Introduction

I apologise to my non-Australian or non-Melbournian followers, but this article is dedicated solely to Melbourne, my hometown location as I focus on some of my favourite Melbourne photography locations for shooting. Most of these are portrait locations as I can’t cover any of the sports stuff.

These locations aren’t confined to the city centre,, although the convenience of access means that the bulk is located there or in close proximity.

If you have any you think I missed, please let me know. I don’t do much landscape work so please don’t expect this to have an extensive list of landscape options. , I’ll try to add more in time.

This is part 1, so there are more coming.

Boathouse Drive – Melbourne (Portraits)

Location Information

Boathouse Drive offers a mix of photo opportunities. There are gardens and a skatepark depending on the kind of look at feel you want to achieve. The boathouse walls are a beautiful wood colour that compliments portraits well, and a combination of trees, river and city backdrops offer a great set of backdrop opportunities.

While the location offers good garden access, you do have to be careful about the backdrop, so it’s worth checking photos carefully for distractions or using elevated shooting positions to ensure only the river shows as a backdrop.

This location is a 5-minute walk from Flinders Street Station, walk across the bridge and go down the stairs to the riverfront.

Sample Photos

 

 

Brad Mill (Portraits)

Location Information

Brad Mill is an abandoned mill found in Yarraville, about 20 minutes from Melbourne. Strictly speaking, Brad Mill is off limits but this hasn’t prevented people accessing the location for photo sessions.

Accessibility may vary, sometimes there are gaps in the fences, but accessibility is at your own risk and technically illegal. The photos I’ve provided were taken a number of years ago so I can’t validate whether it’s still accessible.

If you access the location, I would avoid any activities that involve climbing. The location features a number of rusted stairs and ladders that could provide a high degree of risk to anyone attempting to climb them.

Note: This location is unsafe and needs to be treated accordingly. Avoid climbing staircases or access confined areas. Entry is illegal, and those doing so, do so at their own risk.

Parking is available in the Yarraville Football Club parking lot, however be weary as we have previously experienced people driving into the parking lot to do donuts which have damaged cars due to the size of the stones found on the parking lot.

Sample Photos

 

 

Crown Arcade / Playtime Crown (Portraits)

Location Information

Crown Arcade is part of the Crown Casino complex. The arcade itself is found next to the KingPin Bowling and offers a really nice location with bright colours. To date, I have no had issues with doing photography inside the arcade but I’ve also ensured that I do it with small lenses and without a large crew where possible.

I’m not shooting commerci,ally which also provides me with an advantage.

This location is accessible via tram and a number of trams run along Claredon Street and stop outside Crown Casino leaving a short walk to the arcade.

Samples

 

 

Sandridge Lookout (Landscapes or Portraits)

Sandridge Lookout is a location in Port Melbourne that allows for the city as a backdrop. I’ve used this location for portraits but it also offers good landscape options for sunrise over the city but I haven’t tried sunrise there. What can I say, I’m lazy.

Access is via the 109 tram to Port Melbourne and about a 20 minute walk from there along the coastline in a westerly direction. Travelling by car would be the easiest way to access this location as you could park in the parking lot directly next to the lookout.

Sample Photos

 

 

Port Melbourne Railway

Information

There aren’t many railway lines options with deserted lines. This is one of the locations that many people in Melbourne may not be aware of.

It is an unused railway line, which can be verified by numerous of the points along the line where the lines have been cut. Unless the train is a hovertrain, it won’t be able to use these tracks.

The location is best accessed by car as there isn’t much public transport other than buses.

Location

Warnings:

Is an area where there have been snake sightings (tigers) so always be careful with models to ensure that the tracks and surround areas have been checked.

Sample Photos