Big, really BIG!

Today's HS:MS pic is a cheat from our overseas holiday, and the reason I had to use it was because I was packing all night for our week away at the Drakensberg. There was a traffic jam this morning and I happened to be on the bottom level of a four level interchange. Had I stuck my head out the window and photographed straight up showing all four levels, it would have made the perfect 'big' photo. BUT MY CAMERA WAS PACKED LAST NIGHT FOR OUR HOLIDAY!!! That'll teach me to leave home without it. Oh well... NO MORE SLEEPS!!

Tender, Sweet and Juicy

Yesterdays HS:MS word was juicy and I really wanted to try something other than fruit. When I first saw what the word was I thought there would be so many different things to try, but when it got down to the actual shooting, I was stumped. So fruit it is. Tomorrow my family and I are going to the Drakensberg for a well-deserved 7 day break, so this blog may be pretty quiet for a few days, but hopefully when I get back I'll have tons of pics to show you. I can't wait to show all the non-South Africans out there just how beautiful our country is. ONE MORE SLEEP!!

Time floating by...

I was packing the car the other morning, school bags, lunch boxes, etc, while my son was really taking his time about getting ready. There seems to be some sort of law of physics where the speed of the child in the morning is inversely proportional to how late you’re running, in layman’s terms, the later you are, the slower the kid. But if he hadn’t commented on the beautiful sunrise, I’d never have noticed it. I keep harping on about how everything is such a rush these days, and yet don’t seem to slow down myself. Sometimes us adults needs to stop and smell the proverbial roses once in a while.

All in a Row

Today's HS:MS word is 'Row' which actually has three different meanings. The one means objects or people in a straight line, the second means to propel a boat, and the third is an arguement. In order to clear up any confusion, the HS:MS girls give us the definition they want us to shoot which today is the first one, things in a straight line. I'm at the office at the moment (where it's always organised chaos), and the only things in a row here are the keys on my keyboard and the CDs in a rack. So here's my row...

Passion

There are lots of things I’m really passionate about, the first being my family, with photo- graphy, gardening, my job, diy, and many others after them. But to choose one is pretty difficult, especially when you have to photograph it somehow. I’ll always have tons of pics of my family, as well as my DIY projects and my gardening exploits. But the one passion I don’t have many pics of is Springbok rugby, so I took out my shirt, camera and tripod and captured my passion!

Over the top!!

For those of you that follow rugby, you may have heard of the Absa Stadium, home of the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks, and a stadium favourite of the South African Springbok Rugby Team (current World Cup champions). I recently got to do an aerial photoshoot from the roof of the stadium, which was AMAZING!! The fact that we had no harnesses, rigging or any other safety gear made it even more of an adrenalin rush, and to top it off, the wind was blowing gales. Talk about over the top!

Bag Lady/Man?!?

The girls at HS:MS are making things so hard for me!! The prompt yesterday was for something purple, which ended up being a flower, and today's word is 'baglady' (and I'm niether a lady, nor do I carry a bag). Anita and Kirsty, if you're reading this, how about once a month or so we have a REALLY masculine word like 'Rugby' or perhaps 'Powertool'. Just kidding, if anything, it get's me to really think about what I'm shooting, which is a good thing I suppose. That being said, today's pic is of my camera bag.

The Colour Purple

I really tried hard to do something other than a flower for today's HS:MS challenge. The word today is 'purple' and boy did I search. There's a Steers takeaway up the road which has some perforated sheet metal signage with purple strip lighting behind it, looks stunning but in the noonday sun photographs terribly. There's another shop further down actually called Purple Fantasy, but they wouldn't let me photograph their shop 'for security reasons'. Oh well, a flower it is...

Sweets for my sweet.

Moms are SO good. Whenever my kids and I crave something sweet we rush to the emergency sweet container, which is usually crammed to capacity with the most tartrazine loaded, sugar embedded rubbish on the planet. Some of the stuff even I won’t eat, like the sour worms or the jelly brains, but the kids love it, and we as parents have to monitor their junk intake. Moms, on the other hand are amazing when it comes to self control. Their weekly sugar intake is a breath mint or a chewing gum, sugar free mind you, and recommended by two out of three dentists. I just don’t get it...

Someone’s Portrait Saturday

My son has to be one of the most camera-shy people I know, and yet today when I caught him singing with his sister’s microphone he didn’t seem to mind at all when I whipped out the camera. He’ll never forgive me when one day he realises that I’ve photographed him using a ‘Barbie’ branded microphone to sing along to Hannah Montana, and then published it on the net for the whole world to see. Oh well, isn’t that a parent’s job, to embarrass their children?

Peter Pointer...

I didn’t get a chance to do yesterday’s prompt which was the word ‘point’, but fortunately today we decided to have a braai (barbeque for all you other nationalities) and I managed to catch the kids pointing at the flames. I’m quite proud of my built-in barbeque because I built it myself and have just recently completed it. I’ve never done any bricklaying before, so this is quite an accomplishment for me. Perhaps this pic should have been used for “Show off Sunday”...

Enter (if you dare)

Now this HS:MS prompt was fun!! Firstly I had to find a website that had a 'click to enter' page, and believe me there are some really, REALLY weird sites out there. Secondly, I'm so used to uploading from a camera to the internet, not the other way round, shooting from the net onto my camera. Her Space:My Space is constantly challenging us to think differently and I'm loving it!

Hedge Hog?

When my wife and I first moved into our home, the garden (if you could even call it a garden) was shocking. The grass was knee high, with almost no other plants, and a rickety old fence that was standing against all odds. We've since managed to rescue the grass, rebuild the fence and fill the garden with all sorts of wonderfull green foliage. Unfortunately it's winter at the moment which means everything is dry and half dead so today's HS:MS pic isn't that impressive, but at least it's here!

A Romantic Getaway...

Today's HS:MS prompt is the word 'Romantic' and as I'm stuck at the office all day I can't really shoot a spontaneous shot of something romantic, so I'm having to resort to sifting through holiday pics. I love a romantic fireplace every now and then, and sadly, in South Africa where it's always warm, we don't get to enjoy them often enough. We'll be going to the Drakensberg in a couple of weeks, where the nights are always cold, so who knows. A romantic getaway?

Gate

We recently went on our first ever overseas holiday! We've had to save for a really long time to be able to afford it as the exchange rate between us in South Africa and England is 16 to 1. Basically buying a beer at home would cost about 12 Rand, whereas in England it would cost me about 190 Rand for the same beer. Scary! But the one thing I loved about England was their castles which provided amazing photographic opportunities. Today's HS:MS word is 'gate' and this particular gate was at Carrisbrook Castle. It's a awesome gate, hundreds of years old, beautifully weathered and easily over 20 feet tall.