Fotoeins Fotografie

location bifurcation, place & home

Posts tagged ‘Australian Capital Territory’

Parliament House, Capital Hill, Old Parliament House, Australian War Memorial, Mount Ainslie, Canberra, ACT, Australia, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: RTW10, thirty-seven

10 years ago, I began an around-the-world (RTW) journey lasting 389 consecutive days, from 24 December 2011 to 15 January 2013 inclusive.

10 September 2012.

A couple of hours wandering the halls of Australia’s national government has reminded me of the summer I once spent living in and learning about Ottawa. In this view northeast from Parliament House are from top to bottom, respectively, the 1986 stainless steel coat of arms (“AUSTRALIA”) by Robin Blau; Mount Ainslie; Australian War Memorial; the wide boulevard that is Anzac Parade; and Old Parliament House.

I made the image on 10 Sep 2012 with a Canon EOS450D (Rebel XSi) and these settings: 1/320-sec, f/5, ISO200, 50mm focal length (80mm full-frame equivalent). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-mtv.

Lake Burley Griffin, Commonwealth Place, Capital Hill, Parliament House, Old Parliament House, Canberra, ACT, Australia, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: RTW10, thirty-six

10 years ago, I began an around-the-world (RTW) journey lasting 389 consecutive days, from 24 December 2011 to 15 January 2013 inclusive.

9 September 2012.

In Canberra, I’m visiting a family whom I got to know when we lived and worked in La Serena, Chile. They’ve moved to Canberra, and I’m visiting them two-thirds of the way into my “year-around.”

It’s a calm beautiful late-winter afternoon, and we’re all on an hour-long boat trip around Lake Burley Griffin. In this image, we’re facing southwest to Commonwealth Place with over 100 flags representing nations with diplomatic presence in the Australian national capital. Behind Commonwealth Place are the Old Parliament House and the flagpole on top of the current Parliament House on Capital Hill.

I made the image on 9 Sep 2012 with a Canon EOS450D (Rebel XSi) and these settings: 1/640-sec, f/8, ISO200, 50mm focal length (80mm full-frame equivalent). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-msb.

National Carillon, Kings Avenue Bridge, Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra, ACT, Australia, fotoeins.com, myRTW

Fotoeins Friday: Australia’s National Carillon, Canberra ACT

9 September 2012.

The National Carillon glows in warm afternoon light and anchors the scene at the eastern end of Lake Burley Griffin. The Carillon was Great Britain’s gift to Australia on the capital’s 50th birthday in 1963.

On a gentle lake cruise on a clear late-winter day, I get to see how beautiful Canberra is, even if the Australian capital city is a careful construction in the outback southwest from Sydney. Canberra is often criticized as “boring,” but that’s lazy thinking. Any criticism won’t matter to my friends who are employed at nearby Mount Stromlo Observatory and who are raising a young family. Like Chile’s La Serena where we first met, what the two places have in common is an environment for both astronomy and family.

During my year-long RTW, I made the photo on 9 September 2012 with the Canon 450D, 50-prime, and the following settings: 1/800-sec, f/8, ISO200, and 80mm focal length (full-frame equivalent). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-9Wb.

Commonwealth Place, Lake Burley Griffin, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, ACT, Australia, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: Caught in the ACT in Canberra

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is the nation’s capital region, similar to the District of Columbia in the United States. In the city of Canberra on the south shore of Lake Burley Griffin, Commonwealth Place forms a part of the axis between the Australian War Memorial to the northeast and the Australian Parliament to the southwest. Commonwealth Place is surrounded by the National Library of Australia, Reconciliation Place, the High Court of Australia, and the National Gallery of Australia. On a beautiful late-winter afternoon, the late-day sun bathed the Australian War Memorial and Mount Ainslie in warm colours, as joggers, bicyclists and pedestrians lined the paths on both sides of the lake.

During myRTW, I made this photo on 4 September 2012 with the Canon EOS450D (XSi) camera, EF 50/1.4 prime-lens, and the following settings: 1/100s, f/8, ISO200, 50mm focal length (80mm full-frame equivalent). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-6IE.

Canberra: Remembering Gallipoli at the Atatürk Memorial Garden

In Canada, places like Ypres, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele, and Flanders Field resonate in the collective national history.

For Australia and New Zealand, it is Gallipoli, known in modern Turkish history as the battle of Çanakkale.

On 25 April 1915, Australian and New Zealand (ANZAC) troops stormed the Turkish Gallipoli peninsula in support of the British Empire’s efforts to secure the high ground over the narrow Dardanelles strait and approach from the eastern Mediterranean into the Sea of Marmara and beyond to the Black Sea. The Turks repelled the advance and the British retreated from the region eight months later after suffering great losses. In total on all sides, there were up to 400-thousand casualties.

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Canberra: Remembering ANZACs at Australian War Memorial

ANZAC Day is held annually on the 25th of April to commemorate Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) from the First World War and ANZAC military personnel in subsequent service around the world.

The day also marks the 1915 anniversary when ANZAC troops landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. The attempted move did not end well for the ANZACs, as the Ottomans successfully repelled the invasion force. The land invasion stalled after eight months with subsequent withdrawal from Turkey to Egypt.

ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand has surpassed the commemoration of Remembrance Day held annually on the 11th of November in Commonwealth nations, including Canada and the United Kingdom.

In the Australian capital city of Canberra, the Australian War Memorial is a grand structure, housing an impressive collection of historical artifacts, collections, and documents, outlining and describing Australian action at home and overseas. One day or an afternoon makes for a great introduction, but multiple visits are required to plumb the depths of their extensive archives. At the end of every day, the War Memorial closes its doors with a farewell to visitors in the “Last Post” ceremony, beginning at 455pm local time.

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Canberra: Poppies at the Australian War Memorial

The word “poppy” in Germany is associated with the delicious poppy seed filling (“Mohn”) commonly used in cakes and pastries. Elsewhere, poppies are unfortunately associated with the production and consumption of hard drugs.

It’s easy to forget another representation associated with the flower: a commemoration symbol for the war dead.

Wild poppies grow in Belgium, and in particular, in the Ypres salient, one of many places where bodies, blood, and mud were the norm in close-contact trench warfare in World War One. Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae was serving in the 1st Field Artillery Brigade, and after burying his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer who died of injuries sustained during the Second Battle of Ypres, McCrae wrote the poem “In Flanders Fields” as he took the scene before him. Moved by McCrae’s poem, American Moira Michael began in 1918 the practice of wearing poppies on Remembrance Day.

It’s why you may see people sporting poppies on their lapels in the days leading up to November 11; the tradition is encouraged and upheld mostly in Commonwealth countries. In Australia and New Zealand, the big day of commemoration is ANZAC Day on April 25.

At the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, over one hundred thousand names are inscribed on the walls at the Roll of Honour; these are the names of people killed in action since 1885. A paper poppy is placed next to each name for relatives or direct descendants.

Roll of honour, west, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Roll of honour, east, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, ACT, Australia

Roll of honour: west (top), east (bottom) : Australian War Memorial, Canberra, ACT

I made the two photos above at the War Memorial’s Roll of Honour on 6 September 2012; this post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com.

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