Bugs!

Found this in the garden this afternoon:


:)

300 metres!

That is how far one must keep from whales here, as far as I understand.

Clearly, this boat doesn't think the law applies to him (picture taken on Friday):


Or this swimmer, picture taken this morning...


Though, I'd loved to have been there - it must have been quite an experience!!

:) :(

How green is my Valley?

Winter is the "green season" and well worth travelling a bit to see it. It's also the time that the proteas come out, and where we are is an area of "scientific interest" - you may not be able to see it, but within that out-of-focus area of the picture are probably more plant species than exist in the entire North American continent.

I kid you not!!




Just a couple of pics from today's drive-around...

;) ;)

Visitors.

Well, we spent last weekend in Cape Town, glorious weather for the middle of winter; around 22ºC or so - I could get used to this!!

While there we went to Simonstown for lunch with good friends, and boy, do they have a view to die for!!! (Yes, that's snow on the mountains in the distance!)


One thing that takes a bit of a mind adjustment, is seeing a US warship in a South African naval base - in this case USS Arleigh Burke (I looked up the number on Wikipedia), probably with enough firepower to take out Cape Town...



:) :)

Rain, software and 4x4...

Well, the warm dry spell of last week ended in torrential rain, starting on Sunday and continuing through until last night. The Klein River, which runs past our town, has been mildly swollen for the past few weeks, but today was really flowing. Normally, from the viewpoint in this pic, you would not even be able to see water: the stream goes behind the reeds in the middle of the river you can see now! (Oh, and no comments about lens flare please!!)


The photo above, as well as the one below, are a combination of nine different exposures, ranging from 4 stops under to 4 stops over-exposed, then combined into one image using "exposure-blending" software (similar to HDR). I thought today would be a good day to try it out, especially as I'm hoping to make some money from it ;)

The pic below is on the riverside road, and what you can't see is the 30cm underwater x 10 metre long bit that I had just driven through, slimy mud and grass underwater = car going sideways most of the time. FUN! 4x4 needed, but didn't have to resort to diff-lock, though I might just go there tomorrow to see how differently it handles with the centre diff locked. Mmm, more fun!!


And to compare, the next pic is the 'best' single exposure of the nine used to create the image above.


I know this software is going to work for interiors and other high-contrast work!!!

:)