Location: Sydney
Date: July 2012

July 28, 2012. A few stills of Sydney I shot during the filming of the city a couple of weeks ago. Click here for the photo album.

July 14, 2012. Last Monday, I traveled to Sydney aboard the overnight XPT for an appointment with the doc, who was pleased my recovery so far from the cancer operation last January. But I had 6 hours to kill before the appointment so I wandered around the city with my Fuji S1800 and monopod and shot as much footage as I could in the limited time I had.

I was stressed when I arrived at 7am and hadn't slept. My first few attempts at filming weren't too good (or so I felt) but they got better as I did my thing. Even so, I wasn't confident that I'd shot anything other than pretty ordinary stuff. I was too tired when I arrived home that night to bother watching any of it, so it wasn't until next morning that I bothered. Well, well, well, it was better than I expected. Some was even brilliant! 

My schedule didn't go to plan. No taxi trip to the North Shore. But I did a lot of walking and covered a fair bit of territory. Forgot about Darling Harbor though. Hoping to shoot as much of the city as I'd planned was being way too optimistic. Nonetheless, I did pretty well... and managed to get a couple of bits I can using as running gags. When I go back in November (for my next appointment with the doc), I'll do specific shoots of the Harbor, north and south, from shore and on board ferries, as well as Darling Harbor. I've also discovered that the Pacific Jewel will be in town at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, so that'll be a bonus!

My first food was a McCafe coffee at McDs. Nothing to eat though, and that was about midday. I sat there drinking my coffee watching everyone else munching away on yummies, dammit. So apart from a glass and a half of white wine aboard the train on the way home (an exhorbitant $6, thank you very much), I'd eaten nothing all day. There was a young German backpacker sitting across the aisle from me, eating a flat-bread salad and cheese wrap, and I was salivating watching him. Watching him eat, that is. :-P

BTW, I was busting for a pee at McDs and had to climb 3 flights of stairs to get to the loo! Walking into a public toilet with a camera mounted on a monopod was a bit of a worry though. Hehe. 

Yes, I could have done more... lots more. But that will always be the case no matter how much I shoot or how long I shoot for.

I must say that Fuji S1800 does a fine job. Not perfect, but good enough. And I bought it used for $130.