I am not quite sure what this machine is used for, but I think that it is to strip old roads before a fresh layer of tar is added, but is just a guess. I do however know that this machine has something to do with roads, it (and its friends) has been driving up and down Main Road for the last few days, resurfacing the road.
And for the first time in history, this crew are working quickly. They are over half way, and the road looks set to be freshly tarred well within the promised two weeks.
I spotted these early morning paddlers while driving to work, so I grabbed my phone and took the shot. I like the way the duck appears to be watching the paddlers.
While my blog has been a little quiet over the past few days, it is not because I have had nothing to post, but rather because I have been to busy shooting over the last few days. The glorious days in Cape Town over the Christmas period provided me with plenty of opportunity for some outdoor shooting. I will post some of the results over the next few days.
Firstly, windsurfing on Zandvlei.
When the South-Easter blows, it blows through False bay and straight across Zandvlei, which makes it a bit of a Mecca for windsurfers. In summer you are guaranteed to see a few windsurfers zipping up and down the vlei at high speeds. They surf at spectacular speeds,and of course they crash spectacularly as well.
When the nose dips like that, you know you are going to do down.
When I moved to the area I tried it out for several months, but alas my balance is just not good enough for this sport. So I have to content myself with shooting (with a camera) the windsurfers. They only come out when the wind blows, but at this time of year that is almost all the time.
We have mountain fires in Cape Town every summer. Usually they happen when it is hot and windy, and mostly they are started by cigarette butts being thrown out of car windows.
This year is no exception. On Saturday the mountain just above Boyes Drive was on fire, and the fire-crews were using two helicopters to dump water onto the fire. Because it was so close to my house and I live right next to the vlei, I watched the choppers collecting the water out of the lake before dumping it onto the fire.
It was pretty amazing watching the choppers, incredible skill in dropping down to grab the water, and then dumping it right on the hot-spots. This is in the cross-winds and flying through all the smoke. These are amazing pilots.
Thankfully, they managed to put this one out quite quickly, and there didn’t seem to be any major damage. We have had some pretty major fires in the past.
Here are the rest of the pics.
Lots of people have said that my recent Kalk Bay Harbour shot would make a nice painting, well with a little help from a friend (PhotoShop), here is the watercolour :-) Which version do you prefer?
Rainbow Kite
Today is the Cape Town International Kite Festival in Lakeside. I shot through this morning to take a few shots. There are some amazing kites on display, from simple kites you can fly in your back garden, to huge cartoon characters. Entrance is only R15, and proceeds go to Cape Mental Health.
Tweetie
The festival finishes tonight at 7pm, so there is still plenty of time to get down there and have a look at the kites. It is a great outing for children, and small kites are for sale for the little people to fly themselves.
Even the SA flag was (literally) flying
Fishing boats in Kalk Bay Harbour
I shot this picture on the way to dinner at the Harbour House Restaurant last night, where I had a fantastic piece of yellow-tail for dinner. This is one of the most photographed places in Cape Town, and even though I have taken hundreds of pictures here, I still cannot resist taking another few pictures every time that I come here.
This lovely yet somewhat strange statue was in the garden of the conference venue where we had our recent Toastmasters conference, in Vanderbijlpark just South of Johannesburg. While this type of status is very typical of African art, I still find such large and lifelike statues somewhat intimidating, almost as if they are watching your every move. Having said that, the detail is amazing, and it is a true craftsman that can carve this face out of a solid piece of wood.
Bu the way, no HDR here in case you were wondering.
I happened to see these ducklings on the vlei as I was driving past. As I grabbed my camera, they hopped into the water and swam off with mom (or dad) in tow.
About 2 months ago, I posted a picture of a white Rabbit. I was slightly startled yesterday to receive an email from Jesusdragon737, telling me that he had used the photo as a basis for some serious photoshopping. And the picture placed 3rd in a photo manipulation contest.
Above is Eagabbit, and below my original picture.
Amazing what you can do with digital manipulation.
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