Back to my Roots

Last weekend I headed over to Muizenberg to pick-up my surfboard after a repair from a mishap the previous weekend. The waves in Muizenverg were nonexistent so I took a drive to see some of the other breaks that I have not visited yet, namely Kommetjie (co-mick-ee) and Long Beach.

Well I never got to Kommetjie as I spent much of the late afternoon watching and photographing surfing at Long Beach. There were quite a few people in the water and as I was unfamiliar with that break, and recognize the territorial nature of surfers, I decided not to surf but watch and shoot. I titled this "Back to my Roots", because my professional photography career started out by photographing sports. I really like the action and the fact that you have to anticipate where the peak point of action will happen to get a good shot. Additionally, I've always preferred shooting sports in Black and White. I converted this and made specific adjustments to my taste. I like the overall drama of the image. The point at which you don't know if the surfer is going to make his turn and the dramatic sky and mountain behind him. I did not have my long lens with me, but I quite like how this wider shot turned out.

Surfer, Long Beach, Cape Town, South Africa

Walk on a Fiery Sunset - 248/365

I continue to post my 365 images as I get to them. It was tough enough to make the images let alone post them everyday. To that end I am still catching up and I plan to make a small book of all of the images. I'll have more information on that as soon as I get some information on details and possible publication methods. I want to get back to real photographs that you can hold in your hand and not just see on the computer. Nothing beats having an album.

I made this image one evening when I saw this beautiful fiery sunset and there were a couple of people walking on the beach. I wanted to convey how nice and simple life can be by just taking a walk with a loved one. I made this with my Fuji camera and I made three exposures and combined them to be able to get the bright light of the sun and the shadows in the same image.

I need a Body Guard for my next Woodstock Photowalk...

This past weekend I had a Meetup with the Photography Group I started in Cape Town. I love the Woodstock area and I especially love going to the Old Biscuit Mill on Saturday mornings. Such a cool vibe. I've seen a lot of interesting things on the way in and out of the area, especially the people and architecture. The main purpose of the photo-walk was to document and contrast the old and new. The area is slowly becoming developed commercially with Galleries, Restaurants and very nice shops and apartment buildings. The area  mainly consists of a vibrant but sometimes nefarious Cape Coloured community. Most are hard working people trying to make a better life, but there is a gangster element that exists and thrives on the drug trade. I wish I could have spent more time there but the Police ushered us out for our own protection saying that if we continued in this area we could easily be assaulted or killed for our photography equipment. Of course we complied. What a shame. The result are a limited number of images from the community. A colleague and I made a plan to go back near dawn one weekend as most of the bad people are either too tired to do anything or still asleep! LOL