Well-trodden ground - the Kurilpa Bridge
In an effort to get a little fitter (believe it or not, a sysadmin role is not conducive to bouts of exercise on work time), I try to incorporate some walking into my regular commute. It may be inconvenient to walk from work to Roma Street, and it may be unnecessary torture during the peak of summer, but it doesn't take that much longer than connecting via the bus, and it gets me on my feet. This river cut-across is facilitated by the Kurilpa Bridge, one of Brisbane's best walking bridges.
Zero points for guessing which one was shot on expired film.
The standout feature of the Kurilpa Bridge is the near-perfect view of a little chunk of Brisbane's skyline - prominently featuring the Star Casino! Walking across, it's immediately apparent how captivating it is for most - there's always someone standing in one of the little pods on the bridge's edges, facing towards the CBD, snapping a picture or two.
I am no stranger to its allure - I have taken countless identical pictures, same as always, same as everyone else. A few times, I've tried to mix it up, but not much really comes of it. You're set up for one particular view, and it's hard to look beyond it. In my last posts, there were a few attempts - skyline through the railings, lower angles, etc. - but I don't think they resulted in anything worth anyone's time.
The first is from the bridge (expired film), second is from near the bridge (digital, trying to match the expired film), and the rest are also from the bridge (digital again, analogue pigeon).
The other view you're set up for every time is a clean, dead-on shot of the State Library in South Bank. This is easily one of Brisbane's best-looking buildings - an absolute knockout with its huge glass windows and nicely angled roof. However, once again, another classic case of "here's the view, good luck finding another nice angle".
One of these is not from Kurilpa, and only technically has the CityCat in it. However, the benefit of running your own blog is you get to break whatever rules you feel like for the sake of sharing more.
In my heart, I know there must be a good way to shoot a CityCat on the water from this bridge. This is the iconic boat of Brisbane, taken from one of the best vantage points on the river - surely it shouldn't be too hard! I've tried a few times to capture it, but I think the perfect angle might be escaping me.
It could also be an issue of light. I'm normally walking across after 5pm, and the sun's usually dipped just low enough that some of the taller buildings get in the way of anything hitting the river. It wouldn't shock me if the perfect time was around 3pm, which is well before I've finished work most days, so maybe we'll never know.
The hardest part of going the same way every day is trying to find something new to capture. Its familiarity means that you're less likely to spot anything noteworthy that you may have missed in the past - it all just blends together, another part of the daily commute, a necessary component of the grind. As much as I love my walk across Kurilpa, I think the repetition may be hurting me, and it would serve me well to switch up my way home more often.
But how do you even achieve that without rescheduling your entire day and destroying what little free time you may have? I can't just decide to live in a different suburb that evening, or commute to and from a different office for new photo opportunities. I could always drive to a train station in the morning, thereby bypassing my normal bus route, but I already have to wake up earlier than I'd like (6:30am, woe is me), and that would only exacerbate the issue. I can't quit my job for the sake of a new walking route, especially as that route would soon succumb to the tedium of everyday traversal.
It's safe to say that my best photos have all come from when I've been in unfamiliar locations. Obviously, I can't always be in interesting places, though. Does that mean that my photography between trips needs to suffer so greatly? Can I brute force my way into finding better photos through the repetition required to keep posts going? Will I fall back into my old ways and assume there's some sort of missing kit that'll rekindle my love for Kurilpa? Can I safely pivot back to street-style people of interest, even after I was accosted that one time on this very bridge?
Having an outlet for these thoughts has been really helpful, and being able to externalise them has given me a way to hopefully reach a conclusion for myself. The way I see it, there are two possible outcomes:
- I should just push on. I can't afford to be on holidays all the time, and I can't quit my job to become a travel photographer who gets to be in unfamiliar locales every day (especially because a certain someone would be far too jealous). If I just try and embrace the day-to-day, then my patience will hopefully be rewarded with something special - even if I'm on the same bridge every day.
- I should finally buy that Leica Q3 43.
What I'm listening to: "Essex Honey" - Blood Orange
What I'm reading: "House of Leaves, 2nd Edition" - Mark Z. Danielewski (no progress since the last post - I think reading a big heavy book has really impaired my desire to actually read, as opposed to something on my Boox Palma)