This historic mansion in suburban Melbourne received new fame recently when it was featured in the Miss Fisher TV series.
I visited during an exhibition of costumes from the show and spent a few hours exploring the grounds and buildings. This is one of Melbourne's premier tourist attractions, with the mansion and gardens kept in superb condition.
Fourteen acres of gardens include a lake, miniature forests, fruit orchards, a large fernery and a watch tower. This is a truly beautiful corner of Melbourne.
I carried an F6 loaded with Portra 800 and an N75 loaded with Ektar 100. I used a Sigma 24-105mm zoom for all shots.
These first images were taken on Ektar 100.
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The 1868 mansion itself is endlessly fascinating from any angle. An imposing entrance leads to beautifully furnished rooms, a grand staircase with stained glass windows, a conservatory, a ballroom and pool.
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Portra 800 has great flexibility, from indoor exposures of around half a second to 1/2000 outdoors. The F6 coped well with impossible mixes of window light, orange incandescents and green fluoros. Many of the exhibits were lit with coloured spots.
For musicians who care, the dark piano is a straight-strung 88 key Chickering similar to this one.
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Portra 800 at EI 500 was also used here. Film of this speed is not perhaps a first choice for bright outdoors, but I like what I see when I overexpose it a little.
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