Melbourne Candid Series #1118 Latrobe St

 

Beneath soft glow of city light,
Four voices stir the gentle night,
Outside a café, tucked away,
Off La Trobe where shadows play.

Four women laugh with easy grace,
The warmth of friendship on each face,
Their stories drift like jasmine tea,
Infused with calm and memory.

A breeze curls past, the hour late,
Yet still they linger, hearts elate—
Their languages in laughter blend,
Where night and kinship never end.

The city hums its quiet tune,
A silver hush beneath the moon,
While in that moment, clear and true,
The world feels kind and fleeting too.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out 

Melbourne Candid Series #1115 Latrobe St

 

At night, just off LaTrobe’s long line,
Where windows glow with muted shine,
A restaurant hums with quiet grace—
A moment framed in time and place.

Inside, beneath the amber hue,
Where shadows soften every view,
An older woman nears a chair,
With silver thread upon her hair.

She moves with care, yet holds a light
That flickers gently in the night—
As if the years have bowed, not dimmed,
The quiet fire she keeps within.

A table waits—set four, not two—
With linen crisp and glasses dew,
And at its edge, a young man stands,
Delight cupped warmly in his hands.

His eyes are wide with welcome’s gleam,
His smile—a sun caught in a dream.
He greets her not with duty worn,
But joy, unpracticed and reborn.

And in that glance, a thread is tied,
Across the years, the lives, the tide.
No trumpet flares, no passer sees—
But something stirs, as soft as breeze.

For there, beyond the streetlight’s gleam,
Two hearts, in silence, start to dream.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 871 and FACE OFF

Melbourne Candid Series #1114 Latrobe St

 

From LaTrobe’s spine, a side street bends,
Where city’s edge and evening blends—
And there beneath the sodium light,
A gathering stirs the breath of night.

Outdoor tables, silver-clad,
Hold bowls half-full and glasses glad.
The diners speak in gentle rings,
Their laughter softened, fluttering wings.

But some have left their seats behind,
As if compelled by idle mind;
They drift among the chairs like breeze,
A loosened rhythm, aimless ease.

One lifts a glass, then walks away,
Another stands mid-thought, mid-sway—
As though the street itself might call
To taste the quiet in its thrall.

The waiters weave like ghosts through light,
Their trays afloat in charcoal night,
While overhead, the buildings lean
Like silent elders in between.

No haste, no hush—just human tide
That ebbs through Melbourne’s darker side.
A city’s pulse, low-lit, alive,
Where strangers sit, and stories thrive.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 870

Melbourne Candid Series #1113 Latrobe St

 

Off LaTrobe Street, where trams glide past
And Melbourne hums its stories fast,
A window holds a quiet frame—
Two figures lit by candle flame.

Night presses soft against the glass,
As strangers in the dark hours pass,
But here, within this warm-lit cave,
A pause—the kind that silence gave.

He leans, his right hand props his face,
Time draped across him, slow and base.
Eyes half-lost in drifting thought,
In words unsaid or battles fought.

She bows her gaze toward the plate,
A woman caught in inward state.
The silver waits, the wine grows thin,
But she has turned somewhere within.

They do not speak; they do not smile—
They sit apart across the tile
Of linen white and shadows low,
Two souls in dinner's afterglow.

Outside, the city does not care,
It flickers, breathes, and fills the air.
But here—a stillness sharp and deep,
Like love that lingers, half-asleep.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 869

Melbourne Candid Series #1104 Latrobe St

 

On Latrobe Street, where night winds glide,
Three ladies sit on the porch outside.
Their laughter dances in the dusky air,
Beneath soft lamps with gentle stare.

By the bar, where windows breathe—
No glass to shield the night’s cool wreath—
Two ladies linger, drinks in hand,
Their voices hushed like ocean sand.

Melbourne hums a quiet tune,
Neon glow and silver moon.
Five souls in city’s evening gleam,
Framed in a poet’s fleeting dream.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 860

Melbourne Candid Series #1103 Latrobe St

 

Beneath the glow of Melbourne’s night,
On La Trobe where street lamps light,
A table hums with quiet cheer—
Chinese diners gathered near.

Their laughter soft, their voices low,
As city breezes gently blow.
Pasta twirls on lifted forks,
Steam rising up in fragrant corks.

Chili kissed the olive thread,
While stories in their language spread.
In bowls, a world both new and known—
Tradition met in foreign tone.

The night rolls on, a gentle stream,
Of noodle curls and shared daydream,
Where cultures blend in warm delight,
On La Trobe Street, deep in night.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 859

Melbourne Candid Series #1096 Latrobe St

 

Off Latrobe Street, where dinners bloom
Beneath the dusk and city’s plume,
An older woman takes her throne
In outdoor chair, yet not alone.

Her voice is clear, the speaker loud,
It cuts between the dining crowd.
She leans with ease, no rush, no care,
Half in the talk, half in the air.

An ear pod rests in her left ear,
A modern thread to someone near.
But still she lets the world all know
The tale she spins, both fast and slow.

Forks are paused, then meals resume,
As laughter swims through twilight's bloom.
Among the chatter, she holds her own—
A queen of talk in her evening zone.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 852

Melbourne Candid Series #1093 Latrobe St

 

Off Latrobe where city sighs,
a narrow shop in quiet lies.
The signs still blink, but softer now—
night has pressed its cooling brow.

Inside, two figures side by side
share sweet reflections, open-eyed.
A spoon dips slow through colors stacked:
green, red, gold beans gently packed.

"Three Traffic Lights," the menu said—
a playful name for what's been fed
through childhood lanes and summer's heat,
revived here on this quiet street.

The night leans in, the window's gloss
reflects them both in sugared loss,
as if the past had found a way
to join them in their glass parfait.

No need for talk, just taste and glance—
a small dessert, a brief romance
with memory, beneath the glow
of Melbourne’s hush and neon flow.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 849

Melbourne Candid Series #1092 Elizabeth St

 

Off Elizabeth, where neon hums
and tram-line dreams in silence come,
a storefront glows with muted grace,
its glass a veil, its light a face.

Inside, a stillness thick and bare—
few figures sit in twilight's care.
By tiled wall and table’s end,
they dine in hush, like time’s own friends.

Their shadows lean with gentle weight,
as if they’ve paused the hands of fate.
Steam curls soft from bowls held near,
warmth the only sound to hear.

No words disturb the breathing light,
just silhouettes against the night—
their stories hinted, not yet told,
in Melbourne’s chill, in silence bold.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 848

Melbourne Candid Series #1091 Latrobe St

 

Latrobe Street Evenings

On Latrobe Street, beneath the night’s soft sigh,
Where city lights like fireflies fly,
Three ladies sit where stories steep—
Outside the café, no time for sleep.

Steam curls from mugs of cocoa warm,
Their laughter weaves through twilight’s charm.
In shawls and smiles, the news they share
Dances gently in the brisk night air.

The trams hum low, the streetlights gleam,
Their words float out like part of a dream.
Between sips and secrets, time slips slow—
In Melbourne’s heart, under lamplight’s glow.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 847 and FACE OFF

Melbourne Candid Series #1090 Latrobe St

 

Late at night, where city lights gleam,
Two girls dine in a penthouse dream.
Menus chalked upon the floor,
Whispers of flavour, tales and more.

Above the world, in quiet grace,
They share a moment, time and place.
Soft voices blend with night’s embrace,
In that high-up, secret space.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 846

Melbourne Candid Series #1089 Melbourne Central

 

Two ladies share a quiet space,
Cakes and coffee, warm embrace.
Beneath a sign that shines so bright,
In Melbourne Central’s gentle light.

Laughter lingers, soft and sweet,
Moments simple, joy complete.
A pause in time, a friendship’s art,
Savoring more than just the tart.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 845

Melbourne Candid Series #1081 Presgraves Place

 

Two men walk side by side with grace,
Their steps in sync on Presgrave Place.
A quiet lane, a pause in time,
Where stone beneath recalls old rhyme.

Beside them hums a coffee stand,
Its sign hangs low by weathered hand.
The scent of beans, the hiss of steam,
Drifts gently through a midday dream.

The pavement holds a classic tone,
Each slab a tale, each crack well known.
Their shadows stretch, then slip away,
As if the past walks on today.

No crowd, no rush, just muted sound,
In this small place where peace is found.
A hidden thread in city’s lace—
Two men, one street, one quiet pace.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 837

Melbourne Candid Series #1080 Swanston St

 

Down a classic lane off Swanston Street,
Where echoing steps and cobbles meet,
The ceiling arches, fine and grand,
Like lacework shaped by patient hand.

Soft light filters through the mellow air,
And whispers stir the café chair.
A few souls linger, cups in hand,
In no great rush, no strict demand.

They sip, they talk, or sometimes stare,
At passersby or simply air.
Each moment hangs in quiet grace,
A hidden world, a resting place.

While just beyond, the city swells,
With tram bells, calls, and market yells—
Here peace resides, a lane apart,
Where coffee warms both hands and heart.

Sony A7RV

FE 24mm 1.4 GM

Check out Candid 837

Melbourne Candid Series #1076 Little Flinders Lane - next to St Paul Cathedral

 

By St Paul’s shade, where spires climb high,
A hush beneath the bustling sky—
Two souls in pause, a fleeting scene,
Among the stones and city green.

One stands in shorts, knee-length and neat,
The other rests with crossed-up feet,
A coffee warm within her hand,
As traffic hums across the land.

They talk of nothing, maybe dreams,
While sunlight dances off the beams;
A pocket space the world walks past,
But here, the morning dares to last.

Just off the lane where few things stay,
Two people meet, then drift away.

Sony A7RV

FE 14mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 832

Melbourne Candid Series #1041 Sydney Rd

 

Two ladies sit where stories flow,

At a small round table, soft and slow,

Outside a shop with faded grace,

Time etched deep on its weathered face.

 

Peeling paint and a doorway worn,

Whispers of decades gently torn.

In Collingwood, where styles collide—

The hip, the free, the cool reside.

 

They sip and laugh in morning’s hue,

Among the ghosts and something new.

Where hippie hearts and trendsetters meet,

Their voices mingle on the street.

 

A moment caught in urban bloom,

With rust and charm and café fume—

Two souls in talk, the world drifts by,

Beneath the patchwork of the sky.

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Check out Candid 797

Melbourne Candid Series #970 Collins Arcade, Collins St

 

A matronly lady, adorned with a whimsical crown-like hairpiece, sits patiently, lending her ear to two others at the far end of the table

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 729

Melbourne Candid Series #953 Box Hill Central

 

Three noble patrons, seated upon the side benches of a vendor's humble stand, within the market halls of Box Hill Central. Their presence graced the air with a quiet charm, as the day's commerce flowed around them in a harmonious dance

Sony A7RV

Laowa 9mm f5.6 

Check out Candid 712

Melbourne Candid Series #947 Acland St

 

Mid day crowd for lunch

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 706

Melbourne Candid Series #942 Acland St St Kilda

 

Cicciolina during the quiet hour 

Sony A7RV

FE 24mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 701

It has been over three years since I started this blog, and I never anticipated it would last this long. My previous attempts at creating one ended in failure. A dear friend, who shares my passion for hobbies, once told me that my blog lacked the classic, confrontational candid photography feel. Over time, I noticed that my ambition and skill set have deteriorated. I find myself imitating Instagram-style street photography, which is not truly my forte. I have also succumbed to the popular culture prevalent on social media.

I am now questioning whether this type of "faceless" street photography is really what my readers desire. I would greatly appreciate your comments and feedback.