These are from a few weeks ago in Newcastle. It was a bit of a drab, grey day but I thought the conditions would be great for some black & white shots.
Photos © CJ Levinson 2022
Around Newcastle in Black & White
Photos
Speers Point Park Photowalk
My photography group met again last Sunday at Speers Point Park.
Unfortunately the conditions weren’t great so it was definitely a bit of a black and white day.
It was good to see the new Multi-Arts Pavilion mima though; it was the first time I’ve seen it and the lights made for some interesting shots right at the end.
Photos © CJ Levinson 2022
The Night Tram
I had a little time to kill in Newcastle the other evening so I thought I’d do a little night photography and try to get a shot of one of the light rail trams.
I was lucky enough that this tram was due to arrive at the Queen’s Wharf platform not long after I arrived so I was able to set up and get this shot before it departed again. I like how the colours pop against the night.
I got this one of the empty platform with car headlights streaking past which I like as well.
Photos © CJ Levinson 2022
Sunset 11/01/2022
Lovely sunset from Squid’s Ink Jetty in Belmont last night. The clouds were very dramatic and then the sky caught fire, creating quite a moody contrast.
Photos © CJ Levinson 2022
2021 Favourites
My 5 favourite photos from 2021 and a mix of my other favourites below.
2021 was a year of two halves for my photography. Australia’s isolation from the rest of the world and success in suppressing Covid led to the first half of the year feeling somewhat normal and I felt more comfortable doing some animal and portrait shoots again.
Then the Delta outbreak hit in the second half of the year and we went back in to lockdown. All my work dried up, including my food shoots (my main source of income), and I couldn’t leave my local area for months.
I also moved just before the lockdown but that worked out well in the end as it meant I had a new area to explore for my photography during lockdown.
The lockdown was difficult; I found it much harder than what we’d been through previously and going for a walk along the foreshore with my camera each day was one of the things that helped get me through it. We had some beautiful sunsets during that period and focusing on the natural beauty of the lake really helped to keep me sane.
Once the lockdown lifted things picked up a little; I was able to resume some food shoots but a lot of the restaurants I had shot for before didn’t survive this lockdown unfortunately. It took a big toll.
Towards the end of the year my photograhy group was able to start meeting again which was fun and it’s continuing to grow. And despite work drying up, I still managed to sell a number of my calendars and prints throughout the year which was good as well.
Here’s hoping 2022 will be a better year all round as we start to move in to a new stage of the pandemic.
Photos © CJ Levinson 2021
Valentine Photowalk & Sunset
It was my photo group’s last shoot of the year yesterday. It was a bit of a crazy shoot – we went to Valentine for the sunset, only to get hammered by a storm which sent us scurrying for cover and ended the shoot early.
Then on the way home, the sky absolutely exploded with colour. It was one of the best sunsets of the year and typically I’d left my camera in the car! At least I managed to get a few shots with my phone.
It was a pity that we missed the sunset at Valentine as it would have been spectacular there too but oh well, another time. And it was definitely an interesting way to end our photowalks for 2021! 
Photos © CJ Levinson 2021
Swansea Sunset 08/12/2021
Wednesday night’s beautiful sunset. I almost missed the sunset as I was busy most of the day but managed to run down to the Swansea foreshore for the end of it.
I didn’t have my tripod or most of my gear with me so all of these were shot handheld at 6400 ISO. The files still look very good – it’s amazing how advanced cameras are now in low light.
Photos © CJ Levinson 2021
Redhead Beach Photowalk
My photography group met again last Sunday. We went to Redhead Beach for the sunset.
Unfortunately the conditions weren’t great for most of the shoot but it was still nice to get out and shoot again. And there was a nice burst of light and colour right at the end.
Photos © CJ Levinson 2021
Sunset at Thomas Halton Park
My photography group had its first photowalk back since lockdown last Sunday. We went to Thomas Halton Park in Eleebana to catch the sunset. It’s a great spot with lots of beautiful trees and some lovely views of the lake.
At first we didn’t think we’d get much of a sunset as the sky was very grey and you could see heavy rain coming across the lake. So I started out shooting detail shots with a mind to converting them to black & white later to enhance the mood.
As the sun went down though we started to get a little bit of colour and it ended up being a pretty sunset in the end as a sliver of the sky exploded with colour for ten minutes or so. Then just as we finished shooting it started bucketing down. Perfect timing!
Not a bad adventure for our first walk back since lockdown. 🙂
Photos © CJ Levinson 2021