Now

Travelling in Europe during South African summer usually requires one to make a serious temperature adjustment. Imagine boarding a plane when it’s 30deg C outside in the shade :-), and arriving at a substantially wet and colder place 15 hours later that is at least 25deg cooler!!. The unusually warmer temperatures in Germany at the moment, made this transition a lot easier, and presented a perfect opportunity to shoot some night images of the Hannover City Hall and the reflections onto the lake in the foreground, without needing numerous layers of clothing, scarves, beanies, gloves etc. Now is the prompt on the weekly photo challenge this week, and images of the Hannover City Hall are my response to the prompt..

…….the journey continues,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

Now

Gathering

With temperatures peaking at 34degC on a recent visit to the Addo Elephant Park near Port Elizabeth, herds of elephants headed towards the few waterholes in the Park. It was intriguing to watch hundreds of Elephants co-ordinate usage of these waterholes. As if by some pre arranged programming, groups of elephants, sometimes as large as 50, would gather in the proximity of a waterhole. Whilst one group was busy drinking and splashing at the waterhole, all the others just grazed ad waited patiently. Then as if by mutual agreement one of these waiting groups, would in a very organised movement, always ensuring that the little ones were protected, slowly make their way towards the waterhole. As they approached the waterhole, the group at the water would slowly start to move away, allowing the approaching group free access to the water. This process continued for hours, with some groups even returning a few times, without any apparent disagreement, or confrontation. Just mutual respect, and a real sense of sharing the valuable resource of water, perhaps a lesson humans can learn form these intelligent animals.

Gathering is the prompt on the Weekly Photo Challenge this week, and images of the various gatherings of elephants are my response to the prompt.

………the journey continues,,,,,,,,

 

Gathering

Oops!

Pieces of Broken cups, saucers, plates etc bonded into the plaster of the walls of a building in Anadolu Kavagi, a little town alongside the Bosphorous near Istanbul, Turkey. I pondered for a moment about the origins of the broken crockery, perhaps it was damaged in the factory during the manufacturing process, perhaps it was damaged while being transported between the factory and the retailer, perhaps it was broken when a shelf collapsed, perhaps it was broken intentionally for the purpose of cladding the wall. perhaps…….perhaps………. However, it happened to get there, it’s more than likely there was an Ooops! moment somewhere along the way :-)………….

Oops! is the prompt on the weekly photo challenge this week, and images of the “broken crockery” clad wall are my response to the prompt…..

………the journey continues……………

Oops!

Transition

The Golden Hours, at Sunrise and Sunset are probably the most favourable time for Photographers, especially Landscape Photographers. It’s the hour of Transition, night becomes day, and vice versa. Sunsets over the Ocean with clouds brush stroked above the horizon add another wonderful dimension. As the Sun slowly sinks into the sea the tones in the sky transition between the blue of the day and the deep yellow, orange to reds of sunset, before the blue of the night eventually becomes the dark of the night. Transition Is the prompt on the Weekly Photo Challenge this week, and this sequence of images of 20 minutes at Sunset at Sea Point are my response to the prompt.

…….the journey continues ……………

Transition

Trio

Strangers, Friends or Neighbours, maybe family, Siblings, Parents, Children, perhaps Grandparents ? Locals or Tourists?, you never know for certain. Trio’s photographed at Public spaces on a recent trip to Italy, even the pigeons obliged ::-) Images in response to the Trio prompt on the Weekly Photo Challenge this week.

….the journey continues…………..

Trio

Victory

Perhaps some of you will remember the lyrics of the song Butterfly, “wait for me don’t fly away”. Well, it was in a completely different context that I was saying something very similar at Kirstenbosch Gardens last weekend :-). I wanted to try out a new close up filter I’d just bought, and headed off to Kirstenbosch to see if I could find something interesting to shoot. Well, I stumbled upon this butterfly, who seemed to get a bit of stage fright as the camera made its appearance.:-). Working with a very small depth of the field was a challenge, that was complicated further by a gentle breeze. Nevertheless, I was very determined and waited for the moments when the butterfly settled on the flower, and the breeze abated so I could carefully focus and take a few pictures. Maybe not as sharp as I would have liked, but it was a victorius challenge for me anyway :-). Victory is the prompt on the Weekly Photo Challenge this week, and images of the butterfly are my response to the prompt….

………….the journey continues…………………….

Victory

Ornate

All that glitters here…… is Gold :-), Gold Jewellery on display in Jewellery stores at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. With a vast range of designs from simple and straightforward, to intricate and ornate, I’m sure there is something that will meet every Jewellery lovers desires. I stopped for a moment to shoot a few images, but not long enough  t enquire about the prices 🙂 :-). Ornate is the prompt for this Weeks Photo Challenge.

……………..the journey continues ……………………..
Ornate

Treat

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 ………….

Treat

Careful

Driving through the Kruger National Park, one can expect that you will come upon wildlife sightings on a regular basis. More often than not, someone gets there or is there before you, and the opportunity to get a decent view and photograph is determined by this. Every now and then you get to a sighting first, that presents an opportunity to get a decent sighting, and not to mention, unobstructed photographs. Perhaps there’s a sense of safety in numbers, but the encounters on your own seem to have an amplified sense of danger. On a drive through the Kruger earlier this year, we were fortunate to come across 3 male Lions having an early morning “catnap” :-), very close to the roadside. One of them was well concealed in the grass and the other two were alongside one another under the shade of a tree. One of the two under the tree momentarily twitched a foot as the vehicle came to standstill alongside them, which prompted me to be a very careful as I gently opened the window to get a few photographs of the trio. Careful is the prompt on the Weekly Photo Challenge this week, and images of the sleeping Lions is my response to the prompt…………………..

……..the journey continues…………..

Careful

Boundaries

Hundreds of metres of boundary fencing draped along the contours of the land, stretching way into the distance, as far as the eye can see, divide Wheat Farms in the area of Philadelphia, near Cape Town. During harvesting time the harvested wheat hay is rolled up into circular bales, that are scattered over the landscape in what can appear to be an organised pattern :-), though it’s unlikely that it actually is. Boundaries is the prompt on the Weekly Photo Challenge this week, and images of the Wheat farms are my response to the prompt.
………….the journey continues …………….

Boundaries