Establishments around the city

A couple of nice smartphone photos I took recently.

Coffee and dessert options at West Street Cafe in Hadfield

Photo of a large, transparent plexiglass display on top of a cafe counter. The shelves of this display are filled with doughnuts, croissants, and other pastries. Stacked on top of this display are take-away coffee cups of different sizes, three sizes for hot coffee and two sizes for cold coffee.

Wine display at West Footscray Wines

Black-and-white photo of three tall, wooden shelves stocked with a variety of wine bottles. These shelves are part of a wall-to-wall wine display at a wine bar.

Wine display at West Footscray Wines

Photo of three tall, wooden shelves stocked with a variety of wine bottles. These shelves are part of a wall-to-wall wine display at a wine bar.

[Photo walk] Around the northern suburbs of Melbourne, part 12

The two focal lengths I love shooting at are 27mm and 40mm.

I already have the TTArtisan AF 27mm f2.8 prime lens (41mm full-frame equivalent on my APSC-sensor camera), which I shoot with all the time.

So when TTArtisan announced the TTArtisan AF 17mm f1.8 Air prime lens (26mm full-frame equivalent), I bought it 97 minutes after I got the email :)

And it took me that long to place my order only because I was in a work meeting when the announcement email came through!

With both my favourite focal lengths now covered with a prime lens each, I am a very happy man.

Sadly, I’ve been able to take my new lens out on a walk only once, but at least I got a couple of nice photos with it.

Spray paint marks the path

Close-up photo of a patch of garden with only dirt on it. A narrow, curved path has been drawn across this dirt patch using pink spray paint, and a shallow channel has been dug across the dirt in between these markings.

Rectangular topiary

I’ve been trying to take a good photo of this tree/bush for several months now. Happily, this time I was using a lens with the exact right focal length at the exact right time of day on a very lovely day :)

Photo of an evergreen tree/bush planted in front of a house that has had its leaves at the top clipped into the shape of a three-dimensional rectangle (ie rectangular cuboid).

Just a little off the top

Photo of a long hedge running along the length of a low wall that marks the property boundary of a house. The top of this hedge has been cut so it is completely flat. However, because this type of trimming was not done regularly, the top surface of the hedge now consists of just brown twigs and no green leaves.

Get ready for the road ahead

Photo of a small, reflective, yellow-orange "road ahead" sign installed alongside a bicycle path that warns cyclists this bike path is about to intersect with a road that's designed for motor vehicles. This photo has been taken late in the day so the sign and the top of the pole are brightly lit by the setting sun while the lower part of the pole and the residential wall next to it are in shadow.

Trying out my new ND filter

I bought variable neutral-density (ND) filters for two of my camera lenses. Specifically, the Urth Variable ND2–400 Filter in two different sizes.

Sadly, I haven’t had the chance to try these out on a proper photo walk yet. All I’ve managed to do so far is test them on a short walk after work.

Still, aside from the tiny bit of vignetting at the highest density level, the results I got with them were great, and I managed to take two really nice, richly-coloured photos of objects on a bright, sunny day.

Hopefully I’ll get the chance to play around with these filters properly over the coming weeks.

So much depends…

Photo of a red, grey, and orange wheelbarrow leaning against the wall of a house. The photo is taken at sunset so the colours are rich and warm.

A very Australian problem

Close-up photo of a mailbox at the front of a residential garden. Stickers affixed to the front of the mailbox indicate that this is house 113. The upper, curved part of the mailbox is where mail carriers (affectionately called posties in Australia) will place newspapers, magazines, and other long or bulky packages. This section of the mailbox has not been used recently because there is a thick spiderweb strung across the back part of it.

Nadia, late one afternoon

A couple of photos of Nadia.

Nadia, grinning, at the gate

Photo of a a woman taken through the bars of a wrought iron gate outside a house. The woman is wearing black sneakers, blue jeans, a black t-shirt with a peachey-yellowey flower pattern on it, and black eyeglasses. The woman is holding open a small gate attached to the end of this fence.

Nadia looking off to the side

Close-up photo of a woman with long, mostly-black hair tied in a pony tail who is standing in a driveway. The woman is wearing black glasses, red flower-shaped earrings, and a black t-shirt. She is looking off camera.

[Photo walk] Around the northern suburbs of Melbourne, part 11

After being stuck in back-to-back meetings for almost the entire workday (while working from home), I decided to go for a photo walk around sunset.

Nothing to see, just a totally normal inspection

Close-up photo of an old, faded, white-coloured, metal signboard that has been nailed into an electrical pole in front of a house. A notice printed on paper that was attached to this signboard has mostly been ripped off over the years. All that is visible of the sign is the phrase “normal inspection and”.

A normal inspection was carried out

Photo of an old, faded, white-coloured, metal signboard that has been nailed into an electrical pole in front of a house. A notice printed on paper that was attached to this signboard has mostly been ripped off over the years. All that is visible of the sign is the phrase “normal inspection and”.

Keep left on the bike path

Photo of a thin, flexible-plastic sign installed in the middle of a cycling and walking path running along a residential street. The sign reads, in all capital letters, “keep left” and it is warning cyclists of the electrical pole that is in the middle of the path a couple of metres ahead. The photo is taken from an angle that shows the setting sun peeking out from around the sign.

Shattered paint on a bike and walking path

Photo of a walking path onto which a while line has been painted using road line marking paint. Something heavy has landed on this sturdy, but brittle layer of paint because the paint from one section has shattered, with chips of paint spread around the painted-on line.

Scooped right out of the hedge

Photo of a tall hedge running along a low wall that marks the boundary of a house. It appears as if a big chunk of this hedge was simply scooped out of one end of the hedge because its outer leaves are missing and you can see right through the inside of the hedge. More likely there was another tall plant growing here and this hedge grew around it. That plant has recently been removed, which is why it looks like there is a hole in the hedge.

My favourite ebook typefaces

Since I’ve been asked several times what my favourite ebook typefaces are, I figured I should provide a more comprehensive answer instead of just replying to folks individually in the comments or on social media.

Context: where I read my ebooks

Like most people, I started reading ebooks on a Kindle ereader, though I have since moved on to a Kobo ereader.

Over time I have also compiled a fairly large collection of DRM-free ebooks.

Screenshot of a folder on a computer showing 29 subfolders of books and book series by author Cory Doctorow.

I read these downloaded ebooks in one of three ways:

  • Transfer them to my Kobo ereader.

  • Read them on my Linux computers using Foliate.

  • Read them on my Android devices using ReadEra.

ReadEra is great, by the way, and I even purchased ReadEra Premium (for one-time fee of $24) since that supports the developer financially and, relevant to today’s topic, also lets you add your own fonts to the app.

First-choice typefaces

The typefaces I use to read almost all my ebooks are Bookerly (download) and Literata (download basic, download full family)

Graphic showing the opening paragraph from Naomi Novak’s book A Deadly Education set in the Bookerly and Literata typefaces.

I use Bookerly on my Kindle, Literata on my Kobo, and I switch between the two when reading in Foliate and ReadEra.

Second-choice typefaces

New books

If, for some reason, I don’t want to use Bookerly or Literata, my second choices are usually Caecilia (purchase) or Bitter (download).

Graphic showing the opening paragraph from Naomi Novak’s book A Deadly Education set in the Caecilia and Bitter typefaces.

Caecilia is Kindle-only; Bitter I can use on Kobo, Foliate, and ReadEra.

If I don’t want to use a slab serif, however, I usually go with Vollkorn (download) or Merriweather (download), depending on the vibe of the book I’m reading.

Graphic showing the opening paragraph from Naomi Novak’s book A Deadly Education set in the Vollkorn and Merriweather typefaces.

Classic books

Those are all great typefaces for reading books in my favourite genres of science fiction, fantasy, crime, mystery, and thriller. However, it just doesn’t feel right to read ebook versions of classic books or older books using a slab serif or otherwise modern typeface.

In an earlier post, I’d listed the four Latin-script typefaces that come to mind when you think of what older books, magazines, and other text-heavy material used to be printed in:

When I want to read the classics, poetry, or just generally older books, these are the typefaces I turn to.

Of those typefaces, the ones I like to read ebooks in are Bembo and Caslon. The specific digital versions I use are ETbb (download) for Bembo and Willy Caslon (purchase) for Caslon.

Graphic showing the opening paragraph from Margaret Mitchell’s book Gone with the Wind set in the ETbb and Willy Caslon typefaces.

Another good Bembo version/alternative that I like is Spectral (download), though I don’t use this very often.

Much as I like Garamond and Baskerville, for reading ebooks they just don’t do it for me.

Graphic showing the opening paragraph from Margaret Mitchell’s book Gone with the Wind set in the Stempel Garamond and Libre Baskerville typefaces.

If Garamond and Baskerville do float your boat though, my recommended free(ish) versions of those typefaces are:

The Conversation website is a great example of Libre Baskerville in action, fyi.

Children’s books

While I rarely read children’s books these days, I did go back and read some of the Enid Blyton books I first read when I was as a child. The typefaces I use when reading those ebooks were Besley* (download) and Century Schoolbook (download).

Graphic showing the opening paragraph from Enid Blyton’s book Circus of Adventure set in the Besley* and Century Schoolbook typefaces.

Typefaces I don’t use

I know this is a post about the typefaces I do use, but I should also mention a couple of default and popular ereader typefaces that I actively don’t use.

For example, I almost never use a sans serif typeface unless the book – usually a textbook or non-fiction book – specifically calls for it.

And I don’t use any of the other serif typefaces available on most ereader devices and ebook reading software – typefaces like Palatino, Rakuten Serif, Noto Serif, Georgia, and Malabar (which you used to get on older Kobo ereaders).

Graphic showing the opening paragraph from Naomi Novak’s book A Deadly Education set in the Palatino and Rakuten Serif typefaces.

Rakuten Serif is the default serif typeface on Kobo ereaders, by the way. I did read a couple of books using this typeface when I first got my Kobo, but I never got comfortable with how the text looked. This typeface is too much like Baskerville for my liking (at least when it comes to reading ebooks).

Graphic showing the name “Quetzalcoatl” set in the Libre Baskerville, Rakuten Serif, and Novela typefaces.

The one ereader typeface I haven’t used, but would like to at some point, is Amasis, which is a typeface available on Nook ereaders.

Final thoughts

It makes sense that the typefaces I’ve settled on were designed for reading on screens, and specifically for reading ebooks on ereader devices and through ereader apps. And I love that most of the typefaces I’ve mentioned above are easy to download and free to use.

What typefaces do you use for reading ebooks? I know from chatting with folks online that there’s a wide range of opinions out there. I’d love to hear about which typefaces you’ve tried and which ones you find yourself using more than others.

Typefaces on book copyright pages

I don’t think it was ever common practice but, when I was a kid, I feel like more books used to mention what typeface they were printed in.

Some examples

Here are a few examples of older and newer books in our collection that mention the typefaces they’re printed in, as shown on their copyright pages.

A graphic showing the scans of the copyright page of four books. The pages have been cropped so you see only the lines that tell you what typeface each book was printed in. Headings above each scanned section name the typefaces used, which are Dante, Bembo, Minion, and Sabon. Text below each page tells you which book each page was scanned from. These are The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper, Terra Nullius by Claire G Coleman, The Endsister by Penni Russon, and Bloody Hell! by Mona Eltahawy.

The typefaces used in those books are:

These are all classified as Garalde or old-style typefaces, by the way, and I love all four of them.

(I haven’t written anything in Dante myself, but I do enjoy reading books set in it.)

A tiny peek behind the curtain

Reading through the copyright page at the start of every book taught me so much about publishing and printing. In fact, that’s probably where I first came across the concept of typefaces.

Those pages also introduced me to things like copyright, ISBN, editions, prints, and the cities and countries in which book designers, typesetters, and printers were located.

I loved learning and nerding out about all this when I was younger and, to this day, I go through the entire copyright page of every book I read. [1]

Of course I get an extra thrill when I find a book that tells you what typeface it was set in.

It’s even cooler if it tells you the font size and line spacing used. Those are the numbers separated by a slash that are sometimes printed just before the typeface name, by the way. So, “10/12 pt Sabon” means 10 point Sabon with 12 point line spacing (or “leading”, as it was traditionally called).

It takes almost no effort to add this information to a copyright page and I wish more publishers would do it or more authors would insist upon it.

Oh well.

[1] This is one of the things I find incredibly annoying about Amazon Kindle ereaders. When you open a new book on those devices, they jump straight to the main text. That means every time I open a book, I have to manually make my way back to the cover so I can read all the front matter before starting the main text. Conversely, I love that Kobo ereaders open new books at the cover, so you get the chance to read through all the front matter every time. Having read books on Kindles for many years, reading books on Kobos now brings me a lot of joy :)

Willy Caslon: an excellent Caslon revival

This post ended up being longer than planned, so…

tl;dr

Caslon is an underused typeface, and for good reason: it isn’t well know, its has some design quirks, and it has very few good/complete digital versions.

Latinotype has just released an excellent contemporary revision of Caslon with five weights (plus italics) named Willy Caslon, and it’s on sale at MyFonts right now (60% off!).

If you’ve always wanted a good digital interpretation of this style of typeface, now is your chance to pick one up.

There’s also nice write-up about Willy Caslon in WE AND THE COLOR.

Promotional graphic for the newly released Willy Caslon typeface from Latinotype. (Source: Latinotype)

Caslon doesn’t get much love

When you think of classic, Latin-script typefaces used in books, magazines, and other text-heavy printed material, a handful to mind:

Graphic showing the opening paragraph from The Rook by Daniel O’Malley set in four different typefaces: ET Bembo, Stempel Garamond, Adobe Caslon, and Baskerville URW.

Putting Bodoni aside for the moment (since that’s not as general-purpose as the others), if you want to use one of these classic typefaces in your work in 2026, you have several high quality digital options (both revivals and interpretations) to choose from.

Of those options, these are my favourites:

Everyone has heard of Garamond and Baskerville, and some people may also have come across Bembo because it used be bundled with Microsoft Office, but I bet most people won’t have heard of Caslon. (Though if you’re a macOS user you’ve had a version of Big Caslon included since, I think, macOS Sonoma.)

Why is Caslon not more popular these days? There are two reasons for this.

History

Caslon, developed in London by William Caslon I, was hugely popular in the British Empire and British North America when it was released in 1725. American polymath Benjamin Franklin used nothing else, for example, and the US Declaration of Independence of 1776 was printed in Caslon.

But Caslon wasn’t popular elsewhere in the world (eg in Europe where a lot of other Latin-script typefaces were being being used and developed) and then it fell out of favour globally as transitional typefaces like Baskerville rose in popularity from the mid- to late-1700s.

Caslon did have a bit of a revival in late 1800s/early 1900s, but it was again eclipsed by both newer typefaces (like Plantin, Times New Roman, Sabon, and Palatino) and revivals of older typefaces (like Bembo, Garamond, and Baskerville).

Photograph of the book ‘Death Comes for the Archbishop’ by Willa Cather published in 1927. The book’s text is set in Caslon. (Source: AbeBooks)

Digital versions

When the world moved to digital type, the classic typefaces that were popular at the time were the first ones digitised, sold, and bundled with operating systems and with design and desktop-publishing software. [2]

On the sans serif side, that meant we got typefaces like Helvetica, Arial, and Futura instead of Franklin Gothic, Univers, and DIN. And on the serif side, that meant we got typefaces like Garamond, Baskerville, and Times New Roman instead of Bembo, Caslon, and Sabon.

Operating systems and design software did sometimes bundle limited versions (only one or two weights) or lower quality versions (oversimplified) of less popular typefaces, but that was about it.

I’m a fan of Caslon

I haven’t had the opportunity to use Caslon in my own work very much, but I really like it. It looks great in the The New Yorker, for example, and that publication uses Adobe Caslon in both its print and digital editions. I also prefer Caslon (an “old style” typeface) to Times New Roman (a “transitional” typeface).

Screenshot from The New Yorker website showing two articles with the headings and text set in Adobe Caslon.

That said Caslon isn’t a go-to typeface for me, which is why I haven’t felt the need to purchase a copy of Adobe or Paratype’s Caslon yet.

The main reason I don’t reach for Caslon very often is because its digital revivals are, well, a little too accurate to the original design. [3] The original Caslon’s design has a few quirks that makes it less than ideal for the majority of my use cases.

One repeated complaint about Caslon’s design, for example, is that its uppercase characters are noticeably taller and darker than its lowercase characters. So when you’re reading a block of text, those uppercase characters jump out on the page a little, making the overall colour of the page uneven. Adobe Caslon faithfully replicates this quirk.

Graphic showing a paragraph of text set in both Adobe Caslon and Willy Caslon. Call-outs point to two capital letters in each paragraph. The call-out for Adobe Caslon reads, “Uppercase characters are taller and darker than lowercase, so they jump out at you in blocks of text”. The call-out for Willy Caslon reads, “Here they’re not as tall, and they’re also the same shade as lowercase, so they don’t jump out at you”.

What’s cool about the Latinotype interpretation of Caslon is that its designers removed the original design’s metal-type, print-era inconsistencies and added more precision and uniformity – all without neutralising the typeface’s essential character.

(Dirk Petzold’s article in WE AND THE COLOR goes into more detail about Willy Caslon’s design, if you want a deep dive.)

This is why the text set in Willy Caslon in the graphic below looks more uniform. And because it is slightly darker overall, this typeface works great on screen and in print.

Graphic showing the first two paragraphs of the Wikipedia entry for Caslon set in two different typefaces, Adobe Caslon and Willy Caslon.

(FYI, the design of Libre Caslon Text fixes the size and colour inconsistency between uppercase and lowercase characters, but leaves the rest of the design as is.)

Why am I so excited about Willy Caslon?

There are many digital versions of Caslon available (see Fontspring, MyFonts, and Type Network), but very few are fully featured and useable in modern publishing contexts.

Most are available in just a single style (regular). A few include italics or bold; some include italics and bold; and very few include the basic set of regular, italic, bold, and bold-italic.

Some versions are distressed fonts, which make them more suited for graphic design than for body text applications.

And some, like Matthew Carter’s Big Caslon, are display fonts and not text fonts.

The handful that do include the basic font set (and sometimes more, like the semi-bold and black weights) are:

I don’t have first-hand experience with all these typefaces, but the problem with pretty much all of them is that they’re either too faithful to the original design or they simplify the design so much that some of the original Caslon character is lost.

Graphic showing the word, “Quetzalcoatl” in large text set in four different typefaces: Willy Caslon, Adobe Caslon, LTC Caslon Long, Libre Caslon Text.

Willy Caslon benefits from the recent trend of type designers releasing digital interpretations of classic typefaces that retain the character of the original but are now suited to the needs of modern digital and print publishing. [4]

Promotional graphic for the newly released Willy Caslon typeface from Latinotype. (Source: Latinotype)

I, for one, am thrilled that a really good, high-useable version of Caslon is now available, and I’m looking forward to using Willy Caslon wherever and whenever I can.

[1] If you keep going forward in time, you can add these to the list of popular editorial typefaces too: Plantin (1913), Goudy Old Style (1915), Times New Roman (1931), Janson (1937), Ehrhardt (1938, 1680s), Palatino (1949), Dante (1954), Sabon (1967), Palatino (1949), Minon (1990), Hoefler Text (1991), and Adobe Jenson (1996).

[2] Yes, yes, I know I’m greatly simplifying things here. A lot went into deciding which typefaces got digitised first, including considerations around licensing, availability, practicality, and personal preference.

[3] Another reason I don’t reach for Caslon very often because its free version, Libre Caslon Text, works best at 16pt and above, so that only works for web pages and not for documents.

[4] Kris Sowersby’s Martina Plantijn (Plantijn) and American Grotesk (Franklin Gothic) are prime examples of this trend.

[Photo walk] Around the northern suburbs of Melbourne, part 10

It was a lovely day today so I decided to go for a short photo walk around Merlynston Creek in Melbourne’s north.

The cactus does not fear the barbed wire

Photo looking up at the top of a tall, wooden fence on a residential street. A layer of chain link fence has been erected above the wooden fence using regularly spaced metal supports. And above that there are two stands of barbed wire strung along the very top of the metal support poles. A tall and large opuntia cactus plant (possible prickly pear?) that is growing behind this multi-layer fence is comfortably resting a segment of itself on top of the barbed wire and chain link fence, causing both of those to bend under its weight.

A quiet spot along Merlynston Creek

Photo of a green, metal park bench facing the greenery surrounding a creek that flows next to a residential neighbourhood. The spot is very quiet and peaceful on this sunny day.

Stormwater culvert that helps manage flooding on Merlynston Creek

Photo of a large, round, and currently-dry stormwater drainage culvert that crosses under a walking path. A pile of medium-sized boulders has been arranged in front of the opening so the flow of water is slowed as it exits the culvert. There is graffiti both outside and inside the culvert, including a large arrow pointing upwards that has been painted on the wall at the other side of the tunnel.

It is dark in the stormwater culvert

Desaturated photo of a large, round, and currently-dry stormwater drainage culvert. A pile of medium-sized boulders has been arranged in front of the opening so the flow of water is slowed as it exits the culvert. There is graffiti both outside and inside the culvert, including a large arrow pointing upwards that has been painted on the wall at the other side of the tunnel.

Footscray West Writers Fest 2026

Nadia was invited to speak at the ‘Poetry & Wine’ sessions at this year’s Footscray West Writers Fest, which is now in its second year of running.

Naturally, I brought my camera along and took a few photos while I was there :)

Graphic showing the Footscray West Writers Fest 2026 logo and a circular collage of black-and-white photos of the speakers at the ‘Poetry & Wine’ session.

Introduction

Thuy On kicking off the ‘Poetry & Wine’ session

Photo of poet Thuy On seated in an outdoor courtyard. She is speaking into a microphone that she is holding in her hand. Thuy is wearing a red-and-black dress with a bright-red flower fascinator in her hair.

Jaidyn Attard

Jaidyn Attart is a street poet and I actually posted a photo of one his poems back in 2024 :)

Jaidyn Attard reciting his poetry - 1

Photo of poet Jaidyn Attard standing in a wine-bar courtyard. He is reciting his poetry into a microphone that he is holding in his hand. Jaidyn is wearing a black t-shirt and brown overshirt. Jaidyn is also looking straight at the photographer taking this photo.

Nadia Niaz

Nadia Niaz getting ready to recite her poetry

Photo of poet Nadia Niaz standing at a table in a wine-bar courtyard. Nadia is sorting through some papers on the table as she prepares to read her poetry to the audience.

Nadia Niaz reciting her poetry - 1

Photo of poet Nadia Niaz standing in a wine-bar courtyard. Nadia is reciting her poetry into the microphone that is on a mic-stand in front of her. She is gesturing with her right hand while holding open her book, The Djinn Hunters, in her left hand. Nadia is wearing a black top and black jacket.

Thuy On

Thuy On reciting her poetry - 1

Photo of poet Thuy On standing in a wine-bar courtyard. Thuy is reciting her poetry into the microphone that is on a mic-stand in front of her. She is holding open one of her poetry books with her right hand. Thuy is wearing a red-and-black dress with a bright-red flower fascinator in her hair.

Random photo

Outdoor LED lighting at West Footscray Wines

Photo of an LED light globe affixed to a string of outdoor lights in a wine-bar courtyard. There are cobwebs on the light fixture and, in the background of the photo, you can see an out-of-focus mural painted on the courtyard wall.

Lili Ward

Lili Ward reciting her poetry - 1

Photo of poet Lili Ward seated in a wine-bar courtyard. Lili is reciting her poetry into the microphone that is on a mic-stand in front of her. She is reading from her poetry book, Easily Enlightened. Lili is wearing a black t-shirt that reads, "Readers and writers against the genocide".

Volunteer photographer

Footscray West Writers Fest 2026 volunteer taking a photo - 1

I like taking photos of photographers and videographers, the folks who are usually on the other side of the lens. I even have an album on Flickr with all such photos I’ve taken over the years :)

Photo of a young woman wearing grey jeans and an olive green event-branded t-shirt who is sitting on a walkway that connects at wine-bar courtyard to the main building. This photo is taken between rows of audience members seated at an outdoor poetry reading event. The woman is using a Canon DSLR camera to take a photo of the speaker who is currently reciting their poetry.

Magan Magan

Magan Magan reciting his poetry - 1

Photo of poet Magan Magan standing in a wine-bar courtyard, as seen above the heads of some audience members. Magan is reciting his poetry into the microphone that is on a mic-stand in front of him. Magain is wearing a black t-shirt and brown wool cap, and he is reading from the smartphone he is holding in his hands.

Linkin Park in Melbourne, 2026

After attending the 8 March Linkin Park concert with Nadia, I attended the 10 March concert by myself. A lot of the folks around me had done exactly the same: attended the first show with their partner and were now attending this second show on their own :)

Since I’d already seen most of this show once – there was a six-song difference between day one and day two – I took more photos and videos during this show than I normally would. Here are some of them.

tl;dr

I only recorded small bits of some of the songs that Linkin Park played because I wanted to spend the rest of the time in the moment. I’m much happier listening to these songs being played live in front of me than focusing on what I’m capturing my phone’s comparatively tiny screen. Anyway, I’ve compiled those clips into a single video.

LPU early entry

I’ve been a member of Linkin Park Underground (LPU), the Linkin Park fan club, since 2010, skipping only the 2022-23 year because that was when we bought a house and got a mortgage, and so I cancelled literally all my subscriptions. (Including my other long-term subscription to Feminist Frequency, which I’d had since 2012.)

One of the benefits of an LPU membership is that, if you have a General Admission (GA) ticket, you can apply for early entry to Linkin Park’s concerts. Only the first 100 LPU members with verified GA tickets who apply are selected and, because I was a little late in applying, I was #74 on the list.

Still, that meant I got to queue up with VIP ticket holders and other early-entry LPU members at 5pm on Tuesday. Doors opened for everyone else at 6:15pm, openers Polaris kicked things off at 7:30pm, and Linkin Park’s set started at 8:45pm.

Waiting in the early entry line at Rod Laver Arena

Photo of a pull-up banner outside of an arena that reads, “LPU early entry”.

We were escorted into the empty Rod Laver Arena floor at 5:30pm, a full 45 minutes before gates opened to the general public at 6:15pm – which was super cool.

Empty Rod Laver Area floor, before doors open to the general public

Photo of a large arena prepped for a concert that that is currently completely empty of attendees.

The Linkin Park team makes an effort to recognise its fan club members so, while we went about arranging ourselves along the barricade at the very front of the arena floor, our LPU avatars were being displayed on the big screen at the back of the stage.

Avatars of early-entry LPU members on display

Photo of a large screen at the back of a massive concert stage. Displayed on the screen is a logo, the text, “Welcome LPU”, and twenty stylised avatars of members of the Linkin Park fan club.

In case you’re wondering, mine is the blue one in the bottom-right corner of this photo :)

Early-entry LPU member avatars on display behind the stage

Photo of part of a large screen at the back of a concert stage. Displayed on the screen is a logo, the text, “Welcome LPU”, and ten stylised avatars of members of the Linkin Park fan club. In the bottom-right corner is a blue-skinned character with a beard and eyeglasses who is wearing a khaki-and-orange industrial-looking hoodie.

A new era for Linkin Park

One of the coolest things about the latest evolution of Linkin Park is how their audience has evolved right along with them. When I attended their show the last time they were in Australia, which was in December 2010, I think around 40% of concert attendees were women. In this new era of Linkin Park, easily 50% of attendees were women or non-binary. That was true on the arena floor as well.

There was also a difference between the Sunday and Tuesday shows. When Mike Shinoda asked for a show of hands on Sunday, about one-third of the crowd indicated they’d attended a Linkin Park concert before, while two-thirds were attending their first one that night. He didn’t repeat this question on Tuesday, but it felt like those numbers were reversed and we had a greater proportion of long-term, die-hard fans in attendance. (Tuesday being a school night also meant there was fewer children there.)

The vibe was different enough on Tuesday that there was a good amount of crowd surfing going on. Even Emily Armstrong crowd surfed for a bit :) I hadn’t noticed any crowd surfing on Sunday, thought that might have just been me not paying enough attention.

Concert etiquette, behaviour, and security practices have come a long way since 2010 because, when Linkin Park performed in Melbourne back then (which was also at Rod Laver Arena), there were clear signs telling us that, “Moshing and Crowd Surfing is NOT PERMITTED”!

Photo of an area with seats rising up to the back wall. A sign attached to the barrier at the front of the seating area reads, “Moshing and Crowd Surfing is NOT PERMITTED”.

Fast forward to 2026 and concert security were constantly making sure folks on the arena floor stayed hydrated at all times – regularly passing down water in paper cups, for example – and they were super efficient at helping crowd surfers get down safely once those folks had made it all the way to the front.

Before the event kicked off, tour management also came by and talked to us about what to expect during the show – like the mosh pit that’s formed during Two Faced – and what to do if we weren’t feeling well.

All told, it was an excellent experience on the arena floor. But then – much like the members of the band itself – Linkin Park’s fans are, on average, more considerate and, frankly, nicer people. At least in my experience.

Video show-and-tell

Speaking of how things have changed from 2010 to 2026, I made a video to show some of the differences between the two live performance.

Aside from the permanent line-up changes – with lead vocalist Emily Armstrong replacing the late Chester Bennington and drummer Colin Brittain replacing Rob Bourdon – their songs are now played in a different key to suit Emily’s vocal range and Alex Feder is their touring lead guitarist because Brad Delson prefers not to go on tour.

Just like the band’s concert technology, my filming technology has also received a massive upgrade. Back in 2010, I was recording video in 720p resolution on a 2000s-era Canon IXUS 120 digital camera. In 2026, I’m recording in 1080p using my Google Pixel 6 Pro smartphone.

The 2010 audio from my Canon camera was completely unusable, by the way. Its tiny microphone could not handle the concert volume and absolutely could not handle the bass! Fortunately, back in the day, LPU members who could show evidence they’d attended a particular concert were able to purchase an audio recording of that show. This was audio recorded straight off the mixing console. This approach obviated the need for any bootlegging recordings and also made the band a bit of additional revenue. I’d bought this recording for the show I attended in 2010, and so I was able to used this in my video instead of the crappy in-camera audio :)

One of the best shows I’ve attended

Here, finally, are some of my photos from Linkin Park’s performance.

Mike singing

Photo of musician Mike Shinoda on stage with a guitar slung across his back while he sings into the microphone that he is holding.

The massive video screens directly above us

Photo of two massive rectangular lighting rigs attached to the roof of an arena. Along the side of these lighting rigs are massive video screens that are showing members of the band that is performing on the stage below.

The joy of standing so close to the confetti canon

Photo of an arena showing a wall of pink and purple confetti that has just been blown out of confetti canons arranged in front of a massive stage.

Those canons really do launch that confetti across the whole arena!

Photo of an arena showing a wall of pink and purple confetti that has been blown out of confetti canons arranged in front of a massive stage. The confetti is floating above the thousands of people standing on the arena floor.

Emily and Mike encouraging fans to sing along

Photo of musicians Emily Armstrong and Mike Shinoda standing on platforms built on top of a stage at an arena concert. Emily is singing into the microphone she is holding while Mike is pointing his microphone at the crowd in front of him, encouraging them to sign along.

Joe taking photos of the crowd

Photo of musician Joe Hahn taking photos of the crowd while his fellow band members perform on stage at a arena concert.

Me in the background of Joe’s photo

I only took a couple of selfies at the show but neither turned out very well. Happily, you can see me (wearing the black face mask) in the top-left corner of this photo that Joe Hahn took and then posted on his Instagram account.

Photo of a woman screaming in delight while wearing a Linkin Park hat. The woman is standing at the barricade at the very front of an arena floor. Directly behind this woman is a bald man wearing glasses and a black face mask who is looking up at musician Mike Shinoda as he raps into his microphone.

The main focus of Joe’s photo is Irene, the LPU member who was gifted a Linkin Park hat signed by the entire band. I was right behind her when this happened and took a video of it, which I later sent to her and she posted on her Instagram :)

Mike rapping while standing on the barricade directly in front of us

Mike is the one who presents this gift to a fan every night, and here’s the photo I took of him rapping to start the next song. Yes, he is standing on top of the barricade that’s directly in front of us.

Photo of musician Mike Shinoda rapping while standing on top of the barricade at the front of an arena floor.

The whole band in one photo

Photo of musicians Mike Shinda, Emily Armstrong, Dave Farrell, Joe Hahn, Alex Feder, and Colin Brittain performing on stage at an arena.

Fantastic laser light show

Photo of a three-dimensional laser and large-screen light show around the stage at an arena concert.

Dave doing his thing

Photo of musician Dave Farrell playing his bass guitar on stage at an arena.

Emily doing her thing

Photo of musician Emily Armstrong singing as she looks down into members of the audience from an arena concert stage.

Bass, rhythm, lead guitar

Photo of musicians Dave Farrell, Mike Shinoda, and Alex Feder – bass, rhythm, and lead guitarists, respectively – performing at the front of an arena stage.

Emily connecting with at a fan

Photo of musician Emily Armstrong pointing at a fan as she walks towards her during an arena concert.

Lights turned all the way up after the end of the show

Photo of a massive arena stage with all its white lights turned on. The concert has ended and all the musicians have left the stage.

The crowd behind me, right after the show ended

Photo of thousands of people standing on an arena floor at the end of a concert, with several thousand more seated in chairs all around the arena. Rod Laver Arena can hold over fifteen thousand attendees during concerts.

Confetti’s gonna confetti

Photo looking down at an arena floor that has no people on it, but is full of pink and purple coloured confetti. The photographers shoes, legs, and shorts are visible in the bottom of the photo frame.

So that’s that.

I’ve been in GA crowds several time over the years, but this was probably the most fun that I’ve had in one. It helped that all of us early-entry people were avid, even nerdy, Linkin Park fans and we quickly made friends with the folks around us. When you’re jumping up and down, squeezed between your neighbours, with the bass pounding and confetti flying, it’s good to know the names of the folks around you and that you’ll all look out for each other over the course of the night :)

Summer 2026 events round-up

Like I’ve mentioned before, I don’t take many photos and videos at events like concerts, talks, and comedy shows because I prefer being present in the moment.

That said, I do like to take at least a couple of photos for posterity. So here are some of the event photos and videos I’ve taken over the last few months.

I’m going to skip over one event I attended because this was a rare exception to my take-very-few-photos rule. I’ll cover that in the next post.

Garbage

12 Dec 2025. Garbage is one of my all-time favourite bands. I had to travel for work when these folks toured Australia in 2016, but this time I made sure I was there. Nadia and I attended the concert (and went out for dinner before that) with a whole bunch of friends and we had a fantastic time.

Garbage performing at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne

Photo of alternative rock band Garbage performing on stage.

Elderbrook

14 Jan 2026. Elderbrook is one of my favourite electronic musicians/DJ. He toured Australia as part of the summer music festival circuit and we got to watch him at the Australian Open concert series. (Yes, the AusOpen tennis tournament is about a lot more than just world class tennis.)

Elderbrook playing the drums during his set

Photo of electronic musician and DJ Elderbrook performing at a medium-sized outdoor festival-like stage. Elderbrook is drumming on some electronic drum pads set up on the stage next to his DJ rig. The super wide, wrap-around video screens behind him are displaying a fiery orange pattern.

Here’s a super short video from this concert too.

Gianmarco Soresi

24 Jan 2026. Gianmarco Soresi’s stand-up material ranges from very personal to very political. Your face won’t hurt at the end of his show because you laughed too much – his shows aren’t like that – but your brain will be full of zingy thoughts and unhinged imagery that you were absolutely not expecting.

The Capitol is such a gorgeous theatre

Photo of the a large theatre with a layered, three-dimensional, rectangular roof with hidden white, blue, and purple lighting.

Wet Leg

10 Feb 2026. I’m not hugely into post-punk revival, but I do love Wet Leg. We didn’t have the best spot from which to watch this show, but it was a fun concert nonetheless.

Wet Leg at Northcote Town Hall

Photo of indie rock band Wet Leg performing on stage.

Nerd Nite #67

11 Feb 2026. Since this is probably the first time you’re hearing about this: Nerd Nite is “evidence-based entertainment” – a series of informal talks given at a pub by nerds, for nerds. Started in Boston, USA in 2003, the concept spread all over the world, though I believe Melbourne Nerd Nite is the last chapter still running in Australia.

I’ve watched a lot of these talks online, but this was the first time I attended in person. It is so energising being around that many nerds! Nadia and I will try to attend all these talks going forward.

Nerd Nite at the Howler in Brunswick

Photo of a stage with a cinema-sized projector screen at the back. The screen shows a graphic of a stylised Melbourne tram with ‘Nerd Nite 2026’ written in graffiti on it.

Linkin Park

8, 10 Mar 2026. Linkin Park is one of my all-time favourite bands and the group were performing two shows in Melbourne. Nadia and I attended the first of those concerts together.

Selfie from Linkin Park’s From Zero world tour

Selfie of a man and woman wearing glasses and black face masks sitting in the crowd at a concert.

I’m a Linkin Park Underground (ie fan club) member, so I get access to ticket sales really early. That meant we got excellent seats: right in the centre and just four rows back from the mixing desk :)

Seated right behind the mixing desk at Rod Laver Arena for Linkin Park

Wide-angle photo of a large sports arena with a currently empty stage. Thousands of attendees, especially the ones on the floor of the arena, have their smartphones out and are filming what is about to happen on the stage. In the foreground of the photo are production techs standing in front of dozens of screens and control boards that make up a modern concert sound and lighting control set-up.

I attended Linkin Park’s second show by myself (this time in General Admission) and I’ll show you the photos and videos I took there in my next post.

Laura Ramoso

13 Mar 2026. Unlike Gianmarco Soresi, you do come out of Laura Ramoso’s stand-up shows with your face hurting from laughing so much. Laura did a fantastic job at transposing and translating her online skits and characters to the stage.

Waiting for Laura Ramoso at The Palais Theatre in St Kilda

Photo of an empty stage with text projected on the curtain at the back of the stage. This text reads, “Laura Ramoso” and “Calm Down Tour”.

This has been a really fun summer, and though we have fewer events planned for the rest of the calendar year, I’m looking forward to all of those as well.

2026 NBN update: the final upgrade

tl;dr

We upgraded our NBN connection from FTTC to FTTP, and because the switch to FTTP allowed us to upgrade to the Home Ultrafast speed tier, now our download speeds are ten times faster and our upload speeds are four times faster that before.

Screenshot of an internet speed test from OpenSpeedTest that shows a download speed of 958.61Mbps, jitter of 0.00ms, ping of 3.0ms, and upload speed of 73.41Mbps.

The start of our NBN story

We got connected to Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) in December 2015.

Then, because we were renting, we moved house a few times. That meant both our connection speed and connection type changed every few years (which I documented along the way using the ‘NBN’ tag on this blog, in case you’re interested).

Screenshot from the NBN website showing the various types of fixed line connections available on the NBN: Fibre to the Premises; Fibre to the Building; Fibre to the Curb; Fibre to the Node; and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial. (Source)

All that stopped in 2022 when we bought a house in the northern suburbs of Melbourne that had a Fibre to the Curb (FTTC) NBN connection. That’s the connection type in which the fibre optic cable carrying the internet signal terminates at a distribution box on your street (ie the “curb”) and a standard copper cable goes from there to your house.

The speeds on this connection type were decent, but not great: 95Mbps down and 19Mbps up.

The upload speed, in particular, was irritating because it was half of what we’d had with a Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) connection in our previous places. Now it took me a lot longer to back-up my media to the cloud, for example, and I had to make sure I wasn’t doing any uploading when Nadia or I were on a video conference call for work (especially if Nadia was teaching a class). First world problems, I know, but irritating ones nonetheless.

A new hope

You can upgrade! No, you can’t.

Happily, in January 2025, NBN Co announced its ‘full fibre upgrade’ program. This would let 622,000 properties across Australia upgrade their existing, slower connection types to the fastest-possible Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) connection.

I immediately tried to sign up to this upgrade but found that we weren’t eligible yet. We live in a property with only three units and, at the time, NBN Co was prioritising upgrades for properties with four or more units.

*sigh*

You can upgrade now! Wait, no, you still can’t.

Not too long after, in October 2025, all types of properties became eligible for the upgrade so I immediately signed us up.

Screenshot of an email with the heading, “We’ve received your request” and the text, “Hi Ameel Zia Khan, We appreciate your interest in the nbn Full Fibre Upgrade for Complex Multi-Dwelling Properties at” followed by an address that has been blacked out. An italicised sentence just below this paragraph reads, “Please note that this application applies to all units/premises within the building or complex, not individual units or lots.”

I didn’t hear anything till November 2025, when someone from the Fibre Upgrades team at NBN Co reached out to say our application was still under review.

Then, in January 2026, they reached out to say we could now formally proceed with the upgrade. We just needed to fill out a form and each unit on the property needed to pay $275 to cover the remainder of the government-subsidised installation cost.

Unfortunately, in the intervening months, things had changed at our end: one of the units on our property had been sold and, when I reached out to the new owners to say, “hey, we’re now all set to do the NBN upgrade” these folks said they didn’t want to do the upgrade.

Animated GIF showing a woman standing up and shouting, “Noooo!”

So that was that. End of story. No upgrade for me.

(Obviously that’s not how the story ended.)

The twist ending

Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, at the end of February 2026, I got one final email from NBN Co that read:

Hi Ameel,

We’re writing to share an important update regarding the nbn® fibre upgrade at [YOUR ADDRESS].

Your premises/complex was previously progressing through the nbn Full Fibre Upgrade for Complex Multi‑Dwelling Properties program. Following a recent assessment, it has now been reclassified and is eligible to individually order an nbn® Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) service via a High-Speed Tier plan.

What this means

Instead of continuing through the Complex MDU upgrade pathway, individual premises within the complex/block can now request an order directly with their preferred retail service provider (RSP), provided they select an eligible high‑speed plan.

This meant our upgrade to FTTP was no longer an all-or-nothing deal for the whole property. Individual owners of each unit could now apply separately through their internet service providers (ISPs) to upgrade just their own NBN connections!

Woohoo!

Happily every after

From then on, things proceeded at pace.

Our ISP is iiNet – who we’ve been with since 2009! – so shortly after I received this email, I went to their ‘Fibre upgrade’ page and signed up for a free upgrade.

The very next day I got a message to say our upgrade-installation was booked for exactly one week later.

One week later, which was yesterday, the installer turned up and, within two hours, had:

  • laid the new fibre optic cable from the street to our unit,

  • installed two new connection boxes (outside box shown below), and

  • activated our new NBN FTTP connection.

Photo showing an large while box stamped NBN Co installed on a brick wall.

All I needed to do was log into our modem and uncheck the VLAN tagging checkbox that was needed for the old FTTC connection but was stopping our new FTTP connection from working.

And just like that, we were done.

Serious speed upgrade

So what speeds are we getting now?

Well, not only did we upgrade our connection type to FTTP, we also upgraded to the ‘Home Ultrafast’ speed tier that gives you download speeds of up to 1,000Mbps (ie one gigabit per second) and upload speeds of up to 100Mbps :)

And because we’d upgraded to the latest Synology router in 2024 – the WRX560, with its 2.5Gbps WAN port – I knew all our hardware (and the Ethernet cables in our walls) could handle the speed upgrade just fine.

Here, then, are our current download and upload speeds.

Graphic with two bar charts showing, respectively, download and upload speeds in megabits per second from 2009 to 2026. The bars are divided into groups by connection type. 2009 ADSL speeds are 6.9Mbps down, 0.9Mbps up. 2015 FTTB speeds are 46.7 down, 22.6 up. 2016 and 2018 FTTP speeds are 75.7 and 105.2 down, 36.5 and 37.2 up. 2020 and 2022 FTTC speeds are 91.9 and 94.7 down, 18.2 and 18.9 up. Finally, a differently coloured bar for 2026 Ultrafast FTTP shows speeds of 937.3 down, 89.0 up.

We’re currently getting speeds of 937Mbps up and 89Mbps down – which is a whopping ten times faster for downloads and four times faster for uploads!

What now?

So that’s it. The end of the road. Our final NBN upgrade is complete.

Yes, NBN Co has announced an Ultrafast II speed tier that gives you 2GBps download speeds, but that is absolutely not something we need at home so our upgrading days are very much over.

Now we just get to enjoy blazingly fast download and upload speeds, and the next time I need to upload a few terabytes of data to the cloud, I won’t have to leave my desktop switched on continuously for a few days in a row!

As someone whose work and personal life is inextricably intertwined with the internet, I am a very happy person right now :)

Pros and cons of upgrading to Windows 11 at work

Cons

How do you make corporate life more painful when upgrading everyone to Windows 11?

  1. You lock down the Microsoft Edge browser so employees can’t install any extensions on it, making this browser completely useless for my purposes. (I prefer Edge to Chrome at work because the former uses ~20% less RAM, as shown in the screenshot below. Both browsers have a single tab open and our intranet home page is loaded on that tab.)

  2. You lock down the Google Chrome browser so you can’t turn off the “offer to save passwords” feature, making it super irritating to use. <sigh>

Screenshot showing the Windows 11 Task Manager. Five apps are running, with Google Chrome taking up 605.7MB of memory and Microsoft Edge taking up 498.1MB of memory.

Oh well, at least they still let us install and use the Mozilla Firefox browser without any restrictions!

Sadly, while I love Firefox – and I use it as my default browser at home – I still end up using Chrome for most of what I do at work. Many of our corporate systems work best in Chrome so I have to grin and bear it as I click, “no, I never want to save this password for this site” over and over again.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Pros

Conversely, here’s how corporate life is is less painful now that we’re upgrading to Windows 11:

  1. The Cascadia font family comes preinstalled, so I’m no longer forced to use Consolas as my default text editor font! (I take all my work notes in text using Notepad++.)

Screenshot from the Windows 11 font manager showing Cascadia Code and Cascadia Mono fonts installed on the computer.

You win some, you lose some, I guess.

To be fair, as someone who cares very much about cybersecurity, I will always choose security over convenience.

Whether locking-down Edge that tightly will genuinely make our work computers more secure, I don’t know. That said, Edge is a Microsoft product so I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry :)

Still, being unable to install uBlock or any other ad blocker in our default web browser seems like a major oversight, especially since uBlock Origin used to come pre-installed in our browsers on Windows 10.

Like I said before: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Photo walk] Spring Street #1

I attended a business lunch near Parliament House in Melbourne, so afterwards I walked up to it took a few photos.

Free Palestine, at the tram stop outside Parliament House in Melbourne

Black-and-white photo of the sidewalk at a tram stop. Graffiti written in chalk on the wall of this sidewalk reads, “Free Palestine”.

Photo and video projects in progress on the steps of Parliament House

Photo of a large stonework building with tall pillars and a very set of stairs across the front. Several people are sitting and standing on these stairs. In the foreground of the photo are a bride, groom, and bridesmaid who are having their photos taken. Next to them is a film crew that has paused filming while the wedding photo group relocates to a different section of the building. In the background, at the top of the steps, in another photographer taking a photo of someone standing on the steps.

Talent and crew ready for the next take

Photo of an actress in a black, formal outfit and maroon high heels standing on the inclined driveway that leads up to the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne. In the foreground is a camera operator holding his camera on a self-stabilising gimbal at knee height as he prepares to video the talent as she walks up to the building. This photo is taken through the gap between the pillars of the stone banister that lines the driveway.

Actress ready for the next take

Photo of an actress in a black, formal outfit and maroon high heels standing on the inclined driveway that leads up to the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne. She is waiting for the director to call, “Action!” before walking up the driveway. This photo is taken through the gap between the pillars of the stone banister that lines the driveway.

Camera operator filming

Photo of a camera operator holding his camera on a self-stabilising gimbal at knee height as he shoots his video. This photo is taken through the gap between the pillars of a stone banister.

Escalator down to Town Hall Station in Melbourne

Black-and-white photo looking down at a bank of escalators leading to an underground train station. The escalators are empty, but the legs of one traveller are visible in the top-right corner of the photo.

Melbourne Pride March 2026, part 3

Finally, here my photos of some of the dogs at Melbourne’s Midsumma Pride March 2026 :)

Tiny puppy

Photo of a tiny, tan-and-white puppy straining on a leash in a grassy field. The puppy is only slightly taller than the ankle of the person it is standing next to. A small Progress Pride flag has been attached to its leash.

Dog playing fetch

Photo of a medium-sized, brown-and-white dog wearing a baseball cap. The dog is walking across a grassy field as it carries a stick back to its owner.

Fluffy white dog

Photo of a small, fluffy, white dog with lots of pride paraphernalia attached to it. The dog is being walked on a lead across a grassy field.

Fluffy white assistance dog

Photo of a small, fluffy, white dog wearing an assistance-dog harness and a poofy, colourful skirt. A rainbow pride flag has been attached to the dog's harness. The dog is being walked on a blue leash that has an “assistance dog” label on it. The dog and its owner are walking across a grassy field.

Pride noodle

Photo of a greyhound dog wearing a rainbow-coloured sweater is being walked on a yellow leash across a grassy field before Melbourne Pride March 2026.

Fluffy backpack dog

Photo of a fluffy, white, medium-sized dog in a backpack. The backpack is being work by a man in a bright orange t-shirt with the Commission for Children and Young People logo on it. The man has a Progress Pride flag sticker on his cheek.

Fluffy white dog in a backpack

Photo of a fluffy, white, medium-sized dog in a backpack. The backpack is worn by a man in a bright orange t-shirt. Next to the man is a woman wearing a rainbow-heart-themed tie-dye t-shirt, with rainbow paint on her cheek and a rainbow hair tie.

Enjoying the event from a distance

Photo of a woman and her large, white dog sitting calmly in a children's play area close to the start of Melbourne Pride March 2026. The dog is looking off-camera at the crowd of people preparing to march.

Melbourne Pride March 2026, part 2

Here are my photos of some of the marchers at Melbourne’s Midsummer Pride March 2026.

The kids are alright

Photo of dozens of teenagers holding pride signs getting ready to march at Melbourne Pride 2026. Signs include, “Bi, shy & ready to cry”, “Non-binary & proud”, and “Lesbians are lovely”.

This is pride at work

Photo of a placard being held by employees from Seek as they march at Melbourne Pride 2026. The placard reads, in bright-pink, all-caps lettering, “this is pride at work”.

RACV Pilot Service car

Photo of a bright yellow 1967 Morris Mini Deluxe car with “RACV Pilot Service” painted on it. The car is being driven along the Melbourne Pride March route by a woman in a bright pink t-shirt and a rainbow-coloured feather boa around her neck. A woman in the passenger seat, who is wearing a bright blue t-shirt, is smiling a she looks straight at the photographer taking this photo.

All-sparkly

Photo of two women in red and purple sparkly, strappy dresses and rainbow-coloured headpieces marching at Melbourne Pride March 2026.

Rainbow earrings

Photo of a woman smiling while marching at Melbourne Pride March 2026. The woman is wearing a blue RACV t-shirt and rainbow earrings.

Melbourne Pride March 2026, part 1

I didn’t spend as much at time as I wanted at this year’s Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne, but I did get a few good photos.

There are my general photos and photos of some of the kids there. Coming up after this are my photos of marchers and dogs :)

From Paris to Melbourne

Zoomed-in photo of a man wearing rainbow coloured sneakers and rainbow coloured socks with an outline of the Eiffel Tower on them. The man is standing in a grassy field alongside other people and a black-and-white dog.

Kinetic’s Pride Bus

Photo of a man wearing a rainbow jacket attaching a rainbow flag to a city bus that's been painted in rainbow colours. A heart shaped sign attached to the front windscreen reads, “You are loved”.

Riding along

Photo of a young girl in pink-and-blue clothes, with long, light-pink coloured hair extensions in two braids, riding on the shoulders of a person walking through the crown at Melbourne Pride 2026. Slightly out of focus, and in the background on the photo, is a large Progress Pride flag.

Having an important conversation

Photo of two toddlers sitting near a crowd of people who are preparing to march at Melbourne Pride 2026. One of the girls is pointing her finger at something while explaining something to the other girl. A slightly older boy who is walking nearby is looking at this exchange with a smile on his face.

Unicorn toddler

Photo of a small child sitting in a stroller while wearing a rainbow-coloured unicorn-horn headband.

Stepping up to take a photo

Photo of a young man in a purple t-shirt standing on something so he can raise himself well above the spectators and supporters lining the Melbourne Pride March route. The man has a phone in his hand is taking a photo or video of the group that is marching by.

Cleaning up after the crowds

Photo of a man in the section of a large, grassy, sports field that is now empty of people. The man is wearing a high-visibility vest and blue, plastic gloves. He is picking up fallen bits of pride-march costumes and is packing them into a very large garbage back. In the far background are marchers who have not yet started marching at Melbourne Pride March 2026.

It is cool to see how much I’ve improved as a photographer since 2023 (part 1, part 2), which is when I last took my mirrorless camera (Fujifilm X-S10) to Pride to take photos.

Because I got almost everything right in-camera, this year’s photos are brighter and cleaner, and I’ve had to do far less cropping and post-processing on them.

Also, because I now know how to use my camera’s burst modes properly, this year I missed far fewer “moments” and expressions that I wanted to capture.

The difference in skill is even more stark when you look back at the photos I took in 2020 (with my Google Pixel 3XL phone) or, heck, my photos from as far back as 2010 (with my Canon IXUS 80 IS). Though to see those 2010 photos you’ll have to scroll to the bottom of my ‘Melbourne Pride March’ album of Flickr.

So yay for experience and, of course, better cameras and lenses!