Monteseel Sunset V2

October 30, 2014 Andrew Harvard 2 Comments

“When you look at the current smartphones out there, they seem to be the best. Perfect. But look back at the initial launch of those smartphones and they seem like child’s play. Too often, people want to make the perfect thing the first time. But there is no perfect thing. There is only the best you can do at the time. And then to constantly improve. That’s it. Do your best. Put it out there. Then improve. You can only improve once it’s put out there” ~ Brian Kim

Canon South Africa 6D, 1/4 sec, ISO 100, F22

Location – Monteseel, KZN South Africa

21 April 2014, 17:14 PM — in Monteseel, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa.

Photography, Travel

Sunwich Flow

October 28, 2014 Andrew Harvard Leave a comment

I’m a lucky fish: three photoshoots in between work from Mon AM to Tues AM inclusive. On Monday, 22 September 2014, I was required to attend a business meeting in the Eastern Cape. I decided to wake up very early that morning and after one hour of driving, take a short break to watch the sun rise at Sunwich Port, which is approximately 10 km north of Port Shepstone (South Africa). I had never been to this location before and it was therefore exciting to scramble around the rocks and small tidal pool to the left. The sunrise was not the most spectacular but none the less better than the two or three bland sunrises in a row that we recently experienced in Durban. This is my second photo from this shoot.

Canon 6D, F16, 1/6 sec, ISO 50 & 24-105mm L

Photography, Travel

Second Beach

October 24, 2014 Andrew Harvard Leave a comment

Read about this afternoon’s sunset shoot here.

Photography, Travel

Poenskop

October 22, 2014 Andrew Harvard Leave a comment

There are some places that I photograph and visit where I feel the spontaneous need to stop for a moment and give sincere and heartfelt thanks with eyes closed. I could count those special places easily on one hand; this morning at Poenskop, Port St Johns was one such place / time.
I always referred to the location seen in the middle of the photo as “poen-skop”. After seeing this view through my camera (for the first time despite numerous previous visits), I thought it must be “poen’s-kop” (Poen’s Head). It is also on a point and “poen” in Welsh is “point”. I found vague reference on the net to “bald-head” and firm mention of the Musselcracker fish (also named Poenskop), which can be caught at Poenskop on octopus tentacles.
I could write further on Port St Johns but a previous post of mine says quite a lot. Have a look at a previous post here. If you don’t read the post, at least remember to visit Amapondo Backpackers and Delicious Monster Restaurant (owned by Juliet) if ever in town.

Photography, Travel

Mind The Gap

October 20, 2014 Andrew Harvard 1 Comment

I was lucky enough to have some time after work late afternoon on Mon the 22nd of September to have a grand filter coffee at Amapondo Backpackers and then head onto 2nd Beach at Port St Johns (Transkei – South Africa) with my camera. I was not that lucky as the wind was howling, gusting 30 km/h perhaps, and blowing onto the lens. So it was hold onto your tripod and wipe your filter all the time stuff. At least I managed to get a photo of The Gap. The photo turned out fairly sharp with minimal spots to spot heal. I promised the barman some photos; a few more will follow. BTW: it was not as bright and colourful that afternoon as the photo shows 🙂

Photography, Travel

Sunwich Port

October 18, 2014 Andrew Harvard 4 Comments

On Monday, 22 September 2014, I was required to attend a business meeting in the Eastern Cape. I decided to wake up very early that morning and after one hour of driving, take a short break to watch the sun rise at Sunwich Port, which is approximately 10 km north of Port Shepstone (South Africa). I had never been to this location before and it was therefore exciting to scramble around the rocks and small tidal pool to the left. The sunrise was not the most spectacular but none the less better than the two or three bland sunrises in a row that we recently experienced in Durban.

Photography, Travel

Thompson’s Bay

October 16, 2014 Andrew Harvard Leave a comment

Thompson’s Bay is on the KZN North Coast about 45 min from Durban. Access to the beach is via a walkway from Ocean Drive (north of Ballito). Although it is a beautiful location, I have not succeeded in three consecutive photo shoots to come away with any photo I really like. Henry and I went there early on 21 September 2014, one hour before the 05:48 sunrise. The previous two occasions the sea mist blurred things up and on this occasion there were no clouds to spice the sky up and make it interesting. Nevertheless, it was still an awesome opportunity to be at one with nature on a desolate beach before it got busy. Read more about Ballito here.

Photography, Travel

Deliberation

October 14, 2014 Andrew Harvard Leave a comment

When you’re on the beach, trying out a flash that you’re not used to and things are moving fast, it’s refreshing to run into a nice chap like Doctor Craig Springate. I used to often see him attending to the bruised and battered Sharks rugby players. Craig and his daughter let me fire a few shots while they deliberated about when where how to paddle out.