Instagram story viewer> @brokenalarms> Posts

Daniel Lawrence

@brokenalarms

306

followers

544

following

🌍 #NoobingAroundTheWorld on bike
🎥 slow travel photos + films

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

by @brokenalarms

40

11

3 months ago

Wonderful trip up to the Mt John Observatory at Lake Tekapo in New Zealand last night, from 2AM to 4AM. I realized how little I know about stars and spotting constellations, and keen to learn more!

A great first opportunity to try out the Sony A7V's low light capabilities - I just upgraded from the A7IV here, to chase handheld stabilization and lowlight performance for a project this summer. I was not disappointed.

These shots are all handheld - F1.4, 1/3, ISO 1000 (A7V second base ISO for photos) - and unedited besides a slight exposure boost, which I'll work on getting right in-camera.

#a7v #laketekaponz #darkskyproject #darkskyprojectnz taken in Mt John Observatory, Lake Tekapo by @brokenalarms

15

0

8 months ago

LEAVING SEOUL

It took a day for us to get out of Seoul along the river. The heat and humidity was opressive but nowhere near as bad as Taiwan had been, despite multiple Taiwanese telling us that South Korea was going to be much worse.

It's a standard observation when biking through many locales is that the current locale is great, but the next/other/locale 'over there' is always hotter, colder, and more dangerous than the present one.

That said, I did still end up carrying our tent unused through a second country rather than brave a swampy tent. 🥵

As we left town, the landscape quickly turned rural. One expat explained to us, "in South Korea, it looks like the cities are in the 2030s, and the countryside is in the 1970s". taken in Seoul, South Korea by @brokenalarms

26

0

9 months ago

SEOUL - Palaces, Architecture, and the DMZ

The integration between ostentatious old and sleek new architecture made for wonderful photography walks around Seoul.

On a blisteringly hot day, Gyeongbokgung, the largest palace, happened to be closed, so we somewhat thankfully restricted our wanderings to the smaller but beautiful Changdeokgung Palace and Secret Garden.
Not usually a history buff, I found myself fascinated by the life of royalty in ages past, with this site historically being used for royal entertainment and ceremonies, in what must have been a jaw-dropping display of wealth at the time.

Although our day trip out to the DMZ was very touristy, it was nevertheless fascinating and a newly-built observation building gave us a direct view into Kijong-dong, known as ‘Propaganda Village’ - a brightly colored but empty village across the border ostensibly existing to show that NK is a pretty great place to live after all.

Unfortunately few photos were allowed during this trip, besides the one I took of a Statue of Peace, a reminder of the ‘comfort women’ of World War II.

It also sent us into a rabbit hole of reading all we could find about North Korea:
∙ Nothing to Envy, by Barbara Demick
∙ The Girl With Seven Names, by Lee Hyeon-seo
∙ Without You, There Is No Us, by Suki Kim.

We also watched the movie Beyond Utopia, following a family’s defection as it happened. By this stage, we could see a number of overlaps in involved parties between the stories. Sadly, since COVID the NK government seized the opportunity to further reinforce their borders, and defection has now become all but impossible.

All fascinating and recommended media! by @brokenalarms

10

1

9 months ago

2TAIWAN 2HOT: Summer Bikepacking Taiwan, Episode 1 is finally up, after being originally shot back in June!

I'll be doing a bunch of editing in April, and then hope to release these on a more episodic schedule in future...

#bikepacking #taiwan #cycletouring #huandao by @brokenalarms

22

3

9 months ago

The landscape of Shikoku has mirrored my mood this past week: plenty of highs, a few lows.

Today, we stopped to resupply at a small corner store. The grocer met us outside with hot tea, and later, gifted us a box of mugwort red bean pancakes for the road. A few days ago, someone gifted us a bag of mandarin oranges. Kindness really does transcend language; these little moments have meant a lot.

I’ve had some lows, too. We’re doing our best to avoid national highways full of 16-wheelers, but we’ve had a few stressful rides. After months on the move, I also desperately needed stillness - literally staying in ONE place (bed), napping, and reading on my kindle. Hitting pause for a few days in Uchiko did wonders.

We had a string of absurd adventures the last few days: riding through abandoned tunnels, navigating road closures, and hike-a-biking through steep bamboo groves… all of this to avoid heavily trafficked roads. Here are a few shots of our (mis)adventures and the payoff: some truly epic views. taken in Shikoku by @brokenalarms

3

7

a year ago

A few days before we set off on our world trip, I was hunched over my packing list try to shave grams for the 50th time. Too many luxury items. Too much stuff.

I’ve made films since I was ten, and for me, travel and filmmaking are inseparable. So I told myself: video first. The X-Pro3 should stay at home.

I then spent two months regretting it every day. My phone takes amazing shots for its size, but it’s not the same. I missed the ergonomics and experience of a real camera.

I briefly considered ‘swinging back home’ on a forty-eight hour, four flight round trip to get it (you’d better believe on points), but then sanity prevailed…I should just find another one secondhand Taipei.

A few days later, having traversed greater Taipei several times, I found a used Sony A7IV. With its amazing stabilization and auto focus, and paired with a 28-200mm travel zoom, I’m loving the shooting possibilities it’s opening up, even eventually sending home the 35mm prime it came with (280g saved 😊).

And Hongdae Street in Seoul was the perfect place to test it out!

So now I'm carrying a camera, with a heavier rig than ever, but very happy to lug all my kit around. I’m still months behind on photos, but I’m excited to start sharing selections here alongside my long-form travel films on YouTube. A broader collection of photos will live at brokenalarms.com. taken in Hongdae, Seoul by @brokenalarms

34

1

a year ago

Taroko Gorge, July 2025.

We joined one of the first tours back since the 2024 Hualien earthquake.

Much of the national park is still closed, and whole sections will probably never reopen. Even while we were there, baseball-sized chunks of rock were still falling onto the road (😯).

It felt raw, fragile, and very much alive. taken in Taroko National Park 太魯閣國家公園 by @brokenalarms

3

7

a year ago

Us: 0. Typhoon: 1.

We rode from Taitung up to the Luye Highlands to attend the opening weekend of the Taiwan Hot Air Balloon Festival, but Typhoon Danas got there first.

Instead of balloons, we got two days inside at one of the nicest homestays we’ve stayed at, lush pineapple fields, and even shrimp (or maybe crawfish?) scattered in the garden.

It was a good reminder that sometimes it’s okay when things don’t work out. 🌧️ taken in 臺灣國際熱氣球嘉年華-Taiwan International Balloon Festival by @brokenalarms

3

4

a year ago

Happy to report that my short documentary "Don't Call Me 'Miss'", made it to the quarter finals for the Australian Independent Film Festival (@ausindefest).

In a field of hundreds of entries, I'm grateful for the recognition of the work I put in, and that others outside of the Wesley community have enjoyed the film. Thanks also to my Mum for forgetting the cameras were rolling 5 seconds after I started shooting and being her usual indominatable self. by @brokenalarms

14

1

a year ago

by @brokenalarms

5

1

a year ago

Some shots from our final few days in Taipei after completing our Huandao (around-the-island ride), on my new Sony A7IV! Loving it so far.

After panicking at the last minute about how much weight I was bringing on this trip, I decided to dump my Fuji camera + travel lens + prime just before we left.

While the quality of the iPhone 16 is pretty amazing for photos (and for video content, even now rarely worth sacrificing its convenience to get out the Sony), I still regretted the loss of a 'true' camera experience every day - at one point even seeing if I could get a cheap airfare back to the US for 24-48 hours just to pick up my beloved X-Pro3 again and rectify my mistake.

In the end though, I decided I would be getting far more value for money overall if I just bit the bullet and bought another proper camera over here. After covering the map in Taipei for several days, I managed to track down a used Sony A7IV and prime 35mm lens, supplemented with a @tamronamericas 28-200mm which I learnt about through @rmdub's stunning landscape photos. The Fuji I left at home had a similar do-it-all Tamron 18-300mm on it, but this one has noticeably higher image quality.

My best photos from Noobing Around the World to date are up at https://www.brokenalarms.com/albums, and I'm looking forward to sharing my South Korea ones here in the future.

I won't be doing daily reels any more - maybe some highlights, but video creation is time consuming, and I want to focus my energy on long-form content, which is far more rewarding to me. I share some more detailed thoughts on the creative process, promotion on social media, and what feels authentic to me in my latest article, 'An Audience of One' - link in bio. taken in Taipei, Taiwan by @brokenalarms

22

3

a year ago