“What is this self inside us, this silent observer, Severe and speechless critic, who can terrorize us, And urge us on to futile activity, And in the end, judge us still more severely, For the errors into which his own reproaches drove us?” – T. S. Eliot
Prakash Bhikha and I hit the shores of Ballito Beach this morning. Afterwards it was The Coffee Guys – South Beach for the 2nd fix of the morning.
0.5 sec. F 11. ISO 50. Canon EOS 6D. Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Lens
“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth” ~ The Buddha (if not by him or an adaption of his teachings then by some other wise chap)
This will probably turn out to be one of my favourite shots from yesterday’s shoot.
The little crab (bottom / middle) and I shot for a while until got blown away by a blinder (doubt it – probably scurried away to duck the big wave that wet my lens and caused me to use the healing brush for 20 min in PP).
Canon 6D, 0.4 sec, ISO 100, F16. RAW, tripod.
My Ballito (myballito.co.za) Seeff Ballito Gianni’s Ristorante Ballito First Thursdays Durban SPIGA Durban 5 Star Durban
#durban #durbantourism #nevergiveup #ballito #ilovedurban #5stardurban
The weather forecast at 03:30 this morning (Saturday 22 Oct 2016) said clear skies. I looked outside and saw stars, the moon and no clouds.
Knowing I needed some cloud cover to go shoot sunrise at 05:11 (to make the sky interesting) the decision was easy: stay home; it’s a failure waiting to happen; don’t go.
I guess like many things in life that appear totally dismal or doomed to fail, you don’t know the answer until you do them and throw your full weight in; only then can be sure.
Not trying guarantees the predicted failure for sure but giving it a go maybe gives you the 2%, 15% or 50% you didn’t have.
I blew 8.5 GB of memory card this morning (that’s a lot) at Thompson’s Bay and conditions allowed shooting for at least 45 min to 60 min after sunrise (normally as the sun rises or 10 min max afterwards we would pack up).
Here is one of my two panoramic photos from this morning (above). The better shots will follow in the hours, days, and weeks to come.
I also stretched the panoramic shot vertically to get a 6X9 shown below.
Canon 6D, AV, ISO 320, F9
PS – we’re looking to have a darn good steak tonight; it was Butcher Block last weekend and perhaps a Spur tonight. Which Durban Spur do you fancy?
#spur #butcherblock #ballito #thompsonsbay #kzn #ilovedurban #za #southafrica
“A glorious sunset, a beautiful flower, the delightful songs of happy birds, the silence of a moonlit night, the smile of a little child, the placid waters of a lake, wooded mountains, sweet music and devotional songs, a noble, generous act-all these elevate the mind, remind us of God and increase our faith” ~ Sri Swami Sivananda
My Canon 6D, now decidedly jealous after seeing that the baby Canon G3X has been getting all the attention since purchase for 4 straight months now, begged me last night for a sunrise photo shoot.
The weather report promised partly cloudy to partly sunny and if true, this should have guaranteed a spectacular sunrise in the land of magic / Thompson’s Bay.
The upshot is that it was drizzling and the sun hardly showed this morning.
Despite it being lovely to get out and about while still dark and be on the ocean’s edge to witness the break of dawn, I was still hoping (desperately), all the way back to Durban, that I could at least retrieve one cool photo out of the grey and wet sunrise.
Well I’m happy with the attached result; the trip was overall really worthwhile.
The strange thing about driving to sunrise photo shoots early in the morning, especially the ones some distance from home, and the gaps in between shooting (if not socialising with others), is that one gets time to ponder about things.
My latest ponder was about people who incessantly preach and broadcast love and kindness but do little to act on it, and then those people who preach nothing but silently act out loving kindness.
I also thought that one can get quite lost in fervently preaching and advertising, and intentionally or unintentionally fail to act.
I also wondered about meditation and drawing closer to God if just for a short while.
Meditating on one’s breath is very challenging, and getting to and sitting inside some spiritual buildings have challenges of their own (for some of us only of course).
The reason for wondering about all of this was that I have again, like I often do, analysed the enhanced concentration that some can achieve in photography; especially landscape photography (shooting alone in a quiet venue usually at sunrise or sunset).
There are also moments, every blue moon or so, when the sun, moon, stars, clouds, wind, water, flowers, landscape and other things conspire as one to draw one’s mind (soul) into the moment, at which time an extreme feeling of gratitude and love can be felt by the witness.
So I guess that the trick is to find that one activity, where ever and whatever it may be, that helps pull your mind together, and generates feelings of gratitude and love.
Canon 6D, 30 sec. F16, ISO 50
“I do hope you are remembering lately that those challenges, self-doubts, and insecurities you have, everyone has. And that by design, you are greater than whatever scares you. And that for your ancient, supernatural lineage, you will prevail, triumph, and rise above them, just like you always have. And that those dreams you have are actually peeks at future versions of your life that will all but inevitably be reached, unless you change your mind. And that your friends, known and to be known, chose this lifetime, in part, because you’d be here” ~ Mike Dooley
F5.6, 1/160 sec, ISO 320, flash, Canon South Africa 6D, 24-105mm L lens
5 Star Durban I Love Durban Durban The warmest place to be Yoga Awakening Africa Yoga Journal Yoga Inspiration My Yoga Online YogaMuscle & Fitness FitnessRx for Women Magazine Men’s Fitness Fitness Model/Writer Jamie Eason
“Your heart knows the way to Heng Mountain. You are not afraid; few people go there. Inside the boat, you still hear birds and temple chimes. At the river’s source, you dry your monk’s robe in the sun. You had a family, but left it when young; Now there is no temple that would not welcome you. Managing to find a shelter in the cold, You do your usual zazen as snow fills up your door” ~ Chia Tao (779-843)
Last night (7-7-2015) I did my “virgin” run at luminosity masks using the Raya Pro Panel (test) by Jimmy Mcintyre. It’s being released in less than 11 hours (http://www.shutterevolve.com/raya-pro-the-ultimate-digital…/) and only costs R 375.54.
I tried LM’s once before via another platform some months back and couldn’t fathom it. However, I was able fairly easily understand Jimmy’s video and use the panel quite easily.
Yes, I have a long way to go and the accompanying photo is not a good example of the potential of the panel. It was more my experimental photo to work on while I tested all the other features of the panel – there are so many other features; LM’s is just one!
The upshot: I got my varying selections as needed, the ants were marching as asked and I painted in shadows / highlights with ease – in most cases just the push of a button – no big technical stuff.
Canon South Africa 6D, Canon EF 17–40mm lens, F14, 1 sec, ISO 320
— at Thompson’s Bay
“It’s better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your life” ~ Elizabeth Kenny
Canon South Africa 6D, Canon EF 17–40mm lens L, F14, 1/10 sec, ISO 100
I Love Durban 5 Star Durban Celebrate Durban!
Show Me Durban I Like Durban
— at Ballito Main Beach
“Making decisions is a hard thing to do. But magical things start to happen once you make hard decisions. Hard decision after hard decision after hard decision. Of course the decisions lead to actions which contributes a lot to the magic but what’s going on in the background is more important. You’re learning to trust yourself. And with that comes that elusive magical ingredient that just seems to make everything click. Confidence” ~ Brian Kim
Canon 6D, 17-40L, F14, 1/2 sec, ISO 100, 6 vertical images, full-size JPEG output 27.9 MB
Celebrate Durban!I Love Durban5 Star Durban
Durban North & Umhlanga Community PageMy Ballito (myballito.co.za)Ballito Main Beach
Dear Mother, I wish you a happy and splendid day and celebrate with you wholly in spirit. This photo is a present to you because without you I would not be here and have all the talents you gave me. More importantly, you always told me to never give up and never give up my inner self. I love you lots and lots, your dear son, Andy.
“You should never give up your inner self” ~ Clint Eastwood
I was going to post a quote on never giving up and that would have been appropriate as I had a nightmare trying to stitch the photo below.
But the quote above is so damn important I had to use it. Giving up on your inner self or letting another person slowly batter it into submission is inviting death (it’s a killer I promise: figuratively and sometimes literally).
I eventually got something going on the photo but then the one portion’s horizon was skew. Once I fixed that then I had blending exposure problems.. and so it went on.. from one issue to the next.
Even at the end I encountered a final problem that I could not resolve 100%. That might sound a little negative but it’s not. I practiced a new video tutorial on this photo plus two older ones. I also practiced another self-taught trick and did some cloning, spot removal and a few other things.
So ultimately this photo was a blessing that gave me a chance to practice many skills; I enjoyed myself and post this photo knowing there are some issues that I’m not happy with at all (I will tackle them on round 2 or 3 if need be).
This was my first serious seascape shoot (Sat 27-06-2015) in months and I have another 9 GB of photos from that morning. Some of them are great as is and I could easily post them within minutes, but that’s for another time.
This photo is called “Thompson’s Warm-Up” and it has got me into the right frame of mind for the rest of the photos.
Canon South Africa 6D, Canon 17-40L,
F16, 1/8 sec, ISO 100
Celebrate Durban! I Love Durban 5 Star Durban
Durban2022 SA-People – for South Africans in South Africa and expats
Andrew Harvard Photography 