Category: flickr

What’s the story?

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I mentioned the City Nature Challenge in yesterday’s post.

It finished today, and so we had a last minute flurry to get all our photos and data uploaded. I don’t think we broke any records – we had too much other stuff to do to manage that – but it was fun to get out and about for just a couple of hours and learn something about the biodiversity of the local area. Some birds, some insects, a mammal and a lot of plants.

Sadly, one of my favourite photos from the weekend was this:

Sadly, because it’s Purple Morning Glory, (Ipomoea indica).
Yes, it’s very pretty, but it’s also a nasty invasive plant. Category NEMBA 1b, no less:

An invasive species which must be controlled and wherever possible, removed and destroyed. Any form or trade or planting is strictly prohibited.

I did none of this. No trade, no planting, but equally, no removal or destruction. I just snapped it in the late afternoon autumn sunshine.

That’s not to say that I won’t pop back and try and kill it a bit later in the week. But (again, sadly) this stuff was all over the upper Liesbeek River. Pulling out one small plant really isn’t going to make a lot of difference.

Homework can be cool

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One of the assignments for my son’s photography lessons this term was to take a sunset photo. And where better to do this than at the Southern Tip?

That’s why we spent a couple of evenings over the weekend at Rasper Punt. The first one wasn’t ever so successful, thanks to a sudden bank of cloud diving in on us, but conditions – while not perfect – were certainly better on Easter Sunday.

He had a very set idea of what he wanted to achieve and while I was there to offer hints and tips, he wanted to experiment, so I left him sitting in the bushes, went along the beach and togged a bit myself.

Like I said, nothing spectacular, but it was just nice to be out and about on a pleasant evening. And a couple of extra shots for the Adobe Stock library along with it. Double bonus.

I don’t know if I’ll be allowed to share what he got, once it’s been edited and is ready for submission. But if I can, I will. #NoRBOSS

Several (or more) reasons why my photos of the hike aren’t great

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Here we go. It’s excuse time. Or, if you prefer, “valid reason time”.

The photos I took on the hike aren’t as good as I would like them to be. There are several reasons for this.

Me: I’m not a great ‘togger.
The new camera: Yes, it’s fancier than the old one, but I’m still getting used to it.
The light: Blindingly bright, start to finish.
The timing: This wasn’t a photography session, it was a hike. People weren’t there for me to take photos, they were there to walk up the mountain. There was (understandably) no time to stop and compose.
The brief: That said, I did have to try and get some usable photos of the pack walking up the mountain.
The brief (pt 2): I also needed to get some point-and-shoot shots to show Mrs 6000 where we were and where we went.

Those will do for the moment, right?

All said and done, there are a few shots I like (and a few more that I might add later), and that’s without including the ones documenting the climb for the Cub pack.

I really enjoyed the hike, but there will be better days to go out and take photos. And one those days, the photos will naturally also be better.

Now on Flickr…

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…(finally) some photos from the last week or so.

They’re here.

And when they were lined up, I couldn’t help but noticed the sharp juxtaposition between the photos taken in Cape Agulhas last week, and those taken on Table Mountain just a couple of days later (not least the ‘grass-in-the-bottom-left-hand-corner’ pics, top left and fourth middle):

Check out the washed-out, near-monochrome top four, compared with the bright, heavily contrasted, colourful selection below them. But that wasn’t merely my photographer’s eye: it’s a genuine representation of what was there.

Cape Agulhas was sunny, full of vivid blues, greens and whites, busy skies and reflective seas. Table Mountain was the complete opposite: greyscale, dull, grim and sullen. ‘Togging the Victorian infrastructure of the dams on the mountain top was easy in those conditions: the dour, powerful, solidity fitted perfectly with the elemental, moody, unforgiving weather.

I enjoyed the fresh air and the walking on each of the days we were out and about, but it’s interesting to note that I probably wouldn’t have taken any photographs at all had the weather conditions been reversed for the two locations. It just wouldn’t have made sense.

Good job I was there on the right days, then.

As promised yesterday…

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As promised yesterday (to the chagrin of certain readers), we headed out to Brandfontein for a walk along the beach and a wander into the dunes. Previously, we have had the beach to ourselves, but today was a different story, with several (or more) fishermen plying their hobby from the sand.

Still, there was plenty of space to go around, and we enjoyed the near perfect conditions: glorious sunshine, a gentle breeze, exciting skies. Cameras – some of them attached to propellers – were fully utilised and just as soon as we are back in Cape Town (where the wifi is unlimited), you’ll be able to see a selection of our work.

But then, it would be a shame not to give you some idea of just how lovely today’s mini road trip was, so here’s a little taster:

And to those who think I’ve joined the RBOSS (Ramsey Beach Over Saturation Society) with this, please be advised that the slider in question was showing a NEGATIVE number when I was done.
Sometimes, South Africa is really just this colourful.

There are plenty more where this came from (my camera), so hold fast and I’ll get them onto Flickr just as soon as I can.