Photos

Hyde Park is a beautiful oasis in the downtown area of Sydney. It covers two large city blocks (with a defined north and south half). It was established as a “common” in 1810 by Governor Macquarie and named after Hyde Park in London. It began its life as Sydney’s first racecourse and after became its first cricket ground. Today it is a tranquil setting for general relaxation and lunchtime picnics. It is a favourite retreat of office workers at mid day in this area.

The layout and beautification scheme was established in 1927. An avenue of giant fig trees planted in the early 1930’s, runs through the middle from north to south, from the Archibald Fountain to the Pool of Remembrance at the ANZAC Memorial.

The scene you have before you now is looking north through (one half of) this green tunnel of trees towards the Archibald Fountain. The south side, looking towards the ANZAC Memorial, can be seen here. There are currently 122 trees in this avenue. Some of these are diseased. Three different diseases have been identified that are putting these trees at risk. The city of Sydney is working hard to save these trees, and at coordinated tree replacement.

Other highlights not previously mentioned in this park include: the Sandringham Gardens, and Nagoya Gardens (with an outdoor chess set).

The park is a great place for photography, or just to relax.

Much of this from:
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Residents/ParksAndLeisure/MajorParks/SydneyCBD.asp and
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Development/CityImprovements/HydePark/

The day of this photo was kind of a grey day, so there was great saturation, but also white skies (the light at the end of the tunnel). Post processing included some adjustments for shadows and highlights, level adjustments for balance, cropping and sharpening for this post.

I received some good advice from Cato (limaz) about cropping the top to close the tunnel in even tighter. I have created a workshop to demonstrate this. I think it looks good.