Tags
Council Chambers, history, Melbourne, Melbourne Room, Melbourne Town Hall, organ pipes, photography, Queen, Tours
In yesterdays post I spoke about how I had been to the city to visit the Melbourne Town Hall. You may remember some previous images I have shown you of the outside of the building just before Christmas. It was the building that had the amazing light show on it. I never realised that you could take a tour of the inside of the building. So Klara and I went on one. It was really amazing. Such a beautiful building and obviously built during a time of great wealth in Melbourne, the gold rush era.
Before we talk about the tour and the images, I need to explain, that the images aren’t great. It is quite dark inside the rooms we visited. I had to up the ISO as high as it would go, and that is probably one of the worse things about the D300s, the high ISOs give a lot of noise. I couldn’t use a tripod, so I had to do what I could holding the camera, even with the highest ISO, I still had to have a wide aperture. I am hoping that I will get to go back again and do some photos with a tripod. I tried to get rid of as much noise as I could, but it is still there. I was going to use Topaz DeNoise, but I see my trial has run out. Might have to check out the one from Nik Software.
The image up there, as all the images today are, were taken in the Council Chambers Room. A very opulent room where the council members of the City of Melbourne meet. Three very important people sit in the three chairs above, the middle one being for the Lord Mayor of Melbourne.
The rest sit in these seats. It isn’t a large room, but then it is just for the local council.
The room is so beautiful. The attention to detail was astounding. It really is worth the tour just to see this room. A room like this would never be built today. The intricate carvings would cost so much money, and all the marble. There are so many things to photograph in this room. I really do think this is the room I would want to go back and photograph.
This is taken from the back and looking to the Mayors chair. You can see the trouble I had taking the photos. HDR images would be a must here. These are HDR images, but only with 3 images. If I am allowed to go back, I hope to do more.
Here is my daughter Klara sitting in the Mayor’s Chair. She didn’t take much convincing. You can see some of the detail there that is on the chair.
I had a wonderful time on the tour. It is a beautiful building and with a rich history. Our tour guide was lovely and very knowledgeable. Of course, there is a lot more to the building than what I have shown you here. This is just from one room. You also get to see the main hall, and if nothing is on you can go to the back and see all the organ pipes and see how the organ works. We were shown the Melbourne Room where the Queen came for afternoon tea in 1954, and where the Beatles hung out when they came to Australia. We went out onto the balcony and watched Swanston Street below.
One of the things that surprised me was how surprised they were that Klara and I wanted to do the tour. Apparently they don’t get many people who live in Melbourne wanting to do it. We both thought it was great.
If you would like to go on the tour, then check out the details below.
Contact details
03 9658 9658
townhalltour@melbourne.vic.gov.au
www.melbourne.vic.gov.au
Virtual Photography Field Trip
I have to get back to writing the Virtual Field Trip for my new client. We have had various discussions about where to go and finally settled on a place in California. I am as excited as she is about where she is going. I convinced her to try photographing a subject she wasn’t sure about, I thought it was a great opportunity for her to learn how to do something new with me to help her. I have written most of it, time to go and do some more.
Rob Moses said:
Pictures don’t seem TOO noisy. Good stuff
Livonne said:
I didn’t realise you could do the tour either.. and I grew up in Geelong and went to Melbourne regularly. Next time I’m home I’ll do it.. Thanks for that
petit4chocolatier said:
I like the colours in the pictures!!
kcjewel said:
I think they are great! If I were there I would probably be posting photographs of the Open.
clairepieronphotography said:
I especially love the first one with the red carpet. Very nice!
starzyia said:
the chairs are an absolute highlight for me! I think you have done very well with your photographs and I admire your determination to go back again
Booted Tales said:
Lovely shots. The high ISO – high noise is a bane we all live with. Know the pain of it :/ And the fact that people living in Melbourne itself don’t visit such a treasure is both sad as well as sadly expected. The situation is the same and in fact much worse in many cities of India.
Great post! Loved it!
scott2608 said:
Brilliantly dark and colorful photos!
Sweet as a Picture said:
Very impressive-looking rooms. Your daughter looks nice sitting behind the desk Very stately.
Mrs Fever said:
Posh rooms! I love the interplay between textures in the first photograph, and the sunlight dancing on the carpet makes it appear velvety. The red is fantastic.
Jean Huang Photography - Los Angeles Custom Portrait and Fine Art Photographer said:
Nice sense of history being captured in these images. Will try to visit there when I’m in town.
the eternal traveller said:
We must do this tour next time we are in Melbourne.
gardenfreshtomatoes said:
It’s fun to Play Tourist in your own town …You think, “Where would I take someone who was here for a visit?” and then pretend you’ve never seen it before when you take photos…
I hope you have more from the other rooms, to do another day!
Rexlin Victor said:
Lovely shots!!!
greenbenchramblings said:
Wow, such rich colours.
anisjarossi said:
Very good photos and a very interesting informations.
sallywoodphotography said:
You have a lovely daughter!
natureintheburbs said:
You really captured the details in the furniture. Very interesting.
Heather said:
what beautiful rooms…I don’t know anything about lighting and noise so everything looks great to me…
Pat said:
Dark and rich in color.
Another Thousand Words said:
You’ve done a great job in noise reduction, Leanne…love your low ‘povs’…but when I got to the last image, I just had to laugh! Klara looks as if she’d be a GREAT Mayor, and not put up with any of the BS politicians so regularly spew! It’s a truly wonderful portrait of her…so serious and stern!
Oh, that room is amazing, so glad you’ll go back with ‘the sticks’! Every nook and cranny holds some extraordinary detail…and everything has ‘richness’ written all over it! What a great opportunity for both of you…getting great captures and new knowledge, all in one visit!
David said:
A very nice tour.
greenlightlady said:
I love the warmth and richness of the wood in these rooms. Your daughter looks very regal and elegant in the chair!
Blessings ~ Wendy
lasskerr said:
Thank you for the like on my blog! I had to come by and see yours! What great pictures! That building is absolutely beautiful!
Richard Guest said:
I can’t see the noise in these, Leanne – they’re great shots. Love the second one for its atmosphere – wonderful.
jayjay3 said:
I love the photos you took, Leanne! What a beautiful, historic building.
I have a D300 I’m just learning to use.
Thanks for stopping by my brand new blog. I’m taking an online class and decided to keep the assignments in one place!
Gallivanta said:
Great account of your tour.
Little Brown Tomato (LBT) said:
That first photo awed me. I’m a huge fan of Victorian and that photo truly captured me. I love the red carpet, dark wood, camera angle. Truly remarkable, Leanne.
dogunconditional said:
Like the red carpet
Aarpet
wannabephotographer87 said:
It looks and sounds like you guys had a lot of fun! Glad your daughter was a sport and let you take a picture of her haha! My brothers and husband always gives me a hard time, I tell them to get over it haha
It's only P! said:
I LOVE what you call ‘not great’ because of the darkness. It matches the ambiance perfectly. Why ‘picture-perfect’ well-lit interiors as we see in Architectural Digest? Nah, this is the bee’s knees for me.
Bella Remy Photography said:
What a super cool place ! I bet if you tell them who you are with …um…nearly 10,000 followers, they may let you go in with tripod & lighting.
Leanne Cole said:
That was part of the reason for doing the tour, was to be able to look around and decide what I wanted to photograph. Hopefully I will get permission to go back another time. Will find out soon.
Isn’t it funny, you would think that many followers might get me something, but often it doesn’t seem to matter because it is a blog. I don’t get it myself.
Bella Remy Photography said:
We need to register ourselves with the sports media website and get press passes. Bet that will do it!
viveka said:
Leanne, the photos are very dark on my screen .. hard to see the details – at least on my PC. Have to check on my netbook .. maybe my screen need adjustment. Some powerful rooms you have caught here.
Leanne Cole said:
They were dark rooms Viveka, very hard to photograph.
viveka said:
I can imaging … love that window …
Claire O'Brien said:
Your daughter has mastered at least one crucial political skill: the Gaze That Quells, turned on the Loyal Opposition when it becomes particularly rambunctious
Leanne Cole said:
I will have to tell her that Claire, I think she would like that.