Endless Summer Surf

The West Coast of South Africa has many great surf spots: Noordhoek, Long Beach, Llundadno, Big Bay, Melkbos, and many more. One of the best, however, is Elands Bay, also known as the Jeffrey's Bay of the West Coast. It was made famous in the surf movie, The Endless Summer. Well I will be visiting this weekend on a surf tour run by my friends at Surf Emporium in Muizenberg. We'll be leaving on Friday afternoon and coming back to Cape Town Sunday afternoon. Elands Bay is only about 100 miles North of Cape Town and a surf is planned when we get there. We're staying in a B&B on a real working ranch. Elands Bay is also known for its hiking, wildlife observation and pre-historic cave paintings. Our guide and Coach will be Karel Lewy, an ISA Level 2 coach and Naturalist. Really looking forward to the trip! Also looking forward to using my new board and making plenty of images!

http://www.vensterklip.co.za

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.

Spring is Here in the States

So that means the majority of weddings are here also. Here are some things to think about when hiring a photographer. Remember a photographers website will only show the best, so if it doesn't look good, walk away! If you go for the $500 wedding photographer, that's exactly what you're going to get. GET AN ALBUM! You'll look at that a lot more than the video. Do you really need video? Most photographers can do video clips for you. Whomever you're hiring for video is not Steven Spielberg. Don't expect a Hollywood production for $3000. Not gonna happen. Remember that when the expensive meal, flowers, chair covers, DJ, and cake are gone all you have left are the images. If your photographer does not initiate a meeting or lunch or portrait session with you prior to your wedding, do not use that photographer. The first words out of a good photographers mouth will be to ask what you expect as a final product. When you hire a photographer you will probably not have a detailed schedule so you can't be very specific about time. Remember his time is money. The average time of a wedding from start to finish can be up to 8 hours so don't book the photographer for 4 hours.  A good photographer will attend the rehearsal to meet the important people. The  Best Man and Maid of Honor should actually help in keeping the Bride stress free. Let them know that they may be asked to be a trouble-shooter. Don't pick a drunk. Make sure the DJ knows to announce important points in the event and does not let those happen without the photographer present. Have the wedding planner organize as much as possible. That is why they get paid. And last but not least remember that if everyone at the ceremony jumps in front of the photographer with their iPhone when you are walking down the aisle, you images will not look good!

Spring is Here in the States

So that means the majority of weddings are here also. Here are some things to think about when hiring a photographer. Remember a photographers website will only show the best, so if it doesn't look good, walk away! If you go for the $500 wedding photographer, that's exactly what you're going to get. GET AN ALBUM! You'll look at that a lot more than the video. Do you really need video? Most photographers can do video clips for you. Whomever you're hiring for video is not Steven Spielberg. Don't expect a Hollywood production for $3000. Not gonna happen. Remember that when the expensive meal, flowers, chair covers, DJ, and cake are gone all you have left are the images. If your photographer does not initiate a meeting or lunch or portrait session with you prior to your wedding, do not use that photographer. The first words out of a good photographers mouth will be to ask what you expect as a final product. When you hire a photographer you will probably not have a detailed schedule so you can't be very specific about time. Remember his time is money. The average time of a wedding from start to finish can be up to 8 hours so don't book the photographer for 4 hours.  A good photographer will attend the rehearsal to meet the important people. The  Best Man and Maid of Honor should actually help in keeping the Bride stress free. Let them know that they may be asked to be a trouble-shooter. Don't pick a drunk. Make sure the DJ knows to announce important points in the event and does not let those happen without the photographer present. Have the wedding planner organize as much as possible. That is why they get paid. And last but not least remember that if everyone at the ceremony jumps in front of the photographer with their iPhone when you are walking down the aisle, you images will not look good!

A SERIOUS WARNING!

I've meant to post this for a while now, and between work, surfing, Jiu Jitsu and the gym, I finally have time. A few weeks ago I went to download my camera memory card to process my images and my hard drive did not immediately connect. Not a problem, I tried it again, and still nothing. I ran the disk repair program and the worst word came up: CORRUPTED. Yes, my drive was now a paperweight. All of my images since I've been in South Africa were gone! My arrival. The time with my family on Safari when my Granddaughters save a real lion up close. Images of myself and friends. My 365 Project all gone! The horror! Not really. Not a problem. I just reformatted the drive, made sure it worked well and copied all of the images from my backup drive. HOW MANY OF YOU CAN DO THAT? I think the warning is obvious. Between here and the States I have about 6TB worth of images that I've kept. I have all of my images since my last trip to the States backed up on an 8TB drive in Miami and about the same equivalent here in Cape Town. The key is a backup that has another backup away from your home, or you keep your backup at work and bring it home on the weekends to back everything up. Why offsite? Fire, burglary, flood, etc...DON'T BE A DUMBASS! Drives are so cheap nowadays there is no excuse. Oh, and backup your phone images too. They are just as valuable. Take heed!

Surfing at Big Bay, Cape Town, South Africa →

Had some fun surfing and playing with my GoPro!

Mallory and Nick

What a special day. The wedding of the little girl of my dearest friends that has blossomed into a beautiful woman and a fine young man that makes her very happy. I made these images as a family friend to share with everyone on their wedding day. My love to both of you!

Another Beautiful Cape Town Sunrise at Work - 247/365

Sometimes I catch these sunrises just right going into work. Image was made in the Koeberg Nature Reserve.

Table Mountain Dusk - 246/365

Table Mountain at dusk with the lights of Melkbosstrand and Table View in the foreground. No one is on the beach as far as the eye can see. It was a cold night.

My Over Board Case - 245/365

This is what I place my iPhone in when I take it surfing.

Ice Bucket Challenge Self Portrait - 244/365

I made this image immediately after my ALS Ice Bucket Challenge video. Luckily it was warm in Cape Town that day, but as usual, the water was Ice Cold so I needed neither a bucket nor ice!

Ice Bucket Challenge Self Portrait

A View of Muizenberg -243/365

Muizenberg is a special place for me. It's where I resurrected my love for surfing, where I made new friends, and where I started to understand South Africa a little better.

A View of Muizenberg

Wine Route Sunset, Cape Town, South Africa - 242/365

I made this sunset image along the "Cape Wine Route" while I was having a pizza at a Craft Beer Brewery. Table Mountain can be seen in the distance on the right. Beautiful place. Great beer!

Long Street, Cape Town 241/365

One of my passions is street photography. I really like capturing what I see at just a random moment on the street. Late at night you have to use a slower shutter speed and what I like about this image is that the guys standing there are sharp, but the girl is somewhat blurred due to her motion.

2nd Stripe - 240/365

I made this image to commemorate getting my second stripe as a White Belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu. It's a while back since I'm behind in my posts. Hopefully getting my third soon, but that's not my call.

Steak in Cape Town - 239/365

Great steaks in South Africa. At this restaurant in Cape Town you select your type of steak, size, and thickness! The Famous Butchers Grill.

Storm Over Lion's Head - 238/365

When I go into town, I sometimes frequent the other Virgin Active Gyms of which I belong. I was at the one in Canterbury Square, in Cape Town when I saw this storm developing over Lion's Head and Signal Hill, both part of Table Mountain. I really like the combination of the storm, dusk, and city lights. It was made with my iPhone.

PoppyCock is My Crack! - 237/365

PoppyCock is EVIL, but oooohhh so good. Got this bag in the post and ate it all the same day in one sitting. I really did plan on spreading it out but alas it was not to be. I remember being in the States and knowing what grocery aisle it was on and intentionally avoiding the aisle so I won't not be tempted to buy it after seeing it! Hi. I'm Carlos. And I'm a PoppyCock addict!

Two of my Favorite People in Cape Town - 236/365

These are two of my favorite people in Cape Town, specifically, Muizenberg. I have a very good business and personal relationship with a couple of the surf shops in Muizenberg. These ladies Shani and Tarryn work at Xpression On The Beach. I go and visit every time I go to "the berg." Shani runs the retail store on Sunday and when Tarryn is not competing out of town for South Africa somewhere she is there also. Both of them give Surf and SUP lessons. Very cool chicks! Had to snap a pic of them eating a piece of homemade cheesecake I got for them at Yoffi Falafel. Yes, they are probably going to kill me!

Spring View of Table Mountain - 235/365

There is a small restaurant that cooks breakfast all day behind me as I am making this image. They make a great breakfast with everything brought in from the local farms. As I left I saw the view I missed going in. This one of Table Mountain with the Spring flowers in bloom. It was a bright sunny day so it was not hard to make a good landscape image technically. Composition was the hard part here. Where to choose to physically stand to make the image. I chose to put the fence between myself and Table Mountain to add perspective and the farm feeling.