Reflections of the Vibrant colours of moored Fishing Trawlers at Hout Bay Harbour, appear to blend themselves into the ripples of the water. The weekly photo challenge prompt for this week is Vibrant, “to keep the winter gloom at Bay”. The bright sunny days in the Southern Hemisphere, certainly added another dimension to these vibrant reflections.
………..the journey continues…………………
Striped candy appeared to be one of the favourite treats on sale by Vendors at a busy park over a weekend in the centre of Istanbul. Surprisingly though, the striped candy seemed to be more popular with Adults :-), perhaps a fond reminder of days gone by. These were not your run of the mill, off the shelf, wrapped in plastic striped candies, but rather unique, custom made, in a variety of colours, right in front of you, while you wait. With freedom to choose the colours, and the sequence in which they appeared, it’s no wonder this treat was very popular. Treat is the prompt on the Weekly Photo Challenge this week, and images of the striped candy making process are my response to the prompt…
………….the journey continues ………….
Despite the wintery weather here in the Southern Hemisphere, these fynbos plants add some vibrant colour and warmth to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Not exactly Macro, but Zooming in gives one the opportunity to have a closer look at the intricate structure of these colourful plants. Close up is the prompt on the Weekly Photo Challenge this week, and images of these plants are my response to the prompt.
……the journey continues…………
More often than not, when you discover a secret place, it is somewhere you’ve been before. Not necessarily as in to the actual spot, or the place for that matter, but in the vicinity.
Have you ever wondered (when you’re on a long road trip) about the numerous places you drive by as you’re heading somewhere. Some of these places may have roadsigns advising where to turn off, maybe even with a clue as to what it is, perhaps a farm, or a resort, or a weekend getaway place or a farm stall, a training venue? The truth is one never knows until you venture beyond that roadsign, into the zone that you’ve driven past so many times. Often once you enter that realm, the secrets of that place are revealed, and it becomes clear that all is not as mundane as it appears when you’re just driving past en route to somewhere else. I suppose the discovery in itself adds something to the “secretness” of the place, considering the numerous others who are just driving past unaware of what lies waiting to be discovered.
I recently visited one of the places that I had driven by many times previously, and found the secret places that others before me had found and others after me will still find, adding to their repertoire of “secret places”. This secret place was like an indigenous forest with a stream running through, filled with tranquility and colourful contrasts in the vegetation.
So my post for the “travel theme : secret places” on wheres my backpack has extracted shots from this “secret place”, perhaps these visual cues will provide some prompts for you to formulate an image of what this place was like 🙂 ………………..the journey continues…………….
When I saw the topic of the new photo challenge today, I immediately thought about one of my very early posts called “colours moving through the city”. See, I havent been posting for too long, so my early posts are still very fresh in my mind 🙂 Anyway the topic is so appropraite to this post that I decided that it warrants being published again. So, I figured in fairness to those who have already seen that post, I should at least be doing something different, and guess what I obliged by actually reorganising the photos, removing some and introducing some new ones, and also doing some editing of the text. Now how’s that for service :-). I can assure you, that by the time you get to the end of this post you’ll agree with me, this posts fits the challenge perfectly.
The Cape Town Minstrels Parade is an event that has literally been moving colours through the city for the last century. It is one of the prime cultural events of this diverse city, full of colourful people, colourful costumes, music and dance. In this time honoured tradition, numerous teams comprising adults and children (often from families that have been doing this for generations) with painted faces, dressed in bright, colourful sequinned outfits, march, dance and sing in unison, as they progress along the designated route. Each team accompanied by their own band also dressed in the team regalia, pumping out their teams signature tunes. Thousands of people line the streets on New Years Eve every year to witness this spectacle, and amongst them a kaleidoscope of colour too. The streets are closed off to all traffic, hoardings are put up along the pavements to ensure the Minstrels have uninterrupted access to the streets. These spectators come from across the City, and arrive well in advance of the parade too secure a prime vantage point to witness the parade. The streets are a hive of activity with food stalls, vendors, policemen, news reporters, family members, spectators, tourists, even homeless people. People that arrive early, bring along folding chairs, perhaps a blanket, a picnic basket with munchies, and even little makeshift beds for the little ones while the parents await the parade.
At the stroke of midnight, the parade begins on one end of the city, the troops commence marching one at a time, with each team stopping to perform in front of the eager, waiting cheering crowds. The festive atmosphere completely permeates the city. The parade continues through the city and terminates in the Bo Kaap which is a suburb above the City. The New Years Eve Parade is the commencement of an annual competition which is decided after many more parades like the New Year one, which is held in the following days and weeks. The culmination of the competition sees a winner selceted in numerous categories including best uniform, no doubt that the colours of which plays an important role in deciding who the winner is.
I waited for the follow up Parade later on New Years day, considering it was in daylight, when the Parade happened again, and made sure I was out there, camera in hand, to capture the colourful spectacle. These are some of those images……….. The journey continues…………………………….
Canon 7d, Canon 18-200mm lens f3.5/5.6, ISO 100, F8, 1/200 sec, FL=35mm
Canon 7d, Canon 18-200mm lens f3.5/5.6, ISO 100, F8, 1/200 sec, FL=100mm
Canon 7d, Canon 18-200mm lens f3.5/5.6, ISO 200, F5.6, 1/200 sec, FL=178mm
Canon 7d, Canon 18-200mm lens f3.5/5.6, ISO 100, F8, 1/320 sec, FL=50mm
Canon 7d, Canon 18-200mm lens f3.5/5.6, ISO 100, F9.0, 1/250 sec, FL=140mm
Canon 7d, Canon 18-200mm lens f3.5/5.6, ISO 100, F5.6, 1/100 sec, FL=130mm
Canon 7d, Canon 18-200mm lens f3.5/5.6, ISO 100, F9, 1/800 sec, FL=135mm
Canon 7d, Canon 18-200mm lens f3.5/5.6, ISO 100, F8.0, 1/200 sec, FL=60mm
Canon 7d, Canon 18-200mm lens f3.5/5.6, ISO 100, F8.0, 1/400 sec, FL=170mm
4otomo 