Not really the last sunrise (I hope not) but definitely the last one for 2011.

I got up at 03H00 on this last day of 2011 and went up the mountains on the Longtom Pass between Lydenburg and Sabie and hoped for nice clouds, good light and better yet, nice weather. All of the above were perfect except that I hoped for a bit more clouds after sunrise.  I got a few good shots and was really glad that I’ve taken the effort to look for nice landscapes this morning.

Hopefully 2012 will be great for some amazing photos and I am looking forward to visiting all the places I would like to looking for that perfect shots.

May God be with us all and protect us on our journeys (life, marriage, family, friends, work and off coarse those landscape and wildlife photography journeys) right through 2012. Thank you Lord for a great 2011.

My Photo “Lydenburg Sunset” got published in the August edition of the Getaway Magazine here in South Africa. What made more happy is that they published it as a double page spread. Thank you Getaway Magazine.

This is the photo…….

On Sunday 13 August 2 photographers from our local photo club and myself had the privilege of taking other photographers from other areas to one of our favorite photography spots on top of the Longtom Pass between Lydenburg and Sabie in Mpumalanga South Africa.

We left town at about 05H30 the Sunday morning and arrived at the spot just after 06H00 just before sunrise. The view was absolutely amazing that morning and the best it was in quite a while. It was bitter cold that morning and the cloud bank moved over the mountain later that afternoon and just a day later the top of the same mountain were covered in snow (something that does not happen very often in these areas).

This is one of the photos I took that Sunday morning (before the snow).

Enjoy.

Things were really hectic the past few weeks at work and even in the evenings, so time for landscape photography was very rare.

I was at a photography meeting on Monday night (15/05/2011) and while waiting for other people outside I saw that the clouds and the almost full moon were perfect for some night photography. Unfortunately I had to attend the meeting and I postponed my photography outing for the following night.

Tuesday came and the weather didn’t look good at all. Rain was forecasted for the entire day and evening and my hopes for nice open moonlit skies were destroyed. Late in the afternoon the weather changed in my favor and my camera bag was sorted out for the outing in record time.

I left home at about 17H00 and went straight to one of my favorite spots on top of the Longtom Pass between Lydenburg and Nelspruit. There was a dark cloud bank hanging over the horizon to the east and I knew that my chances for getting a visible full moon were very dim. In the meantime I experimented with some other shots and the effect I got with the passing cars down below and the distant lights from the towns were absolutely amazing.

Like I expected I missed the rising full moon because of the clouds but at about 19H00 a few holes appeared in the clouds and the light from the full moon made this special looking light streaks falling onto the mountains and valleys below. Something I never saw before, or at least not like this. At certain moments the moon lit up the entire ridge I was standing on and it almost felt like one was standing in God’s spotlight for a few seconds.

Although standing just 30 meter below the highest point in Mpumalanga (2200m) with a howling wind and in very cold weather, the show that God gave me made this outing very special. What makes it more special is that I have the evidence of this majestic show in my collection of my landscape photos.

Enjoy.

Visit to the Blyde River.

A few weeks back we visited the Blyde River Canyon from the Graskop side which is the top part of the canyon. While standing at one of the outlook points along the canyon I saw a small camping site in the bottom of the valley way down next to the Blyde River. Then and there I decided that I have to visit that place soon.

During the following week I found the place I am looking for on Google Earth and saw the way to go to get to the place.

On Sunday 20 March 2011 we decided to have a family outing to the place. After driving for more than 2 hours and some hectic off-road driving we finally got to the place. The view from the bottom of the canyon was spectacular with the majestic Drakensberg Mountains reaching for the skies from all sides. In between the mountains the beautiful Blyde River flows down to the Blyde Dam. The river itself looks spectacular flowing over and around massive boulders and making big pools ideal for swimming along the way.

It wasn’t long before I grabbed my camera bag and head out along the river looking for great photo spots along the banks of the river. The thing is that there are so much photo opportunities that one day is just not enough to do it all. After about an hour of photography I noticed that I have only walked about 100 meters along the river – and there is km’s more!!! What a great place for water and landscape photography.

I just wish that this place will stay perfect as it is now and that it will not get trampled by tourists in the future. We must keep this place tranquil as it is and keep the secret of the location of this magical place to ourselves. There are not many people who know this area and I hope we can keep it this way. For Nature’s sake.

Welcome to my blog.

I have been doing photography for about 4 years now and I have been postponing the start of my photography blog for more than a year. Every time I wanted to start it I just thought that I am not just quit ready for it. At the end of 2010 I promised myself that I will start the blog somewhere in the beginning of 2011.

For the past 2 years I have been working fulltime and I had to do photography only on weekends and sometimes during the week if my other job allowed it. I felt that my photography was not improving as a result of this and I promised myself that in 2011 things have to change drastically. Entering competitions, doing more landscape photography (my true passion) and doing more wildlife photography is on the top of my list for 2011.

Well it started off very nice indeed with getting a second place in the “SA Camera Long Exposure” competition. I was also the winner of the “Getaway Oceans and Waterways” photographic competition. I entered some other competitions as well and still awaiting results.

Personally I think there is not much better inspiration a person can get than by doing well in a photographic competition, happy clients and off course the inspirational feedback that you get from fellow photographers and friends.

With the help of God, my family, friends and clients I believe this year will be the best yet regarding my work as a photographer.