Melbourne at Night - Our city has unpredictable weather, but she sure is beautiful - Intro to #teamaustralia

I've lived in Melbourne my entire adult life. When I travelled I thought I'd be depressed to land back in this small city (by world standards) which famously features - or suffers from - four seasons in one day. I was very happy to discover, though, that even after a stint overseas, Melbourne was a happening, culturally diverse, inspiring and beautiful city with art and music beating at its heart.

I was engaged by a client to walk the city at night and collect images of various Melbourne icons.

These are shot with Canon 5d mkiii, 24-70 2.8. They are long exposures, some of them up to 2 minutes.

This is the Melbourne Arts Centre Spire as seen from Docklands. The Centre is host to performing arts, exhibitions and installations as well as music and functions. At the bottom of the image is the Yarra River, the dirty brown water that both divides and unites the city (We have a North-Side/South-Side thing going on)

Above is the Yarra River again, looking from Flinders Street Station across at Southbank. In the distance you can see one of the fireballs being released in front of Crown Casino. It might seem a little try-hard Vegas style, but it's actually quite awesome to be around when it's happening.

Yep, the Yarra River again... This time looking from the St Kilda Road Bridge towards the MCG, our city's sporting hub. This is where we see Australian Rules football played most weekends throughout Winter and then cricket throughout Summer. I'm personally not a huge sports guy, but it sure is a majestic stadium.

Looking out to the bay from Docklands the Bolte Bridge is a beacon at night, lit up like Christmas. It provides a shorter route to and around the city from the Northern and Western suburbs via the Western Ring Road. Slightly lower in this photo is a cubic cow in a tree. Not a typo.

Southbank is very pretty. It's kind of magical at night.

Southern Cross Station, formerly Spencer Street Station, has always been the gateway to the city for people arriving by public transport. Whether you have caught a train from a regional town or you've been ferried by the skybus from the airport, this feat of architecture and construction is going to be one of your first impressions of Melbourne. And it IS impressive.

So there you have it: a quick tour of some of my favourite Melbourne scenes at night.

I'm hoping that this post might also serve as my introduction to the #teamaustralia group. Hi team! I'm looking forward to steeming with you all :) @sirknight @choogirl :)