Last weekend was Labour Day for Victoria and on Monday in the early hours of the morning the luxury liner, the Queen Victoria arrived in Melbourne. I was lucky to be invited to go aboard with a small group of people and be given a guided tour of the public spaces. It was also great meeting some of the staff and being shown around by Ludwig and Ant.
I was there for a special presentation to the Commodore of the Cunard lines. I’ve been involved in a project that encourages kids with cameras for a few years now and am often asked to judge photos for it. They were doing the presentation and I was asked to come along and take photos of it, but I was also able to go on the tour and take photos.
It is not easy getting aboard these ships and having to go through very strict security was interesting. It was worth it. I’ve never been on a ship like this and it was fun to wander around to see what was on it. I had my Nikon 24-70mm on first, then after the presentation I got out the Samyang 12mm fisheye and had some fun with it.
I think you will be able to tell in the photos when I changed to the fisheye. I am going to put some descriptions with the photos, to help you work out what we were looking out. I also think that I will do more work on some of these. At the moment they have just been processed with Lightroom, but I would like to see what else I can do with them in Photoshop.
I hope your weekend is going well. It is going to be a hot one here in Melbourne, I’m so over summer, I am looking forward to needing jumpers and putting the heater on instead of the air conditioner. Bring on winter.
That must have been an awesome experience, Leanne. Wow!!! Stunning photos of an absolutely spectacular ship.
It was Regine, it was incredible, probably the only time I will ever get to go aboard. Thank you.
Amazing photos and a good place to use fish eye. That’s neat about kids taking photos. I’m glad winter is coming for you.
Thank you Nicci, it was a perfect place for the fisheye. I’m not looking forward to giving it back this week. I am so glad too, that’s if it ever arrives, no sign of it yet.
What an opportunity Leanne. See what your good works rewards you with (from both a volunteer perspective and a photographer perspective)? My grandparents used to travel the QE2 and I sailed on her once, too, as a young child. Wish I could remember it.
Your first 3 images are my favorites … they reveal the immensity and the beauty
Thank you Laurie, it was a great opportunity, and yes, sometimes things do pay off. How disappointing you can’t remember your cruise, though nice your grandparents could travel on it a bit. Yes, it looked great in the water and it was a beautiful calm day as well.
I spent five days on Queen Mary 2 a couple of weeks ago, so love these photos — great to see another Cunarder! And lucky you to get a tour when the ship seemed empty. There are many people in my photos who I’d love to remove.
That would have been amazing, I would love to go on a cruise with them. It would be fantastic. I do like what you are saying though, it was fairly empty and I probably would get annoyed if lots of people were around. Thank you.
It was indeed fantastic, I loved it. 🙂 I’ve read that Queen Elizabeth will be based in Melbourne and Sydney between Feb and April 2019, so you might manage a cruise then. Those trips go on sale on 24 March (this year), get in quick!
Haha, yeah, I don’t think I will be able to afford it, but it is a nice idea. Thanks
Great shots, Leanne! I really like the fisheye images.
Thank you Tiny, I like them too.
Another thought, Leanne! I quote from your last sentences of this post, ‘I’m so over summer, I am looking forward to needing jumpers and putting the heater on instead of the air conditioner. Bring on winter.’ My wife is totally depressed about the unusual long and nasty winter we are experiencing in our nook of the world. She said you can have all the snow that is left around our yard and town. That’s irony to the extreme, don’t you think, Leanne!
We are lucky here in that our winters are quite mild. We get lots of cloudy days, some rain, but never snow. It is perfect photography weather. I love it. So you can have our summer if you like, too hot, the light is too harsh and I hate getting sunburnt. The extremes are certainly that.
Very impressive photos to show the splendor and opulence of ‘Queen Victoria’!
Thank you Peter, glad I was able to show that.
Very fancy, Leanne . Thanks for taking me aboard. Fun to see.
It most definitely was Ruth, I’m so glad I got to go on board and good to hear you enjoyed the virtual trip. Thank you.
Brilliant set of photos from the ship, Leanne. Love the diversity in your shots once again. Agree with you that parts of the ship looks like the Titanic. Very grand, very magnificent. Also I didn’t know Princes Pier was that long. What a treat to be able to see it from the ship from your vantage, and it is a shot if the pier you rarely see from that angle 🙂 Lots of shots, big ship!
You like winter, I like summer 😀 I loved the weather today and managed to do a hike along Jan Juc and Torquay beaches. No big ship like the Queen Victoria to be seen anywhere, just a lot of big waves and rocks 😀
Thank you Mabel, it is quite a ship. It was so grand, and had many similarities to what I’ve seen of the titanic in images. I know what you mean, the pier seems to go on for ever. It was great seeing it from up there.
Summer is too hot and there are too many days where it is useless to take photos, not the ones I want anyway. The light is too harsh. Jan Juc is a beautiful part of the coast, I love going down there as well. Glad you got away from the city.
My god…it’s like something out of the Titanic!
I was thinking the same thing.
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Hi Leanne
Great photos of a beautiful ship.
Hi yourself, thank you so much Alicia.
I really enjoyed the tour thanks Leanne. She’s beautiful!
Wonderful photos.
That is great to hear Robyn, I loved it too, and she is beautiful. Thank you.
Great to see inside. I traveled on several ocean liners as a child. Your photo bring back memories.
That’s great Sherry, glad it brought back some memories.
Thank you for the fun visual tour. The fish eye lens works well for this subject matter.
You’re welcome Laura, it worked really well for this, thank you.
I really enjoyed your photos,
That’s fantastic Tressa, thank you.
Thanks for the tour Leanne. I totally enjoyed it. Great images and the fish eye added a bit of a twist.
You’re welcome Anne, so glad to hear that, I really enjoyed it as well. I love how great the fisheye can be. Thank you.
Holy moly, Leanne! This is amazing! Beautiful shots of a gorgeous ship.
Thank you Lois, it was an amazing experience.
What a special treat to be given a tour of the ship. Lovely!
It was Carol, such luxury, it would be nice to travel on one, and the staff seemed to love their jobs. Thank you.
WOW!! She’s a beautiful ship Leanne!! ❤️
She really is John. I don’t think I will ever be able to take a trip on her, but it was lovely to visit. Thank you.