Surry Hills.

Last month I was back in Sydney, but through a series of unfortunate—but actually, fortunate—events I found myself in this big city all on my own. I've been visiting Sydney a few times yearly ever since my sister moved down there, but she ended up having to go to Melbourne during the last weekend I was down, leaving me to explore all on my own.

The Friday I arrived I took myself on a date around Surry Hills. At St. Jude's I enjoyed an omelette, my soy latté and a book I started at the beginning of the year but still haven't finished; after a while, I wandered down to Bourke St. Bakery and got myself a seeded sourdough loaf—yes, the hype over their bread is real, and worth the wait; then I explored Crown St. for hours, letting my curious eyes take everything in. This is how my journey in photography began: shooting whatever piqued my interest, for no reason other than it was interesting. There doesn't always have to be a point, and if shooting anything and everything is still as enjoyable to me as it was a decade ago, well...I guess this is what I'm meant to do. Photography has allowed me to see magic in the most everyday of things, and it's the gift that keeps on giving.

I set myself a challenge that weekend to bring my least used lens—so everything in this post was shot with my 85mm f/1.8. I forgot how enjoyable it was to shoot with a prime (a fixed-length lens, meaning there's no zooming in or out). You're forced to move to adjust your composition and in most cases it asks you to see things in a totally different way. I can't remember the last time I was able to shoot for myself, by myself, but I can't wait to do it all again.