coast line. It also happens to be our "neighbourhood" as we live just over the crest of the hill.
And so that concludes my night on the town. Traralgon is actually a very nice place to live with plenty to see and do. Just a short drive to the mountains and the beaches, with Melbourne only 160kms away. This town has been my home for over 30 years.
Lens used was the Canon EF-S 18-55mm (kit lens sold with the 300D body). This lens has impressed me enormously. Auto focusing is accurate and fast, and the wide angle allows for some incredible architectural shots at very close range.
Post-processing. Photoshop Elements 2.0. All photos were cropped and resized. Slight levels adjustment to some, minor colour correction and unsharp mask. The drop shadow frames are from the Effects menu.