Benz World Blog » Sydney

Open Day

Jason Benz — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 04:21:53 +0000

This is the Western Sydney University team and their car at the open day of the 2019 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge which is a 3000km solar-powered car race from Darwin in the Northern Territory to Adelaide in South Australia. It starts in 1 week and I will be posting updates along the race as I attempt to keep up with the competitors. I will be driving my 1987 van which is the same age as the race itself. Unlike my van performance which has declined over the years, the solar cars have shown extraordinary improvements in every race. So much that the organisers have reduced the maximum size of solar panels to avoid all the cars travelling at the maximum road speed for the whole race, with only the power of the sun. Although I have no choice but to use dino juice to keep up, I will be shooting, processing and uploading all images using 100% solar power, making them fossil-free photos. I am also interested in the possibility of converting my van to solar electric when the current engine has finished its lifespan.

Over the next few days, I will cover the static and dynamic scrutineering before the start of the race on 13th October.

UPDATE: At weigh-in this car took the record of the lightest car at 116.8kg

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Editorial Stock Photography and is available for download here.

New Year

Jason Benz — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 17:25:39 +0000

Happy New Year 2019. May your dreams come true. These are the Sydney new year fireworks. I left my van behind and took the train into the city from my temporary base in the Blue Mountains where I have been enjoying a relaxing Christmas with the Australian branch of my family.

2018 was the most photogenic year so far. It was also the start of my longest journey. In December I revisiting the last 8 months of travel pics to create 2 years worth of stock photography in a few weeks. This brought my total to 700 images at Shutterstock. This averages out to 1 a week from 14 years of photo submissions.

This year I will continue south until the March equinox which should put me somewhere in Tasmania for the first time. I will return to the Blue Mountains in April and resolve to have another 100 stock photos by then.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Sydney 2000

Jason Benz — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 12:12:26 +0000

This is the MV Sydney 2000 in Circular Quay, Australia. It is the largest cruise ship operating in Sydney Harbour. It was built in 1998 in Western Australia.

This shot is for Bob who requested a ship for his birthday. It was cropped out of a stock photo which is available for download here.

Fort Denison

Jason Benz — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 12:06:43 +0000

This wood ship is approaching Fort Denison in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. The island was originally home to a 15 metre sandstone rock. It was later quarried by prisoners to build Circular Quay. Today Fort Denison is a museum and home to more than a hundred birds.

Purple Skyline

Jason Benz — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 10:08:45 +0000

This evening skyline was taken in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. To process this image I wanted to bring out the orange lights and purple sky. I started by using HSL in Camera RAW to boost the luminance and saturation of orange and a smaller boost to yellow and red to avoid posterization. I reduced the luminance of the blues, magentas and purples to darken the clouds. Finally some green tint was added to reduce the strength of the purple.

Purple Bridge

Jason Benz — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 09:36:35 +0000

This is the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the Vivid Sydney Festival. Every winter the city lights up when the nights are long.

We are enjoying watching the goalfest which is Brazil 2014, even though it occasionally involves getting up at 5am to watch England lose again. Australia have looked impressive and face Spain next.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

South Steyne

Jason Benz — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 10:32:42 +0000

This is the South Steyne Floating Restaurant in Darling Harbour, New South Wales. We went to the Sydney Tower today, where the view of this ship and the city are fantastic.

I used Tilt-Shift to create the miniature effect on this former ferry.

We are flying back to the UK tomorrow and will return to Australia in April

The QVB

Jason Benz — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 13:43:00 +0000

This is the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney. It was built 1898 and started life as a concert hall before becoming the city library and eventually its current role as a shopping centre. Australia may not have as much architectural history as the UK but buildings like this give a link to its colonial past.

We are leaving Southport on Wednesday and plan to travel west trough Queensland before crossing into New South Wales and eventually visiting Broken Hill close to the South Australian border.

Darling Harbour

Jason Benz — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 02:21:26 +0000

This is Darling Harbour in Sydney, Australia. I have posted many animals recently so I dug through the archive and developed this night shot of the Harbour. I used a small aperture f22 to increase the star burst effect on the city lights.

Opera Evening

Jason Benz — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 14:03:05 +0000

The Sydney Opera House is a remarkably photogenic building, which is helped by its position on the water in the harbour. There is a clear view from almost every angle. If you walk over the Harbour Bridge you can even look down on it. This shot was taken from Mrs Macquarie’s Chair in the Royal Botanic Gardens