Melbourne Candid Series #1145 Collins Arcade

 

In Collins Arcade where echoes hum,
A hush beneath the city's drum,
Two pairs of women, side by side,
In monochrome where time won't glide.

Porcelain cups in slender hands,
Their words like soft, unspoken bands,
The steam ascends in gentle swirls,
Like secrets traded between girls.

Their laughter dances, light and low,
A thread of silk in morning's flow,
Melbourne’s heart, though far from home,
Beats gently where these voices roam.

No grand parade, no trumpet sound,
Yet in this stillness, strength is found
In every sip, each knowing glance,
An old world weaves into the dance.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 899

Melbourne Candid Series #1108 Latrobe St

 

Beneath the glow of neon skies,
On La Trobe where the tram line lies,
A café hums with twilight’s grace,
Its windows catch her earnest face.

She leans across the table low,
Where streetlights cast a golden glow,
One hand aloft, mid-phrase, mid-flight—
A flame of thought, alive with light.

Her words are wind, her fingers dance,
Each motion sharp, a bold advance.
The other girl, in silence steeped,
Watches her meaning slowly seep.

Espresso cools, the hour grows deep,
Yet neither bends toward rest or sleep.
The night, a stage of shadowed flame,
Records their truths without a name.

For here, beneath the city’s skin,
The realest talks of life begin.
Two souls in flare, one gesture wide—
A moment lit, then brushed aside.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 864 and FACE OFF

Melbourne Candid Series #1106 Latrobe St

 

On LaTrobe Street where city hums and glows,
A lady walks, her footsteps soft and slow.
Her back to us, a bag swung by her side,
She moves with grace where bustling crowds reside.

Through glass and light of Melbourne’s evening gleam,
She enters in, a quiet, fleeting dream.
The restaurant’s warm doors part wide and clear,
Inviting her to moments held sincere.

In urban pulse where stories intertwine,
She walks unseen, a figure by design.
A glimpse, a step — the city’s gentle beat,
A dance of life where strangers and paths meet.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 862

Melbourne Candid Series #1102 Latrobe St

 

Through glass, I gaze where lights softly gleam,
A penthouse perch above the stream
Of La Trobe’s hum, where city sighs
Rise gently under dusking skies.

Inside, a hush before the flare—
The kitchen stirs with quiet care.
White coats move in a measured dance,
A prelude born of skill and chance.

Knives whisper, steam begins to climb,
Cocktails shimmer, caught in time.
Laughter waits in crystal’s ring,
As chefs and waiters, deft, unseen,
Prepare the night’s unfolding art—
Each plate a story, every start
A promise scented, warm, and bright,
Beneath the Melbourne evening light.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 858

Melbourne Candid Series #1099 Latrobe St

 

A flicker, a blur in black and white,
LaTrobe Street hums with ghostly light.
Figures drift through evening’s haze,
Like dreams that walk in city’s maze.

Costumes swirl in shadowed gleam,
Half-seen faces from a fevered dream.
Masks and laughter, heels that glide,
Through the grayscale pulse of Melbourne’s side.

Sequins shimmer, then disappear,
Caught in headlight ghosts that veer.
A cape, a crown, a tangled wig —
Moments vanish, faint and big.

No color names the scene tonight,
Just monochrome and borrowed light.
A party spills from time and street,
Where strangers in disguise all meet.

The tram-line hums a distant song,
While blurred legs dance the night along.
And memory holds what lens can't keep —
A moving dream, half-lost in sleep.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 855

Melbourne Candid Series #1084 Swanston St

 

A young woman drifts through the noon-lit stream,
Eyes aglow with a digital dream.
Her fingers dance on a glowing screen,
Unaware of the city's breathing scene.

A slender man with a luxury sway,
Carries brands like banners on display.
His coat is tailored, his pace refined,
Chasing desire by design.

An old man walks with eyes set far,
Past trams and shops and the coffee bar.
He sees the street as it used to be—
Before it buzzed with screens and spree.

The footpath hums beneath their feet,
Time unfolding on Swanston Street.
Past and present softly blend—
Strangers passing, end to end.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 840

Melbourne Candid Series #1061 King St

 

At Southern Cross, where travelers meet,
The food court hums with clattering feet.
A woman stands, both hands alive,
In the city's restless, breathing hive.

One hand browses, a scrolling stream,
The other chats, a whispered dream.
Two phones glow in the buzzing air,
Threads of a life spun everywhere.

Among the stalls, the noise, the heat,
She weaves her world, so quick, so fleet —
A digital dance in a food court's light,
One soul, two journeys, in plain sight.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 817

Melbourne Candid Series #1058 Russell St

 

On Russell Street where broths arise,
Steam curls beneath the dusky skies.
Each door a portal, warm and wide,
To ramen dreams that boil inside.

A gentleman in sweater thread,
With thoughtful steps and quiet tread,
Descends the lane in twilight's art,
And bites into a humble tart.

Its filling sweet, its crust so fine,
A subtle dance of fruit and brine.
While savory scents around him float,
He savors both—what shops promote,
And sweetness crumbling at his throat.

So moves he through that evening fair,
With tart in hand and ramen air—
A fusion walk of taste and time,
On Russell’s road, half prose, half rhyme.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 814

Melbourne Candid Series #1050 Swanston St

 

A tall, slender man in a suit so neat,
Glides down Swanston with echoing feet.
His coat catches wind like a fleeting thought,
A figure of grace the morning forgot.

Phone in his hand, face lit by the screen,
Eyes on the glow, lost in the sheen.
Among the crowd, yet utterly lone,
Each soul adrift in a world of their own.

Trams hum past with a city’s refrain,
Umbrellas bloom in a whisper of rain.
The old stones watch with quiet delight,
At men made of flesh but minds made of light.

So he walks, like the rest—plugged and apart—
A shadow of steel with a fast-beating heart.
In the dance of the modern, the digital stream,
Reality bends like a half-faded dream.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 806

Melbourne Candid Series #1046 Elizabeth St

 

Down Elizabeth Street he strides alone,
a slender thread in the city’s tone,
jacket sharp in the autumn breeze,
moving swift with elegant ease.

Fancy ear pods crown his ears,
drowning out the city's cheers—
lost in rhythm, thought, or beat,
a silent world beneath his feet.

Glass and tramlights dance on skin,
as day and noise blur deep within.
He walks a line both near and far,
tethered to sound like a distant star.

Melbourne hums its morning tune,
but he moves on, immune, immune—
a figure drawn in motion's ink,
on city streets that barely blink.

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Check out Candid 802 and FACE OFF

Melbourne Candid Series #1044 Swanston St

 

On Swanston Street, a scene unfolds,
A man with ear pods, a story untold,
Nibbling banquette, with focus keen,
A modern dance, where tech meets cuisine.

Two young men stroll with ease in tow,
Ear pods snug, as the world flows,
Lost in their rhythm, with nothing to say,
Just the pulse of the city, guiding their way.

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Check out Candid 800 

I had to turn on full moderation for comments now. I just received over 160 spams in my comments yesterday. This is really terrible. 

Melbourne Candid Series #1043 Swanston St

 

He cuts through Swanston, sharp and fast,
A midday blur that’s built to last.
His blazer lifts, a sailing wing,
Caught in the city's bustling swing.

Lunch in hand—a humble prize,
Foam container, warm and wise.
Steam curls up like fleeting dreams,
Between the shops and tram bell screams.

The clock, it chases; he won't yield,
A soldier of the office field.
In every stride, a mission clear,
To beat the hour, to disappear.

Yet in that flight, a quiet grace,
A dance of motion, time, and place—
Where hunger meets the weekday grind,
And Swanston watches, half-aligned.

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 GM

Check out Candid 799

Melbourne Candid Series #1026 Swanston St

 

She traces lines upon her hand,
As if they whisper fate’s command.
A secret map, so faint yet true,
A tale of past and future too.

Her fingers dance on paths unknown,
In every crease, a seed is sown.
Does love lie near or drift away?
Do golden dreams begin to stray?

The heart line bends, the lifeline sways,
She seeks the truth in tangled maze.
Yet in her palm, no fate is cast—
Her future shapes with each step past.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 782 and FACE OFF

Melbourne Candid Series #1013 Swanston St

 

Upon the green by knowledge grand,
A lively crowd takes rest at hand.
With meals in lap and laughter bright,
They bask beneath the noon’s warm light.

The books stand tall in silent keep,
As voices dance and moments steep.
A midday pause, so free, so fair,
As life and learning breathe the air.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 771

Melbourne Candid Series #1002 Hopetoun Tea Room, Collins Arcade

 

In a quaint abode, by gentle light, Where cakes abound, a sweet delight, The air is filled with sugar’s grace, A charming, cozy, quaint embrace.

The flavors dance, a merry troupe, On tongues that savor every scoop, With every bite, joy’s sweet unfold, A tale of bliss in crumbs retold.

So come, partake, and time delay, In this fair haven, softly stay, Where cakes, like dreams, all worries chase, And leave a smile upon your face.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 760

Melbourne Candid Series #999 Melbourne Central

 

Upon these streets where souls do meet, In endless streams they place their feet, From every realm, all walks of life, They weave together, joy and strife.

With varied dreams and paths they've known, They tread the stones of urban throng, In this grand tapestry, untold, Their tales of wonder now unfold.

So rich the chorus, sweet and grand, Of life’s own symphony, unplanned, In streets where countless lives convene, A timeless dance, a living scene.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 757

Melbourne Candid Series #954 Box Hill Central

 

Through the bustling avenues of time, an Oriental gentleman, in trousers checkered with dots confined, Strolled with an Oriental maiden, wind coat aflutter behind, Their steps, a graceful dance, in rhythm with life's chime. 

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 713 and FACE OFF

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 #545 Queen Victoria Market

 

Dragon Dance - a cheap version

Sony A7RV

FE 14mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 310

Melbourne Candid Series #481 Queen Victoria Market

Preparing for dragon dance

Sony A7RV

FE 14mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 340