Photographs by Emma Byrnes
Thanks to Jetstar Australia for featuring a lengthy photo essay and interview on my Vietnamese adventure times in their most recent July issue. It was great reflecting on the special time spent there with my family in 2016 and a reminder that as a photographer it is always worth getting up before the sun rises to capture the golden moments :-)
These images first appeared on my travel blog - Lifestyle Traveller - that I keep with my husband, Peter Barrett.
Photographs by Emma Byrnes
Seductive wines, delicious produce, spectacular scenery - the King Valley was a wonderful muse for a story I photographed for Go Places winter magazine alongside my word-smithing, partner-in-crime aka husband - Peter Barrett.
Photographs by Emma Byrnes
A few months ago, my lifestyle travel writer partner-in-crime and I spent some lovely time in beautiful Mount Macedon, just 50 minutes’ drive west of Melbourne. The story was published in RACV’s RoyalAuto’s May issue.
It is hard to believe that this spectacular beauty is accessible in under one hour from my inner-city Melbourne home. Worth remembering on days when I am feeling overwhelmed by the rat race!
Photography by Emma Byrnes
These images were captured during a visit to Orpheus Island and featured in several different stories - one for Jetstar magazine; another for Traveller and a feature story on our travel blog - Lifestyle Traveller.
Read all about it there.
Rockpools at Portsea's London Bridge. Photograph By Emma Byrnes.
Sometime way back in September of last year my writer husband and I left our children behind with the in-laws and headed to the Mornington Peninsula for an assignment with Toyota Go Places magazine, Summer 2017 issue. The brief was "oh-so-very-pleasurable". Tour around the Peninsula for two days discovering the jewels that the region offers, then photograph and write a story about them. For anyone unfamiliar with this neck of the woods, the Peninsula is one of those magical places that offers so much due to it's unique geography: beach fun, rugged vistas by the ocean, wine, food and romance in the rolling hills of its interior. So of course we skipped from vineyard to restaurant to distillery to lookout to providore...you get the picture!
The privilege of being on a paid assignment with my husband in such a spectacular location did not pass me by I can assure you. Despite running ourselves ragged trying to soak up as much as possible we managed to enjoy some downtime at the Peninsula Hot Springs and we spent a night at the Flinders Hotel, dining at the local Italian Restaurant - Cook and Norman - that provided just the right amount of relaxed elegance and attentive service we were after on our rare night off from family duties. Highlights for me were an early morning visit to Cape Schanck Lighthouse, lunching at Polperro vineyard and photographing a majestic gelding named Annaheim 2 at Horseback riding tours. You can read the full article here.
May 2017 deliver more wonderful employment opportunities such as these!
Em x
Photograph by Emma Byrnes
One of the aspects of travelling through Vietnam that I was most looking forward to was visiting the ethnic minority hill tribes. The local textiles traditions have fascinated me from afar - these people who live such incredibly colourful lives through their age-old handicrafts and traditional costumes.
Finally this week I was able to glimpse some of the magic at the Pa Co Sunday market (about 45 minutes from Mai Chau) and was able to watch the Red and Blue Hmong locals come together to trade in textiles, costumes and haberdashery. Endless supplies of extraordinarily coloured appliquéd panels, beads, tassels, fringing - being haggled over by women whose outfits are just out-of-this-world inspiring when it comes to everyday fashion.
There is a new blog post up over at our travel blog that has a few extra pics of the market and also includes information about our time spent in the region.
Em x
A lantern hanging in the old town of Hoian. Photograph by Emma Byrnes
Living in the historic town of Hoian for the past month I have definitely seen my fair share of lanterns. Hoian is the UNESCO world heritage former trading village on the coast of central Vietnam and I would have no doubt the town boasts the most lanterns per capita in the nation. Their many shapes and colours mean that at nighttime endless strings of candy-like lights hang above the streetscape, lending the town a wonderful ambience. On arrival in the town I was struck by their exotic presence but after a little while they became part of the everyday streetscape and I didn't think too much about them. But then Pete and I were inadvertently drawn into a lantern buying mission by a neighbour back in Australia and we have written about it on our blog - Lifestyle Traveller.
Em x