Fame. At last....

Role out the red carpet, here she comes! The Famous Telegraph competition participant!!

I'm famous! Ha-ha... well, moderately, anyway. It was only 2nd place. So I can't get too carried away. But its fame, and I'm excited about it!

There is a weekly photographic competition, held on Flickr, but run by The Telegraph UK. They have different themes, this last week it was 'Buildings'. I submitted my photo of the Durban skyscrapers. And I came 2nd! And the blog I wrote about the photo was mentioned too!
Kate Day, the journalist who runs the competition, had some very nice comments to make about the photo. I'm thrilled!!

The link to the Daily Telegraph page: Photo competition: buildings


Durban city skyscraper, with barbed wire.

Its so great to be recognised for having done something good, even if it is a little weekly competition. For a complete stranger to acknowledge my photo, and see something in it, is quite fantastic. Kate Day's comments about the photo and the blog are very interesting as well.

Another member of the camera club I belong to, Allan Jackson, has also had a photo or two be featured in this competition, so the Hillcrest Camera Club is doing well to gain international recognition!

Of course, now the challenge is on to the rest of you. Lets see how many other Hillcrest Camera Club members, or fellow Durbanites can get their photos featured in international competitions like the Telegraph's.

See you on the red carpet!

Risk, Art and Hands

This is the photo that got me inspired. It is a Minkkinen "Self Portrait" done in his distinctive abstract style. I love this photo. I love how the two hands form a new shape, and how they seem poised to touch, but dont. The background plays a role in adding to the mood. And the tree is shaped like the arm. Or is it that the arm follows the shape of the tree? Once one begins to look deeper, there are questions as to how the shot was created. If it is a self portrait, how did Minkkinen shoot it?

On reading up on Minkkinen, I soon realised that my first assumption that these couldnt be self portraits, was wrong. He states that he took all his own photos. Its a tricky process, made even more difficult when done on a film camera, as his shots are. No digital memory cards of infinite quantities. Limited film meant limited opportunities to get the shot right.

Minkinnen quotes Georges Braque :"Out of limitations, new forms emerge." Minkkinen says that "Art is risk made visible". He meant that instead of being limited by his restrictions, he used them to make himself grow. And to take better photographs. He risked more, to create his art.

This is a philosophy that resonates with me profoundly. I have many limitations myself - my camera equipment, or the lack therof, my lack of experience and my lack of training. Yet in Minkkinen's eyes, these limitations should free me, and make me grow. I should be happy to take the risk, just to create art.

Its a kind of reverse phsycology that makes sense to me, somehow.

With this in mind, I have tried to 'copy' Minkkinen's photo. Its not easy - trying to explain philosophy and theory, while also getting the hand shape correct, to my 'models' Michele and Tanika was difficult! After a few shots where my 'models' attempted to 'strike the pose' but failed, I just took a deep breath, and let the process flow. I let them do what they wanted. I took many shots, with all sorts of hand poses. .

I didnt get the exact pose as the Minkkinen photo above, but I think Imight have got an even better pose. When I got back home, and looked on the computer, I realised that I had captured a lot of detail in the fingers and hands. Coverting to black and white made the character of the hands stand out even more. The light from the sun, and the flash, created an interesting contrast. I had also over exposed for the sky, so had created a strong background colour for the hands.

I think I got a magical shot. Their hands look amazing and I love the detail.

I am hoping to take many more hand shots. Right now, I am enjoying the challenge and the reward of creating something incredible out of something as simple as a hand.

Walking The Streets

I was walking the streets again. On a Sunday. Should have been kneeling down in religious prayer perhaps. Not kneeling down on West Street, taking photos. But in the street walking game, I guess any day is a work day, and I was definitely working last Sunday!

Its quite exhilarating. The cement pavement under one's feet, the concrete and steel surrounding one. Look up, and all one can see is the buildings reaching for the sky, and then the sky itself. Admittedly, one can also see rubbish and litter everywhere, and the smells are not exactly 'Lavender Fresh', but its gritty and its real. Its street walking, with a twist.

OK, so I'm not plying my trade, walking the streets of Durban, in prostitute mode. I bet that was your first thought. Silly you. I was on a photo shoot, a photo walk, an outing..... whatever you to call it. I was taking photos!

I was with some fellow photographers from the Durban Flickr group. We walked through the city, from the Workshop, through to the City Hall, down to the Embankment, the Courts and then back up through to West Street. It was quite a walk. Specially when the process is about as fast as walking a dog who likes to pee on every lamppost. Its a stop and start process. We like to take photos of everything, and with five of us, we pretty much covered every interesting item visible. I mean everything. See our Flickr photostreams to prove that.

But, anyway, back to the exhilaration. I guess at heart I'd rather be living in New York or London, than Durban. Just to be able to walk the streets and take in the sights. I love tall buildings, I love concrete, I love traffic lights. I love cities. OK, I also love the sea, the mountains, the sky. But right now, I'm having a little love affair with a city.

Before I became serious about taking photos, I was afraid of Durban. Just like everyone else I know. Afraid to venture the streets, and afraid to endanger my life. Admittedly, Durban is a changed city, and doesn't resemble the city that I knew ten years ago. The danger of being mugged, or hijacked is real, and is possibly higher in town. But you have to look beyond that threat, and ask - what else is stopping me from enjoying the sights? And quite frankly, its just fear. So find a way around that fear, and conquer it. Which is what photography has taught me, in a way. I wanted to take photos of the city, but fear prevented me. But I found a way around that.

A few week's ago, on another Sunday, I got in my car and drove down to Durban city. I figured that it would be quieter than normal, and I should get some kind of a photo opportunity. I also convinced myself that I was relatively safe in my car. I was in Drive By Shooting mode, (as discussed previously) and ready to explore.

And I was grandly rewarded! This was the result of that first city shoot:

I was in love. The shot looked so 'New York' to me, I was chuffed! And this was Smith Street! I have since been down to the city to take more photos from my car, and I have taken some lovely shots. Our city can look rather pretty. OK, yes, pretty from an angle, with a little Photoshopping. But seriously, wouldn't we all look a little better with a little 'work' done on us?

The opportunity to actually WALK the streets was exciting to me. And I wasn't disappointed. While everyone else was taking photos of the people in streets, or the other sights to see, I was standing up against the buildings, taking many shots. I think I got some good photos, and I like the oblique angles. I especially like the shots where three buildings almost meet in the sky, just because of the angle I took the shot at. Very much like the photos I've seen taken on New York's skyscrapers. Except for the barbed wire at the base of the building. I think that's possibly a uniquely South African feature!

Of course, now I'm hooked. I'd love to go back down those streets and take some more photos. But reality prevails, and I won't do it alone. I can't get my car into the tiny alley ways, I have to actually stand under the buildings! So I await the next opportunity to catch a glimpse of the object of my new photographic desires - Durban and its buildings....

Two Headed, Four Horned, Five Legged Buck

Sometimes you just can't get nature to be natural!

This was a sweet set up, with two little bucks standing silhouetted against the sky. At one point they even touched noses. But at the point that I took this shot, they had created this weird shape, which looked like a double headed, four horned, five legged monster buck.

Its difficult being a wildlife photographer.

But at least I dont care about reflecting reality and making sure that the animal poses correctly. I like this shot - I like the shape and the form, and I love the effect of the Photoshop work. Its abstract and surreal, and appeals to me enormously.

Hope you like it too. And I guess the cute buck don't really mind how their photos look, do they?

Wildlife Shooting Can Be Fun

The annual Hillcrest Camera Club wildlife outing was at Tala this Saturday. I wasn't going to go. I am not into wildlife photography. The closest I get to wildlife is wiping the bird poo off my windscreen. Or watching those 'wild' herds of monkeys traipse through the suburbs, off to Musgrave for a bit of afternoon retail therapy. So actually taking photos of real wildlife was not something I'd thought I'd ever do.

But, there is a big group of wildlife photographers in the club, and they seem keen and taken by their interest. Also, after enduring many photos of wildlife, and thinking that it surely can't be all that hard, I thought I'd give it a go.

The 6.00am start required a dreaded 3.30am wake up for me. Why do I have to live so far from the action, I was asking myself? But everyone else was bright and chirpy, so I figured that any complaints about the earliness of the hour were bad form. It was bitterly cold, but I guess that starting the day on the dam, swirls of icy mist freezing our hands and faces, was always going to be cold. Lucky Bari got many hugs, but I suppose if I could have hugged everyone, it would just have been testament to the shared body heat trick, nothing else!

Later on, once the sun had rose, we decided to move off to the rest of the reserve.

Allan drove us in his TT -actually its a Toyota Tazz, poor thing. But it did the trick. Off we zooted, starting the search for animals to shoot. Pretty soon we met our first animals - some kind of "dishding" according to Allan. I was thinking water buffallo, but being as about clued up as Allan, I chose to keep quiet. We could always shoot now, and find out later what we saw! (Thank gooness for Google) They were in the sun, and the light was bad, so the "dishdings" didnt give too much of a photo opportunity.

Next we spotted two ostriches. A quick recall to memories long created, and we worked out that the black feathered one was the male, while the poor scruffy one was the female. We had to leave her, seeing that her mate was obviously going to look fabulous in black and white. No amount of saturation was ever going to make her look bold and beautiful. She is doomed to sepia, poor thing.

OK, so ostriches have to be the most frustrating birds to shoot. One minute he was eating stuff on the ground, so I zoomed in to get feather detail. Next thing, he lifted his head up and spotted me. I was frantically changing focal length, zooming out like mad, and he waited just in time for me to get in focus, and then he ducked his head again. Sheesh. The fact that I eventually got him in full body mode is worth many awards for patience.

The cute little bucks came next. Once again, Allan and I were guessing what they were. 'Some kind of buck' was the conclusion drawn. I suggested Springbok, Allan seemed to think they were 'some other kind of buck'. Wow, we really were not doing the wildlife gang proud.

Cute buck has a nibble on the grass.

The zebra came next. And at long last we finally got an animal species correct. (Never mind that there is only one kind of zebra.) They were quite amusing - they seemed to know that we wanted photographs, because they posed for a few minutes, heads up, sweet little looks at the camera, swishing of the tails. Then when we didnt bugger off in a cloud of dust, they resumed munching on the grass. So we just got backsides and the tops of their heads for a while.

A few minutes later, after slowly tracking alongside them, we got another sighting. All of a sudden a few of the zebras seemed to grow 5th legs. I dont know if they all got excited at the same time, or if it was just time for the communal pee session, but boy, was I presented with a very good reason to crank up the 300mm zoom and snap, baby, snap!!!

The doodad makes an appearance.

The joke is that Bari had set us all a challenge to take a photo of something unusual, or something from a weird angle, like a close up of a hoof. I hadnt expected to see anything to live up to the challenge....... until I saw the zebra penis. I wonder if I have met the challenge with my photo? I wait with baited breath for the next camera club meeting to see whether I got the most unusual shot of the day. I'll keep you posted.

After the 5th leg excitement, things got a bit dull for a while. Allan and I tried some bird shooting, but seriously, unless you have a papparazzi lens and can actually see the bird's nostrils, you dont stand a chance at getting a good shot. Once again Allan and I were back to impressing with our knowledge. "Some kind of black bird" was Allan's guess. Mine too. It was a cute fat thing, and I got a little catch light in its eye, but it still ended up on the scrap pile of photos. Sorry, birdy, unless you can grow a 3rd 'leg' or 3rd 'wing', I guess you dont ruffle my feathers, so to speak.

The next big thing to catch my eye was the ostrich egg. It was on the path, just lying there looking unprotected and abandoned. Hmmm, abandoned buildings, abandoned ostrch eggs. Potato - potaato. I was immediately attracted. I hopped out the car for a closer look. Eeek, yes, I hear you gasp in horror. A South African game reserve is well stocked with the Big Five - vicious, hungry lions, cheetahs, elephants etc. So wasn't I being very brave, risking all for the sake of getting the shot? Gasp, gasp? Err, Tala Game Reserve doesnt have the Big Five. Though they have some pretty frisky zebras. Anyhoooo, I was snapping away at the egg, thinking it's obvioulsy abandoned, when suddenly I heard a crack of twigs and a bit of a roaring sound. All of a sudden I had images of a fiesty Mama Ostrich coming at me with her muscular legs and sharp beak racing through my mind. Thankfully the twig snapping was just me standing on a twig, and the roaring sound was Allan blowing his nose. But it was enough of a close shave to have me thinking it was best not to risk my life just for a photo!

The ostrich egg, all abandoned and alone.

The next hour passed by uneventfully. Oh except for the TT nearly succumbing to the wild road, but thanks to Allan's driving skills, we managed to manouver the car out of trouble. Well, I say that with all kindness about Allan's driving, but I think it might have been my prayers to St Christopher, Patron Saint of Bad Drivers that actually saved the TT. Allan seemed to think that adopting a gung-ho method of aiming his car straight at the biggest rocks, and hoping for the best, would save the car. I just prayed to all the Saints I could think of, so I'm thinking it might have been that method that worked, who knows?

Just as we got off the rocky road, and decided it was time to head back for breakfast, it was like all the animals conspired togther and decided to present themselves, virtually in order, on the right side of the light, profiles showing, teeth 'smiling', tails swishing angelically. And now we were in a hurry to get back to the picnic site. What a dilemma! I could hear Allan's hunger pains and "Oh, but I didnt have breakfast" stomach growls.... What were we to do? A true wildlife photographer obviously operates on near starvation, or only eats in shifts, seeing that there is always something to shoot, and no time to eat. But seeing that we weren't quite that dedicated, we obligingly watched the zebras and took a few shots of the warthogs. The zebras were stationed around a scratching post - a communal use tree trunk used to rub their tummies and backs. One by one. After the first two zebras had a rub and we'd oohed and aahed, things got a bit monotonous. One can only tolerate the blissful faces of a well scratched zebra for so long. Allan solved the growing dilemma of 'they'll eat all the breakfast sausages' versus 'we are meant to be getting all the animal shots we can' by quickly videoing the zebra doing its tree rubbing thing. He can do some nifty editting later on, stilling the video into some arty-type shots of the zebras in ecstacy.

When the phonecall came from Voden, to see if we were on our way to breakfast, you'd think it was like a call from the wild. We tried not to wizz past the buck and the buffallo, and snapped a few shots at the warthogs. They were deep in the bush anyway, so things were a bit blurry - you know, all that long grass. I'll have to do an overlay type shot, the hectic life of the warthog, all very Leslie Goodman style.

We were starting to panic a bit when it looked like we were lost and would never find the picnic site. I could see Allan wondering of he'd ever see another egg and sausage roll again, when suddenly one of the Tala landrovers appeared. A quick flagging down and desperate croaking of "Where is the picnic site?" resulted in the cute blonde at the wheel taking one look at us and saying "Follow me, I'm going there now!" Good thing that it was a blonde lady game ranger, because Allan didnt seem to mind that she went roaring down the road, bouncing over the dongas without a care - he just followed in hot pursuit, so to speak!

We were the last to arrive at the picnic site. But thankfully they hadn't decided to send out the search parties. And even more thankfully, there were enough sausages left for Allan. Breakfast was delicious and most welcome.

You know taking all those photos of the dishdings and the doodads is hungry work!

Fresh produce, Sunrise Surprise. Just don't ask me who did it......

Drive By Shootings

Its become addictive and obsessive. I spend hours planning them, and the thrill of successfully executing a drive by is tantalising.

OK, now that I've got your attention, and my mom's heart rate has reached a dangerous rate, let me explain.

Taking photos in the streets of Durban is a dangerous pastime. Carry an expensive camera with you, and all of a sudden, everyone is out to mug you, and rob of your camera and more importantly, the memory card. Well, that's what it feels like. I don't have a sweet boyfriend or hubby to ask to play bodyguard and protect me while I take photos. Taking photos on one's own, in relatively safety, means a boring trip around Botanical Gardens. Been there, done that, didn't get the T-Shirt.

So what other options did I have? Drive by shootings, of course! I even use my Canon....

I hop in the car, and drive around Durban, taking photos if I see something that catches my eye, and doesn't prevent me from concentrating on my driving too much. Its fairly safe, except of course, if I was hijacked, I would lose both the car and the camera. But that's what insurance is for, and anyway - an upgrade in both departments would suit me. I'll be the most obliging hijack victim around. Sies, don't tempt fate, I hear you say, but its a national SA pastime - waiting for the inevitable mugging or hijacking to happen, just so that you can screw the insurance company over, in revenge for them screwing you over with their unjustified rate hikes....

But I digress.

Back to the opening image - me shooting people down, driving by and gunning them to the ground. Gangster style. Errrrr, not quite. But its a cool description of what I do, and I think its apt. Except all I'm doing is shooting photos, while I drive.

I've got some really good images of Durban street life. I've driven around on Sunday afternoons, which is probably the best time to negotiate the roads. There are still lots of pedestrians around, but a lot less cars. So the people side of the city is revealed. Yes, its grungy and poor, but its the city centre. Gone are the days when Smith and West Street used to be the mecca of upmarket shops and department stores. Now they are the mecca for street sellers and anything goes - scarves, fruit and veg, shoes, knives. It provides for some fantastic photographic opportunities, if you are into that kind of thing.

I drove around Pinetown last week. The people in the taxi rank were giving me strange looks, but that's probably because I drove around that area for ages. My Jazz blue Polo certainly doesn't blend in, but then neither do I, white skin and all. Thankfully the tinted side windows prevent too much looking into the car. But I got some awesome shots. It had been raining overnight, so it was dark and cloudy, and there were lots of puddles on the road. This provided for an excellent photo opportunity. As I drove along, I spotted the zebra crossing and saw that lots of people were using it. The mom and daughter caught my eye, because the girl had such a bright jacket on, it contrasted beautifully with the dark grey sky. That's when I saw the huge puddle, and the reflection. Thankfully the road was full of cars, so mom and daughter had to stop for a few seconds. That's when I took my photos. Luckily the mom was facing me when I snapped the shot. I think it makes for a great shot. Simple, but evocative.







I took Michele, a fellow amateur photographer on a 'learner' drive by last Thursday. It was most amusing trying to teach someone how to take photos while driving. I guess it is actually a difficult task, one that I perhaps shouldn't actually be admitting to. But Officer, I actually stop the car when I shoot, err, take the photo! Michele got the basics, but I think she thinks I'm mad. Which is probably what you are thinking right now. But I'm safe, to a degree, and most importantly, I'm getting out and taking photos. And that's whats important.

And no, I'm not actually shooting anyone. As they say - No animals or people were harmed in the shooting of this photo.....

Flickr

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