And they're off!!

This weekend saw the Durban July Horseracing event take place. It's a HUGE annual race meeting and a definite must on any social calendar. My wife and I were fortunate enough to be able to get tickets and had an amazing time, with good friends, good food and great atmosphere. Although I never gamble (because I never win) I was encourage to place a small bet on the main race if the day and actually won!!

You’ll never work again

I’m a huge fan of Richard Branson. He has this philosophy which goes something along the lines of following your heart, and doing what you’re passionate about. People will recognise your passion and business will come naturally. One of the many benefits is that you’ll be having fun instead of feeling like you’re working, which means you’ll never work another day in your life. I’m busy with a project at the office at the moment and have taken a photo of the beadwork that’s involved. Although I’ve been involved in this project for weeks now, I haven’t ‘worked’ a single day. It’s wonderful!

Spellunking – the recreational sport of exploring caves

Sometimes you can't tell what the subject of a photo is until it's explained to you, and I think that's the case for today, so I'll explain. While we were overseas we visited the town of Cheddar (where the cheese comes from, duh!) and one of their tourist traps is a geological wonder called Whookey Caves, a beatifully lit set of caves through which you can walk. This shot isn't bad considering I had no tripod and had to use a long exposure time.

Reflecting on Married Life

My sister-in-law recently got married and booked the reception at a beautiful out-of-the-way resort. The reception was a huge success and provided quite a few photographic opportunities. I would love to have taken tons of typical 'wedding' photos to see if I would be any good at starting a little sideline business, but as the happy newly-weds had asked me to be the MC for the day, I was far too busy. I did however manage to snap a few pics around the resort the next day, one of which is today's upload!

Thank goodness for ZOOM

I love pics that are slightly different from the usual happy snaps we so often see, so when taking a photo I often asked myself how I could make it different. A few days ago I posted a pic of some flames, centered nicely, capturing the whole image... a standard pic. But by getting in REALLY close to the fire, todays pic becomes different as it's not often I see tight shots of fire. I like it. Thank goodness we're able to zoom on a camera, otherwise I'd have no eyebrows left!

I'll have the same again, please.

I'm really battling at the moment. Every time I take a photo it comes out looking like every other person's holiday snaps, something I know often bores the viewer. Out of every fifty or so pics I take maybe one or two are worth keeping, which means if I want to upload an image a day I need to be shooting a helluva lot!! Needless to say with work and family responsibilities I don't get to shoot as often as I need to, so I have to rely on archives of some of the better shoots to fill my daily post. Therefore today's pic is another beach morning scene from our recent holiday. Sorry.

Yeah, but is it art?

In a way I think it is. What fascinates me the most is that graffiti is never seen being created, but is always noticed the next day, which means someone's doing it at night. And because it's always in an unlit area, they're doing it in the dark too. I think it takes a real talent to produce something like this at night, in the dark, and general quickly to avoid being caught. So irrespective of it's abstract concept, yes, I think it's art.

Playing with Fire

One of the things you just HAVE to do while camping is to toast marshmellows and make ‘smores’. Inevitably one of my kids will lose their marshmellow in the fire and/or set their stick alight. Needless to say that photographing someone waving a flaming stick around at night always produces fun pics, especially when they start writing their names with the flames. At least, for once in our lives, we’ll get to see our names in lights! It’s wickedly delicious playing with fire!

Early to bed, early to rise...

On Tuesday's post I loaded a pic of a wave crashing on the rocks, one I really like. After shooting that particular shot I waited until the sun actually started rising, and that's where it got a bit tricky. As the sun was rising so the lighting conditions were constantly changing. It was a case of take a shot, change an ISO setting, alter the exposure slightly, but still maintain shutter speed so that the water didn't blur, and take the next shot. Then do it all over again to take the shot after that. And I had to do it all quite quickly to get in as many shots as I could before the sun was fully risen. The things we do for our hobbies...

Campfires Burning

There's nothing like a good campfire to bring out good times, good friends and good stories. Everyone seems to pull their chairs in a little closer and hug the blanket a little tighter. I love a good campfire, so relished in the idea of having one every evening while we were away. Of course I had my camera with me (I think it's becoming another apendage) and enjoyed photographing the flames. There's not much to today's pic, but I like it and hope you do too!